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Are spruce and fir related?
The conifer family of trees includes spruces, firs, and pines, but also includes redwoods, hemlocks, cypresses, yews, and junipers. Oregon, Washington and Northern California are famous for their conifer forests, which can contain hundreds of trees per acre.
What type of tree is a spruce?
coniferspruce, (genus Picea), genus of about 40 species of evergreen ornamental and timber trees in the conifer family Pinaceae, native to the temperate and cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Spruce pulp is important in the paper industry, and timber from the trees is used in a variety of applications.
What type of tree is a fir tree?
evergreen coniferous treesFirs (Abies) are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
Is Douglas fir a spruce?
Douglas fir, which has sometimes been called the Douglas tree, Oregon pine, and Douglas spruce, is not actually a true fir, a pine, or a spruce.
What is the difference between a spruce and a fir tree?
Spruce and fir trees have their needles attached individually to the branches. To tell spruce and fir trees apart, it helps to know that spruce needles are sharply pointed, square and easy to roll between your fingers. Fir needles, on the other hand, are softer, flat and cannot be rolled between your fingers.
What are types of spruce?
Norway spruceBlue spruceWhite sprucePicea omorikaBlack spruceSitka spruceSpruce/Lower classifications
What is the most common fir tree?
1. Fraser Fir Christmas Tree. Known for its ideal full shape, the Fraser fir is considered one of the most popular and best-selling Christmas trees in the US.
What trees are in the fir family?
Douglas, Fraser, balsam, white fir, and others True firs are in the genus Abies, and there are between 40 and 55 species of these evergreen conifers worldwide. They are members of the pine family (Pinaceae) and can be distinguished from other pines by their needlelike leaves.
Are pine and spruce the same?
This is an easy tip to remember: on pine trees, needles are attached and attached to the branches in clusters; on spruce trees, needles are attached individually. A longleaf pine – which you can tell is a pine because its needles are attached in bundles.
What wood is like spruce?
Lookalikes:Fir/Hemlock – Fir (Abies spp.) and hemlock (Tsuga spp.) are both very similar to spruce in appearance and weight.
Are pine and fir trees the same?
Although both fir and pine trees are conifers, bearing cones, and members of the same plant family, Pinaceae, their plant group names are different. Fir trees are members of the genus Abies; whereas pine trees belong to Pinus.
Is spruce better than pine?
Difference between Spruce and Pine Lumber The color of Spruce is white, and it is even and is more consistent than Pine while also possessing a better weight ratio and strength. Compared to Pine, it also has low decay resistance and is ideal for trimming and molding.
What is the difference between a spruce and a pine tree?
This is an easy tip to remember: on pine trees, needles are attached and attached to the branches in clusters; on spruce trees, needles are attached individually. A longleaf pine – which you can tell is a pine because its needles are attached in bundles.
Is a spruce tree a gymnosperm or angiosperm?
gymnospermsConifers like the spruce, cedar and pine tree are gymnosperms and have seeds on cones.
Is spruce a hardwood?
Softwoods are frequently used as building materials. Examples of softwood trees are cedar, Douglas fir, juniper, pine, redwood, spruce, and yew. Hardwood refers to wood from broad-leaved trees such as oak, ash or beech.
Are spruce trees Christmas trees?
The three most popular types of Christmas trees are fir, spruce, and pine. All of these are coniferous evergreens that feature close-set needles. However, each has its own characteristics that set it apart from the others.
How to tell if a fir tree is a spruce tree?
One of the best ways to tell if you are looking at a spruce tree or a fir tree is to simply look at and feel the needles. Both trees are evergreen conifers, which means that they will have needles all year long. That means no matter the season you can always use the needles to help you identify the tree. Take one of the needles off of the tree.
What is the difference between fir and spruce needles?
One more hint about the needles. Spruce needles tend to be sharp and pointy while fir needles are a bit softer.
Which tree cones point down towards the ground?
The exception to this is a Douglas Fir. In contrast, the cones on spruce trees tend to point down towards the ground. Spruce cones point down towards the ground. Photo via Flickr.
Do fir cones fall?
Fir – NOT Fall – the cones stand cup and don’t fall or point down towards the ground. One more hint about the cones is to look on the ground. Cones of spruce trees will fall off the tree in their entire cone. This means you can find spruce cones on the ground under the trees.
How to tell if a tree is a spruce?
When examining a tree, look closely at the shape of the needles. If they are square shaped and break apart easily when you examine them, chances are, you are looking at a spruce. After examining the needles, it’s time to take a look at the cones.
How to tell if a spruce is a conifer?
Residential tree services report that the spruce is one of the most popular of all the conifers. To recognize a spruce, you should first look at the needles. While almost all conifers have needles, not all needles are the same.
How many needles does a pine tree have?
Pine Trees. True pine trees will have needles in clusters of two, three, or five. The needles are soft to the touch and can be very long; the longest pine needles grow to a whopping 16 inches! The branches of a pine tree don’t grow in as thickly as on spruce or fir trees; they can be rather sparse across the trunk of the tree.
What is the name of the tree with the needles attached to the branches?
Fir Trees. Another extremely popular conifer, fir trees are generally tall and very narrow in appearance. Much like spruce trees, firs have individual needles attached directly to the branches. These needles are usually attached to the branches by something resembling a suction cup in appearance.
What is the class of trees that are part of the conifer division?
Spruce, fir and pine trees are all part of one particular class of tree known as pinopsida. Pinopsida is the only remaining class in the conifer division of plants; most conifers are trees, although they can also be shrubs. While the different species of conifers can vary widely in the characteristics, they all have a few things in common.
What is the final part of a tree to examine?
The final part of the tree to examine is the bark ; however, different subspecies of the same tree can sport wildly different types of bark , so this method is not necessarily the most reliable. Even so, spruce trees usually have a rough and scaly bark .
What does a pine cone look like?
However, as they mature, they will become brown, woody, and with much less give to them. Pine trees also have a very distinctive, jagged, and flaky bark that doesn’t look like that of other trees.
How to tell if a spruce tree is fir or spruce?
To tell spruce and fir trees apart, it helps to know that spruce needles are sharply pointed, square and easy to roll between your fingers. Fir needles, on the other hand, are softer, flat and cannot be rolled between your fingers. Spruce needles are attached to small, stalk-like woody projections.
What is a conifer tree?
The term “conifer,” which describes most of the evergreen trees that are so familiar in the Iowa landscape, includes several species that can be distinguished by a variety of their characteristics, including needles, cones and bark. Is it a pine, a fir or a spruce tree?
How to tell if a conifer is a pine tree?
The surest way to identify conifers is to examine the needles and cones along with the bark. In general the bark of pine trees is smooth on young trees but develops a flaky, reddish-brown color with age.
What to do if conifer tree needles are yellow?
As long as the color change is in the inner portion of the tree and in the fall, the homeowner should have no worries. If the needle discoloration is on this year's growth or at a different time of the year than fall or winter, then you should send some samples into the disease clinic to see what is happening. So instead of worrying, enjoy the brilliant yellow fall color of your conifer trees.
What type of pine has a red peeling bark?
Scots pines have a particularly orange/red peeling bark. White pines can have smooth bark, even when mature. The bark on spruce trees is generally rough to touch and becomes furrowed and scaly with age. Fir trees have smooth bark that is often grayish when young, but develops a furrowed appearance as it ages.
How to identify conifers?
On true pine trees, the needles are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of two ( red pine group), three (yellow pine group), or five (white pine group) needles per cluster.
How long are sugar pine cones?
For example the sugar pine cones range in size from 8 inches long to more than 26 inches long. Bark. Bark alone is not a fully reliable indicator of the type of conifer you have.
Why do Norway spruce leaves look silver?
Like all silver firs the leaves tend to look silver when viewed from below because the needles have 2 broad white bands underneath. The Norway Spruce has an orange shoot and white lines on the needles. Where the needle joins the shoot is a wooden peg characteristic of all Spruces.
What is the color of the silver fir?
The European Silver Fir has two white bands underneath and there is a green pad where the needle joins the shoot. This is typical of all Silver Firs and differs from all Spruces, which have a woody peg.
How do you tell the difference between spruce species ?
On a spruce leaves (needles) could be flat or angled. With the Norway they tend to be angled, sort of having four sides. Sitka needles usually are flat. In fact the Collins book describes Sitka needles as “much flattened”.
What is the most common spruce in Europe?
The Norway spruce ( Picea abies) is the most common in Europe. The book describes them “an uncomfortable bunch”. To help me remember botanically, I use s piky s pruce so I can relate to the uncomfortable bunch description. scaly spruce bark.
What does it look like when you pull a needle off a fir tree?
If you pull a needle off a small scar will be left. You can see a small green scar where I have pulled out a leaf from the Grecian fir (image to right). The scar can just be seen to left of the text on the twig. It looks like a sort of round sucker. Cones on fir trees are upright and erect.
What are the cones on a fir tree?
Cones on fir trees are upright and erect. Think of soldiers standing to attention. They disintegrate on the tree so you will rarely find a cone on the ground unlike spruce or pine cones. The featured header photograph for this post shows cones on an Abies (fir) tree growing beside the church in Foix in the Ariege. You can clearly see the upright cones.
Which has more spiky needles: fir or spruce?
Picea or spruce usually will have more spiky needles than the fir. I think of Spiky Spruce, Feathery Fir. Okay so Abies aren’t what you would call feathery, more leathery really, but they are more ‘feathery’ than the spiky Picea.
What is the shape of a spruce cone?
they hang down. The size of the cone varies. The Norway usually has larger, longer cones between 10-20cm. Cones have a sort of curve shape to them. You may notice in the images above. They are not hard like pine cones. In fact they are almost papery-like and squishy.
Where does the Abies grandis fir come from?
Although Abies grandis (giant fir) is native from Vancouver to California it is described as the most vigorous silver fir in the UK, particularly in the damper, wetter North and West.
How to tell if a spruce is a fir?
You can tell this is a spruce by its stiff, pointed needles that aren’t flat like fir needles. Photo: zenseekers.com. First, the spruce has a 4-angled needle, meaning you can roll it between your thumb and forefinger. A fir needle is 2-angled and therefore flat, so you can’t roll it. Or touch the tip of the needle.
What is the difference between a spruce needle and a fir needle?
A spruce needle will be stiff, sharp and prickly while a fir needle is usually rounded or notched at the end. In the few species where it is pointed, the tip remains soft and flexible, not prickly. The underside of a fir needle shows two white stripes.
How to tell if a fir tree has cones?
Mature spruces and firs both bear cones (which is why we call them conifers) and if they are at that stage in their life (younger tree rarely produce cones), you can tell the two apart from a distance just by looking at the cones.
Where do firs grow?
And both are native to the northern hemisphere, typically growing in mountains or in northern regions.
Is spruce a cut Christmas tree?
It is easier for us, since spruce are almost never available as cut Christmas trees, and are not grown for such locally. Even in landscapes, spruce are rare, and most of the rare spruce are blue spruce, which are easy to distinguish from firs.
Is the fir tree in the Northeast?
Could be further West. In the Northeast, its mostly fir.
Do spruce needles have white lines?
Also, the underside of the fir needle has two white lines; spruce needles don’t. Finally, if you can see the bark (on commercially grown trees, it’s often totally hidden by branches), that of a spruce tree is usually rough; that of a fir tree will be smooth, at least on Christmas tree size specimens.
How are fir trees distinguished from other pine trees?
Firs are distinguished from other pines by needle-like leaves that attach singly to the branches. This is in contrast to spruce trees, which have paired needles with a hinge-like base, and pine needles, which are bunched in clusters. Fir trees are also distinguished by cones that stand upright on the branches like candles. Fir tree cones are softer than other cones of coniferous trees, and they come apart at the end of the season to spread their seeds.
How long are fir trees?
This fir species produces an essential oil with a fragrance of pine. The flattened needs are 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches long, a glossy dark-green with two whitish bands on the bottom sides. The seed cones are 3 1/2 to about 7 inches long, greenish when young and dark brown when mature. Historically, this was the first species to be used as Christmas trees in Europe.
What is the fastest growing fir tree?
The grand fir is one of the fastest-growing fir tree species, as well as one of the tallest. The three-inch cones turn reddish-brown as they mature. The two and a half-inch flat needles are shiny dark green on the top with two white lines on the undersides and release an orange fragrance when crushed. The bark is smooth and gray. This tree has a number of regional common names, including great silver fir, giant fir, Oregon fir, lowland white fir, Vancouver fir, western white fir, yellow fir, and great fir.
What is the most common tree for Christmas?
The most common Abies species used for traditional Christmas trees are the balsam fir, Fraser fir , noble fir, and Nordmann fir. Firs are distinguished from other pines by ...
What is a balsam fir tree?
A popular choice as a Christmas tree, the balsam fir also yields aromatic oils and resins and is used for making paper. This narrow tree grows in a symmetrical, pyramidal to a conical shape with flat, shiny dark green needles up to one inch long. This tree is sensitive to heat and often struggles in climates warmer than zone 5. It is not very tolerant of urban climates but remains a common choice as a landscape tree.
What does a hedgehog fir look like?
This fir tree species has female cones that look like raspberries. The needles are very sharp, inspiring another common name, hedgehog fir. The smooth bark is dark gray, gradually turning rough and scaly as the tree ages. The needles are short (about 1/2 inch long) and pale green-blue in color. The cylindrical cones are 3 1/2 to 12 inches long.
Why is the red fir tree called the red fir tree?
Also known regionally as California red fir, Shasta fir, or silvertip, the red fir gets its principal common name because the bark turns dark red as it matures. The smooth, gray bark of young trees becomes rough and orange-red on older trees. The blue-green needles are typically 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long. The seed cones are 3 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches long, yellow-green in color, ripening to brown. This tree does not handle drought well but has good frost tolerance.
