192 THE FIRS 



The important Western Firs are Grand Fir (Abies 

 grandis), White Fir ( Abies concolor), Amabilis Fir (Abies 

 amabilis), Noble Fir (Abies nobilis), and Red Fir (Abies 

 magnified. The others are not worthy of consideration. 

 (The so-called Douglas Fir, an important tree, is not really 

 a Fir.) 



GRAND FIR: Abies grandis 



THIS tree is generally called White Fir, for the reason 

 that its smooth bark is conspicuously white. As there is 

 another species to which that name is commonly and more 

 appropriately applied, Abies concolor, it is proposed 

 by Mr. Sudworth to discard the appellation " white " and 

 adopt that of " grand " in its place, making it Grand Fir. 

 This is certainly a more correct designation, for it elimin- 

 ates the elements of confusion and error and also gives a 

 name suggestive of its character. 



Its natural range is throughout a large portion of Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and northern California, where it may be 

 found along alluvial stream-beds, on the slopes of the 

 mountains from near the coast up to an elevation of 7000 

 feet above the sea. It is also indigenous to Idaho and Mon- 

 tana eastwardly to the western slope of the Continental 

 Divide. It grows to a height of two hundred and seventy- 

 five feet, with a diameter of four feet on bottom lands, and 

 on elevated situations from eighty to one hundred and 

 twenty-five feet high and from eighteen to thirty inches in 

 diameter. The stem is straight, gradually tapering, and 

 when in dense stands clean of limb for fully one half of 

 the total height of the tree. It is light-demanding, and if 

 grown in the open retains its limbs from the ground up. 

 It is a fairly good seeder, and as the seeds are not heavy 

 and the wing is large, they can be blown a long distance. 



The wood is light, soft, moderately coarse-grained, and 

 straight, not durable when exposed, not strong, yet firm 

 enough to be useful for interior finish, box boards, and 

 many like purposes. In color the heartwood varies from 



