? Balsam Fir Conservation status: Secure
Balsam Fir foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Abies Species: A. balsamea
Binomial name
Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.

The Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Wisconsin east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia). It is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically 14-20 m tall, rarely to 27 m tall, with a narrow conic crown. The bark on young trees is smooth, grey, and with resin blisters, becoming rough and fissured or scaly on old trees. The leaves are flat needle-like, 1.5-3 cm 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 to appear in two more-or-less horizontal rows. The cones are erect, 4-8 cm long, dark purple, ripening brown and disintegrating to release the winged seeds in September. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1650x1122, 521 KB) Description: Abies balsamea (L.) P. Mill. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... Genera Subfamily Pinoideae     Pinus - pines (about 115 species) Subfamily Piceoideae     Picea - spruces (about 35 species) Subfamily Laricoideae     Cathaya (one species)     Larix - larches (about 14 species)     Pseudotsuga - douglas-firs (five species) Subfamily Abietoideae     Abies - firs (about 50 species)     Cedrus - cedars (two to four species)     Pseudolarix - golden larch (one species)     Keteleeria (three... FIR may stand for: finite impulse response (a property of some digital filters) far infrared, i. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné â–¶(?), and in English usually under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... Philip Miller (1691 - 1771) was a botanist of Scottish descent. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... FIR may stand for: finite impulse response (a property of some digital filters) far infrared, i. ... Map of Newfoundland Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) is a large island off the northeast coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Strong and free) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Area 661,848 km² (6th) • Land 642,317 km² • Water 19,531 km² (2. ... State nickname: Badger State Official languages None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Governor Jim Doyle (D) Senators Herb Kohl (D) Russ Feingold (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 23rd 169,790 km² 17 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 18th 5,453,896 38. ... State nickname: The Pine Tree State Official languages None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Governor John Baldacci (D) Senators Olympia Snowe (R) Susan Collins (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 39th 86,542 km² 13. ... A rainy day in the Great Smoky Mountains, Western North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains are a vast system of North American mountains, partly in Canada, but mostly in the United States, extending as a zone, from 100 to 300 miles wide, running from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 1500 miles south... State nickname: Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Governor Joe Manchin (D) Senators Robert Byrd (D) Jay Rockefeller (D) Official languages English Area 62,809 km² (41st)  - Land 62,436 km²  - Water 376 km² (0. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... For other meanings of bark, see Bark (disambiguation). ... Insect trapped in resin. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... This is not about surgically created bowel openings; see stoma (medicine) In botany, a stoma (also stomate; plural stomata) is a tiny opening or pore, found mostly on the undersurface of a plant leaf, and used for gas exchange. ... A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ... SEED is a block cipher developed by the Korean Information Security Agency. ...

There are two varieties:

• Abies balsamea var. balsamea (Balsam Fir) - bract scales short, not visible on the closed cones. Most of the species' range.
• Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis (Bracted Balsam Fir or Canaan Fir) - bract 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.

The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. ... State nickname: Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Governor Joe Manchin (D) Senators Robert Byrd (D) Jay Rockefeller (D) Official languages English Area 62,809 km² (41st)  - Land 62,436 km²  - Water 376 km² (0. ... Binomial name Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir. ...

Uses

The resin is used to produce canada balsam, and the wood is used for paper manufacture. It is also a popular christmas tree. Insect trapped in resin. ... Canada balsam, also called canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is a turpentine which is made from the resin of the balsam fir. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Piece of paper Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibres. ... A Christmas tree in a Danish home. ...

Balsam Fir is the Provincial tree of New Brunswick. This list of Provincial tree emblems of Canada includes the official trees of the Provinces and Territories of Canada. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope was restored) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Area 72 908 km² (11th) • Land 71 450 km² • Water 1 458 km² (2. ...