Click on the images help you identify a balsam fir.
Form
Medium-sized, typically measuring 40 to 60 feet tall, with continuous, straight, tapering trunk from root to top. Reaches diameters of 9 to 20 inches or more. Spreading branches form a handsome, symmetrical, slender pyramid.
Bark
Smooth, grayish and prominently marked by blisters filled with resin or balsam pitch.
Leaf
Needlelike but flat, measuring 1/2 to 1 inch long, with a rounded point. Needles are dark green and lustrous above and silvery-white beneath, arranged along the twig in two ranks. They are resinous and fragrant when crushed.
Fruit (seed)
Cones are upright on the branches, purple and oblong, measuring 2 to 4 inches long. They ripen in the autumn of the first year. Cone scales are wider than long. Seeds have very wide wings and, when ripe, fall together with the scales of the cone, leaving the hard central axis standing upright on twig like a spike.
Range
Found in the forests of northern Minnesota and in a few scattered localities in the southeastern corner of the state. Balsam fir is usually associated with white spruce, from which it can easily be distinguished by its large upright cones and soft leaves. It thrives in cool, damp places and is very shade tolerant.
Wood uses
Light, soft, not strong or durable with a coarse grain. Used only slightly for construction lumber, it is mixed with spruce wood for paper pulp. Balsam fir is especially important as a Christmas tree species.