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FAlphabetical List of Plants & Trees
FBotanical Name Index
FEvergreen Trees
FDeciduous Trees
FShrubs & Vines
FWet Open Places
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SHE BALSAM
Abies fraseri
Range:
Southeast North America - Virginia and West Virginia to North Carolina and Tennessee.
Habitat:
Mountains, often forming forests of considerable extent.
Common Names: Balsam
Fir. Fraser's Fir. Southern Balsam Fir. Southern
Fir. Balsam Eastern Fir.
Description:
A native, evergreen coniferous tree that grows fast. It is in leaf all year, in flower in May, and the seeds ripen from September to October.
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Edible: Inner bark - cooked. It is usually dried, ground into a powder and then used
as a thickening in soups and stews or mixed with cereals when making
bread. An emergency food, it is only used when all else fails.
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An aromatic resinous pitch is found in blisters in the bark. When eaten
raw it is delicious and chewy. An oleoresin from the pitch is used
as a flavoring in sweets, baked goods, ice cream and drinks.
Tips of young shoots are used as a tea substitute.
Wildlife:
Red squirrels eats the seeds and the terminal buds.
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Medicine:
The resin obtained from this tree has been used
throughout the world and is a very effective antiseptic and healing agent. It
is used as a healing and analgesic protective covering for burns, bruises,
wounds and sores. It is also used to treat sore nipples
and is said to be one of the best curatives for a sore throat.
The resin is also diuretic, stimulant and tonic.
It is used internally in propriety mixtures to treat coughs and diarrhea,
though taken in excess it is purgative.
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A warm liquid of the gummy sap was drunk as a treatment for gonorrhea.
A tea made from the leaves is used in the
treatment of coughs, colds and fevers. The leaves and young shoots are
best harvested in the spring and dried for later use.
Other Use:
Wood - light, soft, coarse grained, not strong. It is occasionally
manufactured into lumber.
The balsamic resin is obtained during July and August from blisters in
the bark or by cutting pockets in the wood. Another report says that it
is a turpentine. It is used medicinally, also in the manufacture of
glues, candles and as a cement for microscopes and slides - it has a high
refractive index resembling that of glass. The
average yield is about 8 - 10 oz per tree. The resin is also a fixative
in soaps and perfumery.
Leaves are a stuffing material for pillows - they impart a pleasant
scent and also repel moths. Cherokee
Use: Burst
blister, take ooze alone or with turpentine for kidney trouble.
Balsam for breast and lung complaints with pain, soreness, or cough.
Used for venereal and urinary diseases also, for wounds and ulcers.
Taken to loosen bowels and cleanse and heal internal ulcers. Used
for falling of the womb and weak backs in females.
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