Abies balsamea or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia).

For thousands of years Native Americans used balsam fir for medicinal and therapeutic purposes.

When the male structure releases its pollen grains, some fall onto the female strobilus and reach the ovule.

[6] There are two varieties: Balsam firs are very shade tolerant, and tend to grow in cool climates, ideally with a mean annual temperature of 40 °F (4 °C), with consistent moisture at their roots.

[9] The seeds are eaten by American red squirrels, grouse, and pine mice;[10] the tree also provides food for crossbills and chickadees, as well as shelter for moose, snowshoe hares, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, and other small mammals and songbirds.

Abies balsamea is one of the most cold-hardy trees known, surviving at temperatures as low as −45 °C (−49 °F) (USDA Hardiness Zone 2).

[13] During cyclical population outbreaks, major defoliation of the balsam fir can occur, which may significantly reduce radial growth.

Balsam firs cut for Christmas are typically grown on large plantations, not taken from the forest.

[18][19] Other cultivars include: The resin is used to produce Canada balsam, and was traditionally used as a cold remedy and as a glue for glasses, optical instrument components, and for preparing permanent mounts of microscope specimens.

Given its use as a traditional remedy and the relatively high ascorbic acid content of its needles, historian Jacques Mathieu has argued that the balsam fir was the "aneda" that cured scurvy during the second expedition into Canada of Jacques Cartier.

Balsam fir oil is an EPA approved nontoxic rodent repellent.

Many fir limbs are vertically bowed from alternating periods of downward deformation from snow loading and new growth reaching upward for sunlight.

Layers of inverted freshly cut limbs from small trees created a pleasantly fragrant mattress lifting bedding off the wet ground; and the bowed green limbs were springs beneath the soft needles.

[27] The Atikamekw chew the sap as a cold remedy, and use the boughs as mats for the tent floor.

[28] The Cree use the pitch for menstrual irregularity, and take an infusion of the bark and sometimes the wood for coughs.

[32] They also take a compound decoction in the early stages of tuberculosis, and they use the plant for bedwetting and gonorrhea.

[36] They use the needles and branches as pillows and bedding, the roots as thread, and use the pitch to waterproof seams in canoes.

[38] The Miꞌkmaq use a poultice of inner bark for an unspecified purpose,[37] use the buds, cones and inner bark for diarrhea, use the gum for burns, colds, fractures, sores and wounds, use the cones for colic, and use the buds as a laxative.

[48] They also use the balsam gum as a salve for sores, and take an infusion of the bark for tuberculosis and other internal afflictions.