Abies concolor is commonly known as white fir, balsam fir, white balsam, Colorado white fir, and Rocky Mountain white fir.  These trees can be up to 60 m tall with a diameter at breast height of 190 cm.  They are spire-like and get a more flattened apex as they age, resulting in a domed shape.  The bark of the white fir is ashy gray and, though smooth in young trees, becomes thick and cracked with longitudinal furrows as the tree age grows older.  The leaves of the tree are a light blue-green color and range from 1.5 cm to 6 cm in length.  The leaves are arranged in two rows starting at the sides of the twig and curving upward.  They have a citrus smell when the leaves are broken.  The cones of the white fir are yellow-brown to brown cylinders, 7 cm to 12 cm tall.  They have fine hairs and contain both the seeds and the bracts.  The seeds are 8 mm to 12 mm with a wing that is approximately twice as long as the seed body.  The wing is designed for wind dispersal.  The seeds are distributed in the fall and germinate with a wet winter season.

The white fir is found in mountainous regions of California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.  These trees grow at elevations of 900 m to 3400 m in coniferous forests.  The white fir is more numerous in the lower elevation forests due to extensive fire suppression.  They can out-compete the native vegetation that requires the fires for germination.  The white fir lives in areas with dryer soils than is typical for most firs and require winter precipitation.

Image source - www.conifers.org

Image source - www.conifers.org

Image source - www.nearctica.com

Image source - uoguelph.ca

Image source - www.fw.vt.edu