86 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERJC 



that grafting was at one period resorted to as a means of pro- 

 pagation and plants raised by that means were rarely successful. 

 Young trees should be raised from imported seeds. 



Trees of the Pacific Slope (U.S. Dept. of Agric), 125 (1908). 



Abies balsamea, Miller. 

 Balsam Fir. 



Abies aromatica, Rafinesque ; A. baLsamifera, Michaiix ; A. minor, 

 Dunham ; Picea balsamea, Loudon ; Pinus balsamea, Linnaeus. Balm of 

 Gilead ; Balsam, Blister Pine, Fir Pine, Fir Tree, Silver Pine, Single Pine. 



A tree 25-60 or occasionally 75 ft. high and 2|-5 ft. in girth. 

 Bark of old trees about \ in. thick, dull reddish-brown, divided 

 into thin scales ; of young trees, thin, smooth, ash-coloured and 

 covered with resin blisters. Young shoots smooth and covered 

 with fine, soft, greyish hairs. Winter buds small, rounded or 

 conic, resinous. Leaves very variable on different parts of the 

 tree, f-1 in. long, vV-T\i in. wide, horizontally arranged in two 

 lateral sets with a V-shaped parting between them ; shortest on 

 the upper side of the shoot, flattened, rounded, slightly notched 

 at the apex ; upper surface dark shining green, with interrupted 

 lines of stomata towards the tip, lower surface with two grey 

 bands of stomata ; resin canals median. Cones ovoid or cylin- 

 drical, purple except when ripe, 2-4 in. long, 1-lj in. wide ; 

 scales about f in. wide and the same in length, bracts variable 

 in length, protruding or concealed by the scales. Seeds about 

 |- in. long, with a wing of the same length. 



Var. Hudsonia, Engelmann. 



Abies Hudsonia, Bosc. 



A dwarf spreading shrub, 1-2 ft. in height, with densely 

 crowded branches and small broad leaves about I in. long ; resin 

 canals marginal. Found in the White Mountains, New Hamp- 

 shire. 



Var. macrocarpa. 



A form described as having longer leaves and larger cones 

 than the type. It was found near the Wolf River, Wisconsin, and 

 young plants were raised at Waukegan Nursery. 



Var. variegata, Beissner. 

 Leaves variegated with white. 



The arrangement of the foliage of A. balsamea is very similar 

 to that of A. pectinata, hut it may be at once distinguished from 

 that species by its resinous buds and median resin canals. A. 

 Fraseri, with which A. balsamea is often confused, has shorter 

 leaves which are whiter beneath, and the shoots are densely hairy. 



