Family: Pinaceae, Pine view all from this family

Description Large, handsome fir with an open conical crown rounded at tip and short, nearly horizontal branches.
Height: 60-120' (18-37 m).
Diameter: 1-4' (0.3-1.2 m).
Needles: evergreen; spreading in 2 rows; crowded and curved upward on upper twigs, 3/4-1 3/8" (2-3.5 cm) long. 4-sided, blue-green with whitish lines.
Bark: thick, reddish-brown, deeply furrowed into narrow ridges.
Twigs: stout, brown, with fine hairs when young.
Cones: 6-8" (15-20 cm) long; cylindrical, purplish-brown, upright on topmost twigs; cone-scales with fine hairs, with yellowish bracts mostly short and hidden (exposed in a variation, Shasta Red Fir), pointed and finely toothed; paired, long-winged seeds.

Habitat High mountains with dry summers and deep snow in winter; often in pure stands, also in mixed conifer forests.

Range Cascade Mountains of SW. Oregon south to Coast Ranges of California and through Sierra Nevada to central California and extreme W. Nevada. At 6000-9000' (1829-2743 m) in south; to 4500' (1372 m) in north.

Discussion Named for its characteristic bark, this magnificent conifer forms almost pure forests at high altitudes along the western slopes of Sierra Nevada. It is common in Yosemite National Park. Early mountaineers prepared their beds by cutting and overlapping 2 rows of the plushy, aromatic boughs.