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| My sister sent me these two pictures that she took in Scotland of a beautiful tree with purple cones. I'm not yet good at identifying conifers. Does anyone know what it is? (Silly question, I know)
closeup of cones
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by monkeytreeboy15 Zone 7b/8a (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 1:50
| Abies koreana, my friend. -Sam |
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- Posted by coniferjoy 10 (info@edwinsmitsconifers.com) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 2:07
| Looks like an Abies veitchii to me. |
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- Posted by monkeytreeboy15 Zone 7b/8a (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 2:19
| I wondered about Abies veitchii, but the bracts on the cones led me to believe it was koreana: I could be wrong... -Sam |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 7:00
| she asked about the cones.. dont all Abies favor that size, shape, type and color range of cones.. including abies concolor.. koreana ... and aurea??? ... could i go as far as saying.. that is a somewhat typical Abies.. or fir cone???? and the trees do not need to be that mature.. most coning within 10 years ... mine did anyway ... now you guys go at that particular ID ... and dont forget to explain why ... ken ps: my concolor candicans cones are what i call deep sapphire blue ... pics later .. if i remember |
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- Posted by gardener365 IL 5/6 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 7:01
| Sam, see that silver 'stripe' on the backside of a branchlet, that's the tell tale for veitchii. Also, veitchii has purple cones. I'm sure there are exceptions like anything though. Dax |
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- Posted by gardener365 IL 5/6 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 7:17
| Hi Sam, The stripe isn't limited to the backside. Take a look at this photo. That stripe is very identifyable as veitchii. Dax |
Here is a link that might be useful: veitch stripe
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 7:42
| only for a fiddler ... A concolor candicans begin like this on 5/28 and turn into this by 6/26 and this is what a lady with a birder camera can do A k. Aurea
A k. silver show .. young stage my only veitchii has not coned ... and i am considering removal for other reasons... so my premise .. is simple.. the cones you posted.. are an Abies type.. IN MY WORLD .... warped as you all might think it is ... soooo.. can you 'do' Abies ... in z8 ... or are you going to live vicariously on pix???? now play me a tune .... do you sing like Alison Kraus, while you fiddle??? ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: what a voice.. and a fiddle .. video could be better
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- Posted by Fiddlegal08 8 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 14:49
| Sam, Ken, Edwin, Dax, thanks! You are so kind to help this little newbie! I thought it might be Abies because the cones were standing up, but was afraid to be wrong! Is there a good resource for me to start learning about this complicated identification process? I want to come into this world but don't know how to start... Oh, Ken! Thanks for the song! I'll never sing like that. My music is only in my fingers. |
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- Posted by firefightergardener 7/8 (fletchonthemove@hotmail.com) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 15:14
| I've got five dollars on Abies veitchii. The foliage looks similar to that on Abies veitchii 'Rumburk'. Beautiful tree. -Will |
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| I'll go half-way house and say Abies x arnoldiana - it looks to share characters of both species. Resin |
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- Posted by gardener365 IL 5/6 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 19:33
| Fiddler! I wish I could help ya. The laws the govern identification always come down to the cones. For me, I have to stand back versus looking closely at something to grasp what I'm looking at when I'm in question. I also have certain images ingrained in my mind, mostly all the common stuff, and, I work from there. Next, I have a book that our main brain here, Resin, recommended... that is very basic: 'Conifers' (Keith Rushforth). In his book for all Genus listed he separates the species into 'common groups.' So, if I really want to take a stab at guessing something that I'm not so sure about, I look thru that list and compare with photos on google along with a few other bookmarked sites. Eventually, things will come into focus & quite easily. I suppose that's up to the person. Yesterday or the day before I thought about how young Sam is and how is mind is yearning for information & I thought to myself, damn I wish I would have started this at his age. Eventually, you can tell from looking at something. Best of luck, honey. Dax |
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- Posted by IshCountryGal z8 WA (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 19:59
| Hi Fiddlegal, You asked about learning to identify conifers. I'd suggest learning the native ones first. Then after that it's not too difficult to at least get in the ballpark when looking at cultivated conifers. If you live in the PNW, Stephen Arno's book "Northwest Trees" is a nice way to become acquainted with the local trees. It's an enjoyable read and includes natural and human history for each species and has beautiful pen-and-ink drawings by Ramona Hammerly. Oh, and it includes a key. Although in WA state we have quite a few native conifers (all of: pine, fir, douglas-fir, spruce, hemlock, larch, red-cedar, yellow-cedar, yew and juniper!) they are surprising easy to tell apart once you know the key features. -m |
Here is a link that might be useful: Northwest trees, 2nd edition (one of my VERY favorite books)
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- Posted by Fiddlegal08 8 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 20:00
| Thanks, Dax! Thanks, Resin! Thanks for giving me a way to start. I'll look for the book and study hard! |
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- Posted by Fiddlegal08 8 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 13, 12 at 20:17
| Thanks, country gal! I guess I have my homework assignments for those sleepy rainy Seattle days! |
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- Posted by monkeytreeboy15 Zone 7b/8a (My Page) on Sat, Jul 14, 12 at 2:14
| Nice input, Resin. Save me from looking unintelligent. ;-) I could see Abies x arnoldiana. The cones look similar to 'Poulsen'.. (see link) Thanks for your kind comments, Dax. It's never too late to learn new things! -Sam |
Here is a link that might be useful: 'Poulsen' cones
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- Posted by formandfoliage 9b (Sunset zone 15) (My Page) on Sat, Jul 14, 12 at 11:50
| I'm in over my head here, but see the close up of my 'Poulsen' cones...they are always that raspberry-purple color, not deep blue as in fiddlegal's post.
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Jul 14, 12 at 13:30
| please refer to my first pic.. and note that the eventual blue cones.. start pink ken |
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- Posted by formandfoliage 9b (Sunset zone 15) (My Page) on Sat, Jul 14, 12 at 14:20
| Mine are nowhere near blue...they are lighter than that photo taken in April, not darker. Not the case with others, I know... Sara |
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