GREAT BALSAM MOUNTAINS

'Great Balsam Mountains' or 'Balsam Mountains' are in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States.^[1][2] The Great Balsams are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are within the Appalachian Mountains.
The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along its length and at Richland Balsam (milepost 431), the Parkway is at its highest point (6053 feet).

Contents

Peaks

Other Landmarks

Flora

Trees

Shrubs

Sources

Peaks

★ Richland Balsam - 6410 feet

★ Black Balsam Knob - 6214 feet

★ Mount Hardy - 6120 feet

★ Reinhart Knob - 6080 feet

★ Grassy Cove Top - 6040 feet

★ Tennent Mountain - 6040 feet

★ Sam Knob - 6040 feet

★ Cold Mountain - 6030 feet

★ Shining Rock - 6040 feet

★ Chestnut Bald
(Mountain heights)

Other Landmarks

★ Balsam Gap

★ Devil's Courthouse

★ Judaculla Rock (see Tsul 'Kalu; photos^[3])

★ Tanasee Bald (see Tsul 'Kalu)

Flora

The area consists of a transition forest between the coniferous boreal forests of northern climates and the mixed deciduous forests of temperate America.^[4]

Trees

The following trees are at higher elevations:

★ Fraser Fir^[5] ("Balsams" or "She balsams"). Forests of these trees appear black from a distance; however, these trees are declining due to the Balsam woolly adelgid.^[6]

★ Red spruce^[7] ("He balsams"). The red spruce is distinguished from the Fraser Fir by having bark whose rosin cannot be milked (hence, "He balsams") and by having upright cones.

Shrubs

★ Cartawba Rhododendron

★ Flame azalea^[8]

★ Mountain laurel

Sources

1.
2. Great Balsam Mountains
3. Judaculla
4. Eastern forests (Audubon Society Nature Guides), Sutton, Myron; Sutton, Ann, , , Knopf, 1985, p43
5. PLANTS Profile for Abies fraseri (Fraser fir)
6. Exploring North Carolina's Natural Areas: Parks, Nature Preserves, and Hiking Trails, Frankenberg, Dirk, , , University of North Carolina Press, 2000, p343
7. PLANTS Profile for Picea rubens (red spruce)
8. PLANTS Profile for Rhododendron calendulaceum (flame azalea)