Pseudotsuga

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Pseudotsuga
Pseudotsuga menziesii 28236.JPG
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii in Anacortes Community Forest Lands, Washington
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Subfamily: Laricoideae
Genus: Pseudotsuga
Carrière
Type species
Pseudotsuga douglasii
(Lindl.) Carrière
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • AbietiaKent

Pseudotsuga /ˌsjuːdoʊˈtsuːɡə/ [1] is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Common names for species in the genus include Douglas fir, Douglas-fir, Douglas tree, Oregon pine and Bigcone spruce. Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir proper) is widespread in western North America and is an important source of timber. The number of species has long been debated, but two in western North America and two to four in eastern Asia are commonly acknowledged. [2] [3]

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 . Because of their distinctive cones, Douglas firs were finally placed in the new genus Pseudotsuga (meaning "false hemlock") by the French botanist Carrière in 1867. The genus name has also been hyphenated as Pseudo-tsuga.

Name

The tree takes its English name from David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who first introduced Pseudotsuga menziesii into cultivation at Scone Palace in 1827. [4] Douglas is known for introducing many native American tree species to Europe. The hyphenated form "Douglas-fir" is used by some to indicate that Pseudotsuga species are not true firs, which belong to the genus Abies. [5]

Description

Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 20–120 metres (70–390 ft) tall (although only coast Douglas-firs reach such great height). [6] The leaves are flat, soft, linear, 2–4 centimetres (0.8–1.6 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. 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 (it resembles the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail).

Coast Douglas-fir seed cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas Pseudotsuga menziesii cone.jpg
Coast Douglas-fir seed cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas

Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii has attained heights of 393 feet (120* m). That was the estimated height of the tallest conifer ever well-documented, the Mineral Tree (Mineral, Washington), measured in 1924 by Dr. Richard E. McArdle, [7] former chief of the U.S. Forest Service. [8] The volume of that tree was 515 cubic metres (18,190 cu ft). The tallest living individual is the Brummitt (Doerner) Fir in Coos County, Oregon, 99.4 metres (326 ft) tall. [9] Only coast redwood [10] and Eucalyptus regnans reach greater heights based on current knowledge of living trees: 379 and 331 feet (116 and 101* m), respectively. At Quinault, Washington, is found a collection of the largest Douglas-firs in one area. Quinault Rain Forest hosts the most of the top ten known largest Douglas-firs.

As of 2009, the largest known Douglas-firs in the world are, by volume: [11]

  1. Red Creek Tree (Red Creek, SW British Columbia) 12,320 cubic feet (349 m3)
  2. Queets Fir (Queets River Valley-Olympic National Park) 11,710 cubic feet (332 m3)
  3. Tichipawa (Quinault Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) 10,870 cubic feet (308 m3)
  4. Rex (Quinault Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) 10,200 cubic feet (290 m3)
  5. Ol' Jed (Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park) 10,040 cubic feet (284 m3)

Species and varieties

Coast Douglas-fir branch Douglas Fir branch-750px.JPG
Coast Douglas-fir branch
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir twig Pseudotsuga 01.jpg
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir twig
Phylogeny of Pseudotsuga [12] [13]

P. sinensis Dode

P. menziesii (de Mirbel) Franco

P. japonica (Shirasawa) Beissner

P. macrocarpa (Vasey) Mayr

By far the best-known is the very widespread and abundant North American species Pseudotsuga menziesii , a taxonomically complex species [14] 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. According to some botanists, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir extends south into Mexico to include all Mexican Douglas-fir populations, [15] whereas others have proposed multiple separate species in Mexico [16] [17] [18] and multiple varieties in the United States. Morphological and genetic evidence suggest that Mexican Douglas-fir should probably be considered a distinct variety within P. menziesii. [19] [20] [21]

All of the other species are of restricted range and little-known outside of their respective native environments, where they are often rare and of scattered occurrence in mixed forests; all those have unfavorable conservation status. The taxonomy of the Asian Douglas-firs continues to be disputed, [22] but the most recent taxonomic treatment accepts four species: three Chinese and one Japanese. [2] [3] The three Chinese species have been variously considered varieties of P. sinensis [23] or broken down into additional species and varieties. [24] In the current treatment, the Chinese species P. sinensis is further subdivided into two varieties: var. sinensis and var. wilsoniana.

