Abies alba

Abies alba, Otto Wilhelm Thome

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Tracheophyta
Divisio: Pinophyta
Classis: Pinopsida
Ordo: Pinales

Familia: Pinaceae
Genus: Abies
Sectio: A. sect. Abies
Species: Abies alba
Name

Abies alba Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8: Abies No. 1 (1768),
Synonyms

Replaced synonym
Pinus picea L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1001 (1753).
Lectotypus: Herb. Clifford: 449, Abies 2 (BM-000647435), designated by Farjon & Jarvis in Greuter (ed.), Regnum Veg. 128: 110 (1993).
Homotypic
Abies picea (L.) Lindl., Penny Cyclop. 1: 29 (1833), nom. illeg., non Mill. (1768)
Pinus alba (Mill.) Münchh., Hausvater 5 (1): 222 (1770)
Heterotypic
Abies taxifolia Duhamel, Traité Arbr. Arbust. 1: 3 (1755), opus utique oppr.
Pinus abies Du Roi, Diss. Inaug. Obs. Bot.: 39 (1771), nom. illeg., non L. (1753)
Pinus pectinata Lam., Fl. Franç. 2: 202 (1779).
Abies pectinata (Lam.) DC. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck & A.P.de Candolle, Fl. Franç., ed. 3, 3: 276 (1805), nom. illeg., non Gilib. (1792)
Picea pectinata (Lam.) Loudon, Arbor. Frutic. Brit. 4: 2329 (1838).
Pinus abies var. pectinata (Lam.) Christ, Verh. Naturf. Ges. Basel 3: 542 (1863).
Abies minor Gilib., Exerc. Phyt. 2: 412 (1792), opus utique oppr.
Pinus lucida Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 399 (1796).
Abies vulgaris Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck, Encycl. 6: 514 (1804).
Pinus baldensis Zuccagni, Cent. Observ. Pl. 1: 46 (1806).
Abies baldensis (Zuccagni) Zucc. ex Nyman, Consp. Fl. Eur.: 674 (1881).
Abies taxifolia Desf., Hort. Par. 3: 356 (1809).
Peuce abies Rich., Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. 16: 298 (1810).
Abies nobilis A.Dietr., Fl. Berlin 2: 793 (1824).
Abies excelsa Link, Abh. Königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1827: 182 (1827), nom. illeg.
Abies taxifolia Raf., New Fl. 1: 38 (1836).
Abies argentea Chambray, Traité Prat. Arbr. Résin. Conif.: 17 (1845).
Abies candicans Fisch. ex Endl., Syn. Conif.: 96 (1847).
Pinus heterophylla K.Koch, Linnaea 22: 295 (1849).
Picea excelsa Wender., Pfl. Bot. Gärt. 1(Conif.): 11 (1851), nom. illeg.
Picea kukunaria Wender., Pfl. Bot. Gärt.: 11 (1851).
Picea metensis Gordon, Pinetum: 152 (1858).
Picea rinzi Gordon & Glend., Pinetum: 152 (1858), pro syn.
Abies rinzii K.Koch, Dendrologie 2(2): 218 (1873).
Abies metensis Gordon & Glend., Pinetum, ed. 2: 211 (1875).
Abies miniata Knight ex Gordon, Pinetum, ed. 2: 8 (1875).
Abies chlorocarpa Purk. ex Nyman, Consp. Fl. Eur.: 674 (1881).
Picea tenuifolia Beissn., Handb. Nadelholzk.: 433 (1891).
Abies abies Rusby, Bull. Pharm. (Paris), reimpr.: 16 (1892), nom. inval.
Abies alba var. podolica R.I.Schröd., Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 1899: 121 (1899).
Abies tenuirifolia Beissn., Handb. Nadelholzk.: 121 (1909).
Abies duplex Hormuz. ex Beissn., Handb. Nadelholzk., ed. 3: 110 (1930).
