grand fir
Pinaceae (Pine family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Introduction
This is a tall evergreen, coniferous, tree species that is found from southern British Columbia (primarily southwestern BC) south to northern California.
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Species Information
General:
Tall, straight tree, up to 80 m tall; bark greyish to light brown, with resin blisters, smooth to shallowly ridged, becoming flaky; branches flattened and spray-like.
Leaves:
Needles flat, rounded and usually notched at the tip; dark green and shallowly grooved above, having two distinct whitish bands of stomata below; definitely spreading horizontally, 2-4 (5) cm long.
Cones:
Seed cones erect, yellowish-green to green, 6-11 cm long, 3.5-4 cm thick, the bracts deciduous; pollen cones yellowish.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
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|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
465 | 0 | 1675 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
18 | 0 | 194 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
227 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
716 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(206), CWH(256), ESSF(1), ICH(184), IDF(50), MH(1) | ||
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Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
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Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic slopes and river terraces in the lowland and montane zones; frequent in SW BC, infrequent in SC BC; S to N CA, ID, W MT, SE WA and NE OR.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Abies excelsior
Abies grandis var. grandis
Abies grandis var. idahoensis Silba
Taxonomic Keys
1. Needles with stomata on both surfaces, blue-green and glaucous; branches not spray-like, leaves tending to curve upwards; trees with narrow crowns................Abies lasiocarpa
1. Needles with lines of white stomata on lower surface only, the upper surface green; branches mostly appearing spray-like, the leaves either all horizontally spreading or some spreading and the others depressed and pointing forward; trees with wide crowns. 2. Needles (2) 3-4 (5) cm long, nearly all horizontally spreading, the upper side of the twigs bare except for the twisted leaf bases; seed cones light green.........................Abies grandis 2. Needles mostly less than 2.5 cm long, the longer ones spreading horizontally, but others (usually shorter) strongly appressed and pointing forward on upper side of twig and more or less completely hiding the twigs; seed cones deep purple....................Abies amabilis Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |