Range of Abies fraseri (2).
Common Names
Fraser fir, southern balsam fir (4), balsam, she-balsam.
Taxonomic notes
Syn: Pinus fraseri Pursh 1814 (4). "Some (e.g., Jacobs et al. 1984) have argued that Fraser fir is at the end of a disjunct cline of balsam fir [ Abies balsamea ] and perhaps does not deserve separate specific status. A.E. Matzenko (1968) took the opposite view, classifying Fraser fir and balsam fir in different taxonomic series of the genus" (4).
Description
Trees to 25 m tall and 75 cm dbh; "crown spirelike. Bark gray, thin, smooth, with age developing appressed reddish scales at trunk base. Branches diverging from trunk at right angles; twigs opposite, pale yellow-brown, pubescence reddish. Buds exposed, light brown, conic, small, resinous, apex acute; basal scales short, broad, equilaterally triangular, glabrous, resinous, margins entire, apex sharp-pointed. Leaves 1.2-2.5 cm × 1.5-2 mm, 2-ranked, particularly in lower parts of tree, to spiraled, flexible; cross section flat, grooved adaxially; odor turpentinelike, strong; abaxial surface with (8)10(12) stomatal rows on each side of midrib; adaxial surface dark lustrous green, sometimes slightly glaucous, with 0-3 stomatal rows at midleaf, these more numerous toward leaf apex; apex slightly notched to rounded; resin canals large, ± median, away from margins and midway between abaxial and adaxial epidermal layers. Pollen cones at pollination reddish yellow or yellowish green. Seed cones cylindric, 3.5-6 × 2.5-4 cm, dark purple overlaid with yellowish green bracts, sessile, apex round; scales ca. 0.7-1 × 1-1.3 cm, pubescent; bracts exserted and reflexed over cone scales. Seeds 4-5 × 2-3 mm, body brown; wing about as long as body, purple; cotyledons ca. 5. 2 n =24" (4).
Range
USA: Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina at 1500 m in mountain forests; of conservation concern due to its relative rarity (4). See also (5).
Big Tree
Height 29 m, dbh 97 cm, crown spread 18 m; at High Hampton Inn in NC (3).
Oldest
An unsupported figure of about 150 years is given in (2).
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Remarks
Citations
(1) Silba 1986 .(2) Burns & Honkala 1990 .
(3) American Forests 1996 .
(4) Richard S. Hunt at the Flora of North America web site .
(5) Robert S. Thompson, Katherine H. Anderson and Patrick J. Bartlein. 1999. Atlas of Relations Between Climatic Parameters and Distributions of Important Trees and Shrubs in North America. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1650 A&B. URL= http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/ppapers/p1650-a/pages/conifers.html .
See also:
Vidakovic 1991
.
FEIS database
.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/pi/ab/fraseri.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:
earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 22-Jan-2000