Balsam fir

Balsamic fir (lat. Abies balsamea) — evergreen coniferous tree of the pine family. It grows on the North American continent – in the south of the taiga zone as part of coniferous-deciduous forests, in some places it enters the forest-tundra.

When landscaping garden and park areas, decorative forms of fir are used.

Dignity of the variety: high decorative effect, frost resistance.

Appearance

Treegrows 15-25 meters in height, while gaining growth very slowly: 1-1.5 meters in 10-15 years. Barrel diameter – 0.8 m. Crown – correct conical shape. Bark – light brown, smooth, without cracks. Branches down to the ground. The root system is superficial. The life span of a tree is 200-300 years.

Needles dark green, shiny, non-thorny, with whitish stripes below. Length of needles – 1.5-2.5 cm. Coniferous rows are comb-shaped, even. Aroma – spruce pronounced.

Conesoval-cylindrical, 5-10 cm long, 2-2.5 cm in diameter. Arranged vertically on the branches. As they mature, they change color from purple-violet to brown.

Destination. In Canada and the USA, balsam fir is of timber industry importance and is also used as a source of balsam. Dwarf varieties are used in landscape design. They are planted in squares, gardens, parks, in personal plots with tapeworms to complete compositions or in small groups in the form of hedges and framing alleys.

Growing conditions. Balsam fir is relatively hardy. Prefers a milder and more humid climate than spruce or larch. Therefore, it takes root better in a temperate, humid continental or transitional to a maritime climate. The tree is shade-tolerant, gas-resistant. At the same time, he loves fertile, moist alluvial or loamy soils, grows poorly – on podzolic and sandy, in the permafrost zone is not accepted at all.

In Russia, it takes root in the forest zone – north to St. Petersburg, east to Yekaterinburg. In the forest-steppe and steppe – poorly. In the taiga, fir breeds independently, forming large plantations.