Subalpine fir

Description:

Subalpine fir has a very distinctive crown that is slender and spire-like. The upper several feet of the crown may have a diameter of less than 1 foot. The branches of this tree persist on the trunk right to the ground. This tree seldom exceeds 90 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter at maturity.

Habitat:

Subalpine fir is a middle to upper elevation mountain conifer. It generally occupies sites with a short growing season caused by cold winters, cool summers, frequent summer frosts, and heavy snowpack. It forms extensive forests between warm and dry lower elevation forests of Douglas-fir, white fir, lodgepole pine, or blue spruce, and higher elevation alpine tundra. At its lower elevational limits, subalpine fir is often restricted to streambottoms, ravines, frosty basins, or north exposures. It increasingly occupies westerly and easterly aspects with increasing elevation and may occupy all aspects at upper timberline. It is shade tolerant.

Notes:

viewed at 9000 ft