Abies amabilis, commonly known as the Pacific silver fir, is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range. It is also commonly referred to in English as the white fir, red fir, lovely fir, amabilis fir, Cascades fir, or silver fir.[
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Description
The tree is a large evergreen conifer growing to , exceptionally tall,[ The leaf arrangement is spiral on the shoot, but with each leaf variably twisted at the base so they lie flat to either side of and above the shoot, with none below the shoot. The shoots are orange-red with dense velvety pubescence.]
The conifer cone are long and broad, dark purple before maturity;
The tree can live to over 400 years old.
Similar species
Pacific silver fir is very closely related to Abies mariesii (Maries' fir) from Japan, which is distinguished by its slightly shorter leaves, being long, and smaller cones, which are long.
Etymology
The species name is Latin for 'lovely'.[
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Distribution and ecology
The species is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range from the extreme southeast of Alaska, through western British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, to the extreme northwest of California. It grows from sea level to in the north of the range, and to in the south of the range. Populations on the east slope of the Cascades are confined to elevations above in Washington and in Oregon.
It is always found in temperate rainforests with relatively high precipitation and cool, humid summers. Growing in dense stands, it prospers in Shade tolerance and snow.
On northeastern Vancouver Island, Pacific silver fir grows along with western hemlock in dense forests with sparse understory vegetation. Another type of forest dominated by western redcedar and western hemlock with more open canopies and an understories composed primarily of salal ( Gaultheria shallon) also occurs in the area. The two forest types occur in areas with very similar environmental conditions and are separated by sharp boundaries, often less than wide. Western redcedar recruitment is nearly absent in the western hemlock–Pacific silver fir forest type, and there is no evidence of a transitional stage between the two types. It has been hypothesized that, once established, these forest types are self-sustaining and are unlikely to change unless a major disturbance occurs.
Uses
Indigenous Nations, including the Nuxalk, Haisla people, and Kitasoo, used A. amabilis for medicinal purposes.
In addition to medicinal uses, hardened pitch of the plant was sometimes chewed for pleasure by the Ditidaht Peoples.
The wood is soft and not very strong; settlers thus tended to use this species for paper making, packing crates, and other cheap construction work.
Seeds were not brought to England for cultivation until the 19th century. David Douglas first transported seed abroad in 1825.
