- For other meanings of 'fir' or 'FIR' see FIR (disambiguation).
| Firs Temporal range: 49–0 Ma [1] |
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| Korean Fir (Abies koreana) cone and foliage | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Pinaceae |
| Genus: | Abies Mill. |
| Species | |
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Firs (Abies) are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range. Firs are most closely related to the cedars (Cedrus); Douglas-firs are not true firs, being of the genus Pseudotsuga.
All are trees, reaching heights of 10–80 m (30–260 ft) tall and trunk diameters of 0.5–4 m (2–12 ft) when mature. Firs can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by their needle-like leaves, attached to the twig by a base that resembles a small suction cup; and by erect, cylindrical cones 5–25 cm (2–10 in) long that disintegrate at maturity to release the winged seeds. Identification of the species is based on the size and arrangement of the leaves, the size and shape of the cones, and whether the bract scales of the cones are long and exserted, or short and hidden inside the cone.
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Classification [link]
- Section Abies (central, south & east Europe, Asia Minor)
- Abies alba—Silver Fir
- Abies nebrodensis—Sicilian Fir
- Abies borisii-regis—Bulgarian Fir
- Abies cephalonica—Greek Fir
- Abies nordmanniana—Nordmann Fir or Caucasian Fir
- Abies nordmanniana subsp. equi-trojani—Kazdağı Fir, Turkish Fir
- Abies nordmanniana subsp. bornmülleriana—Uludağ Fir
- Abies pinsapo—Spanish Fir
- Abies pinsapo var. marocana—Moroccan Fir
- Abies numidica—Algerian Fir
- Abies cilicica—Syrian Fir
- Section Balsamea (Taiga|boreal Asia and North America, and high mountains further south)
- Abies fraseri—Fraser Fir
- Abies balsamea—Balsam Fir
- Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis—Bracted Balsam Fir
- Abies lasiocarpa—Subalpine Fir
- Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica—Corkbark Fir
- Abies lasiocarpa var. bifolia—Rocky Mountains Subalpine Fir
- Abies sibirica—Siberian Fir
- Abies sibirica var. semenovii—
- Abies sachalinensis—Sakhalin Fir
- Abies koreana—Korean Fir
- Abies nephrolepis—Khinghan Fir
- Abies veitchii—Veitch's Fir
- Abies veitchii var. sikokiana—Shikoku Fir
- Section Grandis (western North America to Mexico and Guatemala, lowlands in north, moderate altitudes in south)
- Abies grandis—Grand Fir or Giant Fir
- Abies grandis var. idahoensis—Interior Grand Fir or Giant Fir
- Abies concolor—White Fir
- Abies concolor subsp. lowiana—Low's White Fir
- Abies durangensis—Durango Fir
- Abies durangensis var. coahuilensis—Coahuila Fir
- Abies flinckii—Jalisco Fir
- Abies guatemalensis—Guatemalan Fir
- Abies grandis—Grand Fir or Giant Fir
- Section Momi (east & central Asia, Himalaya, generally at low to moderate altitudes)
- Abies kawakamii—Taiwan Fir
- Abies homolepis—Nikko Fir
- Abies recurvata—Min Fir
- Abies recurvata var. ernestii—Min Fir
- Abies firma—Momi Fir
- Abies beshanzuensis—Baishanzu Fir
- Abies holophylla—Manchurian Fir
- Abies chensiensis—Shensi Fir
- Abies chensiensis subsp. salouenensis—Salween Fir
- Abies pindrow—Pindrow Fir
- Abies ziyuanensis—Ziyuan Fir
- Section Amabilis (Pacific coast mountains, North America and Japan, in high rainfall mountains)
- Abies amabilis—Pacific Silver Fir
- Abies mariesii—Maries' Fir
- Section Pseudopicea (Sino-Himalayan mountains, at high altitude)
- Abies delavayi—Delavay's Fir
- Abies delavayi var. nukiangensis—
- Abies delavayi var. motuoensis—
- Abies delavayi subsp. fansipanensis—
- Abies fabri—Faber's Fir
- Abies fabri subsp. minensis—
- Abies forrestii—Forrest's Fir
- Abies chengii—Cheng's Fir
- Abies densa—Bhutan Fir
- Abies spectabilis—East Himalayan Fir
- Abies fargesii— Farges' Fir
- Abies fanjingshanensis—Fanjingshan Fir
- Abies yuanbaoshanensis—Yuanbaoshan Fir
- Abies squamata—Flaky Fir
