Virginia Tech Dendrology

Korean fir Pinaceae Abies koreana E.H.Wilson symbol: --
Leaf: Flattened needles, 3/4 inch long, often curved to display the white underside, slightly notched at the end, shiny dark green above and silvery below, tightly arranged with a bottlebrush appearance.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males yellow to purple; females in upper crown, conspicuous, blue-purple.
Fruit: Resinous cones are upright, to 3 inches long, cylindrical, blue to purple, with pointed, toothed bracts protruding from the cone scales; scales are deciduous with seed dispersal in fall. Similar to A. fraseri but slightly more narrow.
Twig: Yellow-green, later turning gray; buds round, reddish brown, resinous; leaf scars are flat and rounded.
Bark: Silvery gray-brown, smooth except for resin blisters, largest stems may become a bit scaly.
Form: A small to medium size tree to 60 feet, with a pyramidal crown.
Looks like: Fraser fir - balsam fir

Additional Range Information: Abies koreana is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.

All material © 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information