''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'', commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from west-central

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

southward to central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the

Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. In California, it is found in the

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

and

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

as far south as the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

with a small stand as far south as the

Purisima Hills The Purisima Hills are a northwest-to-southeast trending low mountain range of the Outer Southern California Coast Ranges, located in Santa Barbara County, California. They divide the Santa Ynez Valley on the south from the Los Alamos Valley on t ...

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. In the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

it ranges as far south as the

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir (''P. menziesii'' var. ''glauca''). Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern

and southern

Description

Coast Douglas-fir is the second-tallest conifer in the world (after

coast redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

), and the third-tallest of all trees, (after

Eucalyptus regnans ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including ''Corymbia'', they are commonly known as eucal ...

). Currently, coast Douglas-fir trees or more in height and in diameter are common in

old growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance (ecology), disturbance, and thereby exhibits un ...

stands, and maximum heights of and diameters up to have been documented. The tallest living specimen is the

Doerner Fir The Doerner Fir, also known as the Brummitt Fir, is a record-setting Coast Douglas-fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii'') in Oregon, is one of the tallest known trees in the world which is not a redwood (''Sequoioideae''), at . The Doer ...

, (previously known as the Brummit fir), tall, at East Fork Brummit Creek in

Coos County, Oregon Coos County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,929. The county seat is Coquille. The county was formed from the western parts of Umpqua and Jackson counties. It is named a ...

, the stoutest is the

Queets Fir The Queets Fir is a superlative Douglas fir about 2.5 miles from the Queets River Trail trailhead, on Coal Creek, a tributary of Queets River in the Olympic National Park in Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), Unite ...

, diameter, in the Queets River valley,

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

, Washington. The tallest specimen ever was probably the

Nooksack Giant The Nooksack Giant was a superlative Coast Douglas-fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii'') that grew at Loop's Ranch (now Alpenglow Farm) in Maple Falls in Washington State. It was felled in the 1890s. The tree was measured with a tape after ...

, with a height of 142 metres, but this is probably overestimated. Coast Douglas-fir commonly lives more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,000 years. The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, gray, and contains numerous resin blisters. On mature trees, it is thick and corky. The shoots are brown to olive-green, turning gray-brown with age, smooth, though not as smooth as fir shoots, and finely pubescent with short dark hairs. The

bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

s are a very distinctive narrow conic shape, long, with red-brown bud scales. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are spirally arranged but slightly twisted at the base to lie in flattish either side of the shoot, needle-like, long, green above with no

stomata In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

, and with two whitish stomatal bands below. Unlike the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, coast Douglas-fir foliage has a noticeable sweet fruity-resinous scent, particularly if crushed. The mature female

seed cones A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers an ...

are pendent, long, broad when closed, opening to broad. They are produced in spring, green at first, maturing orange-brown in the autumn 6–7 months later. The

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s are long and broad, with a wing. The male (

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

) cones are long, dispersing yellow pollen in spring. In

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

conditions, old individuals typically have a narrow, cylindric crown beginning above a branch-free trunk. Self-pruning is generally slow and trees retain their lower limbs for a long period. Young, open-grown trees typically have branches down to near ground level. It often takes 70–80 years for the trunk to be clear to a height of and 100 years to be clear to a height of . Appreciable seed production begins at 20–30 years in open-grown coast Douglas-fir. Seed production is irregular; over a 5-7 year period, stands usually produce one heavy crop, a few light or medium crops, and one crop failure. Even during heavy seed crop years, only about 25 percent of trees in closed stands produce an appreciable number of cones. Each cone contains around 25 to 50 seeds. Seed size varies; average number of cleaned seeds varies from 70 to 88/g (32,000-40,000 per pound). Seeds from the northern portion of coast Douglas-fir's range tend to be larger than seed from the south.

