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PINACEAE 



Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. 



Balsam Fir, Balsam 



Habit — A tree usually 40-GO feet in height -svith a trunk diameter of 1-1 ^/^ 

 feet, under optimum conditions sometimes attaining a height of 80 feet. 

 In young trees growing in the open, the crown is pyramidal, open and 

 broad-based, consisting of slender, elongated, horizontal branches in rather 

 distant whorls of 4-5, the lower sometimes slightly pendulous. Under 

 crowded forest conditions the lower branches subsequently die, leaving 

 a reduced spire-like crown. 



Leaves — -Borne spirally, those on the young gro^-th or sterile branches 

 appearing 2-ranked, spreading at right angles to the twig, those near 

 the top of the crown incurved, almost erect, entirely clothing the branches 

 on the upper side, stalkless, ol)long-linear, flat, generally blunt, entire 

 margined, dark green and shming above, with 2 broad, white-glaucous 

 lines beneath, each consisting of about 6 rows of stomata, ^/^-l^/i inches 

 long, about 1/16 of an inch wide. 



Flowers — ■ Appearing in May, monoecious, borne in cones. Staminate cones 

 borne on the growth of the preceding season from axillary buds, clothed 

 at the base by persisting bud-scales, oval to oblong-cylindrical, yellow at 

 maturity tinged with reddish purple. Ovulate cones borne similarly but 

 confined to the upper side of the topmost branches, erect, oblong-cylindri- 

 eal, about 1 inch long, consisting of purple bracts vnth green, caudate tips. 



Fruit — An erect, oblong-cylindrical, puberulous, dark purple cone, 21/2-4 

 inches long, rounded at the apex, usually bearing globules of resin, 

 maturing in the autumn of the first year. Cone-scales usually slightly 

 longer than broad, thin, fan-shaped, longer than the bracts, deciduous 

 from the upright cone-axis. Seeds winged, about i/4 of an inch long, 

 equipped with resin vescicles. 



Winter characters — Branchlets slender, usually borne opposite, pubescent, 

 at first yellowish green, becoming at length grayish broAvn tinged with 

 purple, smooth and somewhat lustrous. Buds about 1/5 of an inch long, 

 clustered at the ends of the twigs, globose to ovate, covered with a resi- 

 nous exudation, with dark orange-green, lustrous bud-scales. Bark on 

 young branches pale gray, thin, smooth, marked by raised areas denoting 

 the presence of resin cysts. Mature bark pale reddish bro-\vn, separating 

 into small, irregular, scaly plates. 



Habitat — • Thrives best on moist sites in swamps and peat bogs, or on moun- 

 tain tops and slopes Avhere condensation offers sufficient moisture. A 

 common tree of the Adirondacks in low situations associated with Eed 

 and Black Spruce, Tamarack, and Hemlock. 



Range — Labrador west to Athabasca and Alberta, south into the states from 

 Maine to Minnesota, and along the mountains to Virginia. Zones D 

 and E. 



Uses — Of little value as a source of lumber. Wood light, soft (of cheesey 

 consistency when green), coarse-grained, not durable, pale brown tinged 

 with yellow, with thick, lighter sapwood. Used ■with more valuable spe- 

 cies in the manufacture of pulp. Balsam is occasionally used ornament- 

 ally and as a Christmas tree. The Canada balsam of commerce is derived 

 from this tree. 