North America

Asia

Formerly placed in Pseudotsuga

Uses

The buds of a coast Douglas-fir Douglas Fir buds.jpg
The buds of a coast Douglas-fir

Douglas-fir wood is used for structural applications that are required to withstand high loads. It is used extensively in the construction industry. Other examples include its use for homebuilt aircraft such as the RJ.03 IBIS canard. Very often, these aircraft were designed to utilize Sitka spruce, which is becoming increasingly difficult to source in aviation quality grades. Oregon pine is also used in boat building when it is available in long, fairly knot-free lengths. Most timber now comes from plantation forests in North America which are managed to produce faster growing timber with fewer knots. This timber is generally lighter but weaker. Traditionally, Oregon pine was used in mast building due to its ability to resist bending loads without fracturing. This was based on using older native forest wood with a high number of growth rings per inch. This sort of wood is seldom available new but can be sourced from merchants dealing in recycled timber. Native Oregon pine is considerably heavier than Sitka spruce, which is about the same weight as western red cedar, but with far better bending characteristics than cedar. Large-sized Oregon pine, as used in beams, is inclined to split as it dries, like oak, but this does not reduce its strength.

Douglas-fir is one of the most commonly marketed Christmas tree species in the United States, where they are sold alongside firs like noble fir and grand fir. Douglas-fir Christmas trees are usually trimmed to a near perfect cone instead of left to grow naturally like noble and grand firs. [25]

Pests and diseases

Douglas-firs are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including autumnal moth, bordered white, engrailed moth, pine beauty and turnip moth. The gelechiids Chionodes abella and Chionodes periculella and the tortrix moth Cydia illutana have been specifically recorded on P. menziesii.

Culture

A California Native American myth explains that each three-ended bract is the tail and two tiny legs of a mouse that hid inside the scales of the tree's cones during forest fires, and the tree was kind enough to be its enduring sanctuary.

A Douglas-fir species, Pseudotsuga menziesii , is the state tree of Oregon.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas fir</span> Species of tree

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.

<i>Pseudotsuga menziesii <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> glauca</i> Variety of plants

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fir</span> Genus of plants in the conifer family cedar

Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus Abies in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to Cedrus (cedar)The genus name is derived from the Latin "to rise" in reference to the height of its species. The common English name originates with the Old Norse, fyri, or the Old Danish, fyr.

<i>Tsuga</i> Genus of conifers

Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the subfamily Abietoideae of Pinaceae, the pine family. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock. Unlike the latter, Tsuga species are not poisonous.

<i>Pinus ponderosa</i> Species of large pine tree in North America

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 most widely distributed pine species in North America.

<i>Tsuga mertensiana</i> Species of tree found in western North America

Tsuga mertensiana, known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California.

<i>Keteleeria</i> Genus of conifers

Keteleeria is a genus of three species of coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae first described as a genus in 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern California coastal forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion in northern California and southwestern Oregon

The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser fir</span> Species of conifer

The Fraser fir, sometimes spelled" Frasier fir, is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. They are endemic to only seven montane regions in the Appalachian Mountains.

<i>Abies chensiensis</i> Species of conifer

Abies chensiensis, the Shensi fir, is a fir native to Gansu, Hubei, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan in China, and Arunachal Pradesh in India. It was first described by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1892.

<i>Abies vejarii</i> Species of conifer

Abies vejarii is a species of fir native to northeastern Mexico, in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, where it grows at high altitudes in the Sierra Madre Oriental.

<i>Pinus douglasiana</i> Species of conifer

Pinus douglasiana is a species of evergreen conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found only in Mexico.

<i>Pseudotsuga sinensis</i> Species of conifer

Pseudotsuga sinensis is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is a tree up to 50 metres tall. It is found in China and Taiwan as well as in northernmost parts of Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anacortes Community Forest Lands</span>

Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL) consists of mostly forested lands surrounding and adjoining Little Cranberry, Heart, and Whistle Lakes on Fidalgo Island, west and south of Anacortes, Washington. Its highest point is Mount Erie, the highest point on the island at 1,273 feet (388 m). Sugarloaf, 1,044 feet and 0.6 miles (1.0 km) north of Mount Erie, is its second highest peak. As well as the aforementioned lakes, ACFL contains a number of smaller lakes, ponds and wetlands.

<i>Pseudotsuga menziesii <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> menziesii</i> Variety of conifer

Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laricoideae</span> Subfamily of plants

The Laricoideae are a subfamily of the Pinaceae, a Pinophyta division family. They take their name from the genus Larix (larches), which contains inside most of the species of the group and is one of only two deciduous genera of the pines complex. Ecologically important trees, the Laricoideae form pure or mixed forest associations often dominant in the ecosystems in which they are present, thanks also to their biological adaptations to natural disturbances, to reproductive strategies put in place and high average longevity of the individuals. Currently are assigned to this subfamily three genera and its members can be found only in Northern Hemisphere. The various species live for the most part in temperate or cold climates and are the more northerly conifers; some constitute an important source of timber and non-timber forest products.

