EXOGENOUS SERIES— NEEDLELEAF IVOODS. IS 7 



Balsam Fir, Common Balsam Fir. Abies balsamea Mill. 



Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) 



Balsam (Vt., N. H., N. Y.). Blister Pine, Fir Pine (W. 



Fir Tree (Vt.)- Va.). 



Balm of Gilead (Del.). Single Spruce, Silver Pine 



Canada Balsam (N. C. ). (Hudson Bay). 



Balm of Gilead Fir (N. Y., 

 Pa.). 



Locality. 



Minnesota to Virginia, northward intermittently into Canada. 



Features of Tree. 



Fifty to seventy feet in height, one to two feet in diameter. 

 Sometimes low shrub. Blisters in smooth bark contain thick 

 balsam. Erect cones. 



Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. 



Heartwood white to brownish, sapwood lighter. Coarse-grained, 

 compact structure, satiny. 



Structural Qualities of Wood. 



Soft, light, not durable or strong, resinous, easily split. 



Representative Uses of Wood. 



Occasionally used as inferior lumber. 



Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 



23. 



Modulus of Elasticity. 



1, 160,000. 

 Modulus of Rupture. 



7300. 



Remarks. 



Scattered throughout Northern pineries. Cut when of sufficient 

 size and sold with pine or spruce. Cultivated in gardens. 

 Exudations known as Canada Balsam used in medicine. The 

 poplar (P. balsamifera) is also called Balm of Gilead. 



