PSEUDOTSUGA 151 



PSEUDOTSUGA, Carr. 



For a great many years authorities have linked together 

 the Western North American seaboard Pseudotsuga 

 and its Colorado cousin, and called them both Ps.- 

 tsuga Douglasi, distinguishing the latter simply by the 

 name var. glauca. Considering that the average authority 

 enjoys hair-sphtting, this result is somewhat surprising, 

 as the Colorado fir differs considerably from the British 

 Columbian tree — differs considerably more than some 

 pines and spruces which have been separated ; and recently 

 it was discovered that the two differ also in smell when 

 crushed, one smelling of resin and the other distinctly of 

 camphor. So var. glauca has come into its own at last, 

 and P<s.-^5i^gra Douglasi (sjm. : Ps.-taxifolia, Brit.) will in 

 future represent the extreme Western fir, and var. glauca 

 will be separated from it. At the moment I do not think 

 its name is decided upon, but doubtless the name Ps- 

 tsuga glauca ascribed to it by Mayr in 1901 will be found 

 most suitable. This explanation is necessary in view 

 of the fact that at least one dwarf form has been raised 

 from the Colorado fir, which is placed by itself in the 

 following descriptions : 



P. Douglasi has not produced many seminal dwarf 

 forms, although, like many other conifers, it becomes 

 a mere shrub at high altitudes. Professor Sargent 

 records (" Silva of North America," xii. 88) a plant 

 only 18 inches high, but covered with average sized 

 cones, which he found at the head of the Cutbank River, 

 Montana, at 6,000 feet. 



P. Douglasi, var. compacta, Beiss. (ii. 419). 



Recorded by Beissner as a pretty compact form of 

 crowded growth and shorter denser foliage. 



