# Abies veitchii
**Abies veitchii** Lindl. (シラビソ, shirabiso), commonly known as Veitch's silver fir or Veitch fir, is a species of fir (family Pinaceae) native to Japan, where it grows on Honshu and Shikoku as a tree of cool-temperate mixed-coniferous forest at elevations between (1000–)1400 and 2800 m above sea level[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) • [2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). It was first published in the *Gardeners' Chronicle* in 1861 by John Lindley, who named it after John Gould Veitch (1839–1870), the plant collector who explored Japan.[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) • [3](https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_veitchii.php) • [11](https://conifersociety.org/conifers/abies-veitchii/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | *Abies veitchii* Lindl., first published in Gard. Chron. 1861: 23 (1861)[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) |
| Common names | Veitch's silver fir, Veitch fir, Christmastree; Japanese シラビソ (shirabiso)[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) • [4](https://itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?print_version=PRT&search_topic=TSN&search_value=822548&source=to_print) |
| Native range | Japan (Honshu, Shikoku); a tree of the temperate biome[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) |
| Size | Trees 15–25(–30) m tall, 0.5–1 m trunk diameter at breast height; narrowly pyramidal crown[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/) |
| Habitat | Cool-temperate mixed-coniferous forest at (1000–)1400–2800 m elevation, with cool summers, cold winters, and year-round precipitation[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/) |
| Conservation | Rated Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information) |
| Hardiness | RHS Hardiness Rating H7; noted for cold hardiness combined with resistance to damage from late spring frosts[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/) |
## Description
*Abies veitchii* is a coniferous tree reaching 15 to 25 meters in height, occasionally to 30 meters, with a trunk 0.5 to 1 m in diameter at breast height. The base of the trunk of mature trees is conspicuously fluted, a character that helps identify the species, together with pocket-like formations beneath major branches[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). The crown is narrowly pyramidal, and the bark of young trees is smooth, shining olive-green with prominent resin blisters, becoming pale greenish-gray and then gray with age[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/).
The needles are 1.5–3(–3.8) cm long and 1.5–2.2 mm wide, dark green above and grooved, with two broad, striking chalk-white bands of stomata beneath, which give the undersides of the foliage a markedly silvery-white appearance[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). The seed cones are narrow-cylindrical to ellipsoid, 4–8 cm long and 2–3 cm wide, dark blue or bluish-purple when immature and maturing to very dark purple-brown or blackish-brown[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/).
## Distribution and ecology
The species is native to central and northern Honshu and to Shikoku in Japan[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). It is an often dominant component of cool-temperate mixed-coniferous forest, with common associates including *Abies mariesii*, *Picea jezoensis* subsp. *hondoensis*, *Larix kaempferi*, *Thuja standishii*, *Pinus parviflora*, *Betula ermanii*, and *Sorbus commixta*[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). The subalpine zone from 1500 to 2500 m in central Japan is generally dominated by coniferous forests composed mainly of *A. veitchii*, *A. mariesii*, and *Tsuga diversifolia*[5](https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/25488/file_preview/esrh087004.pdf).
**Elevational partitioning.** A 13-year plot-census study across three elevations examined why the less shade-tolerant *A. veitchii* dominates at low elevations while the shade-tolerant *A. mariesii* dominates at high elevations in the Japanese subalpine zone. Growth and survival rates were not highest at the elevation where each species was most abundant. At the high elevation, where *A. mariesii* dominated and small disturbances occurred frequently, the recruitment rate of *A. mariesii* was highest among the three elevations, while that of *A. veitchii* was largely decreased by tree competition[6](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35222986/).
The oldest recorded tree is a 283-year-old specimen (a crossdated estimate) north of Mount Tengu in [Nagano Prefecture](https://www.edgepedia.org/nagano-prefecture)[3](https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_veitchii.php).
## Cultivation and uses
The species has seen limited exploitation for timber, which is used primarily for pulp, and it is a fairly popular ornamental in areas with a suitable climate[3](https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_veitchii.php). In Britain it is regarded as among the easiest of the Japanese firs in cultivation, and small groups have been planted in [North Wales](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-wales), with a plantation established in the Bedgebury Forest Plots in 1949[7](https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/1957/04/fcbu030.pdf).
