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). The genus name is derived from the Latin "to rise" in reference to the height of its species. The common English name originates with the Old Norse, fyri, or the Old Danish, fyr.
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 pinsapo, Spanish fir, is a species of tree in the family Pinaceae, native to southern Spain and northern Morocco. Related to other species of Mediterranean firs, it appears at altitudes of 900–1,800 metres (3,000–5,900 ft) in the Sierra de Grazalema in the Province of Cádiz and the Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Bermeja, both near Ronda in the province of Málaga. In Morocco, it is limited to the Rif Mountains at altitudes of 1,400–2,100 metres (4,600–6,900 ft) on Jebel Tissouka and Jebel Tazaot.
Abies bracteata, the Santa Lucia fir or bristlecone fir, is the rarest fir in North America, and according to some, the world. It is confined to steep-sided slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains, in the Big Sur region on the central coast of California, United States.
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 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 holophylla, also called needle fir or Manchurian fir, is a species of fir native to mountainous regions of northern Korea, southern Ussuriland, and China in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.
Larix griffithii, the Sikkim larch, is a species of larch, native to the eastern Himalaya in eastern Nepal, Sikkim, western Bhutan and southwestern China, growing at 1,800–4,100 metres (5,900–13,500 ft) in altitude.
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 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.
Tsuga dumosa, commonly called the Himalayan hemlock or in Chinese, Yunnan tieshan, is a species of conifer native to the eastern Himalayas. It occurs in parts of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Vietnam and Tibet. Within its native range the tree is used for construction as well as for furniture. In Europe and North America, it is occasionally encountered as an ornamental species and was first brought to the United Kingdom in 1838.
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 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 spectabilis, the East Himalayan fir, is a conifer species in the family Pinaceae and the genus Abies. It is sometimes held to include the Bhutan fir as a variety. It is found in Afghanistan, China (Tibet), northern India, Nepal, and Pakistan. It is a large tree, up to 50 m (160 ft) tall.
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.
Hodgson's treecreeper is a small passerine bird from the southern rim of the Himalayas. Its specific distinctness from the common treecreeper was recently validated.
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.
