Subalpine fir

Leaves

Form

• Tip rounded or notched
• Needles crowded, curving upward from the sides of the twig and standing almost erect
• Those below appressed
• Occasionally arranged in 2 ranks
• Resin ducts large, remote from the surface

Length

• 25–40 mm, length variable on the same twig

Colour

• Greyish-green to light bluish-green
• Lines of white dots, more prominent on the lower surface

Buds

Form

• Broadly ovoid
• Resinous

Length

• 3–6 mm

Colour

• Light brown

Twigs

Form

• Stout
• Becoming hairy, retaining hair for several years

Colour

• Brownish becoming ash-grey

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Erect, barrel-shaped
• Resinous

Length

• 4–10 cm

Colour

• Greyish-brown

Structure

• Scales wide
• Bracts shorter than the scales, wide, with an abruptly pointed needle-shaped tip

Timing

• Cones break up from early September
• Bare axis remains on the tree for several years
• Seeds abundant

Seeds

Form

• Resinous
• Seed wing firmly attached to seed coat

Length

• Seed about 6 mm
• Seed wing 10–18 mm

Colour

• Purple to brown

Bark

Form

• Smooth
• Blotched with raised resin blisters when young
• With age, breaking into irregular scales

Colour

• Ash-grey when young, becoming greyish-brown with age

Wood

Texture

• Light, soft, relatively weak
• Odourless

Colour

• Pale

Morphology

• No distinct heartwood

Uses

• Wood pulp, lumber

Size

Height

• To 30 m
• May be shrubby on exposed ridges at the tree line

Diameter

• To 75 cm

Maximum age

• 200 years

Tree form

Open-grown

Crown

• Lower branches sometimes touching the ground

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Cylindrical

Crown

• Narrow, dense, with a spire-like top
• Branches short, drooping

Root system

• Shallow, wide-spreading

Habitat

Site

• High-altitude tree (600–2000 m) in southern part of range
• Uncommon near the Pacific Coast
• Found on a variety of soils
• Frequently colonizes newly exposed ground
• Capable of reproducing on humus layers under a forest cover

Light tolerance

• Shade-tolerant

Associated species

• Exists in pure stands or mixed with Engelmann spruce, mountain hemlock, subalpine larch, lodgepole pine, white birch, and trembling aspen

Range

Central British Columbia, western Alberta, northward into Yukon