# White Fir (Abies concolor)

> White fir, Abies concolor: a large tree of 30 to 80 feet where planted, for zones 3 to 7, 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/white-fir/

![A white fir branch with long, flat, upcurved blue-green needles, with a forested canyon rim beyond](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/white-fir-1000.jpg?v=11f4781f "White fir at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, on September 12, 2016. It first bears cones at about 40 years.")
*Photo: Kenraiz, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAbies_concolor_subsp._concolor_kz01.jpg))*

Large tree, 30 to 80 feet where planted, zones 3 to 7; full sun, part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow white 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 | White Fir |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Concolor fir, Colorado fir, Colorado white fir, Rocky Mountain white fir, California white fir, Sierra white fir, western white fir, white balsam |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 80 where planted; up to 266 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 30 |
| Zones | 3 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | May to July |
| Fruit | Cones, September to October |
| First crop | About 40 years (cones on to past 300) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, and in its relative noble fir a tree's own pollen gives about a third less seed. |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings was at least 416 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on white fir marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Planting season | Spring. The NRCS plant guide calls white fir easily transplanted but somewhat sensitive to a move in fall, and lists the care a fall planting needs. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, dry uplands, rocky ground and stream banks |
| Native in | 9 states |

White fir is native in 9 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America, the Fire Effects Information System, the Jepson eFlora and the NRCS plant guide. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME) and [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=white-fir): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=white-fir): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=white-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=white-fir): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=white-fir): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=white-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=white-fir): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=white-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=white-fir): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=white-fir): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=white-fir): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground and stream banks in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground and stream banks in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground and stream banks in the wild.
- [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md) (*Juglans microcarpa*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground and stream banks in the wild.
- [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 and dry uplands in the wild.
- [Hop Hornbeam](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/index.html.md) (*Ostrya virginiana*): medium tree, 25 to 40 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of white fir in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=white-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 Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.