Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
- Latin name: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco
- French name: Douglas bleu
- Synonym(s): Blue Douglas-fir interior Douglas-fir
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 183428
- Hardiness zone: NA5, 3b
Description
Leaves
Form
- Needles evergreen
- Remaining on tree for 5–8 years
- Often not parted on the upper side
- Flat, flexible, grooved above
- Often sharp-pointed
- Narrowed at the base into a slender short stalk, set on a leaf-cushion
- Needles spirally arranged along the twig
- On horizontal branches, spreading out from the sides in 2 ranks, or spreading out from 3 sides
- Midvein prominent
- 2 resin ducts visible in cross section
- Strong odour when crushed
Colour
- Distinctly bluish-green
Buds
Form
- Terminal bud narrowly conical, sharp-pointed
- A small cluster of lateral buds occurs just below the terminal bud, separated by a few needles
- Other lateral buds scattered along the twig
Length
- Terminal bud to 10 mm
Colour
- Many shiny reddish-brown overlapping scales
Twigs
Form
- Moderately stout and flexible, hairy
- A low ridge of bark darkened at the forward end forms a leaf-cushion
- After the needles have fallen, the branchlets show slightly raised oval scars on the leaf-cushions
Colour
- Greenish-brown becoming greyish-brown
Seed cones (immature)
Form
- Conelets borne in the upper part of the crown, in leaf axils near the forward end of previous year’s twig
- Seed-cone buds are larger than the shoot buds
Length
- About 30 mm
Colour
- Green to purple to red
Structure
- At pollination, oblong
- Erect, short-stalked, with distinctive 3-pronged bracts extending beyond the scales and partially obscuring them
- After pollination, the cone stalk bends downward
Timing
- Mature in late summer of 1st season
Pollen cones
Form
- Cylindrical to conical, fleshy, catkin-like
- Pendulous
- Pollen-cone buds paler than the shoot buds
Length
- 10–20 mm
Colour
- Yellow to orange-red
Structure
- Borne in the upper-middle, middle, and lower parts of the crown, in leaf axils of previous year’s twigs
Timing
- Pollination takes place in early spring as new leafy shoots start to elongate; cones then wither and fall away
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Narrowly ovoid
- Pendulous on stout stalks
Length
- Less than 8 cm
Colour
- Yellowish-brown to purplish-brown
Structure
- Scales numerous, broad, rounded, leathery
- Bracts prominent, 3-pronged, usually bent back, longer than the scales
Timing
- Seeds shed throughout fall, winter, and spring
- Cones drop intact after seed dispersal
Seeds
Form
- Somewhat triangular
Length
- Seed 5–7 mm
- Seed wing 15–18 mm
Colour
- Shiny reddish brown
Seedlings
Form
- Newly germinated seedlings with a stalk surmounted by a whorl of 5–10 upcurved cotyledons with smooth edges
- Needles form above the cotyledons, clustered at first, later spreading along the new shoot
Length
- Seedlings about 4 cm
- Cotyledons about 2 cm
Colour
- Cotyledons green
Bark
Form
- Smooth, thin, resin-blistered when young
- Becoming deeply furrowed with irregular, broad ridges
- Up to 30 cm thick
Colour
- Grey when young, becoming dark reddish-brown
Wood
Texture
- Moderately heavy and hard
- Exceptionally strong
Colour
- Heartwood reddish-brown
- Sapwood yellowish-white
Morphology
- Marked contrast between earlywood and latewood
- Resin ducts present
Size
Height
- To 40 m
Diameter
- To 100 cm
Maximum age
- 300 years
Tree form
Trunk
- Tapered, long, limby
Crown
- Principal branches more ascending than coastal variety
Habitat
Site
- Thrives in mountains, under colder and drier conditions than the coastal variety
Light tolerance
- Requires some shade in 1st year but then thrives in sunlight
Associated species
- In pure stands or as a dominant component of mixed stands with ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, western redcedar, western larch, and western white pine
Range
Southern British Columbia, southward into the United States and Mexico
Photos
Photos
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
Cones or seeds
- Choristoneura lambertiana (Busck)
- Enypia venata (Grote)
- Epinotia hopkinsana (Kraft)
- Eupithecia placidata (Taylor)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Orange tortrix
Scientific name: Argyrotaenia citrana (Fernie)
Foliage or buds
- Argyrotaenia dorsalana (Dyar)
-
Brownlined looper
Scientific name: Neoalcis californiaria (Packard)
- Caripeta aequaliaria Grote
-
Ceanothus silk moth
Scientific name: Hyalophora euryalis (Walker)
- Choristoneura lambertiana (Busck)
- Coleotechnites atrupictella (Dietz)
- Cosmia elisae (J.B. Smith)
-
Dioryctria moth
Scientific name: Dioryctria pseudotsugella Munroe
-
Douglas-fir bud moth
Scientific name: Zeiraphera hesperiana (Mutuura & Freeman)
-
Douglas-fir tussock moth
Scientific name: Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough)
- Egira hiemalis (Grote)
- Egira simplex (Walker)
- Enypia griseata (Grossbeck)
- Enypia venata (Grote)
- Epinotia hopkinsana (Kraft)
- Eupithecia longipalpata (Packard)
- Eupithecia olivacea (Taylor)
- Feralia comstocki Grote
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Fir needle inchworm
Scientific name: Eupithecia lariciata (Frey.)
