White Fir 



n 



scales and rcflexcd over them, yellowish, small- toothed, slightly rounded, and 

 softly bristle-pointed. The seed is about 5 mm. long, its paper)-, obhquely wedge- 

 shaped wing about twice as long. 



The wood is soft, weak, coarse-grained, pale brown; its specific gravity is about 

 0.35. It is probably never put upon the lumber market, although it is sometimes 

 used for building purposes on the mountains where it grows. 



As an ornamental tree its inferior hardiness and general resemblance to the 

 previously described species make it superfluous. Indeed, much of the stock 

 sent out by nurser}^men under this name is really nothing but the Balsam fir. 



3. WHITE FIR Abies lasiocarpa (Hooker) Nuttall 

 Pinus lasiocarpa Hooker. .4/)/^^ siibalpina Engelmann 



This Fir, variously called White balsam fir, Oregon balsam fir, Alpine fir, 

 Downy cone fir. Mountain balsam, and Pumpkin tree, has probably a greater 

 range than any other American Fir, occurring from Alaska to Washington, Ari- 

 zona, eastward to Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and southern Colorado. 



Fig. 59. White Fir. 



At elevations of 1200 to 1800 meters it reaches its maximum height of 30 meters, 

 with a tmnk diameter of 9 dm. At the higher elevations of about 3000 meters it 

 is sometimes reduced to a mere shrub. 



The branches are short, densely crowded, the lower droo])ing and sometimes , 

 persist almost to the base, forming a narrowly conic sharp-topped tree, narrower 



