Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus Abies in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–56 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to Cedrus (cedar).
Abies borisii-regis is a species of fir native to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula in Bulgaria, northern Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia. It occurs at altitudes of 800–1,800 m, on mountains with an annual rainfall of over 1,000 mm.
Abies alba, the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and south to Italy, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania and northern Greece; it is also commonly grown on Christmas tree plantations in the North East region of North America spanning New England in the US to the Maritime provinces of Canada.
Abies cephalonica or Greek fir is a fir native to the mountains of Greece, primarily in the Peloponnesos and the island of Kefallonia, intergrading with the closely related Bulgarian fir further north in the Pindus mountains of northern Greece. It is a medium-size evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–35 metres (82–115 ft) – rarely 40 m (130 ft) – tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m. It occurs at altitudes of 900–1,700 m (3,000–5,600 ft), on mountains with a rainfall of over 1,000 millimetres (39 in).
Abies procera, the noble fir, also called red fir and Christmas tree, is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of 300–1,500 meters (980–4,920 ft).
Abies amabilis, commonly known as the Pacific silver fir, is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range. It is also commonly referred to as the white fir, red fir, lovely fir, Amabilis fir, Cascades fir, or silver fir. The species name is Latin for 'lovely'.
Abies mariesii is a fir native to the mountains of central and northern Honshū, Japan. It grows at altitudes of 750–1,900 m in northern Honshū, and 1,800–2,900 m in central Honshū, always in temperate rain forest with high rainfall and cool, humid summers, and very heavy winter snowfall.
Abies homolepis, the Nikko fir is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Honshū and Shikoku, Japan. It grows at altitudes of 700–2,200 m, often in temperate rain forest with high rainfall and cool, humid summers, and heavy winter snowfall.
Abies pindrow, the pindrow fir or west Himalayan fir, is a fir native to the western Himalaya and adjacent mountains, from northeast Afghanistan east through northern Pakistan and India to central Nepal.
Abies veitchii, also known as Veitch's silver-fir, is a fir native to Japan on the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. It lives in moist soils in cool wet mountain forests at elevations of 1500–2800 m. It is very shade-tolerant when young, but is not long-lived.
Abies sibirica, the Siberian fir, is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the taiga east of the Volga River and south of 67°40' North latitude in Siberia through Turkestan, northeast Xinjiang, Mongolia and Heilongjiang.
Abies firma, the momi fir, is a species of fir native to central and southern Japan, growing at low to moderate altitudes of 50–1600 m.
Abies religiosa, the oyamel fir or sacred fir, is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico and western Guatemala. It grows at high altitudes of 2,100–4,100 metres (6,900–13,500 ft) in cloud forests with cool, humid summers and dry winters in most of its habitat regime. In the state of Veracruz, it grows with precipitation all year long. The tree is resistant to regular winter snowfalls.
Abies guatemalensis, the Guatemalan fir or pinabete, is an evergreen tree native to Central America and is the southernmost member of the genus Abies being spread to the south lower than 14° N. Its range is from southern Mexico in the north to Honduras and El Salvador in the south. It is a warm-loving and moisture-loving tree of the tropical mountain coniferous and mixed cloud forests of these countries. The Guatemalan fir is an almost completely non-frost-resistant tree. Due to logging and loss of habitat, the tree is considered threatened and is protected in CITES Appendix I.
Abies beshanzuensis is a species of fir in the family Pinaceae. It is endemic to Mt. Baishanzu in southern Zhejiang province in eastern China, where it grows at 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) altitude and is threatened by collection and climate change. The site is within the Fengyangshan – Baishanzu National Nature Reserve. Abies beshanzuensis is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.
Abies chensiensis, the Shensi fir, is a fir native to Gansu, Hubei, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan in China, and Arunachal Pradesh in India. It was first described by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1892.
Abies fabri is a conifer species in the family Pinaceae. It is endemic to Sichuan in western China, occurring on the sacred mountain of Emei Shan and westward to the Gongga Shan massif, growing at altitudes of 1,500–4,000 metres (4,900–13,100 ft).
Abies nephrolepis, commonly known as Khingan fir, is a species of fir native to northeastern China, North Korea, South Korea, and southeastern Russia.
Abies recurvata is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found only in China. Abies recurvata is a distinct fir species usually recognized by the needles on its leaders mostly recurved or reflexed. It occurs in the drier, colder northern regions of central China in Sichuan and Gansu provinces at elevations between 2300 and 3600 m, usually on windy cliffs or in deep river valleys. Sometimes, however, also appears in dry low scrub on exposed mountain slopes. The most typical associated conifer species include Juniperus convallium, Juniperus formosana var. mairei, Juniperus squamata var. fargesii, Juniperus tibetica, Picea asperata, and Picea wilsonii. Abies recurvata is a small to medium-sized tree mostly with conical crown, occasionally reaching a height of 40 m, and a trunk diameter of 0.8 metres. It has rather smooth gray or rusty brown bark, at first shedding in thin plates, becoming grayish-brown and detaching in thick plates. The branchlets are grayish-white or light yellow with 1.2–2.5 centimetres (0.47–0.98 in) long needles horizontally outspreading on shade branches, radially outspreading on fertile branches; often thick and recurved, green to gray above and densely set with stoma-lines, with 2 light grayish-green stomatal bands below. Abies recurvata has 4–8 centimetres (1.6–3.1 in) long ovoid or cylindrical-ovoid, gray- or purplish blue cones; the bracts are somewhat shorter than the cone-scales, included or with slightly exposed tips.
Abies vejarii is a species of fir native to northeastern Mexico, in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, where it grows at high altitudes in the Sierra Madre Oriental.
