Fir

For other uses, see FIR (disambiguation).

Fir Tree redirects here. For the County Durham town,
see Fir Tree, County Durham.
Firs (Abies) are a genus of 4855 species of evergreen
coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found
through much of North and Central America, Europe,
Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most
of the range. Firs are most closely related to the genus
Cedrus (cedar). Douglas rs are not true rs, being of the
genus Pseudotsuga.
They are large trees, reaching heights of 1080 m (33
262 ft) tall and trunk diameters of 0.54 m (1 ft 8 in13
ft 1 in) when mature. Firs can be distinguished from other A. grandis foliage - upper side of the leaves
members of the pine family by the unique attachment of
their needle-like leaves and by their dierent cones.
Identication of the dierent species is based on the size
and arrangement of the leaves, the size and shape of the
cones, and whether the bract scales of the cones are long
and exserted, or short and hidden inside the cone.

Leaves

Atypical A. alba foliage from Dinaric calcareous r forests on

Mt. Orjen

per surface of the leaves usually is uniformly green and

shiny, without stomata or only with few at their tips, visible as whitish spots. Some of the species however have
the upper surface of leaves dull, gray-green, bluish-gray to
silvery, coated by wax with variable number of stomatal
bands, and not always continuous. An example species
with shiny green leaves is A. alba, and an example sepcies with dull waxy leaves is A. concolor.

A. alba - the underside of leaves with 2 whitish strips formed by

wax-covered stomatal bands

Firs can be distinguished from other members of the

pine family by the unique attachment of their needle-like
leaves to the twig by a base that resembles a small suction
cup.

The tips of leaves are usually more or less notched (as

in A. rma), but sometimes rounded or dull (as in A.
concolor, A. magnica) or sharp and prickly (as in A.
bracteata, A. cephalonica, A. holophylla). The leaves of
The leaves are signicantly attened, sometimes even young plants are usually sharper.
looking like they are pressed, as in A. sibirica.
The way they spread from the shoot is very diverse, only
The leaves have 2 whitish strips on the bottom, each of in some species comb-shaped, with the leaves arranged
which is formed by wax-covered stomatal bands. The up- on two sides, at (A. alba) [2]
1

CLASSIFICATION

Cones

Disintegrating cones of Manchurian r

A. fraseri, A. homolepis (var. umbellata green),

A. koreana ('Flava' green), A. lasiocarpa, A.
nephrolepis (f. chlorocarpa green), A. sibirica,
A. veitchii (var. olivacea green). [2]

3 Classication
Section Abies (central, south & east Europe, Asia
Minor)
Abies albasilver r
Intact and disintegrated Bulgarian r cones

Abies nebrodensisSicilian r
Abies borisii-regisBulgarian r
Abies cephalonicaGreek r
Abies nordmannianaNordmann r or Caucasian r
Abies nordmanniana subsp.
equitrojaniKazda r, Turkish r
Abies nordmanniana subsp. bornmllerianaUluda r
Abies pinsapoSpanish r
Abies pinsapo var.
Moroccan r

marocana

Abies numidicaAlgerian r
Immature cones of some of species or races are green, not purplebluish. Manchurian r.

Firs dier from other conifers in having erect, cylindrical cones 525 cm (2.09.8 in) long that disintegrate at
maturity to release the winged seeds.
In contrast to spruces, even large r cones do not hang,
but are raised like candles.
Mature cones are usually brown, young in summer can be
green, for example:
A. grandis, A. holophylla, A. nordmanniana
or purple and blue, sometimes very dark:

Abies cilicicaSyrian r
Section Balsamea (Taiga|boreal Asia and North
America, and high mountains further south)
Abies fraseriFraser r
Abies balsameabalsam r
Abies balsamea var.
bracted balsam r

phanerolepis

Abies lasiocarpasubalpine r
Abies lasiocarpa var.
arizonica
corkbark r
Abies lasiocarpa var. bifoliaRocky
Mountains subalpine r

3
Abies sibiricaSiberian r
Abies sibirica var. semenovii
Abies sachalinensisSakhalin r
Abies koreanaKorean r
Abies nephrolepisKhinghan r
Abies veitchiiVeitchs r
Abies veitchii var. sikokianaShikoku r
Section Grandis (western North America to Mexico and Guatemala, lowlands in north, moderate altitudes in south)
Abies grandisgrand r or giant r
Abies grandis var. idahoensisinterior
grand r or giant r
Abies concolorwhite r
Abies concolor subsp. lowianaLows
white r
Abies durangensisDurango r
Abies durangensis var.
Coahuila r

coahuilensis

Abies inckiiJalisco r

A. fabri, Sichuan, China

Abies guatemalensisGuatemalan r
Section Momi (east & central Asia, Himalaya, generally at low to moderate altitudes)
Abies kawakamiiTaiwan r
Abies homolepisNikko r
Abies recurvataMin r
Abies recurvata var. ernestiiMin r

