Master Gardener Program
Erika Johnson, Program Coordinator
erika.d.johnson@wsu.edu
(564) 397-5738
Catalog of Trees
Douglas Fir Grove HT4
Tree Statistics
Common Name: Douglas Fir Grove
Botanical Name: Pseudotsuga menziesii
Trunk DBH (diameter at breast height: 25% of grove is over 36 inches — largest at about 55 inches
Height: about 144 feet
Spread: not measured — grove of trees
Video of the property: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQ2DcyQXTs
Heritage Tree ID: HT4
Tree Location
Proebstel Neighborhood
23402 NE 108 St
Vancouver, WA 98682
View in Google Maps
About the Species
Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is known as Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine.
The common name honors David Douglas, a Scottish botanist and collector who first reported the extraordinary nature and potential of the species. The common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i.e., not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason the name is often written as Douglas-fir (a name also used for the genus Pseudotsuga as a whole).[9]
The specific epithet menziesii is after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish physician and rival naturalist to David Douglas. Menzies first documented the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791. Colloquially, the species is also known simply as Doug fir[6] or Douglas pine[6] (although the latter common name may also refer to Pinus douglasiana).[10] Other names for this tree have included Oregon pine,[5] British Columbian pine,[6] Puget Sound pine,[6] Douglas spruce,[6] false hemlock,[5] red fir,[5] or red pine[5] (although again the latter may refer to a different tree species—Pinus resinosa).[11]
Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 70–330 ft tall (although only coast Douglas-firs reach such great heights).[13] The leaves are flat, soft, linear, 3⁄4–1 1⁄2 in long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in fascicles; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. As the trees grow taller in denser forest, they lose their lower branches, such that the foliage may start high off the ground. Douglas-firs in environments with more light may have branches much closer to the ground.
The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales, unlike those of true firs. They are distinctive in having a long tridentine (three-pointed) bract that protrudes prominently above each scale (it resembles the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail).
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, the coast Douglas-fir, grows in the coastal regions from west-central British Columbia southward to central California. In Oregon and Washington, its range is continuous from the eastern edge of the Cascades west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean.
This Tree’s History
- There are a number of historic logging implements in and around the property making us wonder if this was an old logging camp. This raises the question as to why the large trees were not removed from this property. The stream running through the property is a tributary to Shanghai Creek.
- Locating the exact location of logging camps is difficult but and there is a lot of general information about camps in the PNW and Vancouver area with great photos.
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| WSU Clark County Master Gardener Program 1919 NE 78th Street • Vancouver, WA 98665 (564) 397-5738 |