- Gabriola dyari (Taylor)
-
Gelechiid moth
Scientific name: Chionodes continuella (Zeller)
- Glena nigricaria (Barnes and McDunnough)
-
Golden buprestid
Scientific name: Buprestis aurulenta Linnaeus
-
Gray spruce looper
Scientific name: Caripeta divisata Walker
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Green velvet looper
Scientific name: Epirrita autumnata (Harrison)
-
Greenstriped forest looper
Scientific name: Melanolophia imitata (Walker)
-
Greenstriped webspinning sawfly
Scientific name: Acantholyda balanata (MacGillivray)
- Hydriomena irata Swett
- Hydriomena speciosata (Packard)
-
Larch pug moth
Scientific name: Eupithecia annulata (Hulst)
- Nepytia umbrosaria nigrovenaria (Packard)
-
Northern tent caterpillar
Scientific name: Malacosoma californicum pluviale (Dyar)
-
Orange tortrix
Scientific name: Argyrotaenia citrana (Fernie)
-
Packard’s gridle moth
Scientific name: Enypia packardata (Taylor)
- Pero behrensaria (Packard)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Phantom hemlock looper
Scientific name: Nepytia phantasmaria (Strecker)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
-
Pine needle scale
Scientific name: Chionaspis pinifoliae (Fitch)
-
Pine needle sheathminer
Scientific name: Zelleria haimbachi Busck
-
Pine tussock moth
Scientific name: Dasychira grisefacta (Dyar)
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
- Pristiphora leechi Wong and Ross
- Promylea lunigerella Ragonot
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Red-barred tortrix
Scientific name: Ditula angustiorana (Haworth)
-
Redlined conifer caterpillar
Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
- Sabulodes edwardsata (Hulst)
-
Silverspotted tiger moth
Scientific name: Lophocampa argentata (Packard)
-
Small pine looper
Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
-
Speckled green fruitworm
Scientific name: Orthosia hibisci (Guenée)
-
Spruce climbing cutworm
Scientific name: Syngrapha alias (Ottolengui)
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
-
Spruce tip moth; redstriped needleworm
Scientific name: Epinotia radicana (Heinr.)
- Stenoporpia pulmonaria satisfacta (Barnes and McDunnough)
- Synaxis pallulata (Hulst)
- Syndemis afflictana Walker
- Thallophaga hyperborea (Hulst)
- Tolype dayi (Blackmore)
-
Twolined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx laricivorus (Rohwer et Middleton)
-
Western blackheaded budworm
Scientific name: Acleris gloverana (Walsingham)
-
Western false hemlock looper
Scientific name: Nepytia freemani (Munroe)
-
Western hemlock looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa (Hulst)
-
Western oak looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria (Hulst)
-
White slaut
Scientific name: Tetracis cachexiata (Guenée)
-
Whitelined looper
Scientific name: Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor)
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
-
Yellowlined forest looper
Scientific name: Cladara limitaria (Walker)
- Zeiraphera vancouverana McDunnough
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Black stain root disease
Pathogen name: Grosmannia wageneri (Goheen & F.W. Cobb) Zipfel, Z.W. Beer & M.J. Wingf.
-
Black stain root disease
Pathogen name: Grosmannia wageneri (Goheen & F.W. Cobb) Zipfel, Z.W. Beer & M.J. Wingf.
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
Cones or seeds
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
Foliage or buds
Douglas-fir needle cast
Pathogen names:
- Rhabdocline epiphylla (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline oblonga (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline obovata (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline pseudotsugae Syd.
- Rhabdocline weirii A.K. Parker & J. Reid
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Conifer-aspen rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora medusae f. sp. tremuloidis Shain
-
Conifer-poplar rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora occidentalis Jacks.
-
Douglas-fir needle cast
Pathogen names:
- Rhabdocline epiphylla (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline oblonga (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline obovata (Parker & Reid) J.K. Stone & D.S. Gernandt
- Rhabdocline pseudotsugae Syd.
- Rhabdocline weirii A.K. Parker & J. Reid
-
Phomopsis canker of douglas-fir
Pathogen name: Diaporthe lokoyae Funk
-
Snow blight
Pathogen name: Phacidium infestans P. Karst
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
White butt rot - White laminated rot
Pathogen name: Ceriporiopsis rivulosa (Berk. & Curtis) Gilb. & Ryvarden
Distribution map
