Balsam Fir–abies balsamea

colour photo of Balsam Fir.

Balsam Fir is a common softwood species in Ontario. It has a tall narrow profile that tapers to a point at the top of the tree with sticky resin blisters on the trunk. It is often found as a late successional species growing under other species in clumps, as it is shade tolerant and is generally not as long lived as spruce.

Balsam Fir has traditionally been used for pulp, paper and lumber products. Balsam Fir represents 2.5% of Ontario’s annual harvest and is 5% of its total growing stock volume.

Map of Balsam Fir relative occurrence

map of Balsam Fir distribution in Ontario indicating low (light brown), moderate and high (dark green-brown) levels of relative occurrence.

Enlarge map of Balsam Fir relative occurrence

Area and proportion of Balsam Fir in the AOU (area in hectares)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Total Area Containing Balsam Fir 8,165,657 765,543 1,838,223 10,769,424
1-25% of stand 6,982,848 646,381 1,521,799 9,151,028
26-50% of stand 1,040,900 103,761 285,233 1,429,894
51-75% of stand 90,779 10,824 21,986 123,589
76-100% of stand 51,131 4,577 9,206 64,913
Average Proportion in All Forest (%) 5.1 8.0 5.3 5.5
Area of Balsam Fir Working Group 650,896 75,041 211,627 937,563

Growing stock volume of Balsam Fir in the AOU (volume in thousands of cubic metres)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Gross Total Volume 167,191 20,554 53,185 240,930
Net Merchantable Volume 62,171 7,959 22,871 93,001
Current Annual Increment 2,180 208 574 2,962

Balsam Fir working group area by age class

vertical bar graph of Balsam Fir working group area by age class including brown for Crown, green for park and grey for other.