{{Short description|Species of conifer}} {{Speciesbox | image = Abies procera 3159.JPG | image_caption = Noble firs in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Abies procera'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42296A2970458 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42296A2970458.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Abies | species = procera | authority = Rehder | range_map = Abies procera range map 4.png | range_map_caption = Natural range |synonyms = * ''Pinus nobilis'' Douglas ex D.Don * ''Abies nobilis'' (Douglas ex D.Don) Lindl., nom. illeg. * ''Picea nobilis'' (Douglas ex D.Don) Loudon * ''Pseudotsuga nobilis'' (Douglas ex D.Don) W.R.McNab |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite web | title=''Abies procera'' Rehder | website=Plants of the World Online | date=2021-06-27 | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:676607-1 | access-date=2026-01-21}}</ref> }}
'''''Abies procera''''', the '''noble fir''', also called '''red fir''',<ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN|accessdate=17 December 2017}}</ref> is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of {{convert|300|-|1500|m|sp=us}}.
==Description== ''A. procera'' is a large evergreen conifer with a narrow conic crown, growing up to {{Convert|70|m|sp=us}} tall and {{Convert|2|m|abbr=on}} in trunk diameter, rarely to {{Convert|295|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} tall and {{Convert|2.7|m|abbr=on}} thick.<ref name="GD">{{cite web |title=Gymnosperm Database - ''Abies procera'' |url=https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_procera.php |access-date=2013-09-06}}</ref> The bark on young trees is smooth and gray with resin blisters, becoming red-brown, rough and fissured on old trees, usually less than {{Convert|5|cm|sp=us|frac=4}} thick; the inner bark is reddish.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> The leaves are needle-like, {{Convert|1–3.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, glaucous blue-green above and below with strong stomal bands, and a blunt to notched tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted slightly S-shaped to be upcurved above the shoot. The cones are upright, {{convert|11|–|22|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and {{Convert|6|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} thick, with the purple scales almost completely hidden by the long exserted yellow-green bract scales;<ref name="Arno-2020" /> they ripen brown and disintegrate to release the winged seeds in fall. Viable seeds are only produced every few years.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
The species can grow for up to 200 years, and is the world's tallest true fir.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
==Taxonomy== David Douglas discovered the species in the Cascade Range in the early 19th century, calling it "noble fir"<ref name="Arno-2020">{{Cite book |last1=Arno |first1=Stephen F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDD4DwAAQBAJ |title=Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees |last2=Hammerly |first2=Ramona P. |publisher=Mountaineers Books |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-68051-329-5 |edition=field guide |location=Seattle |pages=143–149 |language=en |oclc=1141235469 |orig-date=1977}}</ref> and naming it ''Pinus nobilis''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=David |title=Journal kept by David Douglas during his travels in North America 1823-1827 |date=1914 |publisher=W. Wesley & Son |location=London |page=60 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalkeptbydav00dougiala/page/60/mode/1up |url-access=registration|access-date=16 November 2025}}</ref> This name however could not be used in the genus ''Abies'', as the same name had already been used several years earlier by Albert Dietrich for a different species (''Abies alba'');<ref>{{cite web | title=''Abies nobilis'' A.Dietr. | website=Plants of the World Online | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:676595-1 | access-date=2026-01-21}}</ref> thus, Alfred Rehder gave it the new name ''Abies procera'' in 1940.<ref name="POWO"/><ref name="Rehder">{{cite journal |last1=Rehder |first1=Alfred |title=ABIES PROCERA, A NEW NAME FOR A. NOBILIS LINDL. |journal=Rhodora |date=1940 |volume=42 |pages=522-524 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/607754}}</ref> His chosen specific epithet ''procera'' means "tall".<ref name="RHSLG">{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for Gardeners |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84533-731-5 |location=United Kingdom}}</ref>
==Distribution== The species is native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of western Washington and Oregon, as well as the extreme northwest of California. It is a high-altitude tree, typically occurring at altitudes of {{convert|300|-|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, often above {{Convert|600|m|abbr=on}},<ref name="Arno-2020" /> and only rarely reaching the tree line.
