subalpine fir

noun

: a medium-sized fir (Abies lasiocarpa) of subalpine regions of North America having bluish-green white-lined needles

Examples of subalpine fir in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In the afternoon, after weeks of sunshine, severe thunderstorms suddenly rolled over the forest’s vast tracts of black and white spruce, subalpine fir, jack pine, and aspens. Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2023 One of Neil’s most celebrated trees, a subalpine fir, has a sharp spire of deadwood rising high above the foliage mass, like a skyscraper poking through clouds. Robert Moor, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022 Traverse a lakeshore forest of lodgepole pine and subalpine fir, and scan the lower slopes of Altyn Peak near the Many Glacier Hotel for moose, grizzlies, and bighorn sheep. Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 15 Jan. 2020 The sites ranged from central Colorado to the Canadian border, in Montana, and contained several kinds of forests—from dry ponderosa to cool, moist woods of subalpine fir and spruce at elevations as high as 9,000 feet. Christopher Solomon, Outside Online, 18 Apr. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'subalpine fir.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of subalpine fir was in 1898

Dictionary Entries Near subalpine fir

Cite this Entry

“Subalpine fir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subalpine%20fir. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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