**Hardiness and growth.** *Abies veitchii* combines three traits rarely found together in firs: extraordinary cold hardiness, imperviousness to damage from late spring frosts, and attractive appearance[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). It requires plentiful, ideally year-round precipitation and a cool climate, and grows best in the cooler, oceanic parts of Britain, especially Scotland[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). Once established it can grow quickly: a young tree planted at Murthly Castle, Perthshire in 2010 reached 5.2 m tall by spring 2020, putting on 1 m of height during 2019 alone[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). The tallest specimen on record in 2020 was a 32 m tree (measured 2017) at [Benmore Botanic Garden](https://www.edgepedia.org/benmore-botanic-garden) in Argyll, Scotland[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/).
Several cultivars have been selected, the majority of which are extreme dwarfs propagated from witches' brooms, most raised in the past 50 years or so[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/).
## Introduction to Western cultivation
John Gould Veitch encountered the tree on [Mount Fuji](https://www.edgepedia.org/mount-fuji) in 1860 but was unable to obtain seed at that time.[11](https://conifersociety.org/conifers/abies-veitchii/) Most British literature credits the collector Charles Maries with the introduction in 1879, when seeds were sent to the Veitch nursery; Elwes and Henry, quoting Sargent, record introduction to the United States in 1876 through Parsons Nurseries in Flushing, New York[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). Other accounts give earlier dates: Jacobson states that Siebold sent seeds to Holland in 1862, and Krüssmann gives 1861, so the exact date and agent of introduction remain uncertain[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/). Material circulated in North America for a time under the name *Abies japonica*[2](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/).
## Taxonomy
*Abies veitchii* is one of five *Abies* species native to Japan, alongside *A. firma*, *A. mariesii*, *A. homolepis*, and *A. sachalinensis*[8](https://www.uf.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/hokuen/Abies2016/Abies2016_abstract.pdf). Two varieties are accepted, *A. veitchii* var. *sikokiana* and var. *veitchii*[9](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast DNA spacer regions and nuclear RAPD markers places *A. veitchii* in a clade with *A. homolepis*, *[A. koreana](https://www.edgepedia.org/abies-koreana)*, *A. nephrolepis*, *A. spectabilis*, and *A. sachalinensis*[10](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=a96080dd509cd52eda6a47a2bad3b6b0f22c16fe&repid=rep1&type=pdf).
## Conservation
The species is rated as Least Concern under IUCN Red List criteria[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information).
## References
1. [Abies veitchii Lindl. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1/general-information)
2. [Abies veitchii - Trees and Shrubs Online](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abies/abies-veitchii/)
3. [Abies veitchii (シラビソ, Shikoku fir) description | Conifers.org](https://www.conifers.org/pi/Abies_veitchii.php)
4. [ITIS - Report: Abies veitchii](https://itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?print_version=PRT&search_topic=TSN&search_value=822548&source=to_print)
5. [Succession and Differentiation of Forest Communities in the Subalpine Region of Mt. Fuji](https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/record/25488/file_preview/esrh087004.pdf)
6. [Competition and disturbance affect elevational distribution of two congeneric conifers (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35222986/)
7. [Forestry Commission Bulletin: Exotic forest trees in Great Britain](https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/1957/04/fcbu030.pdf)
8. [Five Abies tree species are native to Japan (University of Tokyo)](https://www.uf.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/hokuen/Abies2016/Abies2016_abstract.pdf)
9. [Abies veitchii Lindl. | Plants of the World Online (taxonomy)](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A261656-1)
10. [Systematic positions of Japanese firs in genus Abies (Pinaceae) revealed using DNA sequencing](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?doi=a96080dd509cd52eda6a47a2bad3b6b0f22c16fe&repid=rep1&type=pdf)
11. [Conifer Database, veitchii](https://conifersociety.org/conifers/abies-veitchii/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Seed plants › Conifers and other gymnosperms › Conifers › Pinaceae — pines, spruces, firs, and allies › Firs (Abies) › Asian firs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license