The Dawes Arboretum

Common name: Min fir

Family: Pinaceae (pine family)

Distribution: China

IUCN Red list: Vulnerable

Hardiness: USDA Zone 5

Life form: Evergreen tree

Usage: Timber

IUCN Red List code: VU A2d; 13 December 2010

Comments: An evergreen tree growing from 60-120' tall in its native habitat. Conical in youth, this species assumes a flat-topped, more irregular form with age. Needles are shimmering, glossy green and sharply pointed. Attractive silvery bands of stomates highlight the top and lower surfaces of its needles. Cones form in the upper crown, violet-purple when immature, later gray-brown. This species adds formality in youth with its broadly conical, densely branched habit.