# California Red Fir (Abies magnifica)

> California red fir, Abies magnifica: a large tree of 90 feet where planted, for zones 5 to 8, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/california-red-fir/

![A row of tall, narrow California red firs with silvery foliage against a clear blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/california-red-fir-1000.jpg?v=9a63b612 "California red firs in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, on September 1, 2007. A Shasta red fir cross-dated in the Klamath Mountains was 665 years old.")
*Photo: Tyler Karaszewski, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAbies_magnifica_Lassen.jpg))*

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

| Fact | California Red Fir |
| --- | --- |
| 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV) and [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR). 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=california-red-fir): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=california-red-fir:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of California red fir in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=california-red-fir)

## 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.