Ecology

The

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

ing habit of coast Douglas-fir is not particularly deep, with the roots tending to be shallower than those of same-aged Ponderosa pine, sugar pine, or California incense-cedar, though deeper than Sitka spruce. Some roots are commonly found in organic soil layers or near the mineral soil surface. However, Douglas-fir exhibits considerable morphological plasticity, and on drier sites coast Douglas-fir will generate deeper taproots. Douglas-fir snags are abundant in forests older than 100–150 years and provide cavity-nesting habitat for numerous forest birds. Mature or "old-growth" Douglas-fir forest is the primary habitat of the

red tree vole The red tree vole (''Arborimus longicaudus'') is a rodent of the Pacific Northwest, found in the US states of Oregon and California. They were formerly known as ''Phenacomys longicaudus'' and have also been called the red tree mouse. Descriptio ...

(''Arborimus longicaudus'') and the

spotted owl The spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis'') is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between high and u ...

(''Strix occidentalis''). Home range requirements for breeding pairs of spotted owls are at least 400 ha ( of old-growth. Red tree voles may also be found in immature forests if Douglas-fir is a significant component. This animal nests almost exclusively in the foliage of Douglas-fir trees. Nests are located above the ground. The red tree vole's diet consists chiefly of common Douglas-fir needles. A

parasitic plant A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

sometimes utilizing ''P. menziesii'' is

Arceuthobium douglasii ''Arceuthobium douglasii'' is a species of Arceuthobium, dwarf mistletoe known as Douglas fir dwarf mistletoe. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Texas to California, where it lives in forest and woodland as a parasiti ...

Commonly known as Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe. Its seedlings are not a preferred browse of

black-tailed deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

(''Odocoileus hemionus columbianus'') and

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

(''Cervus canadensis''), but can be an important food source for these animals during the winter when other preferred forages are lacking. In many areas, coast Douglas-fir needles are a staple in the spring diet of

blue grouse The genus ''Dendragapus'' contains two closely related species of grouse that have often been treated as a single variable taxon (blue grouse). The two species are the dusky grouse (''Dendragapus obscurus'') and the sooty grouse (''Dendragapus f ...

(''Dendragapus''). In the winter,

New World porcupine The New World porcupines, family Erethizontidae, are large arboreal rodents, distinguished by their spiny coverings from which they take their name. They inhabit forests and wooded regions across North America, and into northern South America. A ...

s primarily eat the inner bark of young conifers, among which they prefer Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir seeds are an extremely important food for small mammals. Mice, voles, shrews, and chipmunks consumed an estimated 65 percent of a Douglas-fir seed crop following dispersal in western Oregon. The

Douglas squirrel The Douglas squirrel (''Tamiasciurus douglasii'') is a pine squirrel found in the Pacific Northwest of North America, including the northwestern coastal states of the United States as well as the southwestern coast of British Columbia in Canada, ...

(''Tamiasciurus douglasii'') harvests and caches great quantities of Douglas-fir cones for later use. They also eat mature pollen cones, developing inner bark, terminal shoots, and tender young needles. The seeds are also important in the diets of several seed-eating birds. These include most importantly

American sparrows New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

(Emberizidae) –

dark-eyed junco The dark-eyed junco (''Junco hyemalis'') is a species of junco, a group of small, grayish New World sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. It is a very variable species, much ...

(''Junco hyemalis''),

song sparrow The song sparrow (''Melospiza melodia'') is a medium-sized New World sparrow. Among the native sparrows in North America, it is easily one of the most abundant, variable and adaptable species. Description Adult song sparrows have brown upperp ...

(''Melospiza melodia''), golden-crowned sparrow (''Zonotrichia atricapilla'') and

white-crowned sparrow The white-crowned sparrow (''Zonotrichia leucophrys'') is a species of passerine bird native to North America. A medium-sized member of the New World sparrow family, this species is marked by a grey face and black and white streaking on the uppe ...

(''Z. leucophrys'') – and

true finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

es (Fringillidae) –

pine siskin The pine siskin (''Spinus pinus'') is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range. Taxonomy The pine siskin was formally described in 1810 by the American ornithologist Alexander ...

(''Carduelis pinus''),

purple finch The purple finch (''Haemorhous purpureus'') is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. Taxonomy This species and the other "American rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of Eurasia in the genus ''Carpodacus''; however, the ...

(''"Carpodacus" purpureus''), and the Douglas-fir

red crossbill The red crossbill or common crossbill (''Loxia curvirostra'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other ...

