American Forestry 



VOL. XXII 



FEBRUARY, 1916 



No. 266 



Douglas Fir 



Identification and Characteristics 

 By Samuel B. Detwilkr 



DOUGLAS fir is a true westerner. It is widely 

 traveled, adapts itself easily to varying situations, 

 thrives under favorable conditions, and is brave 

 and persevering in the face of adverse circumstances. It 

 grows throughout the Pacific Coast region and the Rocky 

 Mountains from British Columbia to northwestern 

 Texas, Mexico and the mountains of California. Its 

 range extends over 2,000 miles from north to south and 

 nearly 1,000 miles from east to west. No other impor- 

 tant American timber tree is more widely distributed or 

 grows under a greater range of climatic conditions. 



Lumbermen and foresters know this tree under its 

 accepted name of Douglas fir, but it is also well known 

 as Red fir, Yellow pine, Oregon pine and Douglas spruce. 

 Superficially, Douglas fir resembles hemlocks, spruces and 

 balsam firs, but it has no near relationship with the 

 pines, although the wood is slightly resinous and pine- 

 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 have been 

 found, and single trees have 

 been cut that scaled 00,000 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 250 

 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, usually 



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not to exceed iy 2 to 2 J / 2 feet in diameter, and 75 to 100 

 feet in height. In very exposed situations . it becomes 

 stunted and dwarfed, sometimes growing only a few 

 feet high. 



In early life the lower branches usually droop with a 

 slight curve, while the middle and upper ones have an 

 upward trend. This gives the tree a steeple-like effect. 

 In dense forests, the branches are killed on the lower 

 half or two thirds of the trunk. In old age, the Pacific 

 Coast trees are clear of branches for 80 to 100 feet; the 

 trunks taper but little and the tops are rounded or flat- 

 tened. 



The bark of young trees is thin, smooth, ash-brown 

 and with resin blisters, like true firs. On old trees the 

 bark is dark brown outside and clear red brown when 

 cut into. It is deeply furrowed and has heavy irregular 

 ridges connected at intervals by narrow cross ridges. 

 Near the base the bark may be 5 to 10 inches 

 thick, and on very large old trees it may be \ l /i 

 to 2 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 



DOUGLAS 



The buds are large and red- 

 brown, and the cones have per- 

 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 

 neath. flat, blunt, and slightly aromatic 

 when crushed. 



