FIR

a name sometimes used as coextensive with the term pine, and including the whole genus Pinus; more properly restricted to trees of the genus Abies, which differ from the pines in that their leaves grow directly on the stems. The term fir, thus limited, is applied to the different varieties of the silver fir (Abies pectin at a), the balm of Gilead fir (4. balsam if era), and the large-bracted fir (A. nobilis). The Scotch fir is a species of pine (P. sylwvestris). The firs, even in the widest sense of the term, are almost all remarkable fer the regularity of their growth, their tapering form, and the great altitude of their stems. Their timber is often highly valuable, being almost solely used in the construction of houses, and for the spars and masts of ve els of ali kinds. Some of them are planted mainly as ornamental trees.