Abies procera is often refered to by its illegal synonym Abies nobilis. This is the tallest of all the true Firs at over 70 meters (230 ft) tall. A non-native, under-utilized species that has potential as a productive tree species for forest diversification. It can tolerate exposure better than Douglas fir and Grand fir, can be slow to establish, but subsequent growth is rapid. Its timber is perceived to be poor, but only limited testing has taken place in Britain.
Noble fir is categorised as a Principal tree species. These are tree species where silvicultural knowledge provides confidence to enable successful deployment across Britain. The species are either already widely used or are increasing in usage.
Native to the mountain ranges of the Pacific north-west of North America in Oregon and Washington: predominantly the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. A recent review of provenance trials in Britain suggested that seed should be sourced from the Cascade mountains in northern Oregon and southern Washington; provenances from Britain also performed well.
Best suited to cool moist climates with >1000 mm rainfall. Noble fir grows best on fresh to moist mineral soils of poor to rich nutrient status. It is a high-volume producer under the right conditions but does not perform well on dry sites and can suffer from drought crack.
Moderately wind-firm and compared with other firs it is more tolerant of frosts. It is able to tolerate exposure much better than species such as Douglas-fir or grand fir.
Noble fir, like many of the true firs, is slow to establish, reports from its natural range indicate it can take 5 to 12 years to reach a height of 1.3 m and this is similar to experience in Britain. However, once established growth can be rapid to produce yield classes in the range 10-18 and occasionally higher.
In its natural range noble fir is classed as a pioneer species and is usually considered to be "intermediate" in terms of shade tolerance, in contrast to many other true firs that are more shade tolerant. Hence when using noble fir in continuous cover management, canopies should be light or groups should be large.
