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Characteristics
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The distinguishing characteristics of the Silver Fir are the special fir tree needle aroma as well as the upright standing pine cones, from which the winged seeds free themselves in autumn.
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Just like us humans, trees also have distinctive characteristics. Even so, it doesn‘t stop us from being mistaken for someone else. The Silver Fir also known as the Fir tree has the same problem. It is often confused with the common fir or Spruce fir. When we refer to a Fir tree, we are really referring to the botanically correct Spruce Fir or Picea abies. It‘s no wonder that the Silver Fir is disappearing from our forests when even the sawyers and carpenters can hardly tell the difference between the Spruce and the Fir. At the same time, it has to be said that the external characteristics of the Silver Fir cannot be overlooked. The pine cones of the conifers are green in the summer and brown in the fall and winter, and are usually from Spruce trees if they have fallen from the branches and are lying around on the forest floor. The winged seeds, including the scales, of the Silver Fir, on the other hand, break away from the upright cones in autumn, and are blown away by the wind. All that is then left, is the empty spindle. Another distinction from the Spruce are the needles, but here we have to look a little closer. I would bet that a Fir tree lover could pick out the Silver Fir‘s Turpentine-balsam scent from a thousand other scents in the woods. The branches of Spruce trees are bushy and the needles grow in a circular form around the branch. The Silver Fir needles, on the other hand, have a parting and look more silver on the underside because the needle has two noticeable white lines of wax. The Silver Fir got its name because of its greyish-white trunk, in contrast to the reddish brown trunk of the Spruce. The Silver Fir can grow to the height of a church steeple. The Queen of the Forest is not only noble, but also a giant as long as it isn‘t felled prematurely. This species of tree was not only responsible for the Christmas tree in Europe‘s olden days, but also for the almightiest tree population of all time, only to be outdone by the unbeatable North American trees. If they are left to grow in their natural habitat, the Silver Fir can achieve 10 times the volume of wood as another mature tree can produce when taken to the sawmill. The sturdiest Fir tree in the Black Forest, or for that matter, in the whole of Germany, is the „Grandfather of all trees“ near Freudenstadt. It‘s trunk measures 36.5 solid cubic meters at a height of 45 meters. Quite a few other Silver Firs in the Black Forest are close to the record holder in age, height and circumference. This doesn‘t include the 40 mighty fir tree trunks that were used as the skeletal structure for the wooden roof construction of the German pavilion at the Expo in Hanover. The age of the „Grandfather tree“ in the Black Forest has been estimated as being about 300, but in the last of the European virgin forests they have found Silver Firs that are twice as old. Their trunks are said to be 3.8 meters in circumference with a height of over 60 meters! |
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