Abies P. Miller. Fir, Balsam.

Contributed by Alan S. Weakley and Derick B. Poindexter

Key to Abies

A genus of about 50 species, trees, of temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south to Central America. Our two native species and other non-natives are grown as ornamentals, especially in the mountains and northwards. Subgeneric classification follows Xiang et al. (2018). Our Southeastern United States native taxa, A. balsamea and A. fraseri, are in section Balsamea, of 8 species. "These species [of section Balsamea] are either boreal or subalpine, associated with other conifers and broad-leaf trees in the boreal zone. Abies balsamea and A. sibirica are the two most widespread firs, covering vast areas of boreal forest across North America and Eurasia, respectively. The other taxa are more restricted, occupying subalpine habitats along the Rocky Mountains in western North America (A. lasiocarpa) and scattered along the highest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States (A. fraseri). The eastern Asian species (A. nephrolepis, A. sachalinensis, A. veitchii, and A. koreana) occur in subalpine regions of Japan, Korea, Pacific Siberia, and northeast China, respectively."

Ref: Fernald (1909); Fulling (1934); Fulling (1936); Hunt (1993) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993b); Liu (1971); Page In Kramer & Green (1990); Poindexter (2010b); Potter et al. (2010); Robinson (1968); Xiang et al. (2018). Show full citations.

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