{"id":102,"date":"2025-09-24T16:37:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T20:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/?p=102"},"modified":"2025-09-25T17:18:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T21:18:45","slug":"balsam-fir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/balsam-fir\/","title":{"rendered":"Balsam Fir"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns sidebar is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50rem\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><em><em>Abies balsamea<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">Balsam fir is an evergreen tree native to the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. The most fragrant of all the firs, balsam fir is a popular choice for Christmas trees in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group boxout has-light-green-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Location<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The balsam fir can be found on just off the intersection between the facility service road and the portion of the East-West trail running along Lovell Street.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50rem\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/balsam-fir-leaf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/balsam-fir-leaf.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/balsam-fir-leaf-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/balsam-fir-leaf-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:4rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section-intro has-light-warm-gray-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-stretch is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"background-image:url(&apos;https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/balsam-fir-tree.jpg&apos;);background-position:50% 50%;background-size:cover;\" class=\"wp-block-group padded lifted has-white-background-color has-background wp-container-content-69bc4bdf is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:25.625rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group padded has-charcoal-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2f4fab3ad6fe90f86c14eefa655949f5 is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History at Hadwen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro has-medium-font-size\">There are no records of the balsam fir being planted by Hadwen at the arboretum but Hadwen cultivated many types of conifers and praised \u201d their symmetry of form and varying shades of everlasting green.\u201d It is unclear how the single specimen of balsam fir was established at the arboretum, as no records of it exist until 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group section is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div style=\"color:var(--clarku-color-green)\" class=\"eyebrow  has-text-align-left\">Keep learning<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Detailed species information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Balsam fir is an evergreen tree in the family Pinaceae native to central and eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. A medium-sized tree, the balsam fir will typically reach between 26\u201366 feet (14\u201320 meters) in height. The tree forms a dense, conical crown with a straight trunk. Younger trees have smooth bark which becomes rough and scaly with maturity. The leaves of the balsam fir are dark green, flat needles that are about an inch in length. The dense cones stand upright on the branches and are dark purple or brown, containing winged seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These trees can be found in a variety of environments, including swamps, forest slopes, and mountainsides, but they require cold and moist climates. The foliage and seeds of the balsam fir are an important food source for many small mammals, deer, and birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The balsam fir was used for various medical purposes by indigenous peoples, including Abenaki, Algonquin, Iroquois, Maliseet, Cree, Ojibwe, Penobscot, and others. The balsam fir is also an extremely popular variety of Christmas tree due to its iconic shape, deep green needles, and its fragrance, which is stronger than other fir trees. In landscaping, the balsam fir is used as an ornamental in parks and gardens but requires cooler temperatures or shady planting sites. It is widely cultivated, including various dwarf species.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abies balsamea Balsam fir is an evergreen tree native to the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. The most fragrant of all the firs, balsam fir is a popular choice for Christmas trees in the United States. Location The balsam fir can be found on just off the intersection between the facility service road and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Balsam Fir | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/balsam-fir\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balsam Fir\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Abies balsamea Balsam fir is an evergreen tree native to the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. The most fragrant of all the firs, balsam fir is a popular choice for Christmas trees in the United States. 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content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol D&#039;Onofrio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/balsam-fir\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/balsam-fir\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"Balsam 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