White fir is a pyramidal evergreen tree that can grow to 180' tall but would rarely reach that height in Southern California. Abies concolor is our only member of the genus. Young bark is white to gray and fairly smooth with older bark aging to gray brown or almost black and deeply furrowed. The needles are light to bluish green, tapering to the base, and when removed leave a leaf scar that is flush with the surface of the stem. The needles are typically 3-6 cm in length and are oriented in an upright or ascending manner from the branch, but this is not always the case, sometimes being two-ranked on lower branches. The leaf underside shows pale stomatiferous bands separated by a median keel. The female cones are 6-12 cm in length, greenish to brownish, and are usually present more toward the top of the tree, and erect from a persistent axis, while the male cones are more reddish. White firs are found on drier slopes above 6000' throughout the mountains of Southern California.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Abies 2) concolor.
Pronunciation: AY-bees KON-ko-lor.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.