38 Native Trees of Canada 



The bark is a dark reddish-brown and is roughened by hard, narrow, rounded 

 ridges. 



The leaves are blunt-pointed, plump, or round in cross-section and stalked. 

 They stand out all around the branch but seem somewhat thicker on the upper 

 side. They resemble the leaves of spruce rather than those of hemlock. 



The scales of the winter buds are tipped with an awl-shaped projection. 



The cones are 1 to 3 in. long and % in. in diameter when closed. They are 

 larger than those of the western hemlock. The scales are broader than long and 

 from yellowish-green to bluish-purple or brown in colour. 



This tree is found on the timberline of the mountains from Alaska southward. 

 It is found in pure and mixed stands. In the north it associates with Sitka spruce, 

 western hemlock, and alpine fir; farther south with white-barked pine, Engelmann 

 spruce, and amabilis fir. In the north it is often found in bogs, but farther south 

 on well-drained soils, in shady ravines, and on northern exposures. 



Wherever this tree is found with western hemlock it is cut and marketed with 

 that ^ood, but it is of slight commercial importance in Canada. 



THE DOUGLAS FIR GROUP 



Three species of this group (Pseadotsuga) are known, one a native of Japan 

 and the other two natives of the western portion of this continent. The Douglas 

 fir {Pseudotsuga mucronata) is the only one of importance, also the only one native 

 to Canada. 



They all produce hard, heavy, strong wood which resembles hard pine and is 

 used for the same purposes. The name "false hemlock" is due to the resemblance 

 of their flat, somewhat stalked, two-ranked leaves to those of the true hemlock 

 (Tsuga). They resemble the firs (Abies) in having blisters or resin pockets on 

 the yoimg bark, also in having cones provided with long bracts which project 

 beyond the scales. They can easily be distinguished from the firs by the fact 

 that their cones hang down and do not stand erect on the branch. 



PSEUDOTSUGA MUCRONATA, Sud. DOUGLAS FIR 



Common names: Douglas fir, British Columbia fir, red fir, yellow 

 fir, Douglas spruce*, Douglas pine*, Oregon pine*, Oregon 

 spruce*. 



French names: Sapin de Douglas, pin de Douglas*. 



Under favourable conditions the Douglas fir averages 180 ft. in height and 3 

 to 4 ft. in diameter, but it sometimes reaches a height of 350 ft. and a diameter of 

 10 ft. The trunk is straight and free of limbs for 70 feet and more. The crown 

 is sharply pyramidal at first, becoming more or less flat in old trees. The branches 

 have many long, hanging side branchlets. 



The bark is thin and smooth at first but later becomes very thick and deeply 

 furrowed. It has the heaviest bark of any tree in Canada, sometimes 10 to 12 in. 

 thick. 



