Old-growth tree in the proposed Douglas-Fir
National Monument.

The unmistakable 3" cone
of the Douglas-fir. Note the "pitchfork-shaped" bracts emerging between the scales.

1" blunt-tipped needles
form a "bottle-brush" shape around the twig and show two faint white stripes on the underside of the needles.

The Douglas-fir is the state tree of Oregon and the second tallest tree species in the world, behind only the coastal redwood. It can grow to over 300 feet tall and up to 10-feet in diameter (far too large for one person to hug!) They can live for over 500 years, and the oldest known tree was 1,400 years old. Douglas-firs and other tree species in Crabtree Valley and the Millennium Grove are believed to be nearly 1,000 years old.

As the most common tree species in Oregon, it serves as the signature old-growth species in the proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument.

The Douglas-fir ecosystem supports not only the threatened northern spotted owl and one of its primary food sources—the red tree vole, but many other animals as well.

Elk and black-tailed deer, porcupines, the Douglas squirrel and other mice and voles use the Douglas-fir as sustenance. Any number of birds eat the seeds of Douglas-fir, including song, white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows, dark-eyed junco, pine siskin, purple finch and red crossbills. Black bears are known to hibernate in the rotted-out cavities at the base of older Doug-firs. Porcupines eat the inner bark of younger Douglas-firs; seeds are very important food for mice, voles, shrews and chipmunks; the Douglas ground squirrel caches cones for use throughout the winter.All of these birds and mammals and many more, use the Douglas-fir forest as a home during some or all of the year.

What's in a name?
Pseudotsuga menziesii is scientifically named in honor of Archibald Menzies, a Scottish naturalist, botanist, and surgeon (1754-1842) who accompanied Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver who circumnavigated the globe (west to east), contacting five continents. One of those contact points was what we now call the Pacific Northwest, where Menzies “discovered” (more accurate to say “described for western science”) the Douglas-fir in 1791.

The species is commonly named for another Scottish botanist, David Douglas, who sent some Douglas-fir seeds back to his motherland in 1827.

The genus name translates to “false hemlock.” The Douglas-fir has been variously called the Douglas spruce, red-fir, Oregon-pine, and Columbia pine. Neither a spruce or a pine, it’s also not a “true fir” (Abies genus), despite its common name. (Don’t tell any English majors you know, but the hyphen in Douglas-fir was put there by botanists to signal it actually isn’t a true fir.)

There are three recognized variants of Douglas-fir:

• Coast (P. menziesii var. menziesii);
• Rocky Mountain (P. menziesii var. glauca); and
• Mexican (P. menziesii var. lindleyana).

“Glauca” is Latin for bluish-gray, blue, or blue-green. The Coast variant tends to be a darker green than the Rocky Mountain variant, which, of course, is somewhat blusish.

There is also a “bigcone Douglas-fir”, but it's a different species (P. marcrocarpa) found in the mountains of southern California. It is also known locally as bigcone spruce though, of course, it's not a real spruce species.

Identifying a Douglas-fir
When you visit the Douglas-Fir National Monument, or anywhere in the Douglas-fir range, it is relatively easy to identify a mature Douglas-fir. They have a distinct bark that is often called cork-like: it is rough and has deep vertical fissures. The distinctive bark is a helpful identifier of the Douglas-fir, especially because in mature trees the needles and cones- the other common identifiers- are often tens if not hundreds of feet above the ground. Younger Douglas-fir usually do not have the rough, dark bark. They are often described as having a thin grey texture, with many sap blisters. For these younger trees, the needles are the best identifier. The needles grow in single sprouts all around the twigs. The cones are also distinctive. They are relatively small and hang downwards from the branches. According to a Native American legend, you can see the back legs and tail of a mouse, hiding between the scales of the Douglas-fir cone.

You can study the features of some of the other more common trees at Other Conifers page.

Read more on the Old-growth Forests Page

We want to create a Douglas-Fir National Monument to recognize and preserve the unique ecosystem that is a Douglas-fir forest. The Douglas-fir ecosystem is a scientific wonder, supporting unique species and common species in a unique way. The proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument contains stretches of Douglas-fir forests of all ages, large areas of mature forests and numerous small stands of old-growth forests. The mission of the Friends is to recognize the scientific, cultural and historic character of the ecosystem, and to restore a significant area to the fully natural functioning forest it once was.