Description
Abies alba – Calabrian silver fir
Quality: 2/1 P
Short description: The Calabrian silver fir is a southern provenance of the native silver fir (Abies alba) from the Apennines and the Calabrian mountains of southern Italy. Compared with the Central European silver fir, it shows increased tolerance to heat and drought while maintaining good winter hardiness—an interesting provenance for climate-adapted cultivation in warmer locations in southern Germany. Growth habit, needles and cones correspond to the classic silver fir.
Climatic characteristics & site conditions: As a southern provenance of the silver fir, it is particularly interesting for the warmer and drier locations in southern Germany—wherever the classic silver fir suffers from increasing drought stress. It prefers fresh to moderately dry, deep soils and tolerates both acidic and slightly calcareous substrates. For the Black Forest, the Swabian Jura and the Alpine foothills, it is a forward-looking cultivation alternative.
Advantages: Increased heat and drought tolerance compared with native silver fir, winter-hardy, native growth habit, suitable for a range of soils, valuable for forestry and landscape use.
Disadvantages: As a specific provenance, rare and more expensive on the market, requires a lot of space, slow juvenile growth, browsing by game is a serious problem as with all firs.
