Featured Plant

The Momi fir (Abies firma), from Japan, can be found on the University of Maryland Campus at the Physics Courtyard. The conditions that it grows best in include a medium amount of water and a full amount of sun with a little shade tolerance. Other environmental conditions that the Momi fir can tolerate are a range in weather such as it being humid or cool. The soil condition that it prefers is acidic and easily drained soil and can tolerate clay soils. The Momi fir is mainly used as a screen and as holiday trees.

The Momi fir can reach 40 to 60 feet in height and 30 to 50 feet in width. In the US, its height is much smaller than in the areas where it is native, such as Japan, where it can reach up to 150 feet in height. Making up the canopy of the tree are the needles and the seed cones. The needles are about 1.5 inches in length and are shaped like a “V”. The conical seed cones are present during the spring and summer months. The seed cones are green during the spring months and yellow and brown close to the summer months.

Examples of possible pest and disease problems include bark beetles, aphids, bagworms, cankers, heart rot, and needles rust. Overall, the Momi fir only requires low maintenance.

Written by intern Cameron Smith

Works Cited:

Abies firma - Plant Finder. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2018, from http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.as...

Abies firma. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2018, from https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/abies-firma/