Interpretations of the firs from that region have varied, with Abies forrestii var. georgei (Orr) Farjon being given preference by the 2014 Hillier manual for instance. With the note that material cultivated under the name up to that time was probably A. f. var. smithii instead. This latter version is particularly hairy - but yes, it looks like you don't have A. forrestii anyway. Forestfarm often has close up photos of their stock on their web site, it is too bad you weren't able to see or didn't notice this material wasn't correct before ordering. A. forrestii is a soft climate species that might not really be on the market even as comparatively infrequently as it is listed.

Yes, the first are Abies recurvata, the 2 th look right delavayi.

I see they've actually got it now that when you put your mouse over the main photo you get an enlargement that you can scroll around in to a certain extent. The example they photographed isn't so apparently incorrect as the one they sent you.

(And of course the combination "Abies georgei forrestii smithii" is nonsensical)

http://www.forestfarm.com/abies-georgei-forrestii-smithii-abge021

Good luck with A. grandis in humid Indiana, especially one that already has a compromised root system!

Thanks, all. So, what do you think about the A. grandis? Do you think the root system is compromised?

He look a poor plant, the pot are too smal , it's well possible the root system are also poor.

Yes the size differential between the top and the pot is great. Imagine a root mass larger in volume than that top - this is normal for trees - stuffed into that band. You will have to plant soon, before new top growth is underway, and wash, pull open the roots, spread them out in the hole in order for the tree to have any likelihood of not blowing over or being pulled down by snow later in life.

If the root deformity turns out to be too severe, or the climate there now seems too unsuitable - based on what you are finding out now - it really won't be worth bothering to plant it.

Abies grandis is a widespread western North American species that likes moist conditions. It is native to my neighborhood, some spontaneous seedlings were allowed to develop on a seepage west of me some years ago and have shot right up. If it can't handle Indiana A. forrestii being able to persist there seems doubtful, even in cool and rainy Britain it is

Rather rare; short-lived at least in the south

--Owen Johnson, Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland (2011, Kew)

You would probably be happier with future planting outcomes redirecting your focus to species that are likely to be locally adapted.

yes but all other things being equal - which they never are - summer wet Chinese plants stand a better chance in Indiana than dry summer west coast US plants. Resin can dispute all he wants but there is an Abies forrestii/delavayi whatever growing in the Shenandoah Valley of VA at Spruceman's place. It is unmistakably one of those high elevation SW Chinese species. (Granted that area might be a bit more favorable than most of Indiana - cooler nights etc.) OTOH other than a handful of Abies concolors you aren't going to find any western firs persisting south of New England, probably.

I had a recently planted, grafted A. delavayi from one of the reputable PNW retailers freeze out in the 2011 winter. Before its roots established. Most of them might only be zn 7a or 6b so cold, dry, windy winters in Indiana will be another challenge. Still OP has them, so might as well try them. (OTOH own-root Southwest Chinese seedlings survived the polar vortex winters which were much colder. They had 3 years of establishment at that point, and also snow cover for most of the first cold winter. One out of 3 of those has now died of root rot. I'd love to graft either of the remaining two into Abies firma...but will be interesting to see if the others have enough genetic variance to resist whatever killed the first.)

Thanks to both of you. Yes, I know it's doubtful on both of these plants being long lived. That's ok—I experiment quite a lot with such plants. (Currently I'm growing both Abies vejari and a couple Sequoia sempervirens trees in pots—I bring them into a porch over the winter!)

In fact, had an Abies forrestii that succumbed recently. Wasn't the summer though (did fine in the last two), but last winter. Even though -2 F. was the lowest we had. Also have a small Abies fabri—it made it through the winter, but isn't too happy. We'll see.

On the other hand, three or four small cultivars of Abies procera have done fine last two or three years. And actually, speaking of western firs south of NE, Dawes Arboretum in central OH has several, among them some nice specimens of Abies grandis, lasiocarpa, and procera. Saw the procera last summer myself—beautiful tree. (Actually, I know several growers in MI who also are growing grandis and lasiocarpa for Christmas trees.)

