In nature a tree to 100 ft, occasionally to 160 ft, with a greyish or chalky-white bark; young shoots finely downy; buds ovoid, resinous. Leaves arranged like those of A. procera, to 11⁄2 in. long on lower branches, shorter and more inclined to be bunched and forward-pointing on upper branches; stomata on both surfaces. Cones dark purple, 21⁄4 to 4 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 9600.
A native of western N. America at high altitudes, where it often forms beautiful park-like stands in sub-alpine meadows. It is an elegant, slender tree but finds our climate too soft and does not thrive.
var. arizonica (Merriam) Lemm. A. arizonica Merriam – Introduced in 1903. It has more glaucous leaves and owes its name, the corkbark fir, to its thick, corky, yellowish-white bark, and is found at high altitudes in the southern Rocky Mountains.
The name A. lasiocarpa is sometimes used erroneously for A. concolor var. lowiana.