Douglas Fir


Alpine Fir
Alpine Larch
Amabilis Fir
Balsam Poplar/Black Cottonwood
Big Leaf Maple
Black Spruce
Choke Cherry
Pacific Dogwood
Douglas Fir
Douglas Maple
Engelmann Spruce
Garry Oak
Grand Fir
Black Hawthorn
Lodgepole Pine
Mountain Alder
Mountain Hemlock
Pacific Willow
Paper Birch
Ponderosa Pine
Red Alder
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Sitka Spruce
Tamarack Larch
Trembling Aspen
Vine Maple
Western Hemlock
Western Larch
Western Red Cedar
Western White Pine
Western Yew
Whitebark Pine
White Spruce
Yellow Cedar
Animals
Birds
Fish
Wildflowers
Trees
Survival
Parks
Trails





British Columbia Outdoor Wilderness Guide

Douglas1.Jpg
DOUGLAS FIR
pseudotsuga menziesii

  • The Douglas Fir is also known as Coast Douglas-fir, Oregon Pine, Oregon Douglas-fir, Douglas Tree, Interior Douglas-fir
  • This is not a fir at all but 'Pseudotsuga' or "False Hemlock"
  • The Douglas Fir is named after the Scottish botanist, David Douglas, who introduced many of BC's native conifers to Europe

UNIQUE FEATURES:

  • The Douglas Fir has distinctive three-forked bracts between the scales on the cones

LOCATION:

  • The Douglas Fir grows on the southern mainland coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island
  • An interior variety of the Douglas Fir is found throughout southern and central BC

SIZE:

  • The Douglas Fir can reach up to 85 metres in height on the coast and 42 metres in the interior

CONES:

  • 5 to 11 cm long
  • green when young, turning to brown as they age
  • papery scales, with three pronged bracts (resembling mouse hind legs and tail) in between them
  • have winged seeds
  • seeds are eaten by birds and small animals

Douglas3.Gif
NEEDLES:

  • flat with pointed tips
  • bright yellowish-green with single groove on upper surface
  • paler colour on lower surface
  • spirally arranged so appear to stand out around the twig

Douglas2.Jpg

BARK:

  • smooth, grey-brown, blistered when young
  • furrowed, thick, dark reddish-brown ridges as the tree ages
  • bears scrape off the bark to eat the sap layer beneath

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

  • dense, hard, stiff, durable, strong

USES:

  • modern - heavy duty construction such as wharves, trestles, bridge parts and commercial buildings
  • traditional - wood: fuel, fishing hooks, handles, snowshoes, fishtraps; boughs: floor coverings; seeds: eaten; twigs/needles: can exude a sugar like substance which was prized

QUICK/EASY ID (identification) for DOUGLAS FIR

  • cones: forked
  • needles: flat, fragrant, friendly (the boughs are soft to the touch when you run your hand up and down)
  • bark: furrowed

Follow Us On Facebook


List of BC Adventure
Advertisers

Site Info
Advertise With Us
Awards
About Us
Contact Us
Free Vacation Guides
BC Vacation Guides
Coastal Vacations
Thompson Okanagan
EcoTourism
Fishing Vacations
Guest Ranch Guide
Romantic Getaways
Wilderness Vacations
Winter Vacations
The Rockies Guide
Login







Douglas Fir