Abies cephalonica

Abies cephalonica, commonly known as Greek fir or Cephalonian fir, is a large evergreen conifer in the family Pinaceae, order Pinales, endemic to the mountains of Greece, where it is a dominant tree of the montane forest zone. Its range encompasses the mountains of the Peloponnese, the island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea from which it takes both its common name and species epithet, and the mainland mountain ranges including Parnassus and Pindus, at elevations typically between 500 and 1,700 metres. Abies cephalonica grows to 25 to 35 metres in height with a broadly pyramidal crown that becomes more irregular in mature trees. The bark is smooth and grey in young trees, gradually developing deep fissures with age. Its needles are distinctive among European firs for being stiff, sharp, and prickly, spreading all around the branchlet in a radial pattern rather than in flat rows, giving the branches a distinctly spiky appearance. Each needle is bright dark green above and has two white stomatal bands on the underside. Seed cones are large and cylindrical, erect on the upper branches, brownish when ripe, and disintegrate at maturity to leave only the persistent central axis. Greek fir is an ecologically important species in Greek mountain ecosystems, forming pure or mixed forests with black pine, Pinus nigra, and various deciduous trees. It is a valuable timber species and is also threatened by the combined pressures of drought, bark beetle outbreaks, and wildfires, which have increased in frequency due to climate change in the eastern Mediterranean.