Oregon State Tree
Douglas-Fir (common name) Pseudotsuga menziesii (scientific name) Overview In favorable conditions, the coastal Douglas-fir tree can grow to over 300 feet tall and rival the redwood tree in size. The tree received the name Oregon pine because it was a valuable timber tree in the original Oregon Territory. Although the Oregon Territory became several different states, the name Oregon pine may have been instrumental in it being chosen as Oregon's state tree in 1939. It is also known as red-fir, Douglas-spruce, coast Douglas-fir, Oregon Douglas-fir, and piño Oregon. Douglas-fir is not a pine, nor even a fir. It is different enough to be classified in its own genus. There are two varieties of Pseudotsuga menziesii, one with a distribution following the Cascade Range to northwestern California; the other with an inland range associated with the Rocky Mountains. Both varieties occur in Oregon.   Close-up STATUS Official PHYSICAL DETAILS Douglas-fir is a tall, coniferous, evergreen tree. Its leaves are needles, held singly and not clustered, and lacking a peg-like base. Its cones are 3 to 4 inches long, with a distinctive papery, three-pronged leaf, called a bract, protruding from under each scale of the cone. Height: 65-393 ft (20-120 m) Diameter: 5-6 ft (150-180 cm) Bark: young: thin, smooth, gray, blistery mature: thick (4-12 in [10-30 cm]) and corky Cones: light brown, 3-4 in (8-10 cm) cones Leaves: spiral, blue-green needles, 1-1½ in (2.5-4 cm) long LIFESPAN Oregon's state tree has a long life, commonly living more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,000 years. HABITAT Douglas-fir communities dominate much of the western hemlock and Pacific silver fir zones of western Washington and Oregon. In the mixed-conifer zone, Douglas-fir grows with trees such as ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense-cedar, and white fir. In the mixed-evergreen zone, Douglas-fir dominates with tanoak, Pacific madrone, canyon live oak, giant chinquapin, sugar pine, ponderosa pine, and incense-cedar. West of the Cascade Range, Douglas-fir shares its habitat with western hemlock, western redcedar, noble fir, bigleaf maple, and red alder. IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE Douglas-fir can be an important food source for black-tailed deer and elk during the winter when other preferred forages are lacking. Douglas-fir seeds are an extremely important food for birds, rodents, and small mammals, including mice, voles, shrews, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. The tree is used as a food plant by the larvae of a variety of moths. The tree provides excellent cover for a variety of animals. Old-growth Douglas-fir is the primary habitat of the red tree vole and the spotted owl. OTHER USES AND VALUES Because it yields more timber than any other tree in North America, Douglas-fir is one of the most valuable lumber trees. The wood is used for dimensional lumber, timbers, pilings, and plywood. Creosote-soaked pilings and decking are used in marine structures. The wood is also made into railroad ties, mine timbers, house logs, posts and poles, flooring, veneer, pulp, and furniture. Railroad ties and telegraph poles made of Douglas-fir helped settle the West. Douglas-fir was also indispensable to American soldiers in World War II, being used for everything from foot lockers to portable huts to the rails of stretchers. Douglas-fir is used extensively in landscaping. It is planted as a specimen tree and in mass screenings. It is one of the most popular Christmas trees in the United States. REPRODUCTION Appreciable seed production begins at 20 to 30 years of age in open-grown Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir seeds have a relatively large, single wing and are primarily dispersed by wind and gravity. SITE CHARACTERISTICS Douglas-fir is the most dominant tree species in the Pacific Northwest, occurring in nearly all forest series. It grows on a wide variety of parent materials and soil textures, but does best on well-aerated, deep, slightly acidic soils with good drainage. LOCATION/ELEVATION Douglas-fir is found only in the moist, mild climates of the states of Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, as well as in British Columbia. In Washington and Oregon, Douglas-fir grows from near sea level to over 5,000 feet (1,524 m). In the southern Oregon Cascades and in the northern Sierra Nevada, it generally occurs between 2,000 and 6,000 feet (609-1,829 m). In the southern Sierra Nevada, it is occurs up to 7,500 feet (2,286 m). TRIVIA Scottish naturalist and surgeon Archibald Menzies first discovered the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791. The tree's scientific name, Pseudotsuga menziesii, honors Menzies. The tree's common name honors David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who first introduced Pseudotsuga menziesiiinto cultivation at Scone Palace in Scotland in 1827. The estimated height of the tallest conifer ever well-documented, the Mineral Tree (in Mineral, Washington), was a Douglas-fir of 393 feet (120 m). It was measured in 1924 by Dr. Richard E. McArdle, a former chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Currently, the tallest known Douglas-fir in existence is the Brummit fir, which is 329 feet (100.3 m) tall. It was discovered in 1991, and is located near Roseburg, Oregon.
	Click to enlarge an image Douglas Fir Douglas Fir Needles Douglas Fir Cone Douglas Fir Bark Douglas Fir Distribution Map (pdf) CLASSIFICATION Kingdom: Plantae Subkingdom: Tracheobionta Superdivision: Spermatophyta Division: Coniferophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Pseudotsuga Species: Pseudotsuga menziesii
	Sources: U.S. Forest Service U.S. National Arboretum U.S. Department of Agriculture Author: World Trade Press