Abies alba subsp. apennina Brullo, Scelsi & Spamp., Veg. Aspromonte: 41 (2001).
Abies alba var. glauca Gordon, Pinetum: 3 (1855).
Abies pectinata var. pendula Carrière, Traité Gén. Conif.: 207 (1855).
Picea pectinata var. pendula (Carrière) Godefroy ex Gordon & Glend., Pinetum: 153 (1858).
Abies pectinata f. pendula (Carrière) Conw., Abh. Landesk. Prov. Westpreussen 9: 161 (1895).
Abies alba lusus pendula (Carrière) Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 1: 191 (1897).
Pinus picea f. pendula (Carrière) Voss in K.Putlitz & L.Meyer, Landlexikon 4: 774 (1913).
Abies alba f. pendula (Carrière) Rehder, Bibl. Cult. Trees: 11 (1949).
Abies pectinata var. pyramidalis Carrière, Traité Gén. Conif.: 207 (1855).
Abies alba f. pyramidalis (Carrière) Voss, Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 1237 (1896).
Pinus picea f. pyramidalis (Carrière) Voss in K.Putlitz & L.Meyer, Landlexikon 4: 774 (1913).
Abies pectinata var. columnaris Carrière, Rev. Hort. (Paris), sér. 4, 8: 39 (1859).
Abies alba var. columnaris (Carrière) C.K.Schneid. in E.E.Silva Tarouca, Uns. Freil.-Nadelhölzer: 151 (1913).
Pinus picea f. columnaris (Carrière) Voss in K.Putlitz & L.Meyer, Landlexikon 4: 774 (1913).
Abies alba f. columnaris (Carrière) Rehder, J. Arnold Arbor. 1: 55 (1919).
Picea pyramidalis Gordon, Pinetum, Suppl.: 49 (1862).
Abies pectinata var. pendula-gracilis Sénécl., Conifères: 14 (1868).
Abies alba var. aurea auct., Garden (London 1871-1927) 5: 231 (1874).
Abies alba compacta Parsons, Cat. 1887: 65 (1887).
Abies alba f. compacta (Parsons) Rehder, J. Arnold Arbor. 6: 204 (1925).
Abies alba var. compacta (Parsons) Rehder, Man. Cult. Trees: 34 (1927).
Abies alba var. brevifolia Mattf., Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 1925: 22 (1925).
Abies pardei Gaussen, Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Toulouse 57: 358 (1928 publ. 1929).
Abies alba var. pardei (Gaussen) Silba, Phytologia 68: 9 (1990).
Abies alba subsp. pardei (Gaussen) Silba, J. Int. Conifer Preserv. Soc. 15: 36 (2008).
Abies pardei subsp. pancicii Rac & Lovrić, Simpoz. Proucavanje Biljnog Zivotinjskog Sveta sa Aspekta Problema Zaštite i Unapredenja Zivotne Sredine Kragujevac: 80 (1988).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Northern Europe
Denmark, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden (introduced).
Regional: Middle Europe
Austria, Belgium (introduced), Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland.
Regional: Southwestern Europe
Corse, France, Portugal (introduced), Spain.
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia.
Regional: Eastern Europe
Belarus, Ukraine.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Miller, P. 1768. The Gardeners Dictionary: containing the best and newest methods of cultivating and improving the kitchen, fruit, flower garden, and nursery. Ed. 8, 3 volumes (without pagination), John & Francis Rivington, London. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.541 Reference page.