==Ecology== The species is closely related to ''Abies magnifica'' (red fir), which replaces it further southeast in southernmost Oregon and California, being best distinguished by the leaves having a groove along the midrib on the upper side; red fir does not show this. Red fir also tends to have the leaves less closely packed, with the shoot bark visible between the leaves, whereas the shoot is largely hidden in noble fir. Red fir cones also mostly have shorter bracts, except in ''A. magnifica'' var. ''shastensis'' (Shasta red fir); this variety hybridizes with noble fir<ref name="Arno-2020" /> and is itself a hybrid between noble fir and red fir.<ref name="GD"/> As opposed to Shasta red fir, noble fir is shade-intolerant, leaving its lower trunk branchless.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
Noble fir occurs with Douglas-fir and western hemlock at middle elevations, and with Pacific silver fir and mountain hemlock at higher elevations.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> It occurs in cool, humid areas similar to those occupied by Pacific silver fir.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> While it benefits from occasional disturbances (e.g. the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens<ref name="GD"/>), it is very susceptible to fire but is usually protected by its moist environment.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> It is relatively resistant to damage from wind, insects or diseases.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> Although the roots grow slowly, it can survive in rocky soil as long as it is moist.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
== Cultivation and uses == The Paiute used the foliage to treat coughs and colds.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
The superior light and strong wood was recognized early by loggers, who called it "larch" to avoid conflating it with inferior firs.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> The wood is used for specialized applications such as ladders,<ref name="Arno-2020" /> general structural purposes and paper manufacture. It may have been used for the frames of the Royal Air Force's Mosquito bombers during World War II.<ref name="Arno-2020" />
David Douglas sent noble fir seeds to Britain in 1830, introducing it to horticulturalists.<ref name="Arno-2020" /> It is a popular and favored Christmas tree.<ref name="GD"/><ref name="Arno-2020" /> The prostrate gray cultivar ''A. procera'' (Glauca Group) 'Glauca Prostrata' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/62/i-Abies-procera-i-(Glauca-Group)-Glauca-Prostrata/Details | title = ''Abies procera'' (Glauca Group) 'Glauca Prostrata'| publisher = RHS | access-date = 14 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 1 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 14 August 2019}}</ref>
Noble fir has become naturalized in Britain (particularly in Scotland)<ref>{{cite web | title=PlantAtlas | website=PlantAtlas | url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.cqm | access-date=2025-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Managing invasive and non-native forestry species | url=https://www.forestry.gov.scot/publications/25-managing-invasive-and-non-native-forestry-species/viewdocument/25 | access-date=2025-02-12}}</ref> and Denmark.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sølvgran (Abies procera) | website=Naturbasen - Danmarks Nationale Artsportal | url=https://www.naturbasen.dk/art/8478/soelvgran | language=da | access-date=2025-02-12}}</ref>
<gallery> File:Noble Fir, young naturalised tree with cones, Northumberland.jpg|The large cones are heavy enough that the branch bearing them can twist under their weight File:Weibliche Zapfen der Edeltanne (Abies procera)02.JPG|Cones File:Abies procera.jpg|Foliage </gallery>
==References== <references/>
==Further reading== * {{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Abies procera'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42296A2970458 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42296A2970458.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{dead link|date=November 2024}} [http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=ABPR&mapType=nativity USDA Plants Profile for ''Abies procera'' (noble fir)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140330040533/http://www.plantmaps.com/nrm/abies-procera-noble-fir-native-range-map.php Interactive Distribution Map of ''Abies procera''] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060225133956/http://www.conifers.org/pi/ab/procera.htm ''Abies procera'']—Gymnosperm Database * [https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?195,196,205 Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Abies procera''] * [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoJEFFprocera.htm photos of ''Abies procera'' trees]—''Arboretum de Villardebelle'' * [http://www.pinetum.org/AB_procera.htm photos of foliage and cones]—''Arboretum de Villardebelle'' * [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Abies+procera ''Abies procera'']—U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1283223}}
procera Category:Flora of the Cascade Range Category:Flora of the Klamath Mountains Category:Least concern flora of the United States Category:Trees of Northern America Category:Taxa named by Alfred Rehder