Trees Planet: Abies Grandis

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

General Information

Common Name	Grand Fir
Scientific Name	*Abies Grandis*
Sun Tolerance	Full Sun
Height	40 - 70 m (135 - 230 ft)
Spread	10 -15 m (33 - 50 ft)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Spring
Color	Green,
Flower Color	Yellow
Type	Tree
Native	USA, Asia, Europe.

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Coniferophyta – Conifers
Class	Pinopsida
Subclass
Order	Pinales
Family	Pinaceae – Pine family
Genus	Abies Mill. – Fir
Species	A. Grandis

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

Abies Grandis commonly known as Grand Fir also called by its botanical name of ‘grandis,’ is a tall rapidly-growing silver fir, introduced from the Pacific coast of North America. It has many more name like as Lowland White Fir, Great Silver Fir, Western White Fir, Vancouver Fir, or Oregon Fir.

It is an evergreen long tree. The tree generally grows to 40–70 m (135 – 230 ft) in height. The new shoots are smooth and olive-green. The buds are small, blunt, and resin-coated. The needles are long (for firs), u to 2 inches, twisted at their base so as to spread in two ranks in one plane; the upper rank has the shorter needles. They have notched apices, and are glossy green above, with two prominent glaucous bands below. The new pale green needles, which appear in June, fringe the edges of all the branches, giving the tree its best appearance. When crushed, the scent is pleasantly aromatic. When pulled away from the stem they leave a neat round scar, not a peg.

Both sexes of flowers are found on the same tree. The small yellow male flowers are in clusters on the underside of the branches. The females are erect, short, scaly, and yellow-green, borne height up on the tree and are thus seldom seen. On fertilization they develop into erect cylindrical cones up to 4 inches long and an inch or more broad, and slightly indented at the apex. They ripen to a yellowish-green, and disintegrate in September leaving the persistent central spike on the tree.

The bark is smooth, with some blisters containing clear, aromatic resin. With age the bark becomes dark-brown, fissured and scaly. The branches are in whorls, often wide apart. The wood is white or pale cream in color, with no marked heart-wood. It is used for box making, paper-pulp, and for general purposes where strength and natural durability are not required. Sometimes a drought crack’ runs in spiral fashion up the stem. The bark has historical medicinal properties, and it is popular in the United States as a Christmas tree.

Foresters prize ‘grandis’ as ‘a fast and heavy volume-producer of moderately strong timber’ and as a useful under-plant. It can reach 40 m (130 ft) in fifty years.

The European Silver Fir, Abies alba Mill., usually fails in some countries of Europe because of attacks by tiny needle-sucking aphids, species of Adelges. Consequently it is not only planted for timber but also little tree for ornament.