Balsam Fir

Abies balsamea

Used mainly as a specimen tree and popular as a Christmas tree. Does not hold its needles very long in a dry house and for this reason it is not as desirable as the pines.

Shallow rooted. Readily transplanted; adaptable to cold climates and there it makes it best growth; prefers well-drained, acid, moist soil; more shade tolerant than other firs.

The resin from this tree was used to mount thin specimens under slides.

Price: 3 gal: $19.99 / 5 gal: $29.99 / 7 gal: $39.99

Light:

More shade tolerant than other firs

Soil type:

Tolerates Acid, Prefers Moist

Zone:

3, 4, 5

Maximum height:

45-75 ft (National Champion 100 ft by 45 ft in Fairfield, PA.)

Spread:

20-25 ft

Growth speed:

Slow

Habit (shape):

Stiff in habit, symmetrically pyramidal or narrow-conical when yound before losing its pyramidal habit with age

Flowers:

Male-catkin-like, yellow, developing from the underside of the leaf axil

Fruit:

Cone, dark violet when young, 2-4 inches long. Turing gray-brown and resinous at maturity; soon after the ripening of the seeds the scales fall off, leaving only the central axis

Texture:

Medium

Insect susceptibility:

Spruce Budworm, Sawflies, woolly adelgid and several canker diseases

Disease susceptibility: