Abies grandis
Grand Fir
The Grand Fir (Abies grandis, syn: A. excelsior ), also called giant fir, is a plant of the genus fir (Abies ) of the family (Pinaceae ).
Dissemination
The Grand Fir is native to western North America. Their range extends along the Pacific coast of Vancouver Iceland and British Columbia over Washington and Oregon to northwestern California. Separated these, it is also used in domestic east front to Idaho and western Montana.
The Grand Fir rises to altitudes of 1600 meters. It prefers deep, rich, moist but well drained soils. Often it grows along rivers. It forms pure stands or mixed forests with Douglas fir, Western Larch, Sitka spruce and western hemlock American.
In Central Europe, the Grand Fir is one of the most important forestry exotic wood species, mainly in Atlantic climate area. Firstly, it is very fast growing: from the age of five she makes annual shoots up to one meter in length and takes accordingly quickly on the trunk diameter to. It can reach a height of 40 meters and a diameter of 50 centimeters within 50 years. Secondly, it is more tolerant than the white pine across from the site. However, there is a susceptibility to root pathogenic fungi such as Armillaria.
Description
The Grand Fir is rare to 2.5 meters reached an evergreen tree, the growth heights of up to 85 meters and trunk diameter ( DBH ) of usually 1.55. Their maximum age is 300 years. The tree crown up to an advanced age, in contrast to the silver fir and the Colorado, fir, always pointed cone-shaped - flattened, roundish " Stork - crown " is extremely rare. It is also characteristic of the coastal pine, in contrast to European spruce, a very vollholziger or difficult to pick up ziger tribe. The bark is brownish gray with resin blisters on young trees and remains far from smooth even with a total plant height of about 30 meters. The bark on the lower trunk thirds of old trees is dull - gray to purplish - gray and breaking up into small fields.
The dark purple, harzverklebten buds are hidden with 2 mm very small and under the needles. The needles are very shallow parted and arranged in two levels. The top row is shorter than the bottom with 2.5 to 5.5 centimeters to from 1.6 to 3 centimeters. The needles crushed aromatic smell of oranges.
The heyday of the Grand Fir is from April to May The Grand Fir is monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The male cones are bluish - red, purple, orange, yellow or green. The female cones are light green, dark blue or dark purple during flowering. Ripening cylindrical pins have a length of 5 to 12 centimeters and a diameter of 3 to 3.5 cm; they are first pale green or gray and reddish brown when ripe. The 6-8 × 3-4 mm large seeds ripen in September and have a wing, which is about one and a half times as long as the seed. The seedlings usually have five to six (four to seven) cotyledons ( cotyledons ).
Wood utilization
Disadvantage is the low quality of the wood is mostly used due to its softness only for making paper.
Silvicultural treatment is crucial for the quality of the wood of grand fir.
Large coastal fir specimens
- Giant fir on Duckabush River Trail, Olympic National Park, WA. Altitude 77 meters, trunk diameter 185 cm, stem volume 68.3 m³ ( 1988)
- Fir on the Chilliwack River, BC. Altitude 75 feet, trunk diameter 220 centimeters
- Giant Fir in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, WA. 81.4 meters height, trunk diameter 158 cm, stem volume 53.0 m³ ( 1993)
Swell
- Christopher J. Earle: Abies grandis. In: The Gymnosperm Database. May 22, 2011, retrieved November 4, 2011 (English).
- Ernst Roehrig (eds): Recent basis for the cultivation of Abies grandis. Writings from the Forestry Faculty of the University of Göttingen and the Lower Saxony Forest Research Institute, Volume 71 Sauerland, Frankfurt am Main 1981, ISBN 3-7939-5071-9.