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Abies balsamea

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Balsam fir

Abies balsamea.jpg

Tree with cones

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classificationedit

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Division: Pinophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Order: Pinales

Family: Pinaceae

Genus: Abies

Species: A. balsamea

Binomial name

Abies balsamea

(L.) Mill.[2]

Abies balsamea range map 3.png

Range

Synonyms[2]

Pinus balsamea L.
Abies balsamifera Michx.

Peuce balsamea (L.) Rich.

Abies hudsonia Bosc ex Jacques

Picea balsamea (L.) Loudon

Abies minor Duhamel ex Gordon

Abies balsamea or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada
(Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine,
and south in the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia).[3]

Contents

1 Description

1.1 Medicinal

1.2 Reproduction

2 Varieties

3 Ecology

3.1 Pests

4 Cultivation

4.1 Christmas trees

4.2 Horticulture

5 Other uses

6 Tree emblem

7 See also

8 Gallery

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Description

Balsam fir is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically 14–20 metres (46–66 ft) tall, occasionally
reaching a height of 27 metres (89 ft). The narrow conic crown consists of dense, dark-green leaves. The
bark on young trees is smooth, grey, and with resin blisters (which tend to spray when ruptured),
becoming rough and fissured or scaly on old trees. The leaves are flat and needle-like, 15 to 30 mm (5⁄8
to 1 1⁄8 in) long, dark green above often with a small patch of stomata near the tip, and two white
stomatal bands below, and a slightly notched tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but with the
leaf bases twisted so that the leaves appear to be in two more-or-less horizontal rows on either side of
the shoot. The needles become shorter and thicker the higher they are on the tree. The seed cones are
erect, 40 to 80 mm (1 1⁄2 to 3 1⁄4 in) long, dark purple, ripening brown and disintegrating to release the
winged seeds in September.

Medicinal

For thousands of years Native Americans used Balsam fir for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. The
needles are digested directly off the tree by many animals and humans. Higher content dosage is
ingested in tea. Balsam Fir contains vitamin C, which has been studied for its effects on bacterial and
viral infections.[4]

Reproduction

The male reproductive organs generally develop more rapidly and appear sooner than the female
organs. The male organs contain microsporangia which divide to form sporogenous tissue, composed of
cells which become archesporial cells. These develop into microspores, or pollen-mother cells, once they
are rounded and filled with starch grains. When the microspores undergo meiosis in the spring, four
haploid microspores are produced which eventually become pollen grains. Once the male strobilus has
matured the microsporangia are exposed at which point the pollen is released.

The female megasporangiate is larger than the male. It contains bracts and megasporophylls, each of
which contains two ovules, arranged in a spiral. These then develop a nucellus in which a mother cell is
formed. Meiosis occurs and a megaspore is produced as the first cell of the megagametophyte. As cell
division takes place the nucleus of the megaspore thickens, and cell differentiation occurs to produce
prothallial tissue containing an ovum. The remaining undifferentiated cells then form the endosperm.

When the male structure releases its pollen grains, some fall onto the female strobilus and reach the
ovule. At this point the pollen tube begins to generate, and eventually the sperm and egg meet at which
point fertilization occurs.[5]

Varieties

There are two varieties:

Abies balsamea var. balsamea (balsam fir) – bracts subtending seed scales short, not visible on the
closed cones. Most of the species' range.

Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis (bracted balsam fir or Canaan fir) – bracts subtending seed scales
longer, visible on the closed cone. The southeast of the species' range, from southernmost Quebec to
West Virginia. The name Canaan fir derives from one of its native localities, the Canaan Valley in West
Virginia. Some botanists regard this variety as a natural hybrid between balsam fir and Fraser fir (Abies
fraseri), which occurs further south in the Appalachian mountains.

Ecology

Balsam fir krummholz on Mount Hight, New Hampshire

Balsam firs tend to grow in cool climates, ideally with a mean annual temperature of 40 °F (4 °C), with
consistent moisture at their roots. They typically grow in the following four forest types:

Swamp – swamp forest types never completely dry out, so balsam firs have constant access to water.
The ground is covered in sphagnum and other mosses. In swamps, balsam firs grow densely and slowly,
and are slender.

Flat – sometimes referred to as "dry swamps," these areas are better drained than swamps but still
retain moisture well. Fern moss covers the ground and there is a possibility of ground rot. In flat areas
balsam fir grows fast, tall, and large, mixed with red spruce.

Hardwood slope – ground rot is common in this well-drained area, and leaf litter covers the forest floor.
Balsam firs grow fast, tall, and large along with big hardwood trees such as yellow birch, sugar maple
and beech.

