Noble Fir

(Abies procera)

Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Sten Porse

Noble Fir (Abies procera)

Identifying Characters: Noble Fir is characterized by flat needles and conspicuous female cone brachts. The needles are crowded on the branchlets and curve upwards.

Similar Species: No other species of fir could be confused with Noble Fir within its range.

Measurements: Noble Fir has a cylindrical to conical crown, rounded at the top; the tallest of the native firs reaching between 100 and 150 feet when mature; diameter 2.5 to 4 feet at breast height.

Cones: Cones 4.5 to 7 inches in length, cylindrical; green when immature, becoming purple-brown when mature; cone scale with fine hairs; cone brachts, large, thin, elongate, projecting well beyond the cone scales; cone scales projecting downward.

Needles: Needles in two rows, crowded, and curved upward; length 1 to 1.4 inches in length; needles flat with a groove above and with white lines below; color blue-green.

Bark: Gray-brown, smooth, becoming lighter and redder with increasing age and furrowed into irregular, elongate plates.

Native Range: Noble Fir is found in the mountains of northern Oregon and Washington between the McKenzie River and Stevens Pass or latitudes 44° and 48° N. Most of its distribution is within the Cascade Range, particularly on the western slopes and along the crest. Isolated populations are found on peaks in the Oregon Coast Ranges and in the Willapa Hills of southwestern Washington. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Noble Fir is found on moist soils in the high mountains between 3000 and 7000 feet. The species occurs mixed with other conifer species.