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Abies balsamea
Also called Canadian Fir, Balm of Gilead, Balsam, Canada Balsam, Eastern Fir, Fir Balsam, Balm Of Gilead Fir
Balsam fir is a small to medium evergreen conifer of cool northern forests, typically 14 to 20 m tall, grown mainly as a Christmas tree or ornamental. It needs cool conditions and consistently moist soil to do well.
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).
Balsam firs are very shade tolerant, and tend to grow in cool climates, ideally with a mean annual temperature of 40 °F (4 °C), with consistent moisture at their roots. Low moisture and high temperature have been identified as important factors restricting its range. They typically grow in the following four forest types:
Silver Fir · Pacific Silver Fir · White Fir · Fraser fir · Nikko Fir · Korean Fir · Caucasian Fir · Algerian Fir · Spanish Fir · Noble Fir · Oyamel Fir · Siberian Fir
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Abies balsamea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
