Virginia Tech Dendrology

Spanish fir Pinaceae Abies pinsapo Boiss. symbol: --
Leaf: Round or slightly flattened needles that are quite sharp, linear, blue-green or waxy-white on both sides, less than one inch long, spirally arranged with a bottlebrush appearance.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male cones reddish and borne beneath the leaves; female cones erect and borne near the top of the crown; appearing in April or May.
Fruit: Cones are 6 to 7 inches long, cylindrical, and borne upright on the twig; cone scales are deciduous, falling from the cone as seeds ripen.
Twig: Moderately stout and very stiff, gray, and covered with round, flat leaf scars when needles fall; buds large for a fir, round, and very resinous.
Bark: Smooth and dark gray when young, becoming scaly with age.
Form: A large tree to 100 feet tall, with a conical crown.

Additional Range Information: Abies pinsapo 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