BALSAM FIR
Abies fraseri, (Pursh) Poir.
Form.—Height 30-70 feet, diameter 1-2½ feet; trunk continuous, tapering; crown pyramidal; rigid horizontal or ascending branches.
Leaves.—Linear, arranged around the stem, ½-¾ of an inch long, dark silvery green.
Flowers.—Monoecious; staminate yellow with red tinge; pistillate with rounded scales and pale yellow-green bracts.
Fruit.—Cones oblong-ovate, about 2½ inches long; width of scales twice their length, dark purple; bracts reflexed covering at maturity about half the scale.
Bark.—Roughened by cinnamon or gray scales.
Wood.—Light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, pale brown with whitish sapwood.