Still, in general I agree about the Chinese species doing better here than W. N. American.

One term that has been used is Abies delavayi Complex, there has not been universal agreement on the interpretation of the western Chinese firs and more material needs to be seen by taxonomists before there is a full understanding. As I remember it China has the largest number of Abies species of any one country, it cannot be assumed that if a tree from any genus of much extent is East Asian in origin it is adapted to the heat and cold of eastern North America. There are lots of Sino-Himalayan mountain plants that are not suited to severe climates, as has been mentioned here previously A. forrestii hasn't been particularly successful even in most of Britain or the P.N.W. And the British experience with growing it dates back to at least 1910.

"On the other hand, three or four small cultivars of Abies procera have done fine last two or three years."

But remember how well they are doing might be just as dependent on what they were grafted onto. I have an A. procera grafted onto A. firma. I wish someone would graft plain old A. grandis onto A. firma. The scent of A. grandis is probably one of the top 3 conifer odors.

I could be that here, no western fir will be long term growable (on its own roots!), but over the Appalachian mountains, especially in (NE) Ohio, they are possible.

" it cannot be assumed that if a tree from any genus of much extent is
East Asian in origin it is adapted to the heat and cold of eastern North
America." I'm not making that assumption, I'm saying that as a matter of fact, more Asian species of firs are found in Mid-Atlantic botanical gardens and collections than western US ones. (even discounting the obvious rot resistant Abies firma) And more European ones too. Now, yes, obviously the cloud forest ones from places that never go above 80F and almost never go below 20F should have a hard time here, and as we've both made perfectly clear...sometimes they do! But for now I'll take one out of 3 "Abies delavayi" (seed purchased from the Chinese National Seed Company according to Treehaven) dying of root rot than 3 out of 3 Abies grandis and 5 out of 5 Abies lasiocarpa. Some of the latter, as little as 2 weeks after the weather got sultry and wet! The dead Abies delavayi at least took 3-4 years to die.

England, schmingland. I mean, yeah, the climate there is a lot more suitable for high elevation plants than ours, obviously, but merely a report of a couple such species doing poorly there doesn't absolutely preclude them from growing here at all. By which I mean...at all. I'm not planning my garden with Abies delavayi as a freakin' centerpiece. They are just an experiment, planted right now in a place they cannot even remain for much longer. So...they are growing here. If such firs are very prone to drying, maybe the periods when the UK has long stretches of anti-cyclonic clear weather with dry air is not to their liking somehow. Warm, humid air IS holding more moisture than cool humid air. If you study the climate figure for SW China, although nights are cool, they aren't as cool as similar elevations in say, the PNW. Because it's always raining in summer. So clearly they tolerate the higher dewpoints here, if not exactly liking them. "In fact, had an Abies forrestii that succumbed recently. Wasn't the summer though (did fine in the last two), but last winter." Believe me I'd be the first to say if Josh or I had tried to plant an Embothrium, the humidity of summer here and in Indiana would have killed it after a month or so. I know from experience! So these SW Chinese firs are clearly just not in that league of heat and humidity sensitivity; and at least because it's a big genus there's the possibility of working around the root rot problem with grafting. (no way around the cold winter problem for Josh though! maybe time to move somewhere milder...)

Here's one of my Abies grandis. There are 4 or 5 volunteer seedlings scattered about from it. Looking east. I will be cutting some Alnus rubras down to give it more light so it will look better as soon as I have room in the woodshed. The blue is a Cunninghamia lanceolata, 'Glauca'... Blue China Fir. Common names can sometimes be quite misleading.

The stump between them was a Thuja plicata, Western Red Cedar, that blew down in a windstorm a few years ago with two others. When I harvested the logs the stumps returned to an upright position.