How Fraser Fir Got Its Name

I found this interesting article on how our beautiful, fragrant Fraser fir got their name by Dr. Jill Sidebottom, NCSU. Enjoy!

Fraser fir is named after a man – the Scottish botanist John Fraser.

When North America opened up to explorers, botanists were as important as any adventurer. New plants were treasured by Europeans. A new plant could be anything from a landscape beauty for European royalty to the next cure for a disease to a fast growing forest tree to rebuilt Europe’s harvested forests.

Perhaps one of the most learned and persistent botanist/explorers was the Frenchman, André Michaux, who made many collecting forays into the United States. Michaux’s primary mission was to search American forests for new species of trees with which to rebuild the forests of France (Williams, 2000).

Michaux first arrived in the US in 1785 after extensive and dangerous botanical expeditions in the Middle East. He met and became friends with William Bartram who had explored the Smoky Mountains in 1775. First establishing himself in New Jersey, he moved to Charleston by 1787 to establish a garden 111 acres in size that was to be his home base for the next decade (Williams, 2000).

While reading Michaux’ journal, you realize how hardy these explorers had to be. You also realize how much Michaux depended on his horse. In his translated journal from 1793 to 1796, Michaux mentions his horses 31 times including once when he was injured being thrown from his horse and 7 times that his horse “strayed” and he sometimes had to spend the better part of a day looking for it (Thwaites, 1904).

That brings up a story that is often recounted on the Internet about how John Fraser ended up discovering Fraser fir and not Michaux even though he was the better traveled and superior botanist.

Sickness brought John Fraser to North America who, having consumption, sailed to Newfoundland in 1780 when he was thirty to recover his health.

He was always an ardent lover of plants, and here he found an extensive field, and new objects for admiration, among which he remained until 1784. He had now acquired such a taste for discovery, and such a habit of restlessness, which so prevented him from setting down to any fixed occupation, that in 1785 he set out on a journey to the Southern States of North America, and during two years he was engaged in investigating the botany of that country, which resulted in many valuable additions being made to collections at home. It was when on this journey that he met, and formed an intimate acquaintance, with Thomas Walter, the author of the Flora Caroliniana, a work which Fraser undertook to publish on his return to London, and which he did, as is evidenced by the title page, “Londini: Sumptibus J. Fraser,” and to which is prefixed, by way of frontispiece, an engraving, inscribed, “To Thomas Walter, Esq., this plate of the new Articulated Magnolia is presented, as a testimony of gratitude and esteem, by his much-obliged, humble servant, John Fraser.” He again left England, in 1788, on a second expedition to the Southern States, and this was attended with as great success as the former, for on this occasion also he sent home many new valuable plants. While on this journey he formed an intimacy with the elder Michaux, who had then just entered on his labours as collector for the French government (Fraser, 2007).

This biography implies that Fraser and Michaux became friends, but most prefer to view them as rivals with little regard for each other. The story goes that Michaux and Fraser traveled together in 1787 from South Carolina taking much the same route that Batram had more than a decade earlier (Coffey, 2001). Apparently Fraser talked too much for Michaux, and when Michaux’ horse ran off, he told Fraser to go on ahead without him. As a consequence, John Fraser took the high road and discovered the Fraser fir.

But even if Michaux had seen Fraser fir first, he probably didn’t recognize it as a distinct species. Michaux’ travels to the higher elevations of the Southern Appalachians from 1789 through 1796 allowed him many opportunities to view Frasers, but he seldom remarked about the plant, being more interested in rhododendrons and other showy specimens that had more commercial value. After all, before becoming a Christmas tree, Fraser fir had few commercial uses.

Michaux reported visiting the Abingdon and Wytheville, Virginia, area on November 23 and 24, 1793, where he described two trees: Abies canadensis and Pinus abies canadensis. Michaux also mentions Pinus abies canadensis when he traveled from Jonesborough, Tennessee, to the Iron Mountains on March 21, 1796 (Thwaites, 1904). These are not currently used scientific names though Pinus is the genus for pines and Abies for fir. So what species did he mean by them? Could they have been Fraser fir?

Dr. John Frampton, Christmas tree geneticist with NCSU, surmised that Michaux used Abies canadensis to describe eastern hemlock (now known as Tsuga canadensis) (2008, personnel communication). He couldn’t find a listing for Pinus abies canadensis but it probably referred to Fraser fir, which is now known as Abies fraseri. Other names for Fraser fir in older literature that he found include Pinus fraseri, Picea fraseri, Abies humilis, and Abies americana which was his personal favorite.

It is not surprising that Michaux didn't realize that the tree was different from balsam fir (the Canadian fir). Fraser fir was often referred to as the southern balsam fir in forestry literature up through the 1950s, and mountain people commonly called them balsams. In any case, since Christmas tree growers in western North Carolina were predominately descendants of the Scots-Irish, it’s perhaps fitting it was named for a Scotsman instead of a Frenchman, though the name has been a problem ever since. Even today, the tree is often spelled as Frazer fir or Frazier fir. I even saw one sign locally advertising “Frazer Fur” for sale.