- Abies webbiana-Talispatra
- Abies delavayi—Delavay's Fir
- Section Oiamel (Central Mexico, at high altitude)
- Abies religiosa—Sacred Fir
- Abies hickelii—Hickel's Fir
- Abies hickelii var. oaxacana—Oaxaca Fir
- Section Nobilis (western U.S., high altitudes)
- Abies procera—Noble Fir
- Abies magnifica—Red Fir
- Abies magnifica var. shastensis—Shasta Red Fir
- Section Bracteata (California coast)
- Abies bracteata—Bristlecone Fir
- Section Incertae sedis
- Abies milleri—(Extinct) Early Eocene[1]
Uses and ecology [link]
The wood of most firs is considered unsuitable for general timber use, and is often used as pulp or for the manufacture of plywood and rough timber. Because this genus has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging, it is generally recommended for construction purposes as indoor use only (e.g. indoor drywall framing). This wood left outside cannot be expected to last more than 12 to 18 months, depending on the type of climate it is exposed to. It is commonly referred to by several different names, including North American timber, SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and whitewood.
Nordmann Fir, Noble Fir, Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir are popular Christmas trees, generally considered to be the best for this purpose, with aromatic foliage that does not shed many needles on drying out. Many are also decorative garden trees, notably Korean Fir and Fraser Fir, which produce brightly coloured cones even when very young, still only 1–2 m (3–6 ft) tall. Other firs can grow anywhere between 30 and 236 feet tall. Fir Tree Appreciation Day is June 18.
Firs are used as food plants by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Chionodes abella (recorded on White Fir), Autumnal Moth, Conifer Swift (a pest of Balsam Fir), The Engrailed, Grey Pug, Mottled Umber, Pine Beauty and the tortrix moths Cydia illutana (whose caterpillars are recorded to feed on European Silver Fir cone scales) and C. duplicana (on European Silver Fir bark around injuries or canker).
Abies webbiana or Talispatra is used in Ayurveda as an antitussive drug.
Notes [link]
Bibliography [link]
Philips, Roger. Trees of North America and Europe, Random House, Inc., New York ISBN 0-394-50259-0, 1979.
External links [link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Abies |
- Abies at The Gymnosperm Database
- Michael P. FRANKIS CONE COLLECTION: Abies at the Arboretum de Villardebelle—images of cones of selected species
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https://wn.com/Fir
Free ideal ring
In mathematics, especially in the field of ring theory, a (right) free ideal ring, or fir, is a ring in which all right ideals are free modules with unique rank. A ring such that all right ideals with at most n generators are free and have unique rank is called an n-fir. A semifir is a ring in which all finitely generated right ideals are free modules of unique rank. (Thus, a ring is semifir if it is n-fir for all n ≥ 0.) The semifir property is left-right symmetric, but the fir property is not.
Properties and examples
It turns out that a left and right fir is a domain. Furthermore, a commutative fir is precisely a principal ideal domain, while a commutative semifir is precisely a Bézout domain. These last facts are not generally true for noncommutative rings, however (Cohn 1971).
Every principal right ideal domain R is a right fir, since every nonzero principal right ideal of a domain is isomorphic to R. In the same way, a right Bézout domain is a semifir.
Since all right ideals of a right fir are free, they are projective. So, any right fir is a right hereditary ring, and likewise a right semifir is a right semihereditary ring. Because projective modules over local rings are free, and because local rings have invariant basis number, it follows that a local, right hereditary ring is a right fir, and a local, right semihereditary ring is a right semifir.
