The fir tree

The European silver fir (Abies alba) is quite rare in the forests of the southern slope (known as the adret) of Haute-Maurienne. The fir tree, however, finds the conditions are favourable for its growth in the small, fresh and damp valley that you cross. The rest of the forest around the Monolith is almost entirely composed of pines and spruces. The fir can be identified by its needles, which seem to grow flat along the branch. If you turn them over you will see two white marks. The bark is a smooth, silver grey. The fir cones grow upwards, unlike those of its cousin, the spruce.