Davidsonia

Justice, D. 2003. Silver Firs in UBC Botanical Garden. Davidsonia. 14(3):71-78,84-89

The forty or so species in the genus Abies Miller are distributed widely around the Northern Hemisphere, with centres of diversity occurring in southern Europe, Asia, the Himalayas and western North America. UBC Botanical Garden has a small but significant collection consisting primarily of local and Asian species, but has identified the genus as one of its target groups and there are plans to expand the collections. As a group, the silver firs are easily recognizable; they are mostly densely pyramidal in youth, with conspicuously whorled branches, flattened needles and neat, upright cones, which are produced with the greatest frequency on older plants. The common name derives from the often highly visible whitish, wax-covered stomatal bands on the undersides of the needles of many species.