Native to the mountains of Central and Southern Europe the European silver fir is the Christmas tree praised in the traditional German Christmas carol "O Tannenbaum". Dense foliage and an even growth habit have made it a popular ornamental tree in Central European parks and gardens.
Noble fir is native to a limited area on the Pacific Coast region of North America, growing in the Cascades from the northern border of the state of Washington south to the border between Oregon and California. This is a heavy rainfall area with thick snow cover in winter. Noble fir grows in mixed forest with other conifers. In contrast to most firs, it can live for as long as 300 years.
Corkbark fir is an extremely southern variant of the subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), in fact it was earlier held to be a separate species. It is most easily distinguished by pale grey, almost cream-coloured, soft, corky bark. The needles are dense and a beautiful blue-grey, like those of the southern mountain forms of the subalpine fir.
Scattered patches of Fraser fir grow at elevations 1600-2000m in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. At higher elevations it grows as pure forests, lower down as mixed forest, usually with red spruce (Picea rubens). The climate of the area is typically rather wet with frequent fog. The tree species of the upper slopes of the Appalachians are probably relicts surviving from a colder age, like the scattered Korean fir (Abies koreana) groves in the mountains of South Korea.
Symmetrical, upwards turned branches give this Japanese fir a very Japanese look. Due to its graceful growth habit and thick needles with gleaming white undersurface the Veitch fir is considered by many to be among the most decorative of the Mustila firs. On Pohjoisrinne (Northern slope) there are two stands of Veitch fir, the older dating from the 1930s, the younger from 1995.
To most Finns the most familiar of the Abies or fir species is the Siberian fir. It was also the first exotic conifer to be planted at Mustila. Siberian fir has been largely used in parks and gardens, particularly in the 1800s, so much so that its pendulous branches and spire-like multiple crowns can be regarded as characteristic of the Finnish historical countryside landscapes.
Sakhalin fir is fast-growing, and suited to both landscaping and forestry use. It grows rapidly into a stocky tree but seems quite long-lived for a fir. On suitable sites it can compete in timber production with Finland’s native conifer species. After the early years when the tree appears rather thin, the branches of the broad crown grow “Japanese-style” upwards and the long, well-spread needles give older trees a very luxuriant appearance. Sakhalin fir is native to Sakhalin Island, the Kuriles, and Japan’s Hokkaido.
Trojan fir grows in a restricted area of the mountains of western Turkey. The scientific name equi-trojani is a reference to the ancient tale of the Trojan horse, which might well have been constructed of wood from this species as it grows nearby to the location of ancient Troy. This and the other firs of the Asia Minor mountains have caused headaches for botanists because in their splinter-like ranges they don’t form clear-cut species. Nowadays it is regarded, like Bornmueller’s fir (Abies bornmuelleriana), as a western subspecies of Caucasian fir (A.
The beautiful Caucasian fir may well be the most important fir species in Europe economically, not so much in its native range in the Caucasus Mountains but in western Europe, due to its success as a Christmas tree. For showiness, it comes very close to Pacific silver fir (A. amabilis). The long needles cover the branches spreading in every direction and the branches grow in symmetrical whorls. In the temperate maritime climate of the Caucasus it can reach heights of 70m (ca.230 ft.), taller than any other European species.
The Khingan fir is native to north-east Asia, growing mainly east and south-east of the Sea of Okhotsk, with isolated stands as far south as the Korean mountains. The species is closely related to the Siberian fir (Abies sibirica), and it may be considered an intermediate between the Siberian and the Sakhalin fir (Abies sachalinensis). A hybrid form of the Manchurian and Siberian firs (Abies x sibirico-nephrolepis) occurs in northern Manchuria.