The Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Mexican 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 the United States to the far north of Mexico. The range is continuous in the northern Rocky Mountains south to eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, Idaho, western and south-central Montana and western Wyoming, but becomes discontinuous further south, confined to "sky islands" on the higher mountains in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, with only very isolated small populations in eastern Nevada, westernmost Texas, and northern Mexico. It occurs from 600 m altitude in the north of the range, up to 3,000 m, rarely 3,200 m, in the south. Further west towards the Pacific coast, it is replaced by the related coast Douglas-fir, and to the south, it is replaced by Mexican Douglas-fir in high mountains as far south as Oaxaca. Some botanists have grouped Mexican Douglas-fir with P. menziesii var. glauca, but genetic and morphological evidence suggest that Mexican populations should be considered a different variety.
Alnus rubra, the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America.
Thuja plicata is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific red cedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, or shinglewood. It is not a true cedar of the genus Cedrus. T. plicata is the largest species in the genus Thuja, growing up to 70 metres (230 ft) tall and 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. It mostly grows in areas that experience a mild climate with plentiful rainfall, although it is sometimes present in drier areas on sites where water is available year-round, such as wet valley bottoms and mountain streamsides. The species is shade-tolerant and able to establish in forest understories and is thus considered a climax species. It is a very long-lived tree, with some specimens reaching ages of well over 1,000 years.
Abies grandis is a fir native to western North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to 1,700 metres (5,600 ft). It is a major constituent of the Grand Fir/Douglas Fir Ecoregion of the Cascade Range.
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 County, California. The Latin species name means 'variable leaves'.
Armillaria luteobubalina, commonly known as the Australian honey fungus, is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. Widely distributed in southern Australia, the fungus is responsible for a disease known as Armillaria root rot, a primary cause of Eucalyptus tree death and forest dieback. It is the most pathogenic and widespread of the six Armillaria species found in Australia. The fungus has also been collected in Argentina and Chile. Fruit bodies have cream- to tan-coloured caps that grow up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and stems that measure up to 20 cm (8 in) long by 1.5 cm (1 in) thick. The fruit bodies, which appear at the base of infected trees and other woody plants in autumn (March–April), are edible, but require cooking to remove the bitter taste. The fungus is dispersed through spores produced on gills on the underside of the caps, and also by growing vegetatively through the root systems of host trees. The ability of the fungus to spread vegetatively is facilitated by an aerating system that allows it to efficiently diffuse oxygen through rhizomorphs—rootlike structures made of dense masses of hyphae.
Heterobasidion annosum is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Bondarzewiaceae. It is considered to be the most economically important forest pathogen in the Northern Hemisphere. Heterobasidion annosum is widespread in forests in the United States and is responsible for the loss of one billion U.S. dollars annually. This fungus has been known by many different names. First described by Fries in 1821, it was known by the name Polyporus annosum. Later, it was found to be linked to conifer disease by Robert Hartig in 1874, and was renamed Fomes annosus by H. Karsten. Its current name of Heterobasidion annosum was given by Brefeld in 1888. Heterobasidion annosum causes one of the most destructive diseases of conifers. The disease caused by the fungus is named annosus root rot.
Stereum sanguinolentum is a species of fungus in the Stereaceae family. A plant pathogen, it causes red heart rot, a red discoloration on conifers, particularly spruces or Douglas-firs. Fruit bodies are produced on dead wood, or sometimes on dead branches of living trees. They are a thin leathery crust of the wood surface. Fresh fruit bodies will bleed a red-colored juice if injured, reflected in the common names bleeding Stereum or the bleeding conifer parchment. It can be the host of the parasitic jelly fungus Tremella encephala.
Rhabdocline pseudotsugae is a fungal plant pathogen. The pathogen, along with Rhabdocline weirii causes Rhabdocline needlecast; R. weirii only affects Douglas-fir trees. The disease causes the needles of the tree to discolor and eventually fall from the tree. It was originally common to the Rocky Mountain states of the United States but has since spread to Europe. Infections usually start in the spring or early summer and can change the color of the foliage to a variety of hues. The fungus produces apothecia that are normally found on the underside of needles but they also occur on the topside as well.
Porodaedalea pini, commonly known as the pine conk, is a species of fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae. It is a plant pathogen that causes tree disease commonly known as "red ring rot" or "white speck". This disease, extremely common in the conifers of North America, decays tree trunks, rendering them useless for lumber. It is a rot of the heartwood. Signs of the fungus include shelf-shaped conks protruding from the trunks of trees. Spores produced on these conks are blown by the wind and infect other trees. Formal management of this disease is limited, and the disease is controlled primarily by cultural practices. Red ring rot is an important forest disturbance agent and plays a key role in habitat formation for several forest animals.
