Habitat

• native to Asia Minor, Caucasus
• zone 5

Habit and Form

• evergreen tree
• narrow pyramidal shape with many dense branches
• holds branches to the ground
• 40' to 60' tall, can reach over 250' tall in wild
• 15' to 20' wide
• slow growing
• fine texture

Summer Foliage

• 1" to 1.5" long
• entire margins
• black green color
• 2 whitish stomatal bands on underside
• needle apex is notched or rounded
• needles densely cover stem
• upper needles shorter and pointed forward
• buds are not resinous

Autumn Foliage

• no fall color (evergreen)

Flowers

• no ornamental value
• monoecious

Fruit

• reddish brown
• 5 to 6" long
• slightly tapered cylindrical shape
• held upright mostly on upper branches
• showy

Bark

• smooth with resin blisters until very old
• gray-brown color

Culture

• full sun
• prefers moist, well-drained, acidic soil
• one of the easier Abies sp. to grow

Landscape Uses

• large, open areas (parks, campuses)
• specimen
• screen
• one of the most beautiful Abies sp.

Liabilities

• woolly adelgids, twig aphids, bagworm, scales and spider mites can affect the tree, but damage is usually not substantial
• hard to find
• doesn't thrive under harsh landscape conditions
• often damaged by deer

ID Features

• needles have notched or rounded tip
• smooth bark with resin blisters
• very long cones, 6"
• circular leaf scars
• buds are conical and not resinous
• black-green needle color

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

Various cultivars exist, but none are common in commerce and most are reserved for dwarf conifer collectors.

'Pendula' - Name applied to clones with branches that weep.

'Prostrata' - Forms with low, trailing habits.

Forms are known with yellow needles, including 'Golden Spreader', a prostrate selection.

Selected forms with bluer needles are occasionally seen.