The Nordmann Fir tree (species name: Abies nordmanniana) is a popular Christmas tree species because of its dark green color, its dense foliage, its rounded needles and its drought resistance which keeps the needles from falling off too soon.
This fir tree species that also goes by the names Caucasian fir or Turkish fir is an evergreen coniferous tree native to the mountains from Turkey to the Rusian Caucas region. I took these photographs in the small ski resort town of "La Molina" in the Pyrenees mountains of Catalunia, Spain. The altitude at this location is 1700 meters above sea level.
As you can see from these images the needle like leaves have a different color pattern on the top and the bottom of the leaves. On the top side they are a solid dark green while on the bottom side they have two whitish lines down each side (another way to describe it is that there are white on the bottom with a dark treen border and a green line down the middle of the flat leafe. These leaves were about 2cm long. Notice also that the leaves are rounded on the ends and even have a slight apex like notch as the ends of some of the leaves.
The cones of this fir species grow at the top of the tall trees but I was able to find a shorter tree with cones where I could get close enough to get a few good images. From what I have read these cones change color as they mature. These young cones had an almost dark blue-green color. The lighter brown colored "exserted bracts" are another distinctive feature of this tree.
The scales of these cones detach and fall off while the stem of the cone remains in the tree. Notice also that these cones grow quite vertical and straight. It is quite common to see a good number of these empty stems on the branches near the top of these trees.
The bark of the Nordmann fir is light gray in color and fairly smooth with blister like bumps.
For a fir tree that is native to Spain check out the "Spanish fir - Abies pinsapo".
That's definitely an interesting conifer. Our predominant species down here is the slash pine, which are resistant to fire, to a degree. Believe it or not, here in the swamps, the pines are our high ground, ... but only a foot or two or three above the cypress.
ReplyDeletewow. very nice photos and info. I post about trees, sometimes, my last tree entry was about ash trees. I blog about urban ecology including wildlife, plants, and trees.
ReplyDeleteMy I love these trees
ReplyDeleteI think this is not normmaniana. It looks more like Abies koreana ...if we take a look at the leaves.
ReplyDeleteDitto to Abies koreana
ReplyDeleteWho took these nice pictures?
ReplyDeleteI vote for koreana as well, based on the needles to short for nordmanniana, and the cones are blue
ReplyDelete