Mountain top – On mountain tops, stands of balsam fir occasionally develop fir waves. They often grow
at an elevation of 760 to 1,520 m (2,500 to 5,000 ft) in pure strands, or in association with black spruce,
white spruce, and trembling aspen. The development is similar to that in swamps with slow growth
resulting in slender, short trees. Some of the low branches touch the ground, and may grow roots to
produce an independent tree.[6]

The foliage is browsed by moose and deer.[7] The seeds are eaten by American red squirrels, grouse,
and pine mice;[8] the tree also provides food for crossbills and chickadees, as well as shelter for moose,
snowshoe hares, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, and other small mammals and songbirds. The needles
are eaten by some lepidopteran caterpillars, for example the Io moth (Automeris io).

Abies balsamea is one of the most cold-hardy trees known, surviving at temperatures as low as −45 °C
(−49 °F) (USDA Hardiness Zone 2). Specimens even showed no ill effects when immersed in liquid
nitrogen at −196 °C (−320.8 °F).[9]
Pests

The balsam fir is the preferred main host of the eastern spruce budworm, which is a major destructive
pest throughout the eastern United States and Canada.[10] During cyclical population outbreaks, major
defoliation of the balsam fir can occur, which may significantly reduce radial growth.[11] This can kill the
tree. An outbreak in Quebec in 1957 killed over 75% of balsam fir in some stands.[12]

Cultivation

Christmas trees

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sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2019) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)

Both varieties of the species are very popular as Christmas trees, particularly in the northeastern United
States. Balsam firs cut for Christmas are not taken from the forest, but are grown on large plantations.
The balsam fir is one of the greatest exports of Quebec and New England. It is celebrated for its rich
green needles, natural conical shape, and needle retention after being cut, and it is notably the most
fragrant of all Christmas tree varieties.[citation needed]

Many of these plantations are family farms handed down from generation to generation. The
techniques of shearing, growing, and other cultivation secretly passed down from grandparents to
grandchildren. Families like the Rousseau's of Quebec, Rose of New Brunswick, and Kessler's (North Pole
Xmas Trees) of New Hampshire have kept family traditions for almost a century.

The balsam fir was used six times for the US Capitol Christmas Tree between 1964 and 2019.[9]

In northern areas of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin balsam fir branches (boughs) are used to make
Christmas wreaths.

Horticulture

Abies balsamea is also grown as an ornamental tree for parks and gardens. Very hardy down to −20 °C
(−4 °F) or below, it requires a sheltered spot in full sun. The dwarf cultivar A. balsamea 'Hudson’ (Hudson
fir), grows to only 1 m (3.3 ft) tall by 1.5 m (4.9 ft) broad, and has distinctive blue-green foliage with pale
undersides. It does not bear cones. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden
Merit.[13][14]
Other cultivars include:-

‘Angustata’

'Argentea'

'Brachylepis'

'Coerulea'

'Columnaris'

'Glauca'

'Globosa'

'Longifolia'

'Lutescens'

'Macrocarpa'

'Marginata'

'Nana'

'Nudicaulis'

'Paucifolia'

'Prostrata'

'Pyramidalis'

'Variegata'

'Versicolor' [15]

Other uses

Balsam fir essential oil in clear glass vial

The resin is used to produce Canada balsam, and was traditionally used as a cold remedy and as a glue
for glasses, optical instrument components, and for preparing permanent mounts of microscope
specimens. Given its use as a traditional remedy and the relatively high ascorbic acid content of its
needles, historian Jacques Mathieu has argued that the balsam fir was the "aneda" that cured scurvy
during the second expedition into Canada of Jacques Cartier.[16] The wood is milled for framing lumber
(part of SPF lumber), siding and pulped for paper manufacture. Balsam fir oil is an EPA approved
nontoxic rodent repellent. The balsam fir is also used as an air freshener and as incense.[17]
Prior to the availability of foam rubber and air mattresses, balsam fir boughs were a preferred mattress
in places where trees greatly outnumbered campers. Many fir limbs are vertically bowed from
alternating periods of downward deformation from snow loading and new growth reaching upward for
sunlight. Layers of inverted freshly cut limbs from small trees created a pleasantly fragrant mattress
lifting bedding off the wet ground; and the bowed green limbs were springs beneath the soft needles.
Upper layers of limbs were placed with the cut ends of the limbs touching the earth to avoid
uncomfortably sharp spots and sap.[18]

The Native Americans used it for a variety of medicinal purposes.[19]

Tree emblem

Balsam fir is the provincial tree of New Brunswick.

