Silver Fir
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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Silver Fir | status = Conservation status: Secure | image = Abies alba Orjen.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Abies alba growing at Orjen, Montenegro | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Pinophyta | classis = Pinopsida | ordo = Pinales | familia = Pinaceae | genus = Abies | species = A. alba | binomial = Abies alba | binomial_authority = Mill. }}
Silver Fir or European Silver Fir (Abies alba) is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, and south to southern Italy and northern Serbia, where it intergrades with the closely related Bulgarian Fir. It is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 40-50 m (exceptionally 60 m) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. It occurs at altitudes of 300-1,700 m (mainly over 500 m), on mountains with a rainfall of over 1,000 mm.
Image:Abies alba 01.jpg The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 1.8-3 cm long and 2 mm wide by 0.5 mm thick, glossy dark green above, and with two greenish-white bands of stomata below. The tip of the leaf is usually slightly notched at the tip. The cones are 9-17 cm long and 3-4 cm broad, with about 150-200 scales, each scale with an exserted bract and two winged seeds; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds.
Silver Fir is an important component species in the Dinaric calcareous Silver Fir forest in the western Balkan Peninsula. It is closely related to Bulgarian Fir (Abies borisiiregis) further to the southeast in the Balkan Peninsula, and Sicilian Fir (A. nebrodensis) in Sicily, differing from these and other related Euro-Mediterranean firs in the sparser foliage, with the leaves spread either side of the shoot, leaving the shoot readily visible from above. Some botanists treat Bulgarian Fir and Sicilian Fir as varieties of Silver Fir, as A. alba var. acutifolia and A. alba var. nebrodensis respectively.
Image:Illustration Abies alba0.jpg Silver Fir is the species first used as a Christmas tree, but has been largely replaced by Nordmann Fir (which has denser, more attractive foliage), Norway Spruce (which is much cheaper to grow), and other species. The wood is moderately soft and white, used for general construction and paper manufacture. Template:Commonscs:Jedle bělokorá da:Ædelgran (Abies alba) de:Weißtanne es:Abies alba fr:Sapin blanc it:Abies alba nl:Zilverspar pl:Jodła pospolita sl:Hoja sv:Silvergran tr:Avrupa göknarı uk:Ялиця біла
