Grand firHarry Podschwit, CC BY 4.0
Introduced · Up to 62 m

Grand fir

Abies grandis · Pinaceae

Also called giant fir

Grand fir is a conifer with glossy needles that lie flat in two rows either side of the shoot. Rubbed, they smell of tangerine peel. In many districts it is the tallest tree.

Often mistaken for noble fir. How to tell them apart →
Know it byNeedlesGlossy dark green, 25 to 50 mm long.ConesSmooth, pale green, about 8 cm, falling apart to leave a spike.ShootsTiny round grey buds on olive green, hairy shoots.

Then check · BarkSmooth and grey with resin blisters when young. Later silvery or purplish grey, cracking into small, close rectangles.

How to identify a grand fir

Grand fir: needles
Needles

Glossy dark green, 25 to 50 mm long and notched at the tip, in two flat rows either side of the shoot.

Grand fir: conesJonathan Curley, CC BY 4.0
Cones

Smooth, pale green and about 8 cm long, upright on the topmost branches, falling apart there to leave a bare spike.

Grand fir: shoots
Shoots

Olive green and finely hairy, with tiny round grey buds, the end one ringed by four or five smaller ones.

Learn the grand fir in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Grand fir shoots and needles: flat needles combed into two rows
Shoots and needlesFlat needles combed into two rows
Grand fir cones: upright cones about 8 cm, high in the crownJonathan Curley, CC BY 4.0
ConesUpright cones about 8 cm, high in the crown
Grand fir bark: grey with resin blisters, cracking into rectanglesHarry Podschwit, CC BY 4.0
BarkGrey with resin blisters, cracking into rectangles
Grand fir shape: narrow spire, ragged or broken at the topHarry Podschwit, CC BY 4.0
ShapeNarrow spire, ragged or broken at the top

When to look

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In leaf
Flowers
Cones

In leaf: all year · Flowers: April to May · Cones: September to October

Every tree on the calendar

Where you’ll find it

Plantations and old estates, on deep, well-drained ground in the wetter west and north, where over 1000 mm of rain falls a year. It is scarce in dry districts. The biggest trees grow in the sheltered glens of Scotland. It sometimes seeds itself.

What it’s mistaken for

Grand fir: shoot from aboveNoble fir: shoot from aboveGrand fir or noble fir?Both are big firs from the Pacific coast of North America.Shoot from above Grand fir: how the cones are heldDouglas fir: how the cones are heldGrand fir or Douglas fir?Both are giants of the western plantations, with soft flat needles.How the cones are held
  • Western hemlockBoth have flat needles combed into two rows along the shoot. Leaf. Grand fir: notched at the end. Western hemlock: rounded and blunt.

More pines, firs, spruces, larches and cedars

Atlas cedarCedrus atlanticaCedar of LebanonCedrus libaniCorsican pinePinus nigra subsp. laricioDouglas firPseudotsuga menziesiiEuropean larchLarix deciduaJapanese larchLarix kaempferiNoble firAbies proceraNorway sprucePicea abies
In the app

There’s more of the grand fir in Treely

  • Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
  • Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
  • A short round each dayUntil you know the grand fir on sight, from any side
  • Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Harry Podschwit (CC BY 4.0), rockybajada (CC0), Jonathan Curley (CC BY 4.0), David Anderson (CC BY 4.0), bobwardell (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.