White Fir or Concolor Fir

(Pinaceae - Pine Family)

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• Form
  • medium-sized specimen evergreen tree
  • matures at about 40' tall by 15' wide
  • upright pyramidal to upright columnar growth habit
  • slow growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun
  • best performance occurs in full sun in moist, sandy-loam, rich soils that are well-drained, but it is somewhat adaptable to poor soils, compacted soils, heat, and drought
  • propagated by seeds, rooted stem cuttings, or cultivar stem cuttings grafted onto seedling understock
  • Pine Family, with few diseases or pests
  • moderately available, in ball and burlap form
  • White Fir is somewhat sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn, and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, and avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter

• Foliage
  • flattened bluish-green (Spring and Summer) to grayish-green (Autumn and Winter) evergreen glaucous needles curve upward above the stem plane, have the same color on both the uppersides and undersides of the needles, and are spirally arranged along the stem, with a two-rowed (pectinate) arrangement on each side of the stem
  • needles are up to 2" long, being soft and flexible to the hand's grip of a stem (Spruces, on the other hand, have needles that are sharp and prickly to the hand's grip)
  • needle scars are typical of the Firs, being smooth and nearly sessile on the older stems (Spruces, on the other hand, have raised or "spurred" needle scars on the older stems, making them rough)

• Flowers
  • purplish-red, but often unnoticed

• Fruits
  • upright cones are about 5" long, pale green with a deep purplish cast, changing to brown at maturity

• Twigs
  • off-white smooth stems change to light gray with age
  • all stems lie in the same plane of the main branch, giving the tree a distinctly layered branching effect (similar to some Blue Spruce)

• Trunk
  • thick gray ridges and furrows develop on the relatively smooth bark with age, often unnoticed since the tree is frequently allowed to remain branched to the ground with maturity

• ID Summary
  • the slow-growing, open, upright pyramidal growth habit of youth slowly transitions to a dense, upright columnar appearance with age, having glaucous blue-green needles that are flattened and curling upward above the stem plane in a pectinate arrangement, with the stems of a given branch being in the same plane, for a layered branching effect; large cones occur with maturity, having a purplish cast and being upright, rather than pendulous

• Function
  • usually a specimen or focal point tree, but it can also be a slow-growing evergreen screen when used in a group or row planting

• Texture
  • medium texture at maturity (bold texture in youth unless sheared)
  • thick density at maturity (open density in youth unless sheared)

• Assets
  • one of the best evergreen trees (and Firs) in terms of drought and heat resistance
  • evergreen tree with glaucous blue-green to gray-green foliage
  • layered branching and highly symmetrical outline

• Liabilities
  • slow-growing

• Habitat
  • zones 3 to 7
  • native to the Western United States, especially regions of the Rocky Mountains

• Alternates
  • narrowleaf evergreen trees, especially those with a bluish-green to silvery-blue cast (Abies fraseri, Cedrus atlantica, Juniperus scopulorum 'Wichita Blue', Picea pungens glauca, Picea omorika, Pinus flexilis glauca 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid', etc.)

• Variants
  • Abies concolor 'Candicans' - extremely glaucous, blue-white needles make this cultivar stand out as a silvery pinnacle focal point in the landscape

• Translation
  • Abies is the classical name for the Firs.
  • concolor translates as "same color" referring to the upper and lower needle surfaces being the same color, unlike most Firs, which have solid green or blue upper surfaces, and striped silvery lower surfaces (the stomatic lines).

• Purpose
  • Firs in general should be be planted with discretion in the Eastern and Midwestern United States due to their relative intolerance to urban stress, but White Fir is an exception, being exceptionally heat and drought tolerant.

• Summary
  • Abies concolor is an alternative evergreen ornamental tree to the more commonly used Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens glauca) with respect to its bluish-colored foliage, in addition to having a slightly superior drought tolerance.