Short Description
The noble fir is an evergreen tree that can reach heights of over 80 metres and trunk diameters of over two metres.
The needles grow in a spiral around the twig and are usually brush-shaped and point upwards. They are blue-green and have a whitish sheen. The needles that are in the shade are dark green.
The trunk is straight and columnar. The crown is relatively light and symmetrically conical. The bark is grey and peels off in rectangular plates.
The male flowers are reddish and point downwards. The female flowers are inconspicuous, yellowish and usually stand singly on the upper side of the twigs.
The ripe cones are brownish and contain numerous reddish-brown winged seeds.
Features
Noble fir
Abies procera
blue-green needles
upright cones
In the city
In the city it is mainly found as an ornamental tree in parks, but also occasionally in private gardens. It prefers moderately warm and light sites with soils poor in lime.
Fun Facts
The cones grow up to 24 centimetres long. The noble fir thus has the largest cones of all fir species.
It flowers from May to June.
Noble firs with blue needles belong to a special variety of noble fir. This variety is popular as an ornamental plant and is often planted.
It is the third most popular Christmas tree in Germany. In Ireland, it is even the most common Christmas tree.
- Endangerment level Germany: not evaluated
It originally comes from North America. In Europe, the noble fir was increasingly introduced at the beginning of the 20th century as an ornamental tree or Christmas tree. It belongs to the group of non-native plants (neophytes).
The wood of the noble fir is very suitable as building and construction timber. During the Second World War, even aeroplanes were made from its wood.
Sources
Habitus, mamamusings on Flickr , CC BY-SA 2.0, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Abies_procera_MtStHelens.jpg/800px-Abies_procera_MtStHelens.jpg
Männliche Blütenzapfen, Roger Griffith, CC0, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Male_Cones_of_Noble_Fir.JPG/1280px-Male_Cones_of_Noble_Fir.JPG
Weibliche Zapfen, Elrond, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Weibliche_Zapfen_der_Edeltanne_%28Abies_procera%2902.JPG/800px-Weibliche_Zapfen_der_Edeltanne_%28Abies_procera%2902.JPG
02.JPG/800px-Weibliche_Zapfen_der_Edeltanne_(Abies_procera)02.JPG){kind=link}
Page „Edel-Tanne“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 31.07.2016, 09:19 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edel-Tanne&oldid=156598354 (Accessed: 03.04.2017).