Article: Fir trees: these dependable evergreens add a note of classic elegance. (Plant Portrait).

The generic tree in a child's drawing or a landscape architect's design is either a lollipop--the deciduous tree--or a triangle--the evergreen conifer. The firs, 50 species in the genus Abies, are the quintessential triangular evergreen. All over North America and Europe, where many of the species grow native (some hail from Asia and North Africa), they are hauled into the house each December and covered in baubles and lights to celebrate Christmas. This practice is based on an ancient pagan Germanic one, where the most beautiful evergreen tree in the forest was chosen and decorated in situ to celebrate the sun's return and the perseverance of life at the winter solstice. ...

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