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Balsam Fir -
Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.
Balsam fir is one of the more important conifers in the northern
United States and in Canada. Within its range it may also be referred to
as balsam, Canadian balsam, eastern fir, and bracted balsam fir. It is a
small to medium-sized tree used primarily for pulp and light frame
construction, and it is one of the most popular Christmas trees.
Wildlife rely extensively on this tree for food and shelter. |
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This Balsam Fir is a 57-year-old Morton Arboretum specimen. |
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Family:
Pinaceae. Also placed in:
Abietaceae
Balsam fir is a native, coniferous,
evergreen, small to medium-sized, upright tree. At
maturity it may reach a height of 40 to 90 feet (12-27 m) and a
d.b.h. of 12 to 30 inches (30-75 cm). Maximum age is about
200 years. Balsam fir has a dense, narrowly pyrimidal
crown terminating in a slender, spirelike top. Open-grown
trees may have live branches extending to the ground, but trees
in well-stocked stands have dead, persistent lower branches.
The needles are flat, resinous, and 0.4 to 1.2 inches (1-3 cm)
long. Erect cones occur on the upper side of 1-year-old
branches in the upper crown. The bark is gray and smooth
and contains numerous raised resin blisters. On older
trees the bark becomes brown and scaly but is less than 0.5 inch
(1.2 cm) thick.
Balsam fir has a shallow root system that is mostly confined to
duff and upper mineral soil layers. Roots rarely penetrate
more than 30 inches (75 cm) below the ground surface, except in
sandy soils.
Balsam fir grows on a wide variety of upland
and lowland sites. It occurs on mountain slopes and
glaciated uplands as well as on alluvial flats, peatlands, and
swamps. It is found in pure, mixed coniferous, and mixed
coniferous-deciduous stands.
Soils: Balsam fir grows on sites underlain by a variety of
parent materials, including gneiss, schist, anorthosite,
diabase, slate, sandstone, and limestone. It grows mostly
on acid Spodosol, Inceptisol, and Histisol soil orders. It
grows on all soil textures, from
heavy clay to rocky. It tolerates a wide range of soil
acidity. In the Lake States, balsam fir is most common on
cool, wet-mesic sites with soil pH values between 5.1 and 6.0.
In northeast Wisconsin it commonly grows on limestone outcrops.
(6) |
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The Balsam Fir is listed as endangered by the State
of Connecticut
(3)
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Balsam fir wood is used primarily for
pulpwood and lumber for light frame
construction. It is also used
extensively for cabin logs. The
wood is lightweight, relatively soft,
low in shock resistance, and has good
splitting resistance. Balsam fir
is not well suited for use as posts and
poles because it decays rapidly.
Minor wood products include paneling,
crates, and other products not requiring
high structural strength.
Balsam fir is a major food of moose
during winter. It tends to be
utilized more when snow is deep and
moose populations are high. Moose may
browse balsam fir in winter to save
energy because the twigs weigh 8 to 13
times more than deciduous twigs of
similar length and therefore it requires
less time and effort to consume
equivalent amounts. Balsam fir is
unimportant in the diets of caribou and
white-tailed deer. Spruce and
ruffed grouse feed on balsam fir
needles, tips, and buds, which often
make up 5 to 10 percent of the fall and
winter diet. Red squirrels feed on
balsam fir male flower buds, and less
frequently on leader and lateral buds in
late winter and spring when other foods
are scarce. Stands attacked by the
spruce budworm
attract numerous insect-eating birds,
especially warblers and woodpeckers.
Balsam fir provides
important winter cover for white-tailed
deer and moose. Balsam fir stands
attract ungulates because snow is not as
deep as in adjacent hardwood stands.
Lowland balsam fir stands are used
extensively by white-tailed deer as
winter yarding areas, and by moose with
calves during severe winters.
During summer, deer, bear, and moose
often rest under the shade of balsam fir
trees. Young balsam firs provide cover
for small mammals and birds.
Martens, hares, songbirds, and even deer
hide from predators in balsam fir
thickets. Grouse and songbirds
seek shelter during winter within the
evergreen foliage. In Maine,
fishers often nest in witches brooms in
balsam fir trees.