Additional references

Greuter, W. (ed.) 1993. Names in current use in the families Trichocomaceae, Cladoniaceae, Pinaceae, and Lemnaceae. Regnum Vegetabile 128: 1–150. Reference page.
Jarvis, C.E. 2007. Order out of Chaos: Linnaean Plant Names and their Types. London: Linnean Society of London in association with the Natural History Museum, ISBN 978-0-9506207-7-0, p. 745. Online. Reference page.

Links

Euro+Med 2006 onwards: Abies alba in Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published online. Accessed: 2019 July 29.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Abies alba in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Oct 23. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2015. Abies alba. Published online. Accessed: Apr. 29 2015.

Vernacular names
Alemannisch: Weisstanne
aragonés: Abet común
العربية: شوح أبيض
azərbaycanca: Avropa ağ şamı
беларуская (тарашкевіца): Піхта белая
беларуская: Піхта белая
български: Обикновена ела
català: Avet blanc
corsu: Ghjaddicu
kaszëbsczi: Zwëczajnô jedlëna
čeština: Jedle bělokorá
dansk: Almindelig Ædelgran
Deutsch: Weiß-Tanne
dolnoserbski: Běła jedła
Ελληνικά: Λευκή ελάτη
English: European Silver Fir
Esperanto: Blanka abio
español: Abeto blanco
eesti: Euroopa nulg
euskara: Izei zuri
فارسی: نراد نقره‌ای
suomi: Saksanpihta
arpetan: Vârnyo
français: Sapin blanc
Gaeilge: Giúis gheal
galego: Abeto branco
hrvatski: Obična jela
hornjoserbsce: Běła jědla
magyar: Közönséges jegenyefenyő
íslenska: Evrópuþinur
italiano: Abete bianco
日本語: ヨーロッパモミ
перем коми: Чочком ньыв
кыргызча: Аккарагай
lietuvių: Europinis kėnis
македонски: Сребрена ела
Nederlands: Gewone Zilverspar
norsk: Vanlig Edelgran
occitan: Avet blanc
polski: Jodła pospolita
română: Brad argintiu
русский: Пихта белая
srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски: Jela
slovenčina: Jedľa biela
slovenščina: Bela jelka
shqip: Bredhi i bardhë
српски / srpski: Европска јела
svenska: Silvergran
Türkçe: Orta Avrupa göknarı
удмурт: Тӧдьы ньылпу
українська: Ялиця біла
vèneto: Tana
ייִדיש: ווײַסיאָדלע
中文: 銀冷杉

Abies alba, the European silver fir or silver fir,[3] is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and south to Italy, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania and northern Greece; it is also commonly grown on Christmas tree plantations in the North East region of North America spanning New England in the US to the Maritime provinces of Canada.[1]
Silver fir trunk and bark of a tree in Vallombrosa State Forest (Italy)
Illustration of several parts of the plant
Immature cone
Seedlings

Description

Abies alba is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 40–50 m (130–160 ft) (exceptionally 60 m (200 ft)) tall and with a trunk diameter up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). The largest measured tree was 60 m tall and had a trunk diameter of 3.8 m (12 ft). It occurs at altitudes of 300–1,700 m (980–5,580 ft) (mainly over 500 m (1,600 ft)), on mountains with rainfall over 1,000 millimetres (39 in) per year.[3]

The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 1.8–3.0 cm (0.71–1.18 in) long and 2.0 mm (0.079 in) wide by 0.5 mm (0.020 in) 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 (3.5–6.7 in) long and 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) broad, with about 150-200 scales, each scale with an exserted bract and two winged seeds; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds.[citation needed] The wood is white, leading to the species name alba.[3]

When cultivated on Christmas Tree plantations, the tree naturally forms a symmetrical triangle shape. The trees are full and dense with strong evergreen fragrance, and are known to be one of the longest lasting after being cut. In the forest the evergreen tends to form stands with other firs and beeches.[3] It is closely related to Bulgarian fir (Abies borisiiregis) further to the southeast in the Balkan Peninsula, Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo) of Spain and Morocco and Sicilian fir (Abies 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.[citation needed]
Ecology

Silver fir is an important component species in the dinaric calcareous block fir forest in the western Balkan Peninsula.[citation needed]

In Italy, the silver fir is an important component of the mixed broadleaved-coniferous forest of the Apennine Mountains, especially in northern Apennine. The fir prefer a cold and humid climate, in northern exposition, with a high rainfall (over 1500 mm per year). In the oriental Alps of Italy, silver firs grow in mixed forests with Norway spruce, beech, and other trees.

Its cone scales are eaten by the caterpillars of the tortrix moth Cydia illutana, while C. duplicana feeds on the bark around injuries or canker.[citation needed]
Chemistry and pharmacology

The bark and wood of silver fir are rich in antioxidative polyphenols.[4][5] Six phenolic acids were identified (gallic, homovanillic, protocatehuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic and p-coumaric), three flavonoids (catechin, epicatechin and catechin tetramethyl ether) and eight lignans (taxiresinol, 7-(2-methyl-3,4-dihydroxytetrahydropyran-5-yloxy)-taxiresinol, secoisolariciresinol, laricinresinol, hydroxymatairesinol, isolariciresinol, matairesinol and pinoresinol).[6][4] The extract from the trunk was shown to prevent atherosclerosis in guinea pigs[7] and to have cardioprotective effect in isolated rat hearts.[8] Silver fir wood extract was found to reduce the post-prandial glycemic response (concentration of sugar in the blood after the meal) in healthy volunteers.[9]
Uses

