Abies pindrow Seeds | West Himalayan Fir
LATIN NAME: Abies pindrow
COMMON NAME: West Himalayan Fir
Plant Profile
Abies pindrow is the tall fir of the western Himalaya, and it forms the dark, spire-like forest above the deodar and below the birch. The trunk is straight and the crown is narrow, and the tree can reach forty metres in a sheltered valley. The needles are long, flat and glossy dark green, with two white bands beneath, and they are arranged in two ranks that look combed.
The species grows from Afghanistan through Pakistan and Kashmir into western Nepal, usually between 2,200 and 3,000 metres, on cool, moist slopes with heavy snow. The cones are upright, purple when young and brown when ripe, and they break up on the tree. The timber is light and straight-grained, and it is used for construction, for boxes and for tea chests.
Science & Biotechnology
The tree is a component of the Himalayan conifer belt that also holds deodar, spruce and blue pine, and the species separate by altitude and by moisture. Fir occupies the cooler, wetter slopes, often with spruce, and it is less tolerant of drought than the pines below it. Seed is produced in good years and is dispersed by wind, and the seedling needs a gap in the canopy and a moist seedbed.
The Himalayan forests are also important for water. The fir belt intercepts cloud and rain and releases it slowly, which feeds the rivers that millions of people depend on. Lopping for fodder, grazing and fuelwood have degraded large areas of this belt, and the fir is one of the species that suffers most, since it regenerates poorly under grazing and does not coppice.
Uses & Benefits
The timber is used for construction, for joinery, for boxes and for shingles, and it is one of the main softwoods of the western Himalaya. The branches are lopped for fodder in winter, and the needles are used for bedding and for mulch.
The resin is used as a wound dressing and the bark as a dye, and the tree is planted in hill stations and in temple grounds. It is a minor ornamental in Europe, grown in collections for its long needles and narrow habit, though it needs a cool, wet climate to do well.
Growing from Seed
Pindrow seed loses viability fast, so keep it damp and cold from the moment it is cleaned. Stratify at 4 degrees for eight weeks, then sow at 18 degrees; germination is in three to five weeks. The seedling is slow and should be grown in a nursery bed for two years before planting out.
The tree wants a cool, humid site with deep, acid soil and shelter from wind, and it fails in heat and in drought. It is hardy to about minus twenty, but it needs summer moisture, which makes it a tree for the wetter parts of a temperate climate. Plant it in light shade when young and mulch with leaf mould.
Our Take
A Himalayan fir for a cool, wet climate with room for a tall tree, and a species whose forest matters more for water than for timber.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow West Himalayan Fir often pair it with these related subjects: