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Fir ID w/many many pictures of other fir species

treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY

16 years ago

I went a little nuts taking pictures in the Cornell Plantations' fir grove today. If you can, please ID the mystery fir species. Also, I'm doubtful that the various A. homolepis and A. nephrolepis are ID'd correctly. Let me know what y'all think:

A. nephrolepis:

A. nephrolepis cloes up:

A. homolepis specimen #1:

A. homolepis specimen #1 bark detail:

A. homolepis specimen #2:

A. homolepis specimen #2 needle detail:

A. homolepis specimen #2 trunk detail w/Pinus strobus cone for scale:

A. veitchii:

A. veitchii trunk detail:

A. veitchii needle detail:

Mystery Fir:

Mystery Fir needle detail:

Mystery Fir bark detail:

A. homolepis specimen #3:

A. homolepis specimen #3 needle detail:

A. chensiensis var. ernestii (synonym for A. recurvata var. ernestii?):

A. chensiensis var. ernestii needle detail #1:

A. chensiensis var. ernestii needle detail #2:

A. chensiensis var. ernestii needle detail #3:

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Comments (7)

clement_2006
16 years ago
Hello,

In my opinion,
1)your Abies nephrolepis are not a nephrolepis.
2)Abies homolepis #1 are not homolepis
3)your abies veitchii are similar to sachalinensis.
and 4) the mystery fir is abies veitchii,with the typical foliage and also his typical trunk not circular.
ClÃ©ment
Belgium
pineresin
16 years ago
"A. nephrolepis" and "A. homolepis"#1 both look to be A. holophylla to me.

A. homolepis #2 and #3 are both correct.

Mystery tree I don't think is A. veitchii, the needles are a bit too broad, even though the trunk looks OK. Would ideally like to see a [seed] cone from it [those are pollen cones on the pic above].

Resin
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treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
Original Author
16 years ago
The "mystery fir" is a little too tall for me to get a decent picture of seed cones. That might have to wait until fall anyway; I don't think I spotted any remaining after winter.

Is A. chensiensis var. ernestii = A. recurvata var. ernestii? This is the first time I've seen this species and variety in person. I love the very thick dark green needles, stiff branches, and needle retention (some branches looked like they had 8 or 9+ years of healthy needles still going strong!
wisconsitom
16 years ago
Re: Mystery fir bark detail photo......looks like garlic mustard is doing well there too! I'm convinced that crap IS going to take over the N. hemisphere.

Thanks for some great views of some great trees!

+oM
pineresin
16 years ago
"Is A. chensiensis var. ernestii = A. recurvata var. ernestii?"

Yep, same thing. It does fit in A. recurvata better, too, the only difference being slightly longer needles. Agree it's a nice tree.

Resin
treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks all for the input. I'll have to let the staff know their A. nephrolepis and A. homolepis #1 are mis-identified. Seeing the needles of the mature A. homolepis and your confirmation of their ID, I'm thinking my 18" A. homolepis seedlings are either nephrolepis or holophylla. It'll be a miracle if they completely change their needle confirmation on me! Also excited to see what my seedling A. recurvata var. ernestii will look like in 20 years.
pineresin
16 years ago
Hi Treeguy,

Any idea of the origin (seed source) of your putative Abies homolepis? If from a nursery, can you contact them to ask?

Resin

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