See also

Balsam of Peru

Fraser fir

Gallery

Bark

Leaves (needles) on symmetrical branchlets

Closeup of thickly leaved branchlets

Pollen cones
Seed cones with resin oozing out in the Mingan Archipelago, Quebec

References

Farjon, A. (2013). "Abies balsamea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42272A2968717.
doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42272A2968717.en.

"Abies balsamea". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Retrieved 12 Oct 2016 – via The Plant List.

"PLANTS Profile for Abies balsamea (balsam fir)". USDA PLANTS. Retrieved August 21, 2016.

Hemilä, Harri (December 2003). "Vitamin C and SARS coronavirus". Journal of Antimicrobial
Chemotherapy. 52 (6): 1049–1050. doi:10.1093/jac/dkh002. PMC 7110025.

Bakuzis, E.V.; Hansen, Henry L.; Kaufert, Frank H. (January 1965). Balsam Fir: A Monographic Review.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 2, 8–14. ISBN 9780816661282.

Zon, Raphael (March 25, 1914). "Balsam Fir". Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 55: 2–7.

Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New
York: Knopf. p. 278. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.

Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 188.

"Abies balsamea". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 8 August 2019.

Out Of Print : Biosystematic Studies of Conifer-Feeding Choristoneura (Lepidoptera Tortricidae) in the

Western United States : Edited by Jerry A. Powell - University of California Press. www.ucpress.edu.
Retrieved 2017-10-23.

Blais, J.R. 1958b. The vulnerability of balsam fir to spruce budworm attack in northwestern Ontario,
with special reference to the physiological age of the tree. For. Chron. 34(4):405–422.

Blais, J.R.; Martineau, R. 1960. A recent spruce budworm outbreak in the lower St. Lawrence and Gaspé
Peninsula with reference to aerial spraying operations. For. Chron. 36(3):209–224.

"RHS Plant Selector Abies balsamea Hudsonia Group 'Hudson' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk.
Retrieved August 21, 2016.

"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 1. Retrieved 7 August 2019.

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/umich/reader.action?docID=10231274}[dead link]

Mathieu, Jacques. L'Annedda: L'arbre de vie (Quebec: Septentrion, 2009).

"Balsam fir oil (129035) Fact Sheet". 2015-08-20. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008.
Retrieved August 21, 2016.

Thoreau, Henry David The Maine Woods Apollo edition (1966) Thomas Y. Crowell Company

"Abies balsamea". Retrieved August 21, 2016.

Further reading

Hunt, Richard S. (1993). "Abies balsamea". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of
North America North of Mexico (FNA). 2. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical
Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

Karen Legasy, Shayna LaBelle-Beadman & Brenda Chambers. Forest Plants of Northeastern Ontario.
Lone Pine Publishing / Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1995.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Abies balsamea (category)

Gymnosperm Database: Abies balsamea

Winter ID pictures

Compiled images

Interactive Distribution Map of Abies balsamea

Taxon identifiers

Abies balsamea

Wikidata: Q428023Wikispecies: Abies balsameaBioLib: 2369Ecocrop: 2551EoL: 1061732EPPO:

ABIBAEUNIS: 150699FEIS: abibalFNA: 233500002GBIF: 2685383GRIN: 635iNaturalist: 54261IPNI:
1084057-2IRMNG: 10716877ITIS: 18032IUCN: 42272MichiganFlora: 1916MoBotPF: 284972NCBI:
90345NZOR: b6826306-f1d2-4117-9156-2b020da421b0PfaF: Abies balsameaPPE: abies-balsameaPlant
List: kew-2609719PLANTS: ABBAPOWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1084057-2Tropicos: 24900050uBio:
5948795VASCAN: 7159WCSP: 381647WisFlora: 2407WFO: wfo-0000511004

Pinus balsamea

Wikidata: Q17357252GBIF: 5284606GRIN: 28419IPNI: 325659-2IRMNG: 11255312ITIS: 183270POWO:

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:325659-2Tropicos: 24900606VASCAN: 17902WFO: wfo-0000482342

Authority control Edit this at Wikidata

GND: 4143963-6

Categories: IUCN Red List least concern speciesAbiesFlora of Eastern CanadaFlora of Western
CanadaTrees of the Northeastern United StatesTrees of the North-Central United StatesTrees of the
Great Lakes region (North America)Plants used in traditional Native American medicineTrees of humid
continental climateLeast concern plantsProvincial symbols of New BrunswickPlants described in
1753Taxa named by Carl LinnaeusLeast concern flora of the United StatesTaxa named by Philip Miller

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