BALM OF GILEAD; BALSAM; TACAMAHAC (P0p/l/U8 balsami fera, Linn.). 75 to 100 feet. Large, stout-trunked tree with narrow, open head of angular branches, ending in warty, orange-dotted twigs, often pubescent. Buds large, exuding clear, fragrant balsam that seals the numerous scales. Bark reddish brown or gray, roughened by dark excrescences; branches paler, green, turning red, and finally gray. Wood soft, weak, pale, with white sapwood, used for cheap wooden wares. Leaves ovate lanceolate, finely saw-toothed, 3 to 5 inches long, thick, dark green, shining, paler, often rusty be neath, on slender stems, not flat. Flowers March, in droop
ing, hairy catkins with fringed bracts. Fruit May, few cap sules on long stems, seed minute, brown, in cotton. Dist.: Low, wet land, Newfoundland to Hudson Bay and Alaska; Maine to Nebraska, Idaho, and British Columbia. Worth most as a shelter tree where other trees do not thrive. Also planted for ornament.