Abies delavayi var. nukiangensis

Abies delavayi var. motuoensis
Abies delavayi subsp. fansipanensis
Abies fabriFabers r
Abies fabri subsp. minensis
Abies forrestiiForrests r
Abies densaBhutan r

Abies rmaMomi r

Abies spectabilisEast Himalayan r

Abies beshanzuensisBaishanzu r

Abies fargesii Farges r

Abies holophyllaManchurian r
Abies chensiensisShensi r
Abies chensiensis subsp. salouenensis
Salween r
Abies pindrowPindrow r
Abies ziyuanensisZiyuan r
Section Amabilis (Pacic coast mountains, North
America and Japan, in high rainfall mountains)

Abies fanjingshanensisFanjingshan r
Abies yuanbaoshanensisYuanbaoshan r
Abies squamataaky r
Section Oiamel (Central Mexico, at high altitude)
Abies religiosasacred r
Abies hickeliiHickels r
Abies hickelii var. oaxacanaOaxaca r

Abies amabilisPacic silver r

Abies mariesiiMaries r
Section Pseudopicea (Sino-Himalayan mountains,
at high altitude)
Abies delavayiDelavays r

Section Nobilis (western U.S., high altitudes)

Abies proceranoble r
Abies magnicared r
Abies magnica var. shastensisShasta
red r

EXTERNAL LINKS

only 12 m (3.36.6 ft) tall. Other rs can grow anywhere

between 30 and 236 feet (9.1 and 71.9 m) tall. Fir Tree
Appreciation Day is June 18.
Firs are used as food plants by the caterpillars of
some Lepidoptera species, including Chionodes abella
(recorded on white r), autumnal moth, conifer swift
(a pest of balsam r), the engrailed, grey pug, mottled
umber, pine beauty and the tortrix moths Cydia illutana
(whose caterpillars are recorded to feed on European silver r cone scales) and C. duplicana (on European silver
r bark around injuries or canker).
Abies spectabilis or Talispatra is used in Ayurveda as an
antitussive drug.

5 References
[1] Schorn, Howard; Wehr, Wesley (1986). Abies milleri,
sp. nov., from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain
Formation, Republic, Ferry County, Washington. Burke
Museum Contributions in Anthropology and Natural History 1: 17.
[2] Seneta, Wodzimierz (1981). Drzewa i krzewy iglaste
(Coniferous trees and shrubs) (in Polish) (1st ed.). Warsaw: Pastwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe (PWN). ISBN
83-01-01663-9.
A. magnica, California, USA

Section Bracteata (California coast)

Abies bracteatabristlecone r
Section Incertae sedis

6 Bibliography
Philips, Roger. Trees of North America and Europe,
Random House, Inc., New York ISBN 0-394-50259-0,
1979.

Abies milleri(Extinct) Early Eocene[1]

7 External links
4

Uses and ecology

Wood of most rs is considered unsuitable for general

timber use, and is often used as pulp or for the manufacture of plywood and rough timber. Because this genus
has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging,
it is generally recommended for construction purposes as
indoor use only (e.g. indoor drywall on framing). This
wood left outside cannot be expected to last more than 12
to 18 months, depending on the type of climate it is exposed to. It is commonly referred to by several dierent
names, including North American timber, SPF (spruce,
pine, r) and whitewood.
Nordmann r, noble r, Fraser r and balsam r are popular Christmas trees, generally considered to be the best
for this purpose, with aromatic foliage that does not shed
many needles on drying out. Many are also decorative
garden trees, notably Korean r and Fraser r, which produce brightly coloured cones even when very young, still

Abies at The Gymnosperm Database

Michael P. FRANKIS CONE COLLECTION:
Abies at the Arboretum de Villardebelleimages of
cones of selected species
[1]

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Fir Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fir?oldid=629773378 Contributors: Tarquin, Azhyd, Menchi, TakuyaMurata, Ahoerstemeier,

Bogdangiusca, Hike395, Imc, Kenne, SirJective, Naddy, Wikibot, DocWatson42, MPF, Tom Radulovich, Gadum, Yath, JoJan, Secfan,
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Images

File:Abgragra-top.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Abgragra-top.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Abies_Orjen_foliage.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Abies_Orjen_foliage.jpg License: CCBY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Abies_alba,_Wei_Tanne_1.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Abies_alba%2C_Wei%C3%
9F_Tanne_1.JPG License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: bhringer friedrich
File:Abies_cone_&_bits.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Abies_cone_%26_bits.jpg License: CCBY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Abies_fabri_in_mist.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Abies_fabri_in_mist.jpg License: CC BYSA 2.0 Contributors: Flickr Original artist: Avlxyz on Flickr
File:Abies_holophylla_Manchurian_Fir_cones.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Abies_holophylla_
Manchurian_Fir_cones.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Darekk2
File:Abies_koreana_(szyszki).JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Abies_koreana_%28szyszki%29.
JPG License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Lestat (Jan Mehlich)
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File:Manchurian_Fir_Abies_holophylla_disintegrating_cones.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/
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Original artist: User:Marcia Wright

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