Abies procera
Abies balsamea
noble fir
balsam fir, sapin baumler
grayish brown, in age becoming thick and deeply furrowed (furrows and ridges about same width) and reddish brown (especially reddish when plates flake off).
gray, thin, smooth, in age often becoming broken into irregular brownish scales.
diverging from trunk at right angles, stiff;
twigs reddish brown, finely pubescent for several years.
diverging from trunk at right angles, the lower often spreading and drooping;
twigs mostly opposite, greenish brown, pubescence sparse.
hidden by leaves, tan, ovoid, small, not resinous, apex rounded;
basal scales short, broad, equilaterally triangular, pubescent centrally, not resinous, margins entire to crenate, apex sharp-pointed.
hidden by leaves or exposed, brown, conic, small, resinous, apex acute;
basal scales short, broad, nearly equilaterally triangular, glabrous, resinous, margins entire, apex sharp-pointed.
1–3(–3.5)cm × 1.5–2mm, 1-ranked, flexible, proximal portion often appressed to twig for 2–3mm (best seen on abaxial surface of twig), distal portion divergent;
cross section flat, with prominent raised midrib abaxially, with or without groove adaxially, or cross section 4-sided on fertile branches;
odor pungent, faintly turpentinelike;
abaxial surface with 2–4 glaucous bands, each band with (4–)6–7 stomatal rows;
adaxial surface bluish green, with 0–2 glaucous bands, each band with 0–7 stomatal rows at midleaf;
apex rounded to notched;
leaves on fertile branches 4-sided with 4 bands of stomates below;
resin canals small, near margins and abaxial epidermal layer.
1.2–2.5cm × 1.5–2mm, 1-ranked (particularly on lower branches) to spiraled, flexible;
cross section flat, grooved adaxially;
odor pinelike (copious ß-pinene);
abaxial surface with (4–)6–7(–8) stomatal rows on each side of midrib;
adaxial surface dark green, slightly or not glaucous, with 0–3 stomatal rows at midleaf, these more numerous toward leaf apex;
apex slightly notched to rounded;
resin canals large, ± median, away from margins, midway between abaxial and adaxial epidermal layers.
at pollination ± purple, ± red, or reddish brown.
at pollination red, purplish, bluish, greenish, or orange.
cones oblong-cylindric, 10–15 × 5–6.5cm, green, red, or purple, overlaid with green bracts, at maturity brown (bracts light-colored and scales dark), sessile, apex rounded;
scales ca. 2.5 × 3cm, pubescent;
bracts exserted and reflexed over scales.
cones cylindric, 4–7 × 1.5–3cm, gray-purple, turning brown before scale shed, sessile, apex round to obtuse;
scales ca. 1–l.5 × 0.7–1.7cm (relationship reversed in more western collections), pubescent;
bracts included or exserted and reflexed over scales.
=24.
=24.
Abies procera
Abies balsamea
See discussion under Abies magnifica.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Balsam fir is frequently segregated into two varieties (e.g., H.J. Scoggan 1978–1979) based on whether the bracts are included (var. balsamea) or exserted (var. phanerolepis Fernald), the latter considered by Liu T. S. (1971) to be a hybrid between Abies balsamea and A. fraseri. D.T. Lester (1968) demonstrated, however, that bract length may vary within a cone, annually, and from tree to tree. Nevertheless, a tendency exists for the exserted variety to be found most commonly from Newfoundland south through New England (R.C. Hosie 1969; B.F. Jacobs et al. 1984); it is not found west of Ontario. Western populations lack 3-carene and have other minor chemical differences separating them from eastern balsam fir (E.Zavarin and K.Snajberk 1972; R.S. Hunt and E.von Rudloff 1974). Morphologic variation in balsam fir has been studied mainly east of Ontario; the populations to the west have been ignored for the most part, although they may yield stronger evidence for species subdivision.
In Alberta, populations intermediate between western Abies balsamea and A. bifolia (E.H. Moss 1953; R.S. Hunt and E.von Rudloff 1974, 1979) may be classified as A. balsamea × bifolia. In West Virginia and Virginia, populations of balsam fir tend to be more similar to A. fraseri than are more northern populations (B.F. Jacobs et al. 1984).
Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) is the provincial tree of New Brunswick.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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