Douglas Fir

Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga ( /sjuːdoʊˈtsuːɡə/)[1] in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. The number of species has long been debated, but two in western North America and two to four in eastern Asia are commonly acknowledged.[2][3] Nineteenth-century botanists had problems in classifying Douglas-firs, due to the species' similarity to various other conifers better known at the time; they have at times been classified in Pinus, Picea, Abies, Tsuga, and even Sequoia. Because of their distinctive cones, Douglas-firs were finally placed in the new genus Pseudotsuga (meaning "false hemlock") by the French botanist Carrière in 1867. The genus name has also been hyphenated as Pseudo-tsuga.

Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 20–120 metres (70–390 ft) tall (although only Coast Douglas-firs reach such great height).[6] The leaves are flat, soft, linear, 2–4 centimetres (0.8–1.6 in) long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in fascicles; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales (unlike true firs), and are distinctive in having a long tridentine (three-pointed) bract that protrudes prominently above each scale (it resembles the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail).

The Coast Douglas-fir has attained heights of 393 feet (120 m). That was the estimated height of the tallest conifer ever well-documented, the Mineral Tree (Mineral, Washington), measured in 1924 by Dr. Richard E. McArdle,[7] former chief of the U.S. Forest Service.[8] The volume of that tree was 515 cubic metres (18,190 cu ft). The tallest living individual is the Brummitt (Doerner) Fir in Coos County, Oregon, 99.4 metres (326 ft) tall.[9] Only Coast Redwood[10] reach greater heights based on current knowledge of living trees. At Quinault, Washington, is found a collection of the largest Douglas-firs in one area. Quinault Rain Forest hosts the most of the top ten known largest Douglas-firs.

 

As of 2009, the largest known Douglas-firs in the world are, by volume:[11]

 

•  Red Creek Tree (Red Creek, SW British Columbia) 12,320 cubic feet (349 m3)
•  Queets Fir (Queets River Valley-Olympic National Park) 11,710 cubic feet (332 m3)
•  Tichipawa (Quinalt Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) 10,870 cubic feet (308 m3)
•  Rex (Quinalt Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) 10,200 cubic feet (290 m3)
•  Ol' Jed (Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park) 10,040 cubic feet (284 m3)