Silver fir
The Wood Guide · The forests
The forest series · tree portraitSilver fir
Not a spruce and not a pine, but an Abies. You recognise it by something no other conifer in our region does: its cones stand upright.
- Abies alba
- Cones stand upright
- Resin-free wood
Silver fir in brief
Of the genus Abies — botanically a group of its own alongside the spruces (Picea) and the pines (Pinus), even though the common names often get mixed up in Dutch.
You can tell them apart at a glance: on spruce and pine the cones hang down , while on silver fir they stand upright on the branch. And they do not drop whole but fall apart on the tree into loose scales, leaving only a bare little spindle. You will never find a whole silver fir cone on the ground.
The needles are flat and blunt, with two striking white stripes on the underside — the silver stripes that give the tree its name.
Silver firs and related Abies species hold on to their needles much longer than Norway spruce, and they do not prick. That is exactly why the Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana) replaced the classic Norway spruce as the Christmas tree — the same properties, the same group.
- Botanical
- Abies alba
- Group
- Abies — alongside Picea (spruce) and Pinus (pine)
- Cones
- stand upright and fall apart on the tree
- Needles
- flat and blunt, two white stripes underneath
- Wood
- resin-free, pale and odourless
- Trade name
- often sold together with spruce (whitewood)
To be fair: silver fir is sensitive to drought and late night frost, and it grows slowly in its first years. In an ever drier climate, European silver fir stands are under pressure — although in that respect it still does better than Norway spruce.
In pictures · Spruce, pine or silver fir?
Schematic drawing.
Spruce, pine or silver fir?
| Silver fir (Abies) | Norway spruce (Picea) | Pine (Pinus) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cones | Upright, fall apart | Hanging, drop whole | Hanging, woody |
| Needles | Flat, blunt, 2 white stripes | Four-sided, sharp, all round | In bundles of 2, 3 or 5 |
| Needle pulled off | Leaves a round scar | Leaves a small woody peg | Drops per bundle |
| Resin | Almost none | Little | Lots |
| Wood | Pale and odourless | Pale | More yellow, resin-rich |
Pull a needle from the twig. If a small woody peg stays behind where it sat, it is a Norway spruce. If the scar is round and smooth, it is a silver fir. It works all year round and is the quickest test there is.
Pale, resin-free and odourless
No resin canals
Unlike spruce and pine, Abies has no resin canals. That makes the wood odourless and suitable for uses where resin would be a problem.
Packaging and food
That is exactly why silver fir is used for cheese boxes, fruit packaging and other uses where a smell would come through.
Tonewood
Slow-grown Abies with narrow rings is good resonance wood — though Norway spruce remains the classic choice for instrument tops.
Construction
In practice it is sold together with Norway spruce as spruce (whitewood); their strength properties are close. See spruce timber.
In the timber trade, silver fir and Norway spruce are almost always sold together as "spruce" (whitewood). For structural work that makes little difference; for uses where being odourless or resin-free matters, you have to ask for Abies explicitly.
Frequently asked questions about silver fir
What is the difference between a spruce and a silver fir?
On Norway spruce the cones hang down and a needle pulled off leaves a small woody peg behind. On silver fir the cones stand upright, fall apart on the tree, and the needle scar is round and smooth.
Why does a silver fir cone fall apart?
That is how Abies spreads its seed: the scales come loose one by one on the branch, after which only the bare spindle remains. So you will never find a whole cone on the ground.
Is the Nordmann fir a silver fir?
Botanically, yes — Abies nordmanniana belongs to the same genus. It holds its needles for a long time and does not prick, which is why it replaced Norway spruce as the Christmas tree.
Why is silver fir used for cheese boxes?
Because Abies has no resin canals, so the wood is odourless. With spruce and pine, the resin would affect the taste of the product.
Silver fir in perspective
The only one in our region whose cones point upwards — and fall apart before you can pick them up.
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Photo via Wikimedia Commons: Abies alba — Crusier, CC BY-SA 3.0