Physical Characteristics : An evergreen Tree growing to 60 m (196ft 10in) at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in leaf 12-Jan, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil.The plant prefers acid and neutral soils..It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.It requires moist soil.It cannot tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Conservation Plant Characteristics

Abies magnifica A. Murray
California red fir
ABMA

It is a large evergreen tree typically up to 40-60 m tall and 2 m trunk diameter, rarely to 76 m tall and 3 m diameter, with a narrow conic crown. The bark on young trees is smooth, grey, and with resin blisters, becoming orange-red, rough and fissured on old trees. The leaves are needle-like, 2-3.5 cm long, glaucous blue-green above and below with strong stomatal bands, and an acute tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted slightly s-shaped to be upcurved above the shoot. The cones are erect, 9-21 cm long, yellow-green (occasionally purple), ripening brown and disintegrating to release the winged seeds in fall. Cones stand upright on branches Needle-like leaves bend upward It is a high altitude tree, typically occurring at 1,400-2,700 m altitude, though only rarely reaching tree line . The name Red Fir derives from the bark color of old trees.There are two, perhaps three varieties: Abies magnifica var. magnifica ( Red Fir ) - cones large (14-21 cm), cone bract scales short, not visible on the closed cones. Most of the species' range, primarily in the Sierra Nevada . Abies magnifica var. shastensis ( Shasta Red Fir ) - cones large (14-21 cm), cone bract scales longer, visible on the closed cone. The northwest of the species' range, in southwest Oregon and Shasta , Siskiyou and Trinity Counties in northwest California. Trees on the eastern side of the southern Sierra Nevada also have long bracts, and additionally have smaller cones, 9-15 cm long. These trees, possibly a third variety, have not been formally named. Red Fir is very closely related to Noble Fir ( Abies procera ), which replaces it further north in the Cascade Range . They are best distinguished by the leaves; Noble Fir leaves have a groove along the midrib on the upper side, while Red Fir does not show this. Red Fir also tends to have the leaves less closely packed, with the shoot bark visible between the leaves, whereas the shoot is largely hidden in Noble Fir. Some botanists treat Abies magnifica var. shastensis as a natural hybrid between Red Fir and Noble Fir.