From my previous post, Origin of the Christmas tree, we learned that St. Boniface is credited for the invention of the Christmas tree.  More importantly for this post, the first Christmas tree that he had invented (the word invent is used in broad terms) was a fir tree.

That fir tree had two key features that later symbolised the tradition of Chrismas trees that we know today.

From Athomeschool.com -

• The fir tree had a triangle shape. St. Boniface referred to the three points of the triangle as a sign of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
• The fir tree had evergreen leaves.  St. Boniface defined the color and it’s evergreen characteristic (leaves stay green throughout different seasons) as a symbol for eternal life.

Not surprisingly, among the faux trees, one of the more popular type is the fir artificial Christmas tree.  From within the fir tree type, there are subselections as well, such as Douglas, Fraser, Noble, Carolina, Sierra, Camdon, Virginia, Everbrite, Carolina, Bavarian, Montana, Alaskan, Spruce, Niko, and Pine Cone.  These trees are so realistic that they’re visually tough to distinguish from real trees.