Subalpine Fir

Subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa (sometimes called var. bifola in the Rocky Mountains), is another common high altitude tree of this region.   I had often seen this tree without realizing it, since subalpine fir was not on my brain's list of trees in the area.  Perhaps I had such an oversight because this tree has so many other names--Rocky Mountain fir, white fir, balsam, white balsam, western balsam fir--but I am glad to learn to identify it.

Besides being shade and cold tolerant, "subalpine fir is a forest pioneer on severe and disturbed sites," according to the USDA's plant website. "By providing cover, it assists in rehabilitating the landscape and protecting watersheds. Subalpine fir grows in forests that occupy the highest water yield areas in much of the western United States and are thus highly significant in water management and conservation. "  Subalpine fir often grows in areas with Englemann spruce, especially in high altitudes like the Snowy Range, and both of these species can become wind-twisted krummholz at timberline.

Subalpine fir cones are purplish and grow upright on only the very tops of the trees.  They generally do not fall off whole like other cones (and therefore can be very difficult to see or photograph!). Needles are flat, blunt and stick out from all sides of the branches.

The USDA website also describes this tree's bark as "smooth, grayish-white, with resin blisters, becoming furrowed only when the tree approaches a foot in diameter."  The odd bark was actually my tip-off that I was dealing with a different species than I had assumed.

The most telling identification of this tree is its shape.  The U.S. Forest Service explains that it can be "distinguished by the long, narrow conical crown terminating in a conspicuous spikelike point."   The tapering of the subalpine fir not only gives it a recognizable silhouette, but keeps heavy snowfall from building up and breaking branches.