American Forestry 



VOL. XXII 



FEBRUARY, 1916 



No. 266 



Douglas Fir 



Identification and i'luiractcristics 

 Bv Samuel B. Detwii.kk 



*•*♦*•'<, 





'Chi 



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not to exceed I3/2 to 2lj feet in diameter, aiif 



to 100 



Di )L'GLAS fir is a true westerner. It is widely 



traveled, adapts itself easily to varying situations, feet in height. In very exposed situations it becomes 



thrives under favorable conditions, and is brave stunted and dwarfed, sometimes growing only a few 



and persevering in the face of adverse circumstances. It feet high. 



grows throughout the Pacific Coast region and the Rocky In early life the lower branches usually droop with a 

 Alountains from British Columbia to northwestern slight curve, while the middle and upper ones have an 

 Texas, Mexico and the mountains of California. Its ui)ward trend. This gives the tree a steeple-like effect. 

 range extends over 2,000 miles from north to south and In dense forests, the branches are killed on the lower 

 nearly 1,000 miles from east to west. No other impor- half or two thirds of the trunk. In old age, the Pacific 

 tant American timber tree is more widely distributed or Coast trees are clear of branches for SO to 100 feet ; the 

 grows under a greater range of climatic conditions, trunks taper but little and the tops are rounded or flat- 

 Lumbermen and foresters know this tree under its tened. 

 accepted name of Douglas fir, but it is also well known The bark of young trees is thin, smooth, ash-browai 

 as Red fir, Yellow pine, Oregon pine and Douglas spruce. and with resin blisters, like true firs. On old trees the 

 Superficially, Douglas fir resembles hemlocks, spruces and bark is dark brown outside and clear red brown when 

 balsam firs, but it has no near relationship with the cut into. It is deeply furrowed and has heavy irregular 

 pines, although the wood is slightly resinous and pine- ridges connected at intervals by narrow cross ridges. 



Near the base the bark mav be 5 to 10 inches 



like. 



Except the giant redwood, no 

 other tree of our continent at- 

 tains larger size. The tallest 

 Douglas fir on record has a 

 height of 380 feet. Trees 15 

 feet in diameter ha\e been 

 found, and single trees have 

 been cut that scaled 60,000 feet, 

 board measure. In the moist 

 climate of British Columbia, 

 Washington and Oregon, it com- 

 monly grows from four to six 

 feet in diameter and 180 to 3.50 

 feet in height. The lowland 

 form of the Pacific Coast is 

 much unlike the Douglas fir 

 found in the high altitudes of 

 the Rocky .Mountains. The dif- 

 ference is so marked that 

 some authorities consider 

 that the two forms are 

 separate species. In the 

 drier mountainous regions 

 it is much smaller, usuallv 



/^ 



thick, and on very large old trees it may be 1 3/3 

 to 3 feet thick. The appearance of the bark 

 differs greatly, according to the conditions under 

 which the tree grows. Trees in dry, exposed 

 situations have rougher and harder bark than 

 those in moist, deep, forests. In dry atmosphere 

 at high elevations the bark is often soft and 

 corky and of a gray-brown 

 color. 



The leaves are soft and 

 flat, one to one and one- 

 half inches long, blunt at 

 the point. They have tiny 

 but distinct stems which 

 permit them to arrange 

 themselves, feather - like, 

 on opposite sides of the 

 branches, but in reality 

 they are spaced all the 

 way around the branch, 

 and the successive leaves 

 form spirals. In color the 

 mature foliage is usually a 

 deep yellowish green, al- 

 67 



UOLGLAS FIR 



The buds are large and red- 

 brown, and the cones have i)er- 

 sistent scales and lobed bracts. They 

 are 2 to 4 inches long, maturing the 

 first year. The needles are 1 inch or 

 more long, narrowed at the base, blue-white 

 beneath, flat, blunt, and slightly aromatic 

 when crushed. 



