‘Will the real Fraser fir please stand up?’

Christmas tree buyers should be mindful this year of the phrase “let the buyer beware.” It’s sometimes written in Latin as caveat emptor.

Don’t be fooled by roadside tree lots that advertise genuine “Frasier or Frazier firs.” They are likely to be imposters. The real McCoy is correctly spelled “Fraser fir.” And it smells “like Christmas."

Charlie Brown's famous Christmas tree

Fraser firs are “perfectly pyramid-shaped” Christmas trees that are grown almost exclusively in the North Carolina mountains. They are named for John Fraser, a botanist from northern Scotland. He studied the flora of the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the late 1700s. 

The Fraser fir is North Carolina’s “official state Christmas tree.” The legislative bill, which passed in 2005, was the brainchild of eighth graders in Chris Hollifield’s history class at Harris Middle School in Spruce Pine, N.C. 

North Carolina Fraser firs have been crowned as the official White House holiday tree 12 times since 1971 (when somebody started keeping score). No other state is even close.

Almost every U.S. president from Richard Nixon through Donald Trump has strung the lights on a Fraser fir. (The only exceptions have been Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.) George W. Bush had the most North Carolina-grown trees in the White House – three during eight years.

The National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) relies heavily on research from the faculty at North Carolina State University’s forestry department. 

The Fraser fir grows naturally only in the southern Appalachians, at an elevation above 3,000 feet. The cool temperatures and lots of rainfall in North Carolina’s “high country” counties ensure that Fraser firs retain their needles throughout the Christmas season – about six weeks after cutting.

In many respects, Fraser firs and balsam firs are quite similar. Some scientists even suggest that because of the many similarities, the two species were once a single species that originated in Canada and the northern United States. 

Between the natural ranges of balsam firs and Fraser firs, there is an “intermediate” variety of fir trees that thrives in the Canaan Valley along the Blackwater River in West Virginia. Scientists suggest the Canaan fir is the link between balsams and Frasers, “a remnant of a once continuous range.” 

Fraser firs are recognizable by their needles, which are dark blue-green on top and silvery underneath. 

The Fraser fir is a favorite of Jennifer Noonan, a writer and social media producer at BobVila.com. “The sturdy branches support heavier ornaments…and offer room enough between branches to hang bigger bulbs in the first place,” she said. “The needles are about 1-inch long, and are softer than many other evergreens.” 

It takes 10 or so years in the field for a Fraser fir to grow 7 feet tall. Most tree farms will provide customers with measuring poles. You don’t need a pole at the Burleson family tree farm in Avery County. Just take Tommy Burleson with you down the rows. 

The 7-foot-2 tree farmer is the same fellow who played basketball at N.C. State under coach Norm Sloan from 1971-74 and teamed with David Thompson, Monte Towe, Tim Stoddard, Moe Rivers, Phil Spence and gang to win the NCAA championship in 1974, which was played in Greensboro.

Burleson has served for many years as Avery County’s planning director and also holds the distinction of being the “official woolly worm interpreter.” In this capacity, “he reads the bands on the woolly worm’s body to reveal the winter weather forecast. (That’s a story for another day.)