Tichipawa is a superlative Douglas fir near Lake Quinault in the U.S. state of Washington. The tree is 281 feet (86 m) tall. It was listed as 275 feet (84 m) tall in 2002, four years after it was discovered by The Evergreen State College forestry researcher and author Robert Van Pelt, in March 1998.

References

  1. ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. 1 2 "Flora of China: Pseudotsuga" . Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 "The Gymnosperm Database: Pseudotsuga" . Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Trust Walks: "Dunkeld and The Hermitage Archived 12 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine ," a podcast by the National Trust for Scotland; 27 June 2009
  5. ↑ Little, E. L. (1953). Check List of native and naturalized trees of the United States (including Alaska). Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA Agricultural Handbook 41.
  6. ↑ Carder, Al (1995). Forest Giants of the World Past and Present. pp. 3–4.
  7. ↑ Forest Giants of the World Past and Present by Al Carder 1995, pp. 3–4.
  8. ↑ "Richard McArdle Bio, USFS History, Forest History Society". Foresthistory.org. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  9. ↑ Gymnosperm Database: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (2006)
  10. ↑ "Sequoia sempervirens". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  11. ↑ Van Pelt, Robert (2001). Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast . University of Washington Press. p.  44. ISBN   0-295-98140-7.
  12. ↑ Stull, Gregory W.; Qu, Xiao-Jian; Parins-Fukuchi, Caroline; Yang, Ying-Ying; Yang, Jun-Bo; Yang, Zhi-Yun; Hu, Yi; Ma, Hong; Soltis, Pamela S.; Soltis, Douglas E.; Li, De-Zhu; Smith, Stephen A.; Yi, Ting-Shuang; et al. (2021). "Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms". Nature Plants. 7 (8): 1015–1025. bioRxiv   10.1101/2021.03.13.435279 . doi:10.1038/s41477-021-00964-4. PMID   34282286. S2CID   232282918.
  13. ↑ Stull, Gregory W.; et al. (2021). "main.dated.supermatrix.tree.T9.tre". Figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14547354.v1.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ↑ Li, Peng; W. T. Adams (1989). "Rangewide patterns of allozyme variation in Douglas-fir". Can. J. For. Res. 19 (2): 149–161. doi:10.1139/x89-022.
  15. ↑ Little, E.L. (1952). "The genus Pseudotsuga (Douglas-fir) in North America". Leafl. Western Botany. 6: 181–198.
  16. ↑ Flous, F. (1934). "Deux espèces nouvelles de Pseudotsuga Américains". Bulletin de la Société d'histoire naturelle de Toulouse. 66: 211–224.
  17. ↑ Flous, F. (1934). "Diagnoses d'espèces et variétés nouvelles de Pseudotsuga Américains". Bulletin de la Société d'histoire naturelle de Toulouse. 66: 329–346.
  18. ↑ Martínez, M. (1949). "Las Pseudotsugas de México". Anales del Instituto de Biología. 20: 129–184.
  19. ↑ Earle, C.J. "The Gymnosperm Database: Pseudotsuga lindleyana". Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  20. ↑ Reyes-Hernández, VJ; Vargas-Hernández JJ; López-Upton J; Vaquera-Huerta H (2006). "Phenotypic similarity among Mexican populations of Pseudotsuga Carr" (PDF). Agrociencia. 40 (4): 545–556.
  21. ↑ Gugger, Paul F.; González-Rodríguez, Antonio; Rodríguez-Correa, Hernando; Sugita, Shinya; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine (2011). "Southward Pleistocene migration of Douglas-fir into Mexico: phylogeography, ecological niche modeling, and conservation of 'rear edge' populations". New Phytologist. 189 (4): 1185–1199. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03559.x . PMID   21118265.
  22. ↑ Gernandt, D.S.; Liston, A. (1999). "Internal transcribed spacer region evolution in Larix and Pseudotsuga (Pinaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 86 (5): 711–723. doi: 10.2307/2656581 . JSTOR   2656581. PMID   10330075.
  23. 1 2 Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae: drawings and descriptions of the genera Abies, Cedrus, Pseudolarix, Keteleeria, Nothotsuga, Tsuga, Cathaya, Pseudotsuga, Larix and Picea. Königstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.
  24. 1 2 "GRIN Species Records of Pseudotsuga". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  25. ↑ "National Christmas Tree Association". Christmastree.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
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