Editing Pseudotsuga

{{Short description|Genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Pseudotsuga_menziesii_28236.JPG
| image_caption = ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'' in [[Anacortes Community Forest Lands]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
| taxon = Pseudotsuga
| authority = [[Elie-Abel Carrière|Carrière]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
|type_species =''[[Pseudotsuga douglasii]]''
|type_species_authority = (Lindl.) [[Elie-Abel Carrière|Carrière]]
| synonyms =
* ''Abietia'' <small>Kent</small>
}}

'''''Pseudotsuga''''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|sj|uː|d|oʊ|ˈ|t|s|uː|ɡ|ə}}<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607</ref> is a genus of [[evergreen]] [[Pinophyta|coniferous]] [[tree]]s 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.<ref name="eflora">{{cite web|title=Flora of China: ''Pseudotsuga''|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=127289|access-date=17 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="conifer">{{cite web|title=The Gymnosperm Database: ''Pseudotsuga''|url=http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pseudotsuga.php|access-date=17 January 2012}}</ref>

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

==Name==
The tree takes its English name from [[David Douglas (botanist)|David Douglas]], the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[botanist]] who first introduced ''[[Pseudotsuga menziesii]]'' into cultivation at [[Scone Palace]] in 1827.<ref name=podcast>[https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/national-trust-for-scotland/id281616873 Trust Walks: "Dunkeld and The Hermitage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112055717/https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/national-trust-for-scotland/id281616873 |date=12 November 2012 }}," a podcast by the National Trust for Scotland; 27 June 2009</ref> 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 [[fir]]s, which belong to the genus ''Abies''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Little|first=E. L.|year=1953|title=Check List of native and naturalized trees of the United States (including Alaska)|id=USDA Agricultural Handbook 41|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|location=Washington D.C.}}</ref>

==Description==
Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large [[evergreen]] [[tree]]s, {{convert|20|-|120|m|-1}} tall (although only coast Douglas-firs reach such great height).<ref>{{cite book|title=Forest Giants of the World Past and Present|first=Al|last=Carder|year=1995|pages=3–4}}</ref> The [[leaf|leaves]] are flat, soft, linear, {{convert|2|-|4|cm|in|1}} long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in [[fascicle (botany)|fascicle]]s; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. The female [[Conifer cone|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).

{| style="float:left; margin-right:15px;"
|-
|[[Image:Pseudotsuga menziesii cone.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Coast Douglas-fir]] seed cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by [[David Douglas (botanist)|David Douglas]]]]
|}

[[Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii|''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,<ref>Forest Giants of the World Past and Present by Al Carder 1995, pp. 3–4.</ref> former chief of the U.S. Forest Service.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/People/McArdle/McArdle.aspx |title=Richard McArdle Bio, USFS History, Forest History Society |publisher=Foresthistory.org |access-date=2011-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204015541/http://foresthistory.org/ASPNET/People/McArdle/McArdle.aspx |archive-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The volume of that tree was {{convert|515|m3|cuft|-1}}. The tallest living individual is the Brummitt (Doerner) Fir in [[Coos County, Oregon]], {{convert|99.4|m|ft|0}} tall.<ref name=GymnospermDatabase>[http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pseudotsuga_menziesii_menziesii.php Gymnosperm Database: ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'' (2006)]</ref> Only [[Sequoia sempervirens|coast redwood]]<ref name=Sequoia>{{cite web
|url        = http://www.conifers.org/cu/Sequoia.php
|title      = Sequoia sempervirens
|access-date = 2009-02-01
|work       = The Gymnosperm Database
}}</ref> 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 most of the top ten known largest Douglas-firs.

{{As of|2009}}, the largest known Douglas-firs in the world are, by volume:<ref name=" Van Pelt">{{cite book | last = Van Pelt | first = Robert | title = Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast | publisher = University of Washington Press | year = 2001 | page = [https://archive.org/details/forestgiantsofpa0000vanp/page/44 44] | isbn = 0-295-98140-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/forestgiantsofpa0000vanp/page/44 }}</ref>

# Red Creek Tree (Red Creek, SW British Columbia) {{convert|12320|cuft|m3}}
# Queets Fir (Queets River Valley-Olympic National Park) {{convert|11710|cuft|m3}}
# Tichipawa (Quinault Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) {{convert|10870|cuft|m3}}
# Rex (Quinault Lake Rain Forest-Olympic National Park) {{convert|10200|cuft|m3}}
# Ol' Jed (Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park) {{convert|10040|cuft|m3}}
{{clear}}

