# Pacific Silver Fir (Abies amabilis)

> Pacific silver fir, Abies amabilis: its height and zones, when it sheds pollen and bears cones, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/pacific-silver-fir/

![The top of a young Pacific silver fir holding upright dark purple cones above a forested valley](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/pacific-silver-fir-1000.jpg?v=4cc39b8f "Pacific silver fir with young cones on the Crystal Peak Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, on August 20, 2011. It typically lives 250 to 500 years.")
*Photo: brewbooks, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAbies_amabilis_Crystal_Peak_Trail.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 80 feet where planted, zones 5 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow Pacific silver fir, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Pacific Silver Fir |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Silver fir, Cascades fir, Cascade fir, amabilis fir, lovely fir |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 80 where planted; up to 236 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 5 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Pollen | April to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to October |
| First crop | 20 to 30 years |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and can fertilize itself, and the wind carries the pollen. In its relative noble fir, a tree's own pollen gives about a third less seed. |
| Lifespan | Typically lives 250 to 500 years, and the oldest dated one was at least 900. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes and floodplain forests |
| Native in | 4 states |

Pacific silver fir is native in 4 states: [Alaska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=pacific-silver-fir): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=pacific-silver-fir:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares floodplain forests in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of Pacific silver fir in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=pacific-silver-fir)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Oregon State University Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and Oecologia.