Balsam fir

Leaves

Form

• Tip rounded or notched
• Needles arranged in 2 ranks, shorter on the upper side of the twig
• Resin ducts small, remote from the surface
• Strong odour when crushed

Length

• 15–25 mm

Colour

• Upper surface shiny dark green, often a few white dots toward the tip
• Lower surface with 10–12 lines of white dots

Buds

Form

• Broadly ovoid
• Resinous

Length

• 5 mm

Twigs

Form

• Smooth, hairy

Colour

• Greenish-grey

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Erect, barrel-shaped
• Resinous

Length

• 4–10 cm

Colour

• Greyish-brown

Structure

• Bracts with rounded shoulders and a needle-shaped tip, sometimes longer than the scales

Timing

• Cones break up from early September
• Bare cone axis retained on tree for several years
• Seeds abundant

Seeds

Form

• Resinous
• Firmly attached to seed coat

Length

• Seed 3–6 mm
• Seed wing 10–15 mm

Colour

• Purple to brown

Bark

Form

• Smooth with raised resin blisters when young
• With age, breaking into irregular scales

Colour

• Greyish when young, becoming brownish with age

Wood

Texture

• Light, soft, weak, somewhat brittle
• Odourless

Colour

• White

Morphology

• Little contrast between earlywood and latewood
• Little contrast between heartwood and sapwood

Uses

• Wood pulp, lumber, Christmas trees

Size

Height

• To 25 m

Diameter

• To 70 cm

Maximum age

• 150 years

Tree form

Open-grown

Crown

• Lower branches remain alive
• Green foliage extends to the ground

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Slightly tapered below the crown
• Dead branches persist for several years

Crown

• Crown regular
• Gradually tapers to a spire-like top

Root system

• Shallow

Habitat

Site

• Variety of soils and climates

Associated species

• Grows in pure stands or mixed with trembling aspen, white birch, white spruce, black spruce, red spruce, and eastern hemlock

Range

Northern forests of central and eastern Canada