Drawing of the largest known Pacific silver fir, on Goodman Creek [Robert Van Pelt] (Van Pelt 1996).
An old-growth tree about 130 cm dbh in the Miner's Creek drainage NE of Glacier Peak, WA. The forest is filled with very large Abies amabilis, Tsuga mertensiana and Tsuga heterophylla and has not experienced fire in at least several hundred years [C.J. Earle, 1-Sep-2003].
Foliage of a tree on the SW flank of Mt. Rainier, WA. The pale green foliage has emerged within the last few days [C.J. Earle, 18-Jul-1987].
Seeds with attached wings, from near Tuck Lake, Washington [C.J. Earle, Sep-2002].
The range of Pacific silver fir, based on a map presented in Van Pelt 2001.
Abies amabilis
Pacific silver fir, white fir, red fir, lovely fir, amabilis fir, Cascades fir (Pojar and Mackinnon 1994, Peattie 1950), silver fir, sapin gracieux (Hunt 1993).
Trees to 24-46(75) m tall with 60-120 (260) cm dbh; straight, crown spirelike, with age becoming flat topped, cylindric. Bark light grey, smooth but for resin blisters, with age breaking into reddish-grey scaly plates. Branches diverging from trunk at right angles, short, stiff; twigs mostly opposite, darker brown abaxially, light brown adaxially, pubescence tan. Buds small, spherical, brown, globose, 6-9 mm diameter, with violet wax; basal scales short, broad, triangular, densely pubescent, usually not resinous, margins entire, apex sharp-pointed. Needles (0.7)1-2.5(4.0) cm × 1-3 mm, crowded, spreading forwards in 2 rows, overlapping above, nearly covering the branchlet, curved upwards on sun foliage, grooved and dark lustrous green above, somewhat flattened and silvery white with 5-6 stomatal rows on each side of midrib below, apex prominently notched; resin canals small, near margins and abaxial epidermal layer. Male cones at pollination red, becoming reddish yellow. Female cones erect, ovoid-cylindric, resinous, purplish then brown, 8-10(18) cm long × 3.5-5(7) cm, purple, sessile, apex round to nipple-shaped; scales ca. 2 × 2 cm, finely pubescent; bracts hidden, purplish, about 1/2 height of scale. Seeds 10-12 × 4 mm, body tan; wing about as long as body, rose to tan; cotyledons 4-7 (Silba 1986, Little 1980, Hunt 1993).
US: SE Alaska, W Washington and Oregon, NW California; Canada: W British Columbia. Prefers deep, well-drained soils in cool, moist coastal forests, descending to sea level from Vancouver Island northwards, typically above 1000 m in Oregon and southwards, occurring to timberline (ca. 2300 m). Climate is maritime with long, snowy winters (Pojar and Mackinnon 1994). See also Thompson et al. (1999).
The largest known was the Goodman Creek Tree, on Goodman Creek near Forks, Washington. This giant had a stem volume of 74 m3, dbh 237 cm, height 66.1 meters. The largest known living tree is the Cabin Lake Tree, on the north side of Black Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park, British Columbia. It has a stem volume of 63 m3, dbh 233 cm, height 46.9 meters. Only slightly smaller, the Hades Creek Fir in Olympic National Park, Washington, has a stem volume of 62 m3, dbh 210 cm, height 66.4 meters. The tallest known tree grows on the East Fork of the Humptulips River in Olympic National Forest, Washington. It stands 71.9 meters tall with a dbh of 140 cm (Van Pelt 2000).
The oldest confirmed age is 725 years for a specimen found by Ken Lertzman in Cypress Provincial Park, BC (Van Pelt 1996). Jan Henderson (pers. comm. 1990) reports ring counts of >800 yrs on repeatedly suppressed-and-released stumps in Baker-Snoqualmie NF.
Has been widely used, almost entirely in work done since 1980. Applications have included dendroclimatic reconstruction, ecosystem changes in old-growth montane and forest-tundra subalpine forests, dating and effects of volcanic debris flows, forest decline due to volcanic ash deposition, and impacts to tree growth from aluminum smelter emissions.
The pitch was chewed as gum by native peoples, the boughs were preferred for bedding or floor coverings, and the soft, brittle wood was chiefly used as firewood (Pojar and Mackinnon 1994).
It is an important timber species due to its wide distribution and potentially rapid growth; it is primarily a source of pulp.
Fairly common in the subalpine zone within its range, and easily seen in Olympic, North Cascades and Mount Rainier National Parks (WA).
The species name means "lovely." This species is characteristic of the montane zone of western BC and the subalpine zone in western Washington and Oregon, where it may form mixed or monospecific stands and currently is widely distributed as advance regeneration beneath a canopy of similar species. It is among the most shade-tolerant of all conifers and can persist beneath a dense conifer canopy for centuries, an ecological situation that has characterized the oldest known specimens. It has reportedly retained needles for as long as 53 years, a record exceeded only by Welwitschia mirabilis, with needle retention times in excess of 20 years quite common.
This species was discovered and named by David Douglas, Scots botanist.
Bibliography of Dendrochronology.
Farjon (1990) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.
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Edited by Christopher J. Earle
Page updated on 2008.05.01
URL: http://www.conifers.org/pi/ab/amabilis.htm
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