by fire. The wood is
straw colored, compact, and straight grained. It is not strong and
splits easily. It is sold to some extent under the name of larch or
mixed with inferior grades of fir and hemlock. The lumber is of little
value commercially.

NOBLE FIR (ABIES NOBILIS).

The noble fir (figs. 11 and 12) is a common mountain tree in the western
parts of Washington and Oregon. Like amabilis fir, it is usually called
larch by lumbermen. About Mount Rainier it grows at elevations of from
3,500 to 5,000 feet in dense stands associated with amabilis fir,
western hemlock, and Douglas fir. The noble fir avoids steep side hills
and exposed situations. In moist soils on flats and gentle slopes it
often reaches a height of from 150 to 200 feet. The tall and upright
trunk supports a rounded crown of bluish green foliage, which is very
noticeable among the purer green leaves of its associates. The branches
are short, thick, and crowded with stiff, flattened leaves, which turn
upward and outward. The light-green bract-covered cones are sometimes 6
inches long and nearly 3 inches thick. They ripen early in September.
Seed is borne every year, although in some seasons it is much more
abundant than in others.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Noble fir (_Abies nobilis_).]

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Noble fir (_Abies nobilis_), 6 feet in
diameter.]

The wood is strong, close grained, and elastic. It is used for lumber
and particularly for inside finishing. The noble fir is a slow-growing
and long-lived tree. Old trees in mixed forests are easily distinguished
from the associated species by the ashy-brown outer bark broken into
large irregular plates.

ALPINE FIR (ABIES LASIOCARPA).[3]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--A cluster of Alpine firs (_Abies lasiocarpa_),
whose spire-shaped crowns are characteristic, at 5,500 feet altitude, in
Cowlitz Park, Mount Rainier National Park.

Photograph by A.H. Barnes.]

The alpine fir (fig. 13) ranges from Alaska to New Mexico. It is a
common tree in the park at elevations above 4,500 feet. It is a tree of
the high mountains and with the white bark pine and the mountain
hemlock, is found up to the limit of arborescent life. It demands
moisture and is generally restricted to regions of deep snowfall.

The alpine fir occurs in unmixed stands, but is often associated with
the mountain hemlock. At the lower levels of its range it is a
fair-sized tree 50 or 60 feet high. The crown of deep-green foliag