Shasta Red Fir

The Abies Magnifica is commonly known as California Red Fir, Golden Fir, Red Fir, Shasta Fir, Shasta Red Fir, as well as Silvertip Fir

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Growing Regions

California red fir occurs in the Sierra Nevada from Kern County, California, north to the southern Cascade Range of Oregon and in the Coast Ranges from Lake County, California, north to the Klamath Ranges [43,46,49,54]. California red fir is also found in extreme western Nevada [46]. Shasta red fir occurs in the southern Sierra Nevada and in the Klamath Ranges, Siskiyou Mountains and the Cascade Range of northern California and southern Oregon [1,25,28].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of California red fir is Abies magnifica A. Murr. [46,49]. Recognized varieties are as follows [46,49]: Abies magnifica var. magnifica (typical variety) Abies magnifica var. shastensis Lemm. (Shasta red fir) California red fir hybridizes with noble fir (A. procera) where they occur together [6,46]. These hybrids are similar to Shasta red fir, which increases taxonomic confusion of the California red fir-noble fir complex in the Klamath region [28,55,61]. The information in this report pertains to California red fir unless specified otherwise.

California red fir occurs in pure, dense forests between the lower
montane white fir (Abies concolor) or mixed-conifer forests and the
upper montane or subalpine lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. murryana)
and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) forests [5,6,7,54,68].  In the
upper montane coniferous forests, California red fir is an overstory
dominant on mesic sites [5,6].  Canopies can be open or closed, and
understory vegetation is variable but generally sparse [54,55].

California red fir or Shasta red fir is listed as overstory dominants in
the following published classifications:

Preliminary plant associations of the southern Oregon Cascade Mountain
  Province [2]
Preliminary plant associations of the Siskiyou Mountain Province [4]
Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington [27]
Terrestrial natural communities of California [35]
Vegetation of the Abbott Creek Research Natural Area, Oregon [48]
Montane and subalpine vegetation of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges [54]
Montane and subalpine vegetation of the Klamath Mountains [55]
Vascular plant communities of California [68].

• More Shasta Red Fir Information

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