Amabilis fir

Leaves

Form

• Tip notched
• Needles on the lower surface and sides of the twig spreading horizontally and curved upward
• On upper surface, needles shorter, appressed, grooved, and pointed forward
• Odour of oranges when crushed
• Resin ducts small, located near the lower surface

Length

• 20–30 mm

Colour

• Upper surface shiny dark green, often with a few white dots toward the tip
  
• Several lines of white dots on lower surface

Buds

Form

• Rounded
• Resinous

Length

• 3–7 mm

Colour

• Dark bluish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Stout, minutely hairy

Colour

• Dark yellowish-brown to greyish-brown

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Ovoid-conical

Length

• 9–14 cm

Colour

• Brown

Structure

• Scales as wide as they are long
• Bracts shorter than the scales, with shoulders sloping away from the broad base of a long wedge-shaped tip

Timing

• Cones ripen in mid-August
• Seeds shed a few weeks later

Seeds

Length

• Seed 8–16 mm
• Seed wing 25–40 mm

Bark

Form

• Smooth
• Becoming scaly and grooved at the base of mature trees

Colour

• Light grey, blotched with white patches

Wood

Texture

• Light, soft, weak

Colour

• Creamy-white to yellowish-brown

Morphology

• No distinct heartwood

Uses

• Wood pulp, lumber

Size

Height

• To 40 m, occasionally larger

Diameter

• To 90 cm

Maximum age

• 300 years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Slender

Crown

• Slender, conical
• Principal branches mostly horizontal
• Lower ones drooping, persisting after they die

Root system

• Moderately deep, wide-spreading

Habitat

Site

• Variety of soils

Light tolerance

• Very shade-tolerant

Associated species

• Occasionally grows in pure stands, but more often mixed with Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and western redcedar

Range

Subalpine forests of western British Columbia and as far south as northern California