Pine and fir trees, grown purposely for use as Christmas trees, are vulnerable to a wide variety of pests, weeds and diseases. Many of the conifer species cultivated face infestations and death from such pests as the balsam woolly adelgid and other adelgids. Aphids are another common insect pest. Christmas trees are also vulnerable to fungal pathogens and their resultant illnesses such as root rot, and, in the U.S. state of California, sudden oak death. Douglas-fir trees in particular are vulnerable to infections from plant pathogens such as R. pseudotsugae.
Laminated root rot also known as yellow ring rot is caused by the fungal pathogen Phellinus weirii. Laminated root rot is one of the most damaging root disease amongst conifers in northwestern America and true firs, Douglas fir, Mountain hemlock, and Western hemlock are highly susceptible to infection with P. weirii. A few species of plants such as Western white pine and Lodgepole pine are tolerant to the pathogen while Ponderosa pine is resistant to it. Only hardwoods are known to be immune to the pathogen.
Bridgeoporus is a fungal genus in the family Polyporaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single polypore species Bridgeoporus nobilissimus, first described to science in 1949. Commonly known both as the noble polypore and the fuzzy Sandozi, this fungus produces large fruit bodies that have been found to weigh up to 130 kilograms (290 lb). The upper surface of the fruit body has a fuzzy or fibrous texture that often supports the growth of algae, bryophytes, or vascular plants.
Rhizina undulata, commonly known as the doughnut fungus or the pine firefungus, is a species of fungus in the family Rhizinaceae. The fruit bodies of the fungus are dark purple brown with a bright yellow margin, crust-like and attached to the growing surface by numerous root-like yellow rhizoids. R. undulata has a cosmopolitan distribution, and commonly occurs on clearings or burned areas throughout central and northern Europe, North America, northern Asia, and southern Africa. It is parasitic on conifer seedlings, and has caused considerable damage to tree plantations worldwide.
Armillaria root rot is a fungal root rot caused by several different members of the genus Armillaria. The symptoms are variable depending on the host infected, ranging from stunted leaves to chlorotic needles and dieback of twigs and branches. However, all infected hosts display symptoms characteristic of being infected by a white rotting fungus. The most effective ways of management focus on limiting the spread of the fungus, planting resistant species, and removing infected material. This disease poses a threat to the lumber industry as well as affecting recreational areas.
Armillaria ostoyae is a species of fungus (mushroom), pathogenic to trees, in the family Physalacriaceae. In the western United States, it is the most common variant of the group of species under the name Armillaria mellea. A. ostoyae is common on both hardwood and conifer wood in forests west of the Cascade Range in Oregon, United States. It has decurrent gills and the stipe has a ring. The mycelium invades the sapwood and is able to disseminate over great distances under the bark or between trees in the form of black rhizomorphs ("shoestrings"). In most areas of North America, Armillaria ostoyae can be separated from other species by its physical features: cream-brown colors, prominent cap scales, and a well-developed stem ring distinguish it from other Armillaria. Like several other Armillaria, the mycelium of Armillaria ostoyae can display bioluminescence, resulting in foxfire.
Heterobasidion irregulare is a tree root rotting pathogenic fungus that belongs to the genus Heterobasidion, which includes important pathogens of conifers and other woody plants. It has a wide host and geographic range throughout North America and causes considerable economic damage in pine plantations in the United States. This fungus is also a serious worry in eastern Canada. Heterobasidion irregulare has been introduced to Italy (Lazio)(modifica) where it has been responsible for extensive tree mortality of stone pine. Due to the ecology, disease type, host range/preference, interfertility group, and genetic information, H. irregulare was designated a new species and distinguished from Heterobasidion occidentale.
Aspen trunk rot is a fungal disease that causes stem decay heart rot of living aspen trees. The pathogen that causes this disease is the fungus Phellinus tremulae. Most of the symptoms of this disease are internal, with the only external signs of a diseased aspen being fruiting bodies called conks. A single conk found on an aspen can indicate advanced decay of up 82% of the tree volume. Internal decayed wood of freshly cut aspens is spongy, yellow/white colored, surrounded by black zones of discoloration, and contains a distinct wintergreen smell. The fungus is spread via airborne spores released from the fruiting body which can infect through dead branches, branch stubs, or wounds in the tree. Although no direct management control is known, harvesting aspen stands that have been damaged or harvesting stands before decay becomes advanced minimizes tree loss. Aspen wood is white, malleable but strong, and heat-tolerant and therefore has many commercial uses including matches, packing paper, lumber, plywood, pulp, and animal beds. Aspen trees diseased with aspen trunk rot decrease the economic value of the lumber.
Heterobasidion occidentale is a tree root-rotting pathogenic fungus in the family Bondarzewiaceae. It is endemic in western North America west of the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to southern Mexico. While a natural agent of forest turnover, H. occidentale has become of increased concern due to forest management processes such as pre-commercial thinning, altered site density and species composition, and carbon sequestration. H. occidentale forms part of the genus that includes other species forming the important forest pest Heterobasidion annosumsensu lato that is spread across the Northern Hemisphere. H. occidentale is part of the S-type intersterility group differing from the other North American species, Heterobasidion irregulare.
