balsam
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [FULL LIST]
balsam noun An evergreen tree (Abies fraseri/balsamea), popular as a Christmas tree, now an endangered species in many areas due to infestation of the balsam woolly adelgid.
1799 (in 2008 Ellison High Vistas 38) we spent the Sabbath day on taking observations from the high spur we crossed, ingathering the fir from ye Balsam Pine which is found on this mountain. 1851 (in 1956 Eliason Tarheel Talk 259) The Balsam is of two kinds, the He and She (or Blister). The latter has blisters in the bark, which alone contain the balsam. Nearly half a tea spoon can be obtained from one blister. 1908 Britton N Amer Trees 76 This southern fir, called ... Balsam fir ... occurs in the higher mountains of Virginia and West Virginia to North Carolina and Tennessee, where it sometimes forms forests, and reaches a maximum height of 25 meters. 1939 Hall Coll (Cataloochee NC) [The bears]’d dug them out a den right in under where an old big balsam tree had turned up and just made one little place a-going in. 1960 Stupka Great Smoky Mts 11 The Fraser fir, or “balsam” which comprises the bulk of the Great Smokies forests in mountains exceeding 6,000 feet appears very similar to the balsam fir of northern New England and Canada. Botanically the two species are distinct.