Balsam fir needles, cut and sifted (1 oz / 28 grams)

Balsam pine needles - Pungent, refreshing
The balsam fir is a small to medium sized evergreen tree that can grow up to 40 to 80 feet tall. It can live for a maximum of 200 years and is found in many parts of northeastern North America. The needles of the fir are flat, about 1-1 1/2 inches long, rounded at the tip and normally curvy. They're a dark green colour on top and usually white-ish underneath.

The needles have a pungent and refreshing aroma that arouses the senses and brings to mind a walk in the forest. The scent is lovely enjoyed on its own, and putting bundles of balsam needles in bowls in the house serves this purpose really well, but they can also be added to incense and burned during meditation, ceremonies or sacred space cleansing.

The tree is said to have helped Native American communities survive the winter, as it was particularly prized for its medicinal purposes.

Native Scents -
Native Scents is a company centred in New Mexico, USA and is made up of a network of Native American wildcrafters from Canada to South America who collect plants in an ecological and respectful way. Wildcrafting is a term which means that the herbs and plants are collected in such a way that the source is sustainable. For example this means not pulling up root systems, harvesting just enough so that the plant will continue to thrive and generally caring for each plant source. Because of the scarcity of some of the traditional Native American herbs and plants we feel this attitude to be absolutely essential as some companies are actually damaging the environment because they are putting profit first.

We consistently find their herbs and smudge sticks to be of the highest and most exquisite quality.