Douglas Fir Tree Pictures, And General Information on Douglas Fir Trees
Welcome to our douglas fir tree pictures page. On this page you will find lots of nice pictures of douglas fir trees. You will also find a lot of wonderful information on douglas fir trees, including information about the douglas fir tree species, planting information, and much more. This is valuable and useful information that can help you to learn more about the douglas fir tree.
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Here is some general information on the douglas-fir tree.
Douglas-fir is the English name applied in common to evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia. Nineteenth-century botanists had problems in classifying Douglas-firs, due to the species' similarity to various other conifers better known at the time; they have at times been classified in Pinus, Picea, Abies, Tsuga, and even Sequoia.
The common name Douglas-fir honours David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who first introduced P. menziesii into cultivation at Scone Palace in 1827. Douglas is known for introducing many North American native conifers to Europe. The hyphen in the name indicates that Douglas-firs are not true firs, not being members of the genus Abies.
Douglas-firs are medium-size to large evergreen trees, 20 to 120 metres (66 to 390 ft) tall. The leaves are flat, soft, linear, and completely encircle the branches (this can be useful in distinguishing it from other species), generally resembling those of the firs. The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales (unlike true firs), and are distinctive in having a long tridentine (three-pointed) bract that protrudes prominently above each scale.
Uniquely among conifers, the Douglas fir has cones with 3 lobed bracts sticking out between the scales. The cones hang down rather than sticking up as in true firs. The needles are 2 to 4 cm long and occur singly rather than in fascicles.
By far the best-known is the very widespread and abundant North American species Pseudotsuga menziesii, a taxonomically complex species divided into two major varieties (treated as distinct species or subspecies by some botanists): coast Douglas-fir or "green Douglas-fir", on the Pacific coast; and Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir or "interior Douglas-fir", in the interior west of the continent extending as far inland as Calgary, Alberta.
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