Canaan Fir

(Abies balsamea 'Phanerolpis')

Date Planted: October 2000

Family: Pinaceae

Hardiness: Hardy in the Gorham, ME area; Zone 3-6

Mature Dimensions: 40-75 feet tall, 20-25 feet wide

Habit: Narrow-conical, stiff, and upright

Bark: Gray and smooth, with the exception of raised resin blisters; mature trees often experience a breaking up of bark continuity into small reddish brown plates

Buds: Brown, ovoid or globular, resinous and small

Leaves/Needles: ½-1 inch in length, 1/16th inch wide; horizontally arranged in 2 lateral sets with a v-shaped parting between. Shiny dark green above with 2 lateral lines of gray stoma beneath

Flowers: Monoecious; males are catkin-like, yellow and develop from the underside of the leaf axil. Female is cone; discussed under "fruit" below

Fruit: Dark violet cone 2-4 inches long grays and becomes resinous with maturity; with the ripening of seeds, scales fall off, leaving the central axis

Pests/Disease: Spruce budworm, wooly adelgid; various cankers

Reference Pages: Dirr M.1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing Co., Champaign IL.