In Roman times the wood was used to make wooden casks to store and transport wine and other substances.[10]

A resinous essential oil can be extracted. This pine-scented oil is used in perfumes, bath products, and aerosol inhalants.[3] Its branches (including the leaves, bark and wood) were used for production of spruce beer.[11]

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.[citation needed]

The wood is strong, lightweight, light-colored, fine grained, even-textured and long fibered. The timber is mainly used as construction wood, furniture, plywood, pulpwood and paper manufacture.[12]

The honeydew which is produced by aphids sitting on the silver fir is collected by honey bees. The resulting honey is marketed as "fir honey".[13]
Etymology

Abies is derived from Latin, meaning 'rising one'. The name was used to refer to tall trees or ships.[14]

Alba means 'bright' or 'dead white'.[14]
References

Farjon, A. (2017). "Abies alba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T42270A83978869. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T42270A83978869.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
"Abies alba". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 October 2016 – via The Plant List.
Gualtiero Simonetti (1990). Stanley Schuler (ed.). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Herbs and Spices. Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 978-0-671-73489-3.
Tavčar Benković, Eva; Žigon, Dušan; Mihailović, Vladimir; Petelinc, Tanja; Jamnik, Polona; Kreft, Samo (2017). "Identification, in vitro and in vivo Antioxidant Activity, and Gastrointestinal Stability of Lignans from Silver Fir (Abies alba) Wood Extract". Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology. 37 (6): 467–477. doi:10.1080/02773813.2017.1340958. S2CID 90833072.
Vasincu A, Creţu E, Geangalău I, Amalinei RL, Miron A. Polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity of an extractive fraction from Abies alba bark. Rev Med Chir Soc Med Nat Iasi. 2013 Apr-Jun;117(2):545-50.
Tavčar Benković, Eva; Grohar, Tina; Žigon, Dušan; Švajger, Urban; Janeš, Damjan; Kreft, Samo; Štrukelj, Borut (2014). "Chemical composition of the silver fir (Abies alba) bark extract Abigenol and its antioxidant activity". Industrial Crops and Products. 52: 23–28. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.10.005.
Drevenšek, Gorazd; Lunder, Mojca; Tavčar Benković, Eva; Mikelj, Ana; Štrukelj, Borut; Kreft, Samo (2015). "Silver fir (Abies alba) trunk extract protects guinea pig arteries from impaired functional responses and morphology due to an atherogenic diet". Phytomedicine. 22 (9): 856–861. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2015.06.004. PMID 26220633.
Drevenšek, Gorazd; Lunder, Mojca; Benković, Eva Tavčar; Štrukelj, Borut; Kreft, Samo (2016). "Cardioprotective effects of silver fir (Abies alba) extract in ischemic-reperfused isolated rat hearts". Food & Nutrition Research. 60: 29623. doi:10.3402/fnr.v60.29623. PMC 5069298. PMID 27756448.
Debeljak, J.; Ferk, P.; Čokolič, M.; Zavratnik, A.; Tavč Benković, E.; Kreft, S.; Štrukelj, B.: Randomised, double blind, cross-over, placebo and active controlled human pharmacodynamic study on the influence of silver fir wood extract (Belinal) on post-prandial glycemic response. Die Pharmazie - An International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Volume 71, Number 10, October 2016, pp. 566-569(4)
Kilby, Kenneth (1977), The cooper and his trade, Fresno, California, Linden Publishing, p.99. ISBN 0941936163
London Medical Gazette, 23 September 1837, page 935: https://books.google.si/books?id=TPQaAQAAMAAJ
Wolf, Heino. "Silver fir - Abies alba" (PDF). EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for Genetic Conservation and Use. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
https://melisseon.com/fir/

Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp 32, 41

Kunkar, Alp; Kunkar, Ennio (2000). Le piante officinali della Calabria (in Italian). Laruffa Editore. ISBN 978-88-7221-140-3.