De I. VNER VEW D Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope

FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE.
RrPRODUCTION.-A moderately prolific seeder, but apparently cones are produced only
at rather long intervals (3 to 5 or more years) ; as yet, however, little exact knowledge
Is available of Its seeding habit and reproduction. Seed of comparatively low germination
and of transient vitality. Exposed, moist, mineral soil appears to be most
favorable seed bed, since most of young growth and seedlings occur on such ground.
Reproduction exceedingly meager, probably, in part at least, on account of long intervals
of seed production and low germination, the destruction of seed by rodents, and the
falling of most of the seed in narrow canyon bottoms from which it is probably washed
by flood waters.
Amabilis Fir.
Abies amabilis (Loud.) Forbes.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS.
Amabilis fir is known by woodsmen as " white " fir or " silver " fir, from the
white, smooth bark. Woodsmen distinguished it from the grand fir (Abies
grandis), also called white fir, as "another variety." To avoid the confusion
resulting from applying the same name to two or more distinct species, it is
desirable to take the name of " amabilis fir," meaning lovely or beautiful fir.
The name is deserved, since the tree is one of the handsomest of its kind. A
most striking characteristic is its smooth, ashy-gray, unbroken bark, conspicuously
marked with large chalky-white areas. Only the old large trees (over 2
or 3 feet in diameter) are seamed at all, and then mainly at the base of the
trunk. It is a straight tree, clear of branches for from 50 to 100 feet in close,
dense stands. Its height in favorable situations is from 150 to 180 feet, sometimes
200 feet, and its diameter from 3 to 5 feet, or rarely 6 feet. In less
favorable sites the height is from 75 to 100 feet and from 18 to 30 inches in
diameter. Trees in the open, even when old, carry a wide, conical crown of
dense, heavily foliaged branches down to -the ground, the top of the cone being
abruptly rounded. Forest-grown trees have a shorter crown of similar form.
All of the branches, except the uppermost, droop strongly, those at the bottom
of the crown most, and with a long curve downward and out from the trunk.
The dense, deep, lustrous-green foliage is a marked feature. The leaves of
lower crown branches (fig. 48) are flat and sharply grooved on the upper side,
white-lined below, and usually with a notch at the end, but sometimes bluntly
pointed. They are about 14 inches long, and, by a twist in the bases of those on
the lower sides of the branches, they appear massed on the top sides. Branches
of the uppermost part of the crown have shorter and stouter leaves, about threefourths
of an inch long, which are sharp-pointed and stand erect in dense
masses on the tops of the sprays (fig. 49). The scattered leaves of the leader
are very keenly pointed. The spherical resin-covered buds of this fir are characteristic,
while twigs of the season are minutely hairy and pale yellowish
brown. The dark purple cones (fig. 49), ripe in September, are about 4 to 51
inches in length by 2k to 2k inches in thickness. The bracts adhering to the
backs of cone scales are rounded at their free ends, gradually narrowing into a
long, thin point. The seeds (fig. 49, a), which fall from the trees in October,
are dull yellowish brown, with shiny light brownish wings. Seed leaves bluntly
pointed and three-fourths to seven-eighths of an inch long. Wood soft, light but
considerably heavier than that of the white or grand firs. It is fine-grained and
light yellowish brown. Rarely cut for lumber, but one of the best of the
soft firs.
LoNGEvITY.-Age limits undetermined. It appears to grow slowly through-
out life and to be only moderately long-lived. Trees from 16 to 24 inches in
diameter are from 175 to 230 years old.
1518S-08-9