About

Abies cephalonica, commonly known as Greek fir or Cephalonian 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 (3 ft 3 in). It occurs at elevations of 900–1,700 m (3,000–5,600 ft), on mountains with a rainfall of over 1,000 millimetres (39 in).

The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 1.5–3.0 cm (0.6–1.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide by 0.5 mm (0.02 in) thick, glossy dark green above, and with two blue-white bands of stomata below. The tip of the leaf is pointed, usually fairly sharply but sometimes with a blunt tip, particularly on slow-growing shoots on older trees.

How to grow it

Greek fir was important in the past for wood for general construction, but it is too rare to be of significant value now. It is also grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, though in areas that often get late frosts it is prone to frost damage, as it is one of the first conifers to open fresh growth in spring.

Where it grows

Greek fir is near-endemic to the Pindus Mountains mixed forests ecoregion, where, along with black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. nigra) and Balkan fir (Abies × borisii-regis), it is a dominant tree in conifer forests from 1,200 to 2,500 meters elevation, and is less common in broadleaf mixed oak forests at lower elevations.

Other Abies plants

Silver Fir · Pacific Silver Fir · Balsam Fir · Baishan Fir · Bristlecone Fir · Shensi Fir · Cilician Fir · White Fir · Fansipan Fir · Delavay's Fir · Sikkim Fir · Durango Fir