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Pseudotsuga menziesii
Also called Oregon Pine, Dougie, Douglas Spruce, Dugie, North American Douglas Fir, Common Douglas Fir, Red Fir
A very large conifer of western North America, grown mainly as a forestry timber tree and a landscape evergreen, not usually as a houseplant. It needs open space, full sun or light shade, and room to grow tall.
The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the family. 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 (P. menziesii var. menziesii), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. glauca) and Mexican Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. lindleyana).
Despite its common names, it is not a true fir (genus Abies), spruce (genus Picea), or pine (genus Pinus). It is also not a hemlock (genus Tsuga); the genus name Pseudotsuga means "false hemlock".
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, the coast Douglas-fir, grows in the coastal regions from west-central British Columbia southward to Central California. In Oregon and Washington, its range is continuous from the eastern edge of the Cascades 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 Range, with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills in Santa Barbara County. One of the last remaining old growth stands of conifers is in the Mattole Watershed, and is under threat of logging. In the Sierra Nevada, it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from sea level along the coast to elevations of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) or higher, and inland in some cases up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft).
Many different Native American groups use the bark, resin, and needles to make herbal treatments for various diseases. Historically, Native Hawaiians built waʻa kaulua (double-hulled canoes) from coast Douglas-fir logs that had drifted ashore. The wood and bark have historically been favored as firewood, especially from the coastal variety. Additionally, Douglas-fir has long been used as a building material by both Native American groups and settlers.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Douglas fir by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