== Species and varieties ==
[[Image:Douglas Fir branch-750px.JPG|right|thumb|Coast Douglas-fir branch]]
[[Image:Pseudotsuga 01.jpg|right|thumb|Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir twig]]
{{cladogram|title=Phylogeny of ''Pseudotsuga''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stull |first1=Gregory W. |last2=Qu |first2=Xiao-Jian |last3=Parins-Fukuchi |first3=Caroline |last4=Yang |first4=Ying-Ying |last5=Yang |first5=Jun-Bo |last6=Yang |first6=Zhi-Yun |last7=Hu |first7=Yi  |last8=Ma |first8=Hong |last9=Soltis |first9=Pamela S. |last10=Soltis |first10=Douglas E. |last11=Li |first11=De-Zhu |last12=Smith |first12=Stephen A. |last13=Yi |first13=Ting-Shuang |display-authors=et al. |year=2021 |title=Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms |journal=Nature Plants |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-00964-4 |volume=7 |issue= 8|pages=1015–1025 |doi=10.1038/s41477-021-00964-4|biorxiv=10.1101/2021.03.13.435279 |pmid= 34282286|s2cid=232282918 |doi-access=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stull |first1=Gregory W. |display-authors=et al. |year=2021 |title=main.dated.supermatrix.tree.T9.tre |publisher=Figshare |doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.14547354.v1 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Gene_duplications_and_genomic_conflict_underlie_major_pulses_of_phenotypic_evolution_in_gymnosperms/14547354 |doi-access=}}</ref>|
{{clade|style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%;width:200px
|1={{clade
  |1=''[[Pseudotsuga sinensis|P. sinensis]]'' <small>Dode</small>
  |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Pseudotsuga menziesii|P. menziesii]]'' <small>(de Mirbel) Franco</small>
    |2={{clade
      |1=''[[Pseudotsuga japonica|P. japonica]]'' <small>(Shirasawa) Beissner</small>
      |2=''[[Pseudotsuga macrocarpa|P. macrocarpa]]'' <small>(Vasey) Mayr</small>
       }}
     }}
   }}
}}
}}

By far the best-known is the very widespread and abundant [[North America]]n species ''[[Pseudotsuga menziesii]]'', a taxonomically complex species<ref>{{cite journal|first=Peng|last=Li|author2=W. T. Adams |title=Rangewide patterns of allozyme variation in Douglas-fir|journal=Can. J. For. Res.|volume=19|pages=149–161|year=1989|doi=10.1139/x89-022|issue=2}}</ref> divided into two major [[Variety (botany)|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,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Little|first=E.L.|title=The genus ''Pseudotsuga'' (Douglas-fir) in North America|journal=Leafl. Western Botany|year=1952|volume=6|pages=181–198}}</ref> whereas others have proposed multiple separate species in Mexico<ref>{{cite journal|last=Flous|first=F.|title=Deux espèces nouvelles de ''Pseudotsuga'' Américains|journal=Bulletin de la Société d'histoire naturelle de Toulouse|year=1934|volume=66|pages=211–224}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Flous|first=F.|title=Diagnoses d'espèces et variétés nouvelles de ''Pseudotsuga'' Américains|journal=Bulletin de la Société d'histoire naturelle de Toulouse|year=1934|volume=66|pages=329–346}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Martínez|first=M.|title=Las Pseudotsugas de México|journal=Anales del Instituto de Biología|year=1949|volume=20|pages=129–184}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Earle |first=C.J. |title=The Gymnosperm Database: ''Pseudotsuga lindleyana'' |url=http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pseudotsuga_lindleyana.php |access-date=12 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118104354/http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pseudotsuga_lindleyana.php |archive-date=18 January 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Reyes-Hernández|first=VJ|author2=Vargas-Hernández JJ|author3=López-Upton J|author4=Vaquera-Huerta H|title=Phenotypic similarity among Mexican populations of Pseudotsuga Carr|journal=Agrociencia|year=2006|volume=40|issue=4|pages=545–556|url=http://www.colpos.mx/agrocien/Bimestral/2006/jul-ago/art-13.pdf|access-date=17 January 2012|archive-date=20 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220225117/http://www.colpos.mx/agrocien/Bimestral/2006/jul-ago/art-13.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Gugger |first=Paul F. |author2=González-Rodríguez, Antonio |author3=Rodríguez-Correa, Hernando |author4=Sugita, Shinya |author-link5=Jeannine Cavender-Bares |author5=Cavender-Bares, Jeannine |title=Southward Pleistocene migration of Douglas-fir into Mexico: phylogeography, ecological niche modeling, and conservation of 'rear edge' populations |journal=New Phytologist |year=2011 |volume=189 |issue=4 |pages=1185–1199 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03559.x |pmid=21118265 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

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,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gernandt|first=D.S.|author2=Liston, A. |title=Internal transcribed spacer region evolution in ''Larix'' and ''Pseudotsuga'' (Pinaceae)|journal=American Journal of Botany|year=1999|volume=86|issue=5|pages=711–723|doi=10.2307/2656581|jstor=2656581|pmid=10330075|doi-access=free}}</ref> but the most recent taxonomic treatment accepts four species: three Chinese and one Japanese.<ref name=eflora/><ref name=conifer/> The three Chinese species have been variously considered varieties of [[Pseudotsuga sinensis|''P. sinensis'']]<ref name="Farjon 1990">{{cite book|last=Farjon|first=A.|title=Pinaceae: drawings and descriptions of the genera ''Abies'', ''Cedrus'', ''Pseudolarix'', ''Keteleeria'', ''Nothotsuga'', ''Tsuga'', ''Cathaya'', ''Pseudotsuga'', ''Larix'' and ''Picea''|year=1990|publisher=Koeltz Scientific Books|location=Königstein}}</ref> or broken down into additional species and varieties.<ref name="GRINSpecies">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?10022 |title=GRIN Species Records of ''Pseudotsuga'' |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=2010-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075150/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?10022 |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref> In the current treatment, the Chinese species ''P. sinensis'' is further subdivided into two varieties: var. ''sinensis'' and var. ''wilsoniana''.

===North America===
* ''[[Pseudotsuga macrocarpa]]'' <small>([[George Vasey (botanist)|Vasey]]) [[Heinrich Mayr|Mayr]]</small> bigcone Douglas-fir – southern California
* ''[[Douglas fir|Pseudotsuga menziesii]]'' <small>([[Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel|Mirb.]]) [[João Manuel Antonio do Amaral Franco|Franco]]</small> – western [[North America]] from [[Alaska]] to [[Oaxaca]]
** [[Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii|''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'']] coast Douglas-fir
** [[Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca|''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''glauca'']] <small>([[Ludwig Beissner|Beissn.]]) Franco</small> Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
** ''[[Pseudotsuga menziesii var. lindleyana]]'' <small>([[Benedikt Roezl|Roezl]]) [[Élie-Abel Carrière|Carrière]]</small> Mexican Douglas-fir

===Asia===
* ''[[Pseudotsuga brevifolia]]'' <small>W.C.Cheng & L.K.Fu</small> short-leaf Chinese Douglas-fir
* ''[[Pseudotsuga forrestii]]'' <small>Craib</small> Yunnan Douglas-fir
* ''[[Pseudotsuga japonica]]'' <small>([[Yasuyoshi Shirasawa|Shiras.]]) Beissn.</small> Japanese Douglas-fir
* ''[[Pseudotsuga sinensis]]'' <small>Dode</small> Chinese Douglas-fir
** ''Pseudotsuga sinensis'' var. ''sinensis''
** ''Pseudotsuga sinensis'' var. ''wilsoniana'' <small></small> Taiwan Douglas-fir
** ''Pseudotsuga sinensis'' var. ''gaussenii ''<ref name="Farjon 1990"/>

===Formerly placed in ''Pseudotsuga''===
* ''[[Keteleeria davidiana]]'' <small>(Bertrand) Beissn.</small> (as ''P. davidiana'' <small>Bertrand</small>)<ref name="GRINSpecies"/>
* ''[[Cathaya argyrophylla]]'' (as ''P. argyrophylla)''
* ''[[Keteleeria fortunei]]'' (as ''P. fortunei)''
* ''[[Abies magnifica]]'' (as ''P. magnifica)''
* ''[[Abies procera]]'' (as ''P. nobilis)''

== Uses ==
[[Image:Douglas Fir buds.jpg|thumb|150px|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 (wood)|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 (sailing)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christmastree.org/trees/douglas.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051205024200/http://www.christmastree.org/trees/douglas.cfm |archive-date= 5 December 2005 |title=National Christmas Tree Association |publisher=Christmastree.org |access-date=2011-03-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Pests and diseases==
{{Main|List of Douglas-fir diseases}}
Douglas-firs are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species, including [[autumnal moth]], [[bordered white]], [[engrailed (moth)|engrailed moth]], