A tree of the first size, usually growing up to 30-40 m (max. 60 m)
The trunk is straight, non-converging, the branches are in whorls, almost horizontally sticking out (later quite thick)
The crown is regular, conical in youth, cylindrical in age, bluntly ended - flattened (creates a so-called stork's nest), is stable in shape - does not grow
The bark is smooth when young, whitish gray to silvery gray
Ross, which is created at an older age, mostly at the base of the trunk is usually brown-grey, irregularly cracked in a scaly manner
The root system is circular, later heart-shaped, ensuring a relatively high resistance of the white fir to being overturned by the wind
Buds
Bluntly ovoid, red-brown, without resin (sometimes they are resin-based)
Shoots
shoots are gray olive green, covered with yellowish to black hairs, later glabrous, smooth
Leaves (assimilation organs)
Needle-shaped, 20 - 30 x 2 - 3 mm large, flat, dark green on top, shiny, underside with two distinct bands of silvery vents, bluntly pointed or cut out at the end, converging into a stem at the base , on the branch they set elliptically with an expanded base
They last 8-11 years, after they fall off they leave an elliptical scar on the branch and unlike spruce, the branch is smooth
They are arranged in a spiral:
on shaded and barren branches they curl into two rows
at the top of the crown and on the fertile and illuminated branches are sickle-like upright, pointed
Flowers
Monoecious tree, flowers of different sexes, blooms IV – V
♂ - pine cones are 2-3 cm long, cylindrical, yellowish, grow at the base of the needles on the underside of last year's branches, are established already in autumn and are covered with stronger leathery covering scales
♀ - cones are up to 6 cm long, oblong-cylindrical, upright, grow on the upper side of last year's branches only on the 3-4 highest whorls, seed scales are pinkish at the time of flowering covered with green supporting scales, similarly to male flowers also females ones are established already in autumn on the upper side of the twig (as larger buds)
Fruits – seeds
The fruit is an upright cone, ripening cones are green to purple, ripe cones are brown with oozes of resin, upright, 10 - 25 x 3 - 5 cm large, cylindrical with thin protruding supporting scales, ripen IX – X, after ripening, the cones on the trees gradually disintegrate and only the middle spindle remains on the branch (even for several years)
The seed is 8 - 13 mm long, almost triangular, bumpy, brown, shiny with a firmly attached up to 25 mm long brown to purple wing, it is strongly aromatic (smells of resin), looseness is 14%, germination rate is low 35 - 40% and will keep it for only 0.5 years, fir in the forest does not begin to bear fruit until around 60 years old
the seedling has 5-6 needle-like butt-ended cotyledons, on which two bands of light stomata are less significant on the upper side
Extension
The range of distribution cocerning fir is disjointed, limited to the mountain systems of southern and central Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathian arc, Balkan peninsula)
In Slovakia, the wood is from the foothills to the highlands, from 300 – 1,100 (High Tatras 1,260) m above sea level., the optimum expansion is in 4-6 LVS
Ecology
Fir is a shade tree of an oceanic climate (shooting and growth maintains its vitality even in the shade of the mother plant)
It requires soils well supplied with nutrients, fresh to moist with enough moisture (600-700 mm of annual precipitation), it avoids too dry, but also too wet soils, it grows well on various geological substrates
It is sensitive to temperature extremes (especially damaged by early and late frosts), but also to pollution by immissions
Creates mixed stands (does not form homogeneous stands) with spruce and beech, which are among the most stable and productive stand structures (stand stock 500 - 600 m3 / ha)
Fir grows very slowly when young, the maximum height increase is reached from 40-60 years
In advanced age, the top stops growing and creates the already mentioned so-called stork's nest
Significance
Fir is the bearer of volume increase in the stand
Its share in Slovak forests (representation) is approx. 4.0%
Amelioration wood (the fallow improves the soil to a certain extent and enriches it with nutrients)
The wood is coreless, light gray (sometimes with a purplish tinge), relatively light, flexible, easy to split - it does not contain resin, smells fresh when cut (of vinegar)
Use of wood – furniture production, construction in the past water structures (bridges, ...), shingle
Sorcerer - a source of material in ornamental horticulture