The Fraser fir was first described by German-American botanist Frederick Pursh in Flora Americae Septentrionalis in 1814. Pursh writes, "On high mountain of Carolina. Fraser. This species, known among inhabitants by the name of Double-balsam fir, resembles the preceeding (balsam fir) in several respects but differs at first sight in being a smaller tree, the leaves shorter and more erect, and the cones not one fourth the size. Messrs. Frasers (John Fraser and his son who was also named John Fraser) introduced this tree into England a few years ago."

Autumn has arrived in at our Blue Ridge Mountain Farm!  Ever wonder why the leaves change every Autumn?

This is a great article from the US Forest Service explaining the annual fall foliage color explosion! 

If you are lucky, you live in one of those parts of the world where Nature has one last fling before settling down into winter's sleep. In those lucky places, as days shorten and temperatures become crisp, the quiet green palette of summer foliage is transformed into the vivid autumn palette of reds, oranges, golds, and browns before the leaves fall off the trees. On special years, the colors are truly breathtaking.

How does autumn color happen?

For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to trees and shrubs in the autumn. Although we don't know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics and help you to enjoy more fully Nature's multicolored autumn farewell. Three factors influence autumn leaf color-leaf pigments, length of night, and weather, but not quite in the way we think. The timing of color change and leaf fall are primarily regulated by the calendar, that is, the increasing length of night. None of the other environmental influences-temperature, rainfall, food supply, and so on-are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature's autumn palette.

Where do autumn colors come from?

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color.

Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for their food. Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for their winter dormant period.

Carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.

Anthocyanins, which give color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species. Oaks turn red, brown, or russet; hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow; dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo, crimson. Maples differ species by species-red maple turns brilliant scarlet; sugar maple, orange-red; and black maple, glowing yellow. Striped maple becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. Sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves. These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.

How does weather affect autumn color?

The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and moisture are the main influences.

A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions-lots of sugar and lots of light-spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.

The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn colors. Like the weather, soil moisture varies greatly from year to year. The countless combinations of these two highly variable factors assure that no two autumns can be exactly alike. A late spring, or a severe summer drought, can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks. A warm period during fall will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors.

 What triggers leaf fall?

 In early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. These clogged veins trap sugars in the leaf and promote production of anthocyanins. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

What does all this do for the tree?

Winter is a certainty that all vegetation in the temperate zones must face each year. Perennial plants, including trees, must have some sort of protection to survive freezing temperatures and other harsh wintertime influences. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold so that they can reawaken when spring heralds the start of another growing season. Tender leaf tissues, however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either toughen up and protect their leaves or dispose of them.

The evergreens-pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on-are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age.

The leaves of broadleaved plants, on the other hand, are tender and vulnerable to damage. These leaves are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily. This means that the cells could not survive winter where temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant's continued survival. Thus leaf fall precedes each winter in the temperate zones.

What happens to all those fallen leaves?

Needles and leaves that fall are not wasted. They decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem.

It is quite easy to see the benefit to the tree of its annual leaf fall, but the advantage to the entire forest is more subtle. It could well be that the forest could no more survive without its annual replenishment from leaves than the individual tree could survive without shedding these leaves. The many beautiful interrelationships in the forest community leave us with myriad fascinating puzzles still to solve.

Where can I see autumn color in the United States?

You can find autumn color in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains - anywhere you find deciduous broadleaved trees, the ones that drop their leaves in the autumn. Nature's autumn palette is painted on oaks, maples, beeches, sweetgums, yellow-poplars, dogwoods, hickories, and others. Your own neighborhood may be planted with special trees that were selected for their autumn color.

New England is rightly famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside, but the Adirondack, Appalachian, Smoky, and Rocky Mountains are also clad with colorful displays. In the East, we can see the reds, oranges, golds, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands; in the West, we see the bright yellows of aspen stands and larches contrasting with the dark greens of the evergreen conifers.

Many of the Forest Service's 100 plus scenic byways were planned with autumn color in mind. In 31 States you can drive on over 3,000 miles of scenic byways, and almost everyone of them offers a beautiful, colorful drive sometime in the autumn.

When is the best time to see autumn color?

Unfortunately, autumn color is not very predictable, especially in the long term. Half the fun is trying to outguess Nature! But it generally starts in late September in New England and moves southward, reaching the Smoky Mountains by early November. It also appears about this time in the high-elevation mountains of the West. Remember that cooler high elevations will color up before the valleys. The Forest Service's Fall Color Hotline (1-800-354-4595) can provide you with details as the autumn color display progresses.

Thousands of butterflies and moths are dancing and feeding in the Christmas tree fields and on the vegetative borders this time of year.  I wanted to share a few of my favorites from the last several days!

On a patch of overgrown flowers at the edge of our Christmas tree farm I found this little fellow.  A Great Spangled Fritillary “named for Cybele, the Greek goddess of caverns, who personified the earth in a primitive and savage state.”  I found a wonderful article about this butterfly, I hope you enjoy! http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/h_notebook.html

I also found a green and gold chrysalis of a Monarch butterfly attached to one of our barns. Monarch butterflies are found flittering around the milkweed that often grows alongside the Fraser fir.  The Monarch butterfly that hatches from this chrysalis will travel up to 3000 miles south to Mexico to escape the cold Blue Ridge winter.  Such an amazing journey!  For more information about Monarch’s visit: http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is another frequent visitor at the farm.  They enjoy the Joe Pye Weed along the riparian areas of the fields.  This female swallowtail was enjoying the butterfly bush beside a field of Colorado blue spruce.

Need more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_glaucus

Several Snowberry Clearwing or Bumblebee moths have also made Smokey Holler Tree Farm their home.  We usually see these moths around dusk feeding on the phlox and bee balm.  The yellow and black striped abdomen makes them look like fast little bumblebees! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemaris_diffinis

Looking for an easy, risk-free, fundraiser this year?  Raising funds selling Christmas wreaths, trees, and garland is a great and easy choice!

Let our team at Smokey Holler Tree Farm teach you to energize your members and give them the skills of successful fundraising!

Pre-Selling our farm fresh, Blue Ridge Mountain wreaths, garland, and swags is the perfect NO RISK way for your organization to bring in substantial revenue.

 Personalized Sales Flyer

Allows organizational members to show customers a picture of the product they will be selling with a description of the sponsoring organization and personalized message.

 Personalized Order Forms

Personalized forms  to write the orders on, then hand back to the fundraiser leaders for tallying and recording onto the main Smokey Holler Order Form. These forms can be edited to meet the needs of your group.

If the sponsoring organization has the ability to process credit cards, we can make sure the order form has a place for the seller to take the credit card information and customer’s signature. When the order forms are handed in, the sponsoring organization could then process the credit cards.

 Professional Marketing Advice

Contact our farm before October 15 and our staff will teach you how to market your fundraiser to radio stations, newspapers, and groups in your community.

 "Our commitment to quality and customer service is unmatched in the Christmas tree and greenery industry and we are dedicated to the long term success of our customers”

Smokey Holler Tree Farm’s beautiful Fraser fir Christmas trees have “roots” in the Mount Rogers Seed Orchard, located in the Grayson Highlands State Park.  Many years ago the highest elevations in the Southern Appalachian Mountains were home to Fraser fir and Red spruce forests.  An imported pest, the balsam wooly adelgid, killed much of the wild Fraser fir stands and eliminated an important species from these native ecosystems.

 “The Mount Rogers Christmas Tree Growers Association maintains a Fraser fir seed orchard of approximately 1200 selected trees.  The seed orchard is located in the higher elevations of Grayson County Virginia in the beautiful Grayson Highlands State Park.  All of the seed orchard trees are of the Mount Rogers strain of Fraser fir.” – Mount Rogers Area Christmas Tree Association

Smokey Holler Tree Farm helps area Christmas tree growers and the Mount Rogers Park Staff maintain the Mount Rogers Fraser Fir Orchard.  We spent last weekend harvesting seed from the amazing trees growing there.  The seed will be used to grow new Mount Rogers strain Fraser fir, ensuring the survival of the species for another generation. 

The Mount Rogers Area Christmas Tree Growers and the Virginia Department of Forestry are in the process of establishing a new seed orchard at the Old Flat within Mount Rogers.  Smokey Holler Tree Farm has been participating in the project by managing the new site and helping to select the best Fraser fir trees to be a part of the new orchard.  This new orchard will capture the best genetics for quality Christmas trees and wildlife habitat and will allow for the Mount Rogers strain of Fraser fir to be protected from extinction. 

It’s a beautiful day at Smokey Holler Tree Farm!  The temperature is in the low 70’s and there is a wonderful breeze.  Our Smokey Holler Tree Farm team is trimming Fraser fir Christmas trees today.  We have been hearing bobwhite quail and a few grouse in the fields as we work. 

Our North Carolina Christmas tree farm teems with wildlife during the late summer.  We see deer, turkey (yesterday we saw 6 poults), grouse, and an occasional black bear on our farm.

Integrated Pest Management, IPM, is our guide for growing the best Christmas trees for our customers.  An important part of Smokey Holler Tree Farm’s mission is to create a sustainable and eco-friendly farm with varying habitat to support a large variety of wildlife.  Much of our land is managed as forest and we leave large riparian buffers along the trout filled streams and creeks at Smokey Holler Tree Farm.

We are so blessed to have our Christmas tree farm in our backyard!