(''Loxia curvirostra neogaea'') which is uniquely adapted to foraging for ''P. menziesii'' seeds. The coast Douglas-fir variety is the dominant tree west of the Cascade Mountains in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

, occurring in nearly all forest types, competes well on most parent materials, aspects, and slopes. Adapted to a moist, mild climate, it grows larger and faster than

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''glauca'', or Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer native to the interior mountainous regions of western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta in Canada southward through ...

. Associated trees include

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name ''lambertiana'' was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, ...

western white pine Western white pine (''Pinus monticola''), also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America. It is the state tree of Idaho. Description ...

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

grand fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California of North America, occurring at altitudes of sea leve ...

western redcedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

California incense-cedar ''Calocedrus decurrens'', with the common names incense cedar and California incense-cedar (syn. ''Libocedrus decurrens'' Torr.), is a species of coniferous tree native to western North America. It is the most widely known species in the genus, ...

, Lawson's cypress,

tanoak ''Notholithocarpus densiflorus'', commonly known as the tanoak or tanbark-oak, is a broadleaf tree in the family Fagaceae, and the type species of the genus ''Notholithocarpus''. It is native to the far western United States, particularly Oregon ...

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

and several others. Pure stands are also common, particularly north of the

Umpqua River The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

in Oregon.

Shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

associates in the central and northern part of Coast Douglas-fir's range include

vine maple ''Acer circinatum'', the vine maple, is a species of maple native to western North America. Description It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around tall, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionall ...

(''Acer circinatum''),

salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, spra ...

(''Gaultheria shallon''), Pacific

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

(''Rhododendron macrophyllum''), Oregon-grape (''Mahonia aquifolium''),

red huckleberry ''Vaccinium parvifolium'', the red huckleberry, is a species of ''Vaccinium'' native to western North America. Description It is a deciduous shrub growing to tall with bright green shoots with an angular cross-section. The leaves are ovate to o ...

(''Vaccinium parvifolium''), and

salmonberry ''Rubus spectabilis'', the salmonberry, is a species of bramble in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the west coast of North America from west-central Alaska to California, inland as far as Idaho. Like many other species in the genus ''Rubus'' ...

(''Rubus spectabilis''). In the drier, southern portion of its range shrub associates include California hazel (''Corylus cornuta'' var. ''californica''), oceanspray (''Holodiscus discolor''), creeping snowberry (''Symphoricarpos mollis''), western poison-oak (''

Toxicodendron diversilobum ''Toxicodendron diversilobum'' (syn. ''Rhus diversiloba''), commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting coni ...

''),

ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of Actinorhizal plant, nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceano ...

(''Ceanothus'' spp.), and

manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Or ...

(''Arctostaphylos'' spp.). In wet coastal forests, nearly every surface of old-growth coast Douglas-fir is covered by

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. The shade-intolerance of Douglas-fir plays a large role in the forest succession of lowland old growth forest communities of the Pacific Northwest. While mature stands of lowland old-growth forest contain many

(''Tsuga heterophylla'') seedlings, and some

(''Thuja plicata'') seedlings, Douglas-fir dominated stands contain almost no Douglas-fir seedlings. This seeming contradiction occurs because Douglas-firs are intolerant of deep shade and rarely survive for long within the shaded understory. When a tree dies in a mature

the canopy opens up and sunlight becomes available as a source of energy for new growth. The shade-tolerant western hemlock and western redcedar seedlings that establish beneath the canopy have a head-start on other seedlings. This competitive advantage allows western hemlock to rapidly fill the canopy gap, pre-empting other species that may invade, including Douglas-fir. Long-term forest dynamics plots show that the annual mortality of large Douglas-fir is only about 1%. Thus, over centuries, western hemlock and western redcedar will come to dominate the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. Douglas-fir is a

seral A seral community is an intermediate stage found in ecological succession in an ecosystem advancing towards its climax community. In many cases more than one seral stage evolves until climax conditions are attained. A prisere is a collection of se ...

species in the wet forests of western British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. In these areas, it requires a large disturbance, such as fire or a large landslide, to open the forest and expose mineral soil where its seedlings prefer to establish. It has a faster growth rate than most other trees, giving the Douglas-fir a competitive advantage when it overtops slower growing species during re-establishment of the canopy. The

tree ring Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

ages of dominant Douglas-fir trees can indicate the date of the last stand-replacing fire. Because Douglas-fir is long-lived, it can remain dominant in the forest for more than 300-years following the last fire. A history of fluctuating climate resulted in synchronous fire episodes across western Washington and Oregon, thus many Douglas-fir stands date to a warm-dry periods in the late 1400s and early 1500s, while few date to a cool-wet period from 1650 to 1800. Douglas-fir is also particularly well adapted to fires: once they reach around 100 years in age they have thick enough bark that protects the cambium layer of the tree from heat damage. Large Douglas-fir often survive low intensity forest fires. Such sites, common in western Oregon, have two or three cohorts of Douglas-fir, adding to the complexity of the old-growth forest. Fire is increasingly rare northward towards the central coast of British Columbia where Douglas-fir is a minor component of the forest. The logging practices of the last 200 years created artificial disturbances that allowed Douglas-fir to thrive. The Douglas-fir's useful wood and its quick growth make it the crop of choice for many timber companies, which typically replant a clear-cut area with Douglas-fir seedlings. The high-light conditions that exist within a clear-cut also naturally favor the regeneration of Douglas-fir, though in wet coastal climates alders and shrubs compete with Douglas-fir seedlings. Because of clear-cut logging, almost all of the forests west of the Cascade Range not strictly set aside for protection are today dominated by Douglas-fir, while the normally dominant climax species, such as western hemlock and western redcedar are less common. On drier sites in California, where Douglas-fir behaves as a climax species in the absence of fire, Douglas-fir has become somewhat invasive following fire suppression practices of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; it is becoming a dominant species in many

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

, in which it was previously a minor component.

Uses

Coast Douglas-fir is one of the world's best timber producers and yields more timber than any other tree in North America. The wood is used for dimensional lumber, timbers, pilings, and

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

Creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types were ...

treated pilings and decking are used in marine structures. The wood is also made into railroad ties, mine timbers, house logs, posts and poles, flooring, pulp, and furniture. Coast Douglas-fir is used extensively in landscaping. It is planted as a specimen tree or in mass screenings. It is also a popular

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

Largest trees

, coast Douglas fir was the second-tallest conifer in the world (after

). Extant coast Douglas fir trees or more in height and in diameter are common in

stands, and maximum heights of and diameters up to have been documented. The tallest living specimen is the "Doerner Fir", previously known as the Brummit Fir, tall, at East Fork Brummit Creek in

, the stoutest is the "Queets Fir", in diameter, in the Queets River valley of

in Washington. The largest at is the Red Creek fir in British Columbia, Canada. Douglas firs commonly live more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,000 years. The tallest well-documented conifer was , the Mineral Tree (

Mineral, Washington Mineral is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis County, Washington, on State Route 7 near the Pierce/Lewis county line. Mineral originally began as a logging camp and mining town. Prospectors searching the area ...

), a coast Douglas fir, measured in 1924 by Dr. Richard E. McArdle, former chief of the U.S. Forest Service. The volume of that tree was . Research suggests Douglas fir could grow to a maximum height of between , at which point water supply would fail. Unconfirmed reports of even taller individuals may be found in historic records. *A tree cut down on the Alfred Nye property in 1902 in Lynn Valley on the north shore of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia was reported to have measured in height, and in diameter, and another tree felled in the same valley was said to have measured tall. *The

, a Douglas-fir felled in 1897 at Loop's Ranch in

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan Cou ...

, Washington reportedly measured in height, in circumference at the butt, and to the first branch. With a volume of 96,345 marketable board feet (227 m³), this tree was estimated to be 480 years old. The tallest tree in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

is a coast Douglas-fir. The tree, growing near

Ardentinny Ardentinny ( gd, Àird an t-Sionnaich or Àird an Teine) is a small village on the western shore of Loch Long, north of Dunoon on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. Nearby is Cruach a Chaise (Cheese Hill), while on the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

stands at .

References

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