Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

General Information Common Name  Grand Fir Scientific Name  Abies Grandis Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  40 - 70 m (135 - 230 ft) Spread  10 -15 m (33 - 50 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  Yellow Type  Tree Native  USA, Asia, Europe.

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Coniferophyta – Conifers Class  Pinopsida Subclass  Order  Pinales Family  Pinaceae – Pine family Genus  Abies Mill. –  Fir Species  A. Grandis

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

Abies Grandis commonly known as Grand Fir also called by its botanical name of ‘grandis,’ is a tall rapidly-growing silver fir, introduced from the Pacific coast of North America. It has many more name like as Lowland White Fir, Great Silver Fir, Western White Fir, Vancouver Fir, or Oregon Fir.

It is an evergreen long tree. The tree generally grows to 40–70 m (135 – 230 ft) in height. The new shoots are smooth and olive-green. The buds are small, blunt, and resin-coated. The needles are long (for firs), u to 2 inches, twisted at their base so as to spread in two ranks in one plane; the upper rank has the shorter needles. They have notched apices, and are glossy green above, with two prominent glaucous bands below. The new pale green needles, which appear in June, fringe the edges of all the branches, giving the tree its best appearance. When crushed, the scent is pleasantly aromatic. When pulled away from the stem they leave a neat round scar, not a peg.

Both sexes of flowers are found on the same tree. The small yellow male flowers are in clusters on the underside of the branches. The females are erect, short, scaly, and yellow-green, borne height up on the tree and are thus seldom seen. On fertilization they develop into erect cylindrical cones up to 4 inches long and an inch or more broad, and slightly indented at the apex. They ripen to a yellowish-green, and disintegrate in September leaving the persistent central spike on the tree.

The bark is smooth, with some blisters containing clear, aromatic resin. With age the bark becomes dark-brown, fissured and scaly. The branches are in whorls, often wide apart. The wood is white or pale cream in color, with no marked heart-wood. It is used for box making, paper-pulp, and for general purposes where strength and natural durability are not required. Sometimes a drought crack’ runs in spiral fashion up the stem. The bark has historical medicinal properties, and it is popular in the United States as a Christmas tree.

Foresters prize ‘grandis’ as ‘a fast and heavy volume-producer of moderately strong timber’ and as a useful under-plant. It can reach 40 m (130 ft) in fifty years.

The European Silver Fir, Abies alba Mill., usually fails in some countries of Europe because of attacks by tiny needle-sucking aphids, species of Adelges. Consequently it is not only planted for timber but also little tree for ornament. 

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

Leaves of Grand Fir

Leaves of Abies Grandis

Abies Grandis Leaves

Grand Fir Leaves

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

Male Catkins of Grand Fir

Female Cones of Grand Fir

Bark of Grand Fir

Logs of Grand Fir

Long Trunk of Grand Fir

Long Trunk of Abies Grandis 

Grand Fir as Christmas Tree

Abies Grandis Plantation as Christmas Trees

 Grand Fir for Christmas Trees

Abies Grandis for Christmas Trees

Abies Grandis – Grand Fir

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Christmas Tree

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose

General Information Common Name  Guelder Rose, European Cranberry-bush Scientific Name  Viburnum opulus Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  4 - 5 m (13-18 ft) Spread  up to 3 m (up to 10 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  White Type  Shrub Native  Asia,  Europe, USA

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta - Flowering Plants Class  Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons Subclass  Asteridae Order  Dipsacales Family  Caprifoliaceae – Honeysuckle Family Genus  Viburnum L. – Viburnum Species  V. opulus

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose

Viburnum opulus commonly known as Guelder Rose also called Water Elder, Cramp Bark, Snowball Tree and European Cranberry-bush. It is native to Europe, North America Northern Africa and Central Asia. It is a deciduous shrubby tree rarely exceeding 4-5 m (13-18 ft) in height, delights the eye whenever adorned with its pretty clusters of curious white flowers or its very attractive scarlet translucent berries. It is common in the south of Britain, occasional in the Midlands but very rare further north.

