SPRUCE AND BALSAM FIR TREES. 41 



The wood of Shasta red fir is the heaviest of all the firs in this 

 region, a cubic foot of dry wood weighing about 29 pounds. It is 

 yellowish-brown in color with a reddish tinge, straight-grained, usu- 

 ally narrow-ringed, and of a soft but firm texture. The wood of old 

 trees is rather brittle. In an unprotected state the seasoned wood is 

 considerably more durable than that of any other native fir. The 

 commercial value of the better grades of this wood is yet to be deter- 

 mined. When other timber of lower elevations becomes scarcer the 

 firmness and good working qualities of Shasta red fir wood are likely 

 to render it useful for a number of the purposes to which pine is put. 

 At present the tree is not cut for commercial purposes. 



OCCURRENCE AND HABITS. 



Shasta red fir is essentially a tree of high mountain habitat, some- 

 times well up to timber line. It occurs generally at elevations between 

 5,500 and about 10,000 feet, the higher elevation being reached in 

 our southern Sierras. Within the Rocky Mountain region it occurs 

 chiefly at elevations from about 6,000 to 8,000 feet, the main growth 

 lying between 6,800 and 7,500 feet (Map No. 10). x It grows both on 

 protected, gentle mountain slopes about meadows, in cool, sheltered 

 ravines, gulches, and on high rolling mountain plateaus, as well as 

 on steep, exposed, wind-swept mountain sides near high divides and 

 crests. Shasta red fir prefers north and east exposures, where it is 

 confined mostly to the available moist, cool sites. It is much less fre- 

 quent on drier and warmer southern exposures in the former locations. 

 The tree grows most abundantly and to the largest size, in moist, 

 porous, sandy or gravelly loam soils; but it is found also in very 

 rocky, poor situations with little available soil. Poverty of soil and 

 moisture in such places, however, produces small or stunted trees. 

 Under favorable conditions for growth Shasta red fir forms large 

 pure stands and also nearly pure stands, the latter being interspersed 

 more or less with scattered growths of lodgepole pine, western white 

 pine, and white fir. 



Shasta red fir is only moderately toleran* of shade at any period 

 of its life, full enjoyment of sunlight being required for the best 

 development. It is much less tolerant of shade than white fir, in- 

 cense cedar, and Douglas fir, but very similar to noble fir in its re- 

 quirement of light. Rarely to any extent does Shasta red fir grow in 

 intermediate or subordinate positions, but nearly always in stands 



1 The exact range of Shasta red fir has not been fully worked out. Following its first 

 detection on Mount Shasta, California, it was found on the coast and cross ranges of 

 northern California, and also on the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Later it was 

 observed by the writer on the divides of Kaweah River watersheds and elsewhere far 

 south of Mount Shasta, in the southern Sierras, while still later it was found to be 

 abundant on Washoe Mountain in northwestern Nevada. 



