Abies procera
Common name: 
Noble Fir
Pronunciation: 
A-bez PRO-ser-a
Family: 
Pinaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Conifer, evergreen, 50-100 ft (15-30 m) [270 ft in wild!, procera = tall] symmetrically pyramidal to narrow, bark shows resin blisters on young trees.  Twigs slender, reddish brown, and minutely pubescent the first few years.  Needles, blue-green, whitish stomatal lines on both upper and lower surfaces, 2.5-3.5 cm long, hockey stick shape at base, spreading in two rows, flat, grooved above, rounded or slightly notched at apex (emarginate), crowned and curved upward, more or less flat on lower branches, but conspicuously 4-sided on mid and upper branches.  Cones 14-25 cm long and 7-8 cm thick, green when young, purple-brown when ripe; bracts prominent, long pointed, reflexed so as to hide scales.
  • Sun.  Difficult to grow under lowland conditions unless in a cool, moist, but well drained soil.  Used as a Christmas tree.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native to Cascade Mountains and Coast Range from Washington south to northwest California.
  • There are several horticultural cultivars, including forms with needles that are bluish, ‘Glauca’, or yellow, ‘Sherwoodi’. There are also true dwarfs such as ‘Blaue Hexe’ and ‘Jeddeloh’ and "apparent" dwarf forms, such as ‘Glauca Prostrata’, the latter is derived from a side branch.  Such "dwarfs" from side branches are unstable and frequently may develop a leader and quickly grow into a tree (van Gelderen and van Hoey Smith,1996).
  • procera: tall or high (L).
  • Pure stands of Abies procera grow on nearby Marys Peak, which at an elevation of 4,097 feet, is the highest point in Oregon's Coast Range and the most prominent peak to the west of Corvallis.
Click image to enlarge
  • in habitat

    in habitat

  • in habitat

    in habitat

  • plant habit and trunk, very windy site

    plant habit and trunk, very windy site

  • plant habit, in landscapes

    plant habit, in landscapes

  • branches

    branches

  • branchlet, needles

    branchlet, needles

  • underside of branchlets

    underside of branchlets

  • branchlets, needles

    branchlets, needles

  • needles

    needles

  • needles, underside

    needles, underside

  • base of needles and attachment, comparison

    base of needles and attachment, comparison

  • cone and brachlets

    cone and brachlets

  • cones before and at seed dispersal

    cones before and at seed dispersal

  • apophysis, the exposed portion of a cone scale

    apophysis, the exposed portion of a cone scale

  • cone scale and seeds

    cone scale and seeds