The twigs and branches are quite smooth, and somewhat angular, greenish-grey at first, later reddish-brown. The winter buds are set oppositely, greenish-yellow, and wrapped in scales. The opposite young leaves are covered with down when they appear, but they discard this as they expand into their deeply toothed lobes, usually three or five in number, with a few small glands down the stalk and a few reddish-brown stipules at its base. 

The attractive flower-head, opening in June has its individual flowers arranged as a flat-topped cyme, those in the outer circle being white and showy but sterile (without stamens or pistil) and those within being small, creamy white, bell-shaped and perfect –truly a curious but beautiful arrangement. The attractive flat clusters of scarlet translucent berries, nauseous to the taste, are often too heavy to be held up by their twigs, and branches become bent down under their weight. They ripen in autumn just as the leaves are fading to orange or russet tints. It is very attractive plant, so people like to plant it in their garden as ornamental plant.

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose in Autumn

Leaves of Guelder Rose 

Leaves of Viburnum opulus

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Leaves

Leaves of Guelder Rose in Autumn

Flowers of Guelder Rose

Flowers of Viburnum opulus

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Full Bloom

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Flower Blooming

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Flowers Blooming

Fruits of Guelder Rose

Fruits of Viburnum opulus

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Fruits

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose Fruits

Seeds of Guelder Rose

Guelder Rose in Autumn

Viburnum opulus in Autumn

Guelder Rose as Ornamental

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose

Viburnum opulus – Guelder Rose

Guelder Rose in Wild

Ulmus glabra – Wych Elm

General Information Common Name  Wych Elm Scientific Name  Ulmus glabra Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  up to 40 m (up to 130 ft) Spread  up to 20 m (up to 63 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  Pink Type  Tree Native  Asia,  Europe, USA

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta - Flowering Plants Class  Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons Subclass  Hamamelididae Order  Urticales Family  Ulmaceae – Elm family Genus  Ulmus L. – Elm  Species  U. glabra

Ulmus glabra – Wych Elm

Ulmus glabra commonly known as Wych Elm also known as ScotsElm is native to Europe and North America. It grows up to 40 m (130 ft) in height.

It is quite a different tree from the English Elm found in hedgerows, being at home in the woods, though seldom if ever cultivated by foresters, and has a dome-like crown built around a forked trunk, with branches spreading and often pendulous towards their ends. Unlike English Elm, neither corky shoots nor suckers are normally present, and reproduction is by seed.

The brownish-grey twigs are stouter than those of the English Elm, and the young shoots grow practically at right angles to the branches. At first they are thickly covered by short hairs, but by their third year are smooth – hence the epithet glabra. The winter buds are chocolate brown, sharply pointed, with hairy scales. The leaves are larger than those of the English Elm, and have a shorter stalk. They are uneven at the base (asymmetrical), so that one side usually forms an ‘ear’ overlapping the stalk. The margins are sharply serrated and the blade broadens towards the tip, and then suddenly narrows, the apex being drawn to a point. The upper surface is rough to the touch because of minute but harsh hairs.

The clusters of bi-sexual precocious flowers are purplish-crimson, and in mass give a reddish tinge to the whole crown when they appear on the leafless twigs during late February of March. The green transparent winged seeds (samaras) are somewhat larger than those of the English Elm. They are fully formed in about three weeks (again before the leaves) and ripen by May or early June. They cling festooned when they turn brown and then fall.

On young trees the bark is smooth and green. On older trees it is brown, thick and rough in more continuous ridges, more deeply furrowed than that of the English Elm and much more coarsely networked. The word ‘wych’ means supply, and the pliable strength of the wood has led to its use in boat and carriage-building, as shafts and tool handles, as well as for furniture.

Leaves of Wych Elm

Leaves of Ulmus glabra 

Wych Elm Leaves

 Pods of Wych Elm Flowers

Flowers of Wych Elm

Flowers of Ulmus glabra 

Ulmus glabra – Wych Elm Flower

Seeds of Wych Elm

Seeds of Ulmus glabra 

Bark of Wych Elm

Trunks of Wych Elm

 Wych Elm as Ornamental Tree

Wych Elm Special Trunk

Wych Elm

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