Abies pinsapo Spanish fir

Abies pinsapo branchlet. Sairus Patel, 17 Jan 2023

Abies pinsapo at 634 Alvarado Row. Sairus Patel, 17 Jan 2023

Easily recogniized by its stout, blunt needles crowded radially around the branchlets, Spanish fir is sometimes called hedgehog fir. Dotted bands of whitish stomata – some in mysterious broken rows, like a coded message – are visible on both the upper and lower needle surfaces, unlike Stanford’s other two fir species. The branchlets were found to yield a soapy substance; pin-sapo denotes pine soap.

A majestic specimen at 634 Alvarado Row, densely clothed to the ground and easily the tallest in the area, was likely planted around 1908, when the house was built. Lost around 1990 was a notable example in the southwest part of Frost Amphitheater and one in the Arizona Garden. In Palo Alto, Spanish fir can be seen at 745 Cowper Street and 815 Melville Avenue.

Abies pinsapo branchlet. From An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees, Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino