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Fraser fir (Abies fraseri ), Cone of the Month for April, 2024
Illustrated by Mieke Boecker
This high-altitude fir grows on the high peaks of the southern Appalachian Mountains, predominantly on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. It is often found growing with red spruce (Picea rubens). The two can be differentiated by the cones: red spruce has pendulous cones that stay together (indehiscent), and the Fraser fir has cones that grow upward and fall apart scale-by-scale (dehiscent). It is very closely related to the balsam fir (Abies balsamea), sometimes relegated as a subspecies of it.
Fun Fact: This specimen is portrayed with the balsam wooly adelgid, an invasive insect that is decimating this species. :(
Fraser fir (Abies fraseri ), Cone of the Month for April, 2024
Illustrated by Mieke Boecker
This high-altitude fir grows on the high peaks of the southern Appalachian Mountains, predominantly on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. It is often found growing with red spruce (Picea rubens). The two can be differentiated by the cones: red spruce has pendulous cones that stay together (indehiscent), and the Fraser fir has cones that grow upward and fall apart scale-by-scale (dehiscent). It is very closely related to the balsam fir (Abies balsamea), sometimes relegated as a subspecies of it.
Fun Fact: This specimen is portrayed with the balsam wooly adelgid, an invasive insect that is decimating this species. :(