U kLS \M 1 IK 



\ Oiis balm • /.. ) Mill. 



The PiM I amilx 



pin ia u 



Habit and Habitat: A medium-sized, Blender tree, 10-60 feet li i^ n. 

 with a trunk diameter of 12-18 inches, or rarely of 80 inches; branches 

 in whorls of i- ,; . forming a symmetrical, open, pyramidal crown; lower 



inches Boon dying when trees are crowded. Prefers cool, rich. m< 

 soil; common in low swampy Bites and well-drained hillsidt 



Leaves and Buds: I needle-like, scattered or arranged spirally 



on the twigs, on young trees at right-angles to the branch, on old tn 



inclined to cover the upper side of the twigs, apex acute or rounded. 



1 % inch long, shiny, dark green above, pale or silvery-white beneath, 

 aromatic, persisting 8-10 years. Winter-buds globose, orange-green, verj 

 resinous, 's-^ inch in diameter. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers in cones, .May; stammate cones ob- 

 long-cylindrical, yellow, more or less tinned with purple, % inch long, 

 composed of scales and yellow stamens arranged spirally about the axis; 

 pistillate cones oblongr-cvlindrical, 1 inch long - , composed of nearly 



liar, purple scales and yellowish-green bracts spirally arranged about 

 the central axis, Fruit an erect, oblong-cylindrical cone, gradually nar- 

 rowed to the rounded apex, 2-4 inches long, about 1 inch thick, hairy, 

 with scales about as broad as long: with rounded border; seeds about 

 ' 4 inch long:, and shorter than the lig:ht brown wings. Cones ripen- 

 ing at the close of the first season and completely disintegrating:, that 

 is, the scales and seeds all falling: away from the cone axis leaving: the 

 latter upon the twig:s for many years. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Twigs at first grayish and hairy, becoming- 

 ly ish-brown and smooth; thin and smooth on young: trunks, pale, gray 

 and marked bv numerous, swollen balsam blisters: bark reddish-brown 

 on old trunks and much broken on the surface into small plates covered 

 with scales. The wood is light, soft, not strong:, coarse-grained, perish- 

 able, pale brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood; of little value for 

 lumber, but is used for lath, shingles, boxes and crates, and for wo 

 pulp used in paper manufacture. 



Distribution in the State: Balsam fir does not occur naturally in 

 V braska but is quite commonly planted as an ornamental, being- 

 substituted sometimes unknowingly for spruce for such purposes. Com- 

 mon in northern United States to northeastern Iowa and abundant in 



• in and central Canada. 



Remarks: Balsam fir produces its resin or turpentine not in ducts 

 ttered through the wood as do the pines, but in superficial blisters in 

 the bark. These blisters are often a half inch in diameter. They con- 

 tain a limpid, aromatic fluid which runs out when the blister is broken 

 and is used in considerable quantities in the biolog-ical sciences and in 

 medicine. Another fir tree that is commonly planted in this state i< 

 the silver fir, Abie* concolor t of the Rocky Mountains and westward. 

 The pale blue or grayish leaves, which are 2-8 inches long, will serve 

 to help to distinguish this tree from the eastern balsam fir. In general 

 the firs may be distinguished from the spruces (with which many people 

 confuse them i bv the flattish leaves, smooth twiirs from which the les 

 have fallen, and erect cones. Spruce leaves are 1 sided, the twigs ar ,. 

 lUgh after the leaves fall, and the cones are pendulous. 



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