Abies squamata

Flaky fir is in the pine or Pinaceae family and is native the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau (China) at an altitude up to the tree-line at 4400 m. It can attain a height of up to 40 m.

• Needles are densely arranged, straight, 1.5–2.5 cm long and 2.0–2.5 mm .across, surrounding the twig, semi-pointed (no notch on the tip), bluish green, with lower surfaces appearing whitish because of the white stomatal bands.
• They are attached to the twig by a base resembling a small suction cup.
• The species is monoecious; seed cones are oblong-ovate shaped, 5–6 cm long, upright (unlike pendant spruce cones), violet when young; the tips of bract scales protrude past the 1.5 cm-wide seed scales; cones fragment in the fall, dropping winged seeds and leaving exposed central stems.
• Shoots may have dense brown hairs. Buds are globose, red-brown and very resinous. Bark is reddish-brown, exfoliating in thin papery strips like a birch, even on young trees. Species cannot be confused with other species because of its unique bark.