Fir+trees

Fir Trees are the common name applied to coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico and two in eastern Asia. The Douglas-firs gave 19th century botanists problems due to their 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 the distinctive cones, Douglas-firs were finally placed in the new genus Pseudotsuga (meaning "false Tsuga") by the French botanist Carrière in 1867. The genus name has also been hyphenated as Pseudo-tsuga. In parts of California the Douglas-fir has become somewhat invasive due to fire suppression practices of the twentieth and twenty first centuries; in particular it is transforming to become a dominant species in many oak woodlands, in which it was previously a minor component.[1]

The common name honours David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who first introduced the tree into cultivation in 1826. Douglas is known for introducing many North American native conifers to Europe. The hyphen in the common name indicates that Douglas-firs are not true firs; i.e. they are not members of the genus Abies.[2]

The Douglas-firs are medium-size to large or very large evergreen trees, to 20-120 m tall. The leaves are flat and needle-like, generally resembling those of the firs. The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales (unlike true firs), and are distinct in having a long tridentine (three-pointed) bract that protrudes prominently above each scale.

Douglas-firs are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Autumnal Moth, Bordered White, The Engrailed, Pine Beauty, Turnip Moth and the gelechiids Chionodes abella and Chionodes periculella which have both been recorded on P. menziesii.

A Californian Native American myth explains that each of the three-ended bracts are a tail and two tiny legs of the mice who hid inside the scales of the tree's cones, which was kind enough to be the enduring sanctuary for them during forest fires. Contents

Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir,

Alpine fir,

Balsam Fir,