150. PSEUDOTSUGA TAXIFOLIA DOUGLAS SPRUCE. 55 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood light, soft, strong, with close straight 

 grain, compact and with satiny lustre. It differs from our eastern rep- 

 resentatives of the genus in having more highly colored heart-wood, which 

 is of an orange-brown color. The rather thin sap-wood is of a yellow- 

 ish-white color. Specific Gravity, 0.4287; Percentage of Ash, 0.17; 

 Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.4280 ; Coefficient of Elasticity, 99001; 

 Modulus of Rupture, G49; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 353 ; 

 Resistance to Indentation, 73; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 26.72. 



USES. A valuable timber for interior finishing, fencing, boat-building, 

 general construction purposes, cooperage, etc. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES have not been recorded of this species. 



GENUS PSEUDOTSUGA, CARRIERE. 



Leaves flat, linear, sulcate above, ridged beneath, short petiolate, somewhat 2-ranked 

 by a twist in the base, whitish stomatose beneath only, and when breaking away 

 from the glabrous branchlet leaving prominent transversely oval leaf scars. Flowers 

 from the axils of the last year's leaves the staminate short, cylindric- oblong and sur- 

 rounded with the conspicuous orbicular bud-scales, the anthers short, obcordate, 

 2-celled and opening obliquely by a continuous slit, crest short and tubercular; pollen- 

 grains ovate-subglobose. Cones subterminal, cylindric-oblong, maturing the first 

 year, reflexed and pendent, with wide rounded thin persistent scales, and between 

 these broad-linear, 3-lobed ligulate, persistent bracts, much exserted on young and 

 vigorous trees, but less so on others; seeds without resin- vescicles, and the wing 

 finally breaking off; cotyledons 6-12. 



An American genus with name derived from rfievdoS, false, and Tsuga, Hemlock, 

 alluding to its resemblance with that genus. 



150. PSEUDOTSUGA TAXIFOLIA, LAMBERT.* 



DODGLAS SPRUCE, RED OR YELLOW FIR, OREGON PINE. 



Ger., Tannevon Douglas ; Fr., Sapin de Douglas ; Sp., Abeto de Douglas. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Leaves f-1 in. long by f line wide (somewhat larger on 

 more vigorous shoots), titaminate flowers 5-10 lines long, half inclosed by the loose 

 involucral bud-scales. Cones 2-3 in. long (exceptionally, 4 in. on vigorous young 

 trees); seed subtriangular, reddish-brown above, whitish below, in. or less in length, 

 wing - in. long, broadest near the base, 2-3 lines; cotyledons 6-8. 



(The specific name, taxifolia, is from Taxus, the yew, and folium, leaf, not well ap- 

 plied, it would seem, as the resemblance in the leaves is not marked.) 



Another tree of marvelous dimensions at times, beautiful aspect, and 

 of which America may well be proud. It occasionally attains the height 

 of 300 ft. (92 m.), with straight columnar trunk 10 or 12 ft. (3 m.) in 

 diameter. When growing apart from other trees, it developes a graceful 

 pyramidal top. The bark of trunk is characteristic, being of a dark-gray 

 color, rough, with thick firm ridges which branch and unite with each 

 other in such a manner as to suggest, we might almost say, a braided ap- 



*Pseudotsuga Douglasii, Carr. 



