''Abies borisii-regis'' (Bulgarian fir) is a species of fir native to the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

s of the Balkan Peninsula in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, northern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. It occurs at altitudes of 800–1,800 m, on mountains with an annual rainfall of over 1,000 mm.Farjon, A. (1998). ''World Checklist and Bibliography of Conifers''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew .Rushforth, K. (1987). ''Conifers''. Helm .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .Liu, T.-S. (1971). ''A Monograph of the Genus Abies''. National Taiwan University.Gymnosperm Database
''Abies borisii-regis''
Abies borisii-regis Vihren 1

It is a large

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

coniferous

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 40–50 m (exceptionally 60 m) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 1.8–3.5 cm long and 2 mm wide by 0.5 mm thick, glossy dark green above, and with two blue-white bands of stomata below. The tip of the leaf is variable, usually pointed, but sometimes slightly notched at the tip, particularly on slow-growing shoots on older trees. The

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

are 10–21 cm long and 4 cm broad, with about 150–200 scales, each scale with an exserted bract and two winged

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds. It is closely related to (and in many respects intermediate between)

silver fir Silver fir is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Abies alba ''Abies alba'', the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Car ...

to the north in central Europe, Greek fir to the south in southern Greece, and

Nordmann fir ''Abies nordmanniana'', the Nordmann fir or Caucasian fir, is a fir indigenous to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia and the Russian Caucasus. It occurs at altitudes of 900–2,200 m on mountains with precipi ...

to the east in northern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Some botanists treat it as a natural

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between silver Fir and Greek fir, while others treat it as a variety of silver fir, as ''Abies alba'' var. ''acutifolia''. Another synonym is ''Abies pardei''. The scientific name honours Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, during whose reign it was described as a new species in 1925. The name is sometimes cited without a hyphen (''Abies borisiiregis''), though under the provisions of

ICBN The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

Article 60.9 the hyphen is to be retained.

References

External links

''Abies borisii-regis''
Distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources.

European Forest Genetic Resources Programme European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) is an international network that supports the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe. The programme’s tasks include to coordinate and promote '' in situ'' an ...

(EUFORGEN) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abies borisii-regis borisii-regis Flora of Bulgaria Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN

See also

References

External links