USCGC Fir (WLM-212)
The United States Coast Guard Cutter Fir (WAGL/WLM 212) was the last lighthouse tender built specifically for the United States Lighthouse Service to resupply lighthouses and lightships, and to service buoys. Fir was built by the Moore Drydock Company in Oakland, California in 1939. On 22 March 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Fir was launched. She was steam driven with twin screws, 175 feet (53 m) in length, had a beam of 32 feet (9.8 m), drew 11 feet 3 inches (3.43 m) of water, and displaced 885 tons. Fir was fitted with a reinforced bow and stern, and an ice-belt at her water-line for icebreaking. She was built with classic lines and her spaces were lavishly appointed with mahogany, teak, and brass. The crew did intricate ropework throughout the ship. The cost to build Fir was approximately US$390,000. Fir's homeport was Seattle, Washington for all but one of her fifty one years of service when she was temporarily assigned to Long Beach, California when USCGC Walnut was decommissioned on 1 July 1982.
Solitude
Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation (see castaway).
Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think or rest without being disturbed. It may be desired for the sake of privacy.
A distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. In this sense, these two words refer, respectively, to the joy and the pain of being alone.
Health effects
Symptoms from complete isolation, called sensory deprivation, often include anxiety, sensory illusions, or even distortions of time and perception. However, this is the case when there is no stimulation of the sensory systems at all, and not only lack of contact with people. Thus, by having other things to keep one's mind busy, this is avoided.
Still, long-term solitude is often seen as undesirable, causing loneliness or reclusion resulting from inability to establish relationships. Furthermore, it might even lead to clinical depression. However, for some people, solitude is not depressing. Still others (e.g. monks) regard long-term solitude as a means of spiritual enlightenment. Indeed, marooned people have been left in solitude for years without any report of psychological symptoms afterwards.
Solitude (Blacksburg, Virginia)
Solitude is a historic home located on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. The earliest section was built about 1808, and expanded through the mid-19th century. It is a two-story, "L"-shaped, five bay, log and frame dwelling with a hipped roof. Also on the property are the contributing stone spring house with log superstructure and log kitchen or office. In 1872, the Solitude land became the central campus of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the house, after the death of its owner in the following decade, was used for faculty housing until the 1970s, when it became a classroom and office facility. The house is situated in a landscaped park adjacent to the central campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
After Solitude's listing on NRHP, decade-long research and archaeology commenced to further study the main house, property, and overall site to extrapolate further historical information and evaluate what would be needed to restore the house and outbuildings. These efforts culminated in a 2000 Master's thesis by Michael Pulice, a then-Master's of Science candidate in Virginia Tech's Architecture Department, now the chief architectural historian for the Western Regional office (Salem, VA) of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Pulice concluded in his thesis that the remaining log outbuilding, long believed to be either a doctor's office or kitchen, is a surviving slave cabin and servants quarters.
Frank Duval
Frank Duval (born November 22, 1940, Berlin) is a German composer, conductor, record producer, songwriter and singer.
Born into an artists' family, he studied as an actor and dancer, but also sang with his sister, Maria. By the 1960s, Duval was also composing music, both orchestral and pop, and his first soundtrack, for an episode of the German serial Tatort, was broadcast in 1977. From his 1979 first album, Die Schönsten Melodien Aus Derrick und der Alte, the song "Todesengel" became a moderate hit.
During the 1980s, Duval released several soundtracks, as well as proper artist albums (with occasional lyrical help from his wife, Kalina Maloyer). He was in the German charts several times, with "Angel of Mine" (a number one hit in 1981), "Ways" (1983), "Lovers Will Survive" (1986), and "When You Were Mine" (1987).
Duval wrote songs for Ivan Rebroff, Alexandra, Karin Huebner, Margot Werner, Klaus Löwitsch, and Maria Schell.
