368 XEW EXGLAXD TREES IX WINTER. 



DOUGLAS FIR 



Red Fir, Douglas Spruce. 



Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Lam.) Britton. 



P. })iucronata (,Raf.) Sudw. ; P. Doualasii (.Lindl.) Cam 



HABIT — A tree under favorable conditions in the ■\^-est reaching- a 

 height of 200 ft. or over and a t runic diameter up to 10 or 12 ft.; 

 branches horizontal with more or less pendulous branchlets forming- a 

 pyramidal head. A number of varieties are in cultivation varying- 

 some-^vhat in habit and eulur of foliage. 



BARK — On young: trunks dark g-ray. smooth, -svith fevi^ resin blisters, 

 soon becuniing- rougliened, -^'ith reddish -brown scales and eventually 

 deeply ridg'ed. 



T"\VIGS — Reddish to yellowish-brown, more or less downy, becoming- 

 with ag-e smooth and dark grayisli-brown. Photograph of twig- is about 

 ^3 natural size. 



LEAVES — Scattered, sometimes appearing- somewhat 2-ranked but 

 less distinctly so than leavfs of the Balsam Fir, dark green above, pale 

 below witli g-ra.Nish lines of minute dots, flattened, g-enerally blunt. 

 ^4 i n c h 1 1 r m u r f 1 i.i n g, s 11 g-h 1 1 ^" ]i a r rn w ed at base but not distinctly 

 stalked, arising- at ab<_'Ui a right angle to the t%^'ig- and lea\'ing in falling 

 a round scar slightly raised at the base, and slightly fragrant and aro- 

 matic when crushed. MICROSCOPIC SECTION — showing a single fibro- 

 vascular bundle. 2 re.«in-ducts next to the epidermis, strengthening cells 

 beneath the epidermis and generally ari:iund the resin-ducts, giant 

 thick walled irregularly lobed cells frequently appearing in cross- 

 sections of the leaf vn either side of the bundle, stomala on the 

 under side. 



Bins — Comparative^' large, narrowly ovate to conical, sharp pointed, 

 reddish- bri.i\vn. 7-12 mm. lung, 1<misu1>- clustered at tips of twigs; bud- 

 scales n ij L r e s i n ij u s - c LI a t e d , C) f t e n ^\' i t h r e tl e x e d tips. 



FRUIT — A cone maturing in one season, pendant, stalked, 2-4^3 inches 

 long. SC-\LES — t>ersi stent, rounded on edges with conspicuous pro- 

 truding bracts which are long-pointed and laterally winged like the 

 feathering on an armw. 



COMPARISOXS — The Douglas Fir resembles the Balsam Fir but 

 may be readily distinguished hy its large dark brown buds, free from 

 resin, by the slightly projecting leaf-scars and especially by the 

 cones -tt'ith persistent scales and lobed bracts. Further a thin knife 

 section held tow^ard the light and looked at with a hand-lens shows the 

 two resin-ducts on the edge of the leaf while those of the Balsam Fir 

 are located between the edge and the bundle. 



DISTRIBUTION — Throughout the Rocky mountain system south of 

 latitudes 55 degrees north to the Raciiic coast, forming extensive for- 

 ests. Planted for ornament in the eastern states where, however, only 

 plants grown from seed— i^btained from the interior of the continent 

 are successful. 



AVOOD — Light red or yellow, with nearlj- white sapwood, very 

 variable in density, quality and in the thickness of the sapwood; 

 largely manufactured into lumber in British Columbia, western Wash- 

 ington and Oregon and used for all kinds of construction, fuel, railroad 

 ties and piles. The bark is sometimes used in tanning leather. 



