FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS OF ARIZONA 65 



their bases not persisting on the branchlets; cones pendulous, ovoid- 

 cylindric, with thin persistent scales shorter than the conspicuous 

 2-lobed, aristate bracts. 



This is one of the most important timber trees of the Pacific North- 

 western States, and the wood is in great demand for heavy construc- 

 tion. In Arizona it is of little importance commercially, as it seldom 

 occurs in pure stands, commonly being mixed with western yellow 

 pine and at higher elevations with spruce. A limited quantity is 

 sawed, and it is also used for rough construction, telephone poles, and 

 railway ties. The wood of young trees is reddish and coarse-grained, 

 hence the trade name "red fir," whereas in older trees it is yellowish 

 and fine grained, is marketed under the name "Oregon pine," and is 

 used for fine finish work. 



1. Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Poir.) Britton ex Sudworth, U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Forest. Div. Bui. 14: 46. 1897. 



Abies taxifolia Poir. in Lam., Encycl. 6: 523. 1804. 

 Pseudotsuga mucronata (Raf.) Sudworth, Contrib. U. S. Natl. 

 Herbarium 3: 266. 1895. 



Common in the northern and central parts of the State, southward 

 to the Chiricahua, Santa Catalina, and Santa Rita Mountains, 6,500 

 to 10,000 feet, descending to 5,200 feet in canyons. British Columbia 

 to western Texas, Arizona, California, and northern Mexico. 



In Oregon and Washington this tree attains a height of 90 m. (300 

 feet) and a trunk diameter of 4.5 m. (14.5 feet), but in Arizona the 

 species reaches no such dimensions, although in favorable situations 

 it is probably the largest tree in the State. The trunk is usually 

 straight, the crown broadly pyramidal, with drooping lower branches, 

 and the bark furrowed, firm but not hard, in age cinnamon brown and 

 very thick. The form of the Rocky Mountain region (including 

 Arizona) is P. glauca Mayr, regarded by some authorities as specifi- 

 cally distinct from the Pacific coast form. The distinguishing char- 

 acters of the two forms are enumerated by Van Dersal. 9 Several 

 other segregate species, of questionable validity, some of them stated 

 to occur in Arizona, were published by F. Flous. 



4. ABIES. 1 " Fir 



Trees; young bark with numerous horizontally elongate resin 

 pockets; leaves evergreen, linear, flat, mostly blunt or notched at apex, 

 or on fruiting branchlets acutish to acuminate; branchlets marked 

 with conspicuous circular scars left by the fallen leaves; cones erect, 

 ovoid-cylindric to nearly globose, with thin deciduous scales much 

 longer than the bracts; seeds winged. 



No species of fir occurs in Arizona in sufficient abundance and 

 accessibility to be commercially important. In other Western States 

 the light, soft, straight-grained wood of the white fir (Abies concolor) is 

 used to a limited extent as saw timber. 



9 Van Dersal. William R. native woody plants of the united states. I". s. Dept. A.gr. Misc. 

 Pub. 303. 1938 (p. 208, footnote). 



10 Reference: Sudworth, George B. the spruce and balsam fir trees of the rocky mountain 



region. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 327. 1916. 



