{{Short description|Species of tree found in North America}} {{Speciesbox | image = Red fir forest Giant Sequoia National Monument.jpg | image_caption = Red fir forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Abies magnifica'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42290A2970154 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42290A2970154.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Abies | parent = Abies sect. Nobilis | species = magnifica | authority = A.Murray bis | range_map = Abies magnifica range map 4.png | range_map_caption = Natural range of ''Abies magnifica'' }}
'''''Abies magnifica''''', the '''red fir''' or '''silvertip fir''', is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at {{convert|1400|-|2700|m|ft}} elevation, though only rarely reaching tree line. The name red fir derives from the bark color of old trees.
==Description== ''Abies magnifica'' is a large evergreen tree typically up to {{convert|40|-|60|m|ft}} tall and {{convert|2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} trunk diameter, rarely to {{convert|76.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall and {{convert|3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} diameter, with a narrow conic crown. The bark on young trees is smooth, grey, and has resin blisters, becoming orange-red, rough and fissured on old trees. The leaves are needle-like, {{Convert|2–3.5|cm|frac=4}} 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, {{Convert|9–21|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, yellow-green (occasionally purple), ripening brown and disintegrating to release the winged seeds in fall.
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="left" | left|thumb|''Abies magnifica'': Cones stand upright on branches. |- | left|thumb|''Abies magnifica'': Needle-like leaves bend upward. |}
===Varieties=== There are three varieties:<ref name="q865">{{cite web | title=Abies magnifica A.Murray bis | website=Plants of the World Online | date=2012-08-01 | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:325664-2#children | access-date=2024-08-18}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Description !! Distribution |- |120px||''Abies magnifica'' var. ''magnifica'', '''red fir''' || cones {{Convert|14–21|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, bract scales short, not visible on the closed cones. || Range, primarily in the Sierra Nevada. |- |120px||''Abies magnifica'' var. ''shastensis'' {{au|Lemmon}}, '''Shasta red fir''' || cones {{Convert|14–21|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, bract scales longer, visible on the closed cone; bark {{Convert|10-15|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} thick. || The northwest of the species' range, in southwest Oregon and Shasta, Siskiyou<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Arno |first1=Stephen F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDD4DwAAQBAJ |title=Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees |last2=Hammerly |first2=Ramona P. |publisher=Mountaineers Books |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-68051-329-5 |edition=field guide |location=Seattle |pages=143–149 |language=en |oclc=1141235469 |orig-date=1977}}</ref> and Trinity Counties in northwest California. |- | ||''Abies magnifica'' var. ''critchfieldii'' {{au|Lanner}}|| Also having long bracts, and additionally have smaller cones, {{Convert|9–15|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long. || the eastern slopes of southern Sierra Nevada |- |}
===Related=== Red fir is very closely related to ''Abies procera (''noble fir), 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. Shasta red fir hybridizes with noble fir, with which it is both chemically and microscopically similar;<ref name=":02" /> some botanists treat the former as a natural hybrid between red and noble fir.
==First recording== This tree was first recorded by William Lobb on his expedition to California of 1849–1853, having been overlooked previously by David Douglas.<ref>{{cite book | author= Toby Musgrave | author2= Chris Gardner | author3= Will Musgrave | name-list-style= amp | title=The Plant Hunters| publisher=Seven Dials | year=1999|page=147| isbn=1-84188-001-9}}</ref>
==Uses== The wood is used for general structural purposes and paper manufacture. It is also a popular Christmas tree, with a 53-foot red fir from the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest being used as the 2025 Capitol Christmas Tree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/happening-today-nevada-s-first-capitol-christmas-tree-gets-lit-in-washington-d-c/ar-AA1RzxD8 |access-date=2025-12-02 |website=www.msn.com}}</ref>
Paiute peoples used the foliage of Shasta red fir (or perhaps noble fir) to treat coughs and colds.<ref name=":02" />
==See also== * Sierra Nevada subalpine zone
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book | last1 = Chase| first1 = J. Smeaton| author-link1 = J. Smeaton Chase|others=Eytel, Carl (illustrations)|title = Cone-bearing Trees of the California Mountains |chapter=''Abies magnifica'' (Red-fir, Balsam-fir, Magnificent Silver-fir)|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/conebearingtrees00chas/page/72/mode/2up| location = Chicago | publisher = A.C. McClurg & Co. | pages = 72–74 |year=1911 | oclc = 3477527|lccn=11004975}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|italic=1}} * [https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/abimag/all.html USDA Forest Service: ''Abies magnifica''] * [https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=7 CalFlora Database: ''Abies magnifica''] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001100024/http://www.conifers.org/pi/ab/magnifica.htm Gymnosperm Database – ''Abies magnifica''] * [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoJEFFshastensis.htm Arboretum de Villardebelle: ''Abies magnifica'' Photos – ''group 1''] * [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoJEFFshastensis2.htm Arboretum de Villardebelle: ''Abies magnifica'' Photos – ''group 2'']
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1290204}}
magnifica Category:Flora of California Category:Flora of Nevada Category:Flora of Oregon Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Category:Flora of the Cascade Range Category:Flora of the Klamath Mountains Category:Natural history of Siskiyou County, California Category:Trees of Northern America