The Bristlecone Fir or Santa Lucia Fir (Abies bracteata) is a rare fir, confined to slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains on the central coast of California, USA. It is a tree 20-35 meter tall, with a slender, spire-like form. The bark is reddish-brown with wrinkles, lines and resin vesicles ('blisters'). The branches are downswept. The needle-like leaves are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted at the base to spread either side of the shoot in two moderately forward-pointing ranks with a 'v' gap above the shoot; hard and stiff with a sharply pointed tip, 3.5-6 centimeter long and 2.5-3 millimeter broad, with two bright white stomatal bands on the underside. The cones are ovoid, 6-9 centimeter long (to 12 centimeter including the bracts), and differ from other firs in that the bracts end in very long, spreading, yellow-brown bristles 3-5 centimeter long; they disintegrate in autumn to release the winged seeds. The male (pollen) cones are 2 centimeter long, shedding pollen in spring.