A native we do not grow
California Red Fir
Abies magnifica. Large tree, 90 feet where planted, zones 5 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average ground.
We do not grow California red fir, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | Shasta red fir, Critchfield red fir, silvertip fir, golden fir, Shasta fir, red fir |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 90 where planted; up to 264 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 5 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Pollen | May to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to October |
| First crop | 35 to 45 years (Shasta red fir 30 to 40) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen. In its close relative noble fir, a tree's own pollen gives about a third less seed. |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings reached 665 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 3 states |
California red fir is native in 3 states: California, Nevada and Oregon. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in New York, where it is naturalized, not native.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of California red fir's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Calscape, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.