{"id":6228,"date":"2021-03-04T12:14:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T20:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=6228"},"modified":"2023-07-06T15:35:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T22:35:04","slug":"douglas-fir-the-story-of-the-wests-most-remarkable-tree","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/douglas-fir-the-story-of-the-wests-most-remarkable-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Fir: The Story of the West\u2019s Most Remarkable Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"There are many rare and unusual trees and shrubs in the Washington Park Arboretum.\u00a0 Standing aside (and sometimes out-competing) these wonderful exotics is the native matrix of trees, especially tall conifers.\u00a0 Perhaps the most iconic of these is the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii<\/em>).\u00a0 \u201cDouglas Fir: The Story of the West\u2019s Most Remarkable Tree\u201d is a comprehensive new book by Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler about this tree native from northern British Columbia to the high mountains of Mexico.<\/p>\n

There two distinct varieties of the Douglas-fir.\u00a0 The coastal tree (P. m.<\/em> var. menziesii<\/em>) that we are familiar with in Seattle and is found along the coast south to the California Bay Area. The inland variety (P. m.<\/em> var. glauca<\/em>) has an even wider distribution east of the coastal ranges and into the Rocky Mountains.\u00a0 The ecological success of both varieties highlights their adaptability, supported by an extra set of chromosomes when compared to most of the other West Coast conifers.\u00a0 In simple terms, this means the \u201cDouglas-fir is nature\u2019s all-purpose tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

This malleable nature has caused more than its share of nomenclature issues.\u00a0 Is it a fir?\u00a0 A pine?\u00a0 A spruce?\u00a0 The answer is none of the above.\u00a0 The genera Pseudotsuga<\/em> translates as \u201cfalse hemlock\u201d – a rather unfortunate compromise.\u00a0 Even the common name has varied, although the Seventh International Botanical Congress in 1950 settled on \u201cDouglas-fir\u201d and that form is used throughout this book (although the hyphen is oddly missing from the book\u2019s title).<\/p>\n

The coast Douglas-fir is one of the tallest plant species in the world.\u00a0 Its loftiest example (at 327\u2019) currently ranks number three behind the height champions of the Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens<\/em> at 380.3\u2019) and Eucalyptus regnans<\/em> (329.7\u2019) of southeastern Australia.\u00a0 An especially engaging part of this book discusses the credible possibility of historical Douglas-fir specimens, taken down for lumber one hundred or more years ago, that likely exceeded 400\u2019 in height.<\/p>\n

While Euro-Americans quickly recognized the value of Douglas-fir wood for building, the indigenous people throughout the tree\u2019s vast range were the first to use its timber this way, but they had many other uses, too.\u00a0 All parts of the tree are valuable and were used for preserving and flavoring food, for medicine, for crafting tools, in sacred ceremonies, and most importantly, providing heat.\u00a0 \u201cBoth varieties of Douglas-fir historically fulfilled myriad roles for native peoples and were the overwhelming choice for one critical daily need: fuel for their fires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excerpted from the Spring 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many rare and unusual trees and shrubs in the Washington Park Arboretum.\u00a0 Standing aside (and sometimes out-competing) these wonderful exotics is the native matrix of trees, especially tall conifers.\u00a0 Perhaps the most iconic of these is the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii).\u00a0 \u201cDouglas Fir: The Story of the West\u2019s Most Remarkable Tree\u201d is a comprehensive new book by Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler about this tree native from northern British Columbia to the high mountains of Mexico. There two distinct…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Douglas Fir: The Story of the West\u2019s Most Remarkable Tree<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[322,266,22],"class_list":["post-6228","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","keyword-native-plants-pacific-northwest","keyword-pseudotsuga-menziesii","keyword-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/6228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=6228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}