Sub-Alpine Fir, Alpine Fir, Rocky Mountain Fir, White Balsam, Balsam Fir

This fir tree get about 90 ft. tall with the trunk getting about 2 ft. thick. The smooth bark is grayish-brown and developes scales and f...Read Moreissures with age. The almost black to dark purplish cones are somewhat cylindrical and are about 4" in length. They stand upright in the upper part of the tree and degrade or fall apart when mature and whats left behind is just the cones' core on the branch. The darker bluish needles have two silver lines on them and spread out or are in two rows. They are curved upward, flat, soft and flexible and have a notched or rounded tip. It occurs in nature in the range of 8000-12,000 ft. elevation in moist and cool Spruce-fir forests. It is the smallest of the 'true' fir trees. The crown of the tree is narrow, long and pointed, with the branches extending not quite to the bottom of the tree. The seeds are eaten by small mammals and birds. Amongst other places in Arizona, this tree can be found at Hannagan Meadow.
It is native to AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA & WY in the USA, and in Canada it is native to AB, BC, NT & YT.

This fir often grows with other firs (notably Douglass Fir), Hemlocks and Pines... can be told apart by relatively soft and short needles...Read More, at least relative to Douglass Fir's needles. It also has upright cones, which most other conifers do not, at least in the Rockies.