Leaves are without petioles and have circular leaf bases.
Stomates occur on both leaf surfaces, and the leaf tip may be rounded or pointed. The cone scales are deciduous at maturity and the bracts are shorter than the scales with eroded shoulders and a spike-like tip. The bark on young trees is thin, gray and smooth with numerous resin blisters. In older trees the bark is 4 to 7 inches thick and ashy-gray, with deeply divided, irregular furrows and wide ridges. Abies concolor is native to the mountainous regions of the western United States, growing at low to middle elevations on northerly-exposed ridges and slopes.