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 tolerant 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. 