Balsam fir is a
popular Christmas tree in the East and
grown on plantations for this purpose.
The branches are used to make Christmas
wreaths. The fragrant needles are
used as a stuffing in souvenir pillows
sold in New England. Balsam fir is
occasionally used in landscaping.
It can be used in
screenings, mass plantings, and
windbreaks but requires abundant soil
moisture for these purposes.
Bark blisters contain
oleoresin, which is used in the optics
industry as a medium for mounting
microscope specimens and as a cement for
various parts of optical systems.
(6)
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U.S. Range Map courtesy USDA
Plants database |
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Balsam Fir,
in various concoctions, has been
used by Native Americans for
centuries. Among other medicinal
uses:
-
Algonquin, Quebec Drug
(Dermatological Aid)
Poultice of gum applied to
open sores, insect bites,
boils and infections.
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Chippewa
Drug (Analgesic)
Gum melted on warm stone and
fumes inhaled for headache
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Chippewa
Drug (Dermatological Aid)
Gum of plant with bear
grease used as an ointment
for the hair.
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Cree,
Woodlands Drug
(Abortifacient)
Pitch used for menstrual
irregularity.
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Cree,
Woodlands Drug
(Dermatological Aid)
Pitch and grease used as an
ointment for scabies and
boils.
-
Iroquois
Drug (Orthopedic Aid)
Decoction used as wash and
poultice applied to cuts,
bruises, sprains and sores
(5)
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- Native:
- NORTHERN AMERICA
Eastern Canada: Canada
- New Brunswick,
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario,
Prince Edward Island, Quebec
Western Canada: Canada
- Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Northeastern U.S.A.:
United States -
Connecticut,
Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan,
New Hampshire,
New York, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island,
Vermont, West Virginia
North-Central U.S.A.:
United States - Iowa, Minnesota,
Wisconsin
Southeastern U.S.A.:
United States - Virginia
(4)
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Over 60 species of insects are indigenous to
Douglas-fir cones, but only a few species damage a
significant proportion of the seed crop. Damage by
insects is frequently more pronounced during the
years of light or medium seed crops that may follow
good or heavy crops. The most destructive insects
include: (a) the Douglas-fir seed chalcid
(Megastigmus spermotrophus), which matures in the
developing seed and gives no external sign of its
presence; (b) the Douglas-fir cone moth (Barbara
colfaxiana) and the fir cone worm (Dioryctria
abietivorella) whose larvae bore indiscriminately
through the developing cones and may leave external
particles of frass; and (c) the Douglas-fir cone
gall midge (Contarinia oregonensis) and cone scale
midge (C. washingtonensis), which destroy some seed
but prevent harvest of many more by causing galls
that prevent normal opening of cones. The
Douglas-fir cone moth is perhaps a more serious pest
in the drier, interior portions of the Douglas-fir
range and the Contarinia spp. in the wetter regions.
Any of these insects, however, may effectively
destroy a cone crop in a given location.
Insects are generally not a severe problem for
Douglas-fir regeneration, although both the
strawberry root weevil (Otiorhynchus oratus) and
cranberry girdler (Chrysoteuchia topiaria) may cause
significant damage to seedlings in nurseries; damage
to plantations by rain beetles (Pleocoma spp.) and
weevils (Steremnius carinatus)- the latter
particularly damaging to container-grown-plants-has
been reported.
Special Uses
Douglas-fir is grown as a Christmas tree on
rotations ranging from 4 to 7 years. Trees are
sheared each year to obtain a pyramid shaped crown.
Attempts to grow Douglas-fir as a Christmas tree in
North America outside its native range have failed.
Coastal Douglas-fir is usually killed by frost, and
the interior variety suffers too much from the
needle cast disease, Phaeocryptopus gaeumanni. [6] |
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References:
1.
United States Forest Service Silvics Manual
Conifers / Balsam Fir
2.
USDA, NRCS. 2008. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov,
27 June 2008). National Plant Data Center, Baton
Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
3.
USDA NRCS Threatened and Endangered species
4.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN)
[Online Database]
5.
University of Michigan Native American
Ethnobotany
6.
Uchytil, Ronald J. 1991. Abies balsamea. In: Fire
Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory
(Producer). Available:
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2008, June 27].
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