Common names:  American Silver Fir.  Balm of Gilead Fir.  Canada Fir.  Canada Balsam.  Balsam Spruce.  

Description:  Native evergreen tree.  The bark is brown, broken into scaly plates with resin-filled pockets. The twigs pale green and pubescent when young, becoming gray, reddish, or purplish.  The leaves are dark green, linear, sessile, spiral in origin, but twisted at base to form two ranks; leaves persisting many years; leaf-scars circular. The winter buds have orange-green scales and are resinous. The mature cones are dark purple when growing. The seeds are ovoid or oblong, acute at base, with thin wing and resinous vesicles, maturing in one summer.

The balsam or pitch, in extreme emergency, forms a highly concentrated food.  Fir bark is a delight to chew in winter or early spring, slightly mucilaginous and sweetish, better raw than cooked.  Native peoples made breadstuff from the bark of balsam fir.  Inner bark that does not show any discoloration can be used for breadstuff and it takes about an hour to peel enough for one loaf. Leaves average 65% essential oil, ranging to 1.4% or higher. 

Other Use:  Trunks yield oil of "Canada balsam" or turpentine, used as a permanent mounting medium in microscopy and as a cement for glassware. Canada turpentine yields 15–25% volatile oil, the resin being used for caulking and incense. Often used for Christmas trees. Abies species are commercially valuable for timber even though their wood is relatively soft, weak, and perishable. Balsam fir is used in the US for timber and plywood, and is the mainstay of the pulp wood industry in the northeast.

Native Use:

Chippewa -  Decoction of root used as herbal steam to treat rheumatic joints.  Gum melted on warm stone, fumes inhaled for headache.  Gum of plant with bear's grease used as an ointment for the hair.  Decoction of root sprinkled on hot stones as herbal steam for rheumatism. Gum of plant melted on warm stone as herbal steam for headache.

Iroquois - Steam from decoction of branches used as a bath for rheumatism & parturition.  Compound decoction taken during early stages of consumption.  Used for gonorrhea. Compound decoction taken for colds, coughs, and rheumatism.  Decoction taken straight or diluted with alcohol for coughs.  Compound decoction applied to cuts, bruises, sprains or sores.  Decoction used as wash & poultice applied to cuts, bruises, sprains, & sore muscles.  Used to stop bed wetting.

Menominee - Infusion of inner bark taken for chest pain. Liquid balsam pressed from trunk used for colds and pulmonary troubles.  Poultice of fresh inner bark used for illnesses.  Inner bark used as a seasoner for medicines.  Gum from plant blisters applied to sores.

Micmac - Buds, cones, and inner bark used for diarrhea also, buds used as a laxative.  Gum used for bruises and fractures also, used for burns, sores, and wounds.  Gum used for colds also, cones used for colic.  Gum used for bruises and fractures also, used for burns, sores, and wounds. Gum used for colds also, cones used for colic.  Bark used for gonorrhea also, buds used as a laxative.

Ojibwe - Needle-like leaves used as part of the ceremony involving the sweat bath.  Balsam gum used for colds also, leaf smoke inhaled for colds.  Plant used for coughs.  Balsam gum used to heal sores compound containing leaves used as a wash.  Liquid balsam from bark blister used for sore eyes.  Leaves used as a reviver also, used in compound as a wash.

Penobscot - Sap smeared over, used as a salve, to heals  burns, sores, and cuts. 

Potawatomi - Fresh balsam gum swallowed to cure colds. Balsam gum used as a salve to heal sores.  Infusion of bark taken for consumption and other internal affections.

Southern Ojibwe - Bark gum applied to cuts and sores.  Bark gum taken as a remedy for gonorrhea and chest soreness from colds.  Decoction of bark used to induce sweating.  Bark gum taken as a remedy for gonorrhea and chest soreness from colds.

Harvest:  "Turpentine" is usually collected July-August by breaking the turpentine blisters into small metal cans with sharp-pointed lids. Trees are then allowed to recuperate 1–2 years. For the leaf oil, it would appear that branches should be snipped off younger trees in early spring (January-March).  Fifteen year old trees yield 70% more leaf oil than 110-year-old trees; oil yields are highest in January–March and September, lowest from April to August.

Hazard:  Canada balsam is reported to produce dermatitis when applied as perfume. The foliage has also induced contact dermatitis.