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Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States
Hardin, Massey, Radford, Thieret, eds.

Copyright - James W. Hardin, Ph. D., 1998, 1999. All Rights Reserved.


3. ABIESMiller. FIR


Evergreen, aromatic trees to 18 m tall, symmetrical excurrent habit with erect spire-like tip; bark gray or brown, thin, smooth becoming scaly, with raised resin blisters. Leaves narrowly linear, flat in cross-section, sessile, dark green above and white-striped below; borne spirally but often more or less 2-ranked, leaving a round, smooth scar after falling. Pollen cones pendulous, ovoid. Seed cones erect on upper branches, oblong-cylindrical; scales and bracts deciduous from the central cone axis when seeds are mature. Popular as Christmas trees.