Abies magnifica Seeds | California Red Fir
LATIN NAME: Abies magnifica
COMMON NAME: California Red Fir
Plant Profile
California red fir is a tree of the high Sierra, and it looks it: tall, narrow and symmetrical, with a crown that stays conical into old age. It reaches 40 to 60 metres, and the trunk can be two metres through. The bark begins silvery-grey and smooth, then breaks into deep, reddish-brown furrows on old trees — the source of the name. The needles are short, stiff, curved upward and crowded on the upper side of the twig, blue-green with pale bands beneath, and the cones are large, barrel-shaped and purple, sitting upright on the topmost branches. It grows between about 1400 and 2700 metres in the Sierra Nevada and the southern Cascades, where it forms some of the finest high-elevation forest in western North America, and it depends on deep snowpack for its water.
Science & Biotechnology
Red fir is one of the classic examples of a species shaped by a specific disturbance regime. It is shade-tolerant as a seedling and can establish under a canopy, but it is also killed by fire because of its thin bark at that stage; the result is a forest that regenerates in the gaps left by stand-replacing fire, usually at intervals of centuries rather than decades. Where the range meets that of noble fir, the two hybridise, and the intermediate populations in the southern Cascades are recognised as var. shastensis. The tree is also a host to dwarf mistletoe and to several bark beetles, and its seeds are eaten by squirrels and by crossbills, which cache them and plant them. Growth-ring studies in the Sierra use the species as a climate archive, since old trees record centuries of snowpack variation.
Uses & Benefits
The timber is sold as red fir and is used for lumber, plywood and pulp, and the tree is also cut for Christmas trees in the western United States, where its dense, symmetrical form and good needle retention make it a premium product. In the landscape it is a specimen for a large garden or a park in a cool climate, where it makes a formal, dark green cone and grows slowly enough to suit a long-term planting. It is not a tree for a small garden or a warm lowland site, and it suffers in heat and drought below about 800 metres. In the wild the forests it forms are important for watershed protection and for recreation, and the species is a key component of the high-elevation ecology of the Sierra.
Growing from Seed
Cold, moist stratification for four to eight weeks is needed; sow in autumn and leave the pot outside, or stratify in the refrigerator and sow in spring at 15 to 18 °C. Use a humus-rich, well-drained mix and keep the seedlings cool and bright, with some shade from the strongest sun in their first summer. The roots resent disturbance, so pot on early into deep containers and plant out at two or three years, in autumn. Choose a site with cool summers, deep soil and good snow cover if possible, and avoid lowland heat. Water through the first three summers, mulch to keep the roots cool, and do not fertilise heavily, which produces soft growth that is easily damaged by frost.
Our Take
A magnificent mountain tree that belongs in a cool climate and a large space; it will not compromise, and it should not be asked to.
Related Reading
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