Needles green with white lines on both the upper and lower sides; needles concentrated on upper surfaces of branches; cones purple; distribution primarily near timberline in western Canada, the northwestern United States, and the Rocky Mountains.

Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa)

Needles yellow-green above and with two white bands below; needles of different sizes, longer needles alternating with shorter needles; cones green; inhabits primarily the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest and the mountains of Washington and Idaho.

Grand Fir (Abies grandis)

Needles 1 to 2 inches long (longer than 1 inch average of other species in this couplet) and with a white, waxy bloom on both surfaces; cones purple; distributed in the Rocky Mountains and the mountains of California and southern Oregon; habitat usually drier and more southern than that of Pacific Silver Fir and Grand Fir and found at lower elevations that Subalpine Fir.

White Fir (Abies concolor)

Needles green on top and white below; cones purple; species restricted to the Pacific Northwest.

Pacific Silver Fir (Abies amabilis)

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Brachts of cone with very long appendage giving the cone a hairy to bristley appearance; needles dark green on dorsal surface and with two white bands below; restricted to Los Padres National Forest near Monterey and Big Sur in California

Bristlecone Fir (Abies bracteata)

Cones 4 to 7 inches long with large brachts with a large central spine; needles blue-green with white lines, flat on older, lower branches and quadrate on upper twigs; found in the Cascade Mountains and Coastal Ranges from Washington to northern California.

Noble Fir (Abies procera)

Needles quadrate (four-sided), blue-green with white lines; brachts small, but visible with a short central spine. This is a variety of Abies magnifica.

Shasta Red Fir (Abies magnifica variety shastensis)

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