Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus Abies in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 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 nordmanniana, the Nordmann fir or Caucasian fir, is a fir indigenous to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia and the Russian Caucasus. It occurs at altitudes of 900–2,200 m on mountains with precipitation of over 1,000 mm.
Abies concolor, the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. It naturally occurs at elevations between 900 and 3,400 metres.
The Fraser fir, sometimes spelled" Frasier fir, is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. They are endemic to only seven montane regions in the Appalachian Mountains.
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.
Abietoideae is a subfamily of the conifer family Pinaceae. The name is from the genus Abies (firs), which contains most of the species in the genus. Six genera are currently assigned to this subfamily: Abies, Cedrus, Keteleeria, Nothotsuga, Pseudolarix, and Tsuga.
Abies delavayi, the Delavay's silver-fir or Delavay's fir, is a species of fir, native to Yunnan in southwest China and adjoining border areas in southeastern Tibet, far northeastern India, northern Myanmar, and far northwestern Vietnam. It is a high altitude mountain tree, growing at elevations of 3,000–4,000 m, often occupying the tree line.
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 cilicica, also known as Cilician fir or Taurus fir, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. Abies cilicica and Cedrus libani, together with Acer hyrcanum subsp. tauricolum and Sorbus torminalis subsp. orientalis, are the predominant trees in the phytocoenosis Abeti-Cedrion, a type of forest of the middle and eastern Taurus Mountains of Turkey. These forests occur between 800 and 2,100 meters elevation. Over 5,000 years of logging, burning, and grazing have reduced these forests to enclaves.
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 fargesii is a species of fir, a coniferous tree in the family Pinaceae. Its common name is Farges' fir, after the French missionary, botanist and plant collector, Paul Guillaume Farges. Abies fargesii can grow very large and be up to 40 metres (130 ft) tall. It is endemic to central China where it is found in Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces. It grows in mountains and river basins at altitudes between 1,500–3,900 metres (4,900–12,800 ft) ASL. The cones of the given fir are 0.8 to 1.5 by 1.3–2 centimetres (0.51–0.79 in).
Abies kawakamii is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found only in Taiwan. First described in 1908 by Bunzō Hayata as a variety of Abies mariesii, a high-mountain fir native to Japan; the next year it was elevated to species rank by Tokutarô Itô. Abies kawakamii is exclusively native to the island of Taiwan, and is one of the southernmost true firs. It is a high-mountain species occurring in northern and central Taiwan at elevations between 2400 and 3800 m in association with other temperate plants, dominantly conifers, including Juniperus formosana var. formosana, Tsuga formosana, and Juniperus morrisonicola.
Abies squamata is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. This fir is common in the Southeast of the Tibetan Plateau (China) in an altitude from 3200 m to tree-line in 4400 m. It is dominant on North-facing slopes and often grows with Balfour's spruce, Picea balfouriana. Government sector logging that was rampant until the logging ban in 1998 reduced fir stands significantly. Reforestation after the ban was dominated by spruce, since Abies squamata is susceptible to stem rot and thus shunned by the state forest bureaus. Undergrowth is most commonly dominated by members of the genus Rhododendron. Local Tibetans know this fir as "bollo", but that term is a general term for firs and spruces.
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.
Abies yuanbaoshanensis is a species of fir tree in the family Pinaceae. It is found only in the Yuanbao Mountains within Guangxi province of China. It is a critically endangered species. It is estimated that only 700 trees exist, including saplings
Abies ziyuanensis is a species of fir, a conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is only known from four locations in Guangxi and Hunan provinces in China. A. ziyuanensis is related to Abies beshanzuensis, another threatened fir endemic to China.
The Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the middle and upper elevations of the western Middle Himalayas of Nepal, India, and Pakistan.
