And now I know what subalpine means: in the foothills or lower slopes of mountains, below the treeline. Which seems to imply that alpine trees grow above the treeline. This dendrology stuff is complicated.
Anyway, tree research can wait. This took a long time because each needle was outlined or shadowed by another. It was hard not to keep moving along from one to the next until I had drawn the whole twig and its hundreds of leaves. I just had to stop in the middle.
Sermons in Stones 
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February 22, 2022 at 8:17 pm
Erp
I think Alpine changes meaning between Subalpine forests which refers to an elevation zone and Alpine trees which refers to trees that grow in the European Alps. By definition the Alpine zone has no trees. Or it may just be me missing the point.
https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/forests.htm
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/habitats/alpine/
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February 22, 2022 at 8:38 pm
Amy Zucker Morgenstern
So the only alpine trees are trees literally native to the Alps? Possible.
To further confuse things, another name for this tree is the Alpine fir, LOL. But that doesn’t disprove your hypothesis. It didn’t originate in the Alps–it is a purely North American species–but common names are often inaccurate.
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February 23, 2022 at 5:55 pm
Erp
I note https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_lasiocarpa.php states:
“There are a few stodgy ecologists out there who maintain that “alpine” means above the treeline. They have a point, but I won’t complain if somebody calls it “alpine fir.” Besides, “subalpine” fir has enormous elevational range, occurring from sea level (in Alaska) to 3,700 meters (in Arizona), and can be found in many lowland or montane forests.”
The earliest reference to it as “Alpine Fir” seems to be before 1875
though that name has also been applied to Tsuga dumosa earlier. “Alpine zone” dates back to before 1810.
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