Fir balsam EO Organic
Origin: Canada

• Details and product description

  Introduction:

  A tall, graceful evergreen tree up to 20 m high, with a tapering trunk and numerous branches giving the tree an overall shape of a perfect cone. It forms blisters of oleoresin (the so-called Canada balsam) on the trunk and branches, produced from special vesicles beneath the bark, which is gray and smooth. Leaves are blunt-tipped and spread upward on the stem to give a flattened appearance. Upright cones are 5 to 8 cm long and are green at first, turning purplish to rusty brown when mature. Maximum age is about 200 years. The variety phanerolepis is distinguished from var. balsamea on the basis of the relative length of the bract and awn to length of the cone scale and by a slight variation in cone size   Varieties of Abies : Abies alba Mill.: silver fir Abies amabilis or gracious fir, red fir: native to the northwest of the USA, west of Canada and south of Alaska. Abies balsamea or balsam fir. Native to the east of the USA and Canada. Abies bracteata : native to California (Santa Lucia mounts). Long and thorny needles. A height of 45 m. Abies borisii-regis : native to Bulgaria and Greece. Abies canadensis = Abies balsamea Abies cephalonica Loud or fir from Greece. Abies cilica Carr or fir from Cilicia: native to the south of Asia Minor (Lebanon), calcareous soils. Abies concolor or fir from Colorado Abi es delavayi or fir of Delavay: native to western China. Abies forrestii syn. Abies delavayi smithii, Abies georgei : native to western China. The young shoots are brown-reddish. The needles are dark-green, shining on top, silvered underneath. Cones: black, covered with bloom, even appearing on young trees. Abies fraseri Abies grandis Lindl or giant fir: native to the Vancouver island. Lustred and strong green needles. Grows to a height of 90 m. For parks. Abies holophylla : native to and the northeast of China. 20 m high. Abies homolepsis or fir from Nikko: native to Japan. Abies koreana : Korean fir Abies lasiocarpa or fir from Arizona; height 20 - 25 m, with a long growth time, erect tree tops. Pale green-greyish needles. Abies magnifica A. Murr or fir from California Abies mariesii Abies nordmanniana Spach or fir of Nordmann or fir from Caucasia. Height 25 - 30 m. Shiny green needles, brown reddish buds during winter. For parks and large gardens. Abies numidica of Lanney or fir from Numidia, fir from Algeria: native to Atlas (Kabylia). Pinsapo Boiss or Pinsapo: native to the mountains of the south of Spain. Dry and calcareous soils. Short, thick and dark green needles, slightly blue-tinged and glaucous. Height 20 - 25 m. Abies procera Rehd or A. nobilis Lindl or noble fir, blue fir or fir from Oregon. Native to the USA. Spatulate and bluish-green needles; doesn't like limestone. Abies sachalinensis Abies sibirica or fir from Siberia (Siberia, from the Urals to Central Asia ; Turkestan, Mongolia, China) Abies spectabilis , synonym Abies webbiana Lindl or fir of Webb or fir from Himalaya: native to Asia (Himalaya, Bhoutan, Sikkim). Introduced in Europe around 1822. Abies veitchii Lindl or fir of Veitch: native to Japan (Mount Fuji). Introduced in Europe in 1879 by Charles Maries. 

  History:

  Etymology : The name Abies comes from Greek "abin" meaning "which lives a long time" and from Latin "abire" meaning "keeping away from the sight". The French word "Sapin" comes from Latin "sappinus", crossed with the Latin "pinus" and the Gallic "sappus". The resin is used extensively by the American Indians for ritual purposes and external treatment. The bark of conifers (mostly) was so important in the diet of some tribes that at least one tribe, the Adirondacks, owe their name to the Mohawk term for "tree eaters".      

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