ABIES NOBILIS NOBLE FIR, OREGON a LARCH." 53 



branchlets rather slender, puberulous. Flowers statninate cylindrical, |-1 in. 

 long, sessile at first, but finally suspended on slender pedicels about in. long; 

 pistillate flowers cylindrical, erect upon the branchlets, 1-1| in. long and about 

 I in. thick, with scales much smaller than their bracts which are reflexed, and 

 with long slender tips. Fruit cones cylindrical-oblong, from 6-8 in. long and 2-3 

 in. thick, rounded at apex and almost covered by the large, much exserted and 

 strongly reflexed pale green bracts which are spatulate with fimbriated margin 

 and broad midrib extended into a long point; scales somewhat broader than long, 

 rounded at apex; seeds about 1 in. in length, slender and furnished with a 

 cuneate tri-angular wing about i in. in length. 



(The specific name, nobilis, Latin for noble, is given in apt allusion to the noble 

 stature of this majestic fir.) 



The Noble Fir, under favorable conditions, attains the height of 

 250 or 275 ft. (80 m.), with comparatively short branches and massive 

 columnar trunk 6 or 8 ft. (2 m.) in diameter, clothed with a reddish- 

 brown bark, fissured lengthwise into flat, scaly ridges. The young 

 trees, under 75 or 100 ft. in height, have a habit of quite regular 

 pyramidal growth with branches longest at the ground and successively 

 shorter to the pointed summit. 



HABITAT. The Cascade and Coast ranges from northern Washing- 

 ton southward to the valley of the McKinzie River in Oregon, very 

 abundant and attaining its largest size in northwestern Oregon between 

 the altitudes of 2,000 and 5,000 ft., there being in places the principal 

 forest tree. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. The Noble Fir wood is light, strong, 

 rather hard, of close grain, and of a very light yellow-brown color 

 witli lighter sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.4561; Percentage of Ash, 

 0.34; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.4545; Coefficient of Elas- 

 fir'fty, 127660; .J/W/////* of Rupture, 862; Resistance to Longitudi- 

 nal Pressure, 453; Resistance to Indentation, 120; Weight of a 

 ( hibic Foot in Pounds, 28.42. 



I'SKS. Quite extensively used in the manufacture of lumber for 

 interior finishing, ceilings, boxes, etc. , for which it is excellent. It is 

 a tree of markejl value for ornamental purposes, and is being success- 

 fully and quite extensively planted in Europe. It is not as well 

 adapted to the climate of our eastern states, though it is occasionally 

 grown. 



NOTE. Those unfamiliar with the magnificent stately firs of the 

 Pacific slope, as we see them in their native forests, may be interested 

 in knowing the dimensions of the particular tree from which our wood- 

 sections were taken, and what became of the rest of the tree. It grew 

 on the lumber tract of the Bridal Veil Lumber Co., located at Bridal 

 Yeil, Oregon, and for convenience and economy of operations this- 

 compam has few equals. 



