Bristlecone fir

It is a tree 20-35 m tall, with a slender, spire-like form. The bark is reddish-brown with wrinkles, lines and resin vesicles . The branches are downswept. The needle-like leaves are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted at the base to spread either side of the shoot in two moderately forward-pointing ranks with a 'v' gap above the shoot; hard and stiff with a sharply pointed tip, 3.5-6 cm long and 2.5-3 mm broad, with two bright white stomatal bands on the underside. The cones are ovoid, 6-9 cm long , and differ from other firs in that the bracts end in very long, spreading, yellow-brown bristles 3-5 cm long; they disintegrate in autumn to release the winged seeds. The male cones are 2 cm long, shedding pollen in spring.

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : Bristlecone fir is restricted to the Santa Lucia Mountains of the central California coast in Monterey County, and possibly in extreme northwestern San Luis Obispo County. The San Luis Obispo County population was not found after a fire occurred in the area . More

The Bristlecone Fir or Santa Lucia Fir (Abies bracteata) is a rare fir, confined to slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains on the central coast of California, USA. A small remnant community exists on the highest northern slopes of the Santa Susana Mountains in Southern California. It is a tree 20-35 m tall, with a slender, spire-like form. The bark is reddish-brown with wrinkles, lines and resin vesicles ('blisters'). The branches are downswept. More

WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : Bristlecone fir has no commercial timber value; populations are too small and inaccessible. It does not, however, appear to have any legal protection from cutting. More