Abies cilicica Cilician fir

One of two firs at Stanford from the Mediterranean basin, A. cilicica comes chiefly from the old region of Cilicia – the northeastern Mediterranean coast of what is now southern Turkey, facing Cyprus and backed by the Taurus Mountains. This fir makes its home in the upper realms of those mountains.

Like A. bracteata, its deep green needles have two whitish stomatal bands, rows of breathing pores, running along the undersides, making for a very pretty sight when you look up into the boughs. Its needles, however, are shorter, about an inch long.

Our best specimen stands 12 feet high east of the Clock Tower, carefully preserved during the Graduate School of Education redevelopment in the early 2020s. Two others, about half as tall, are in the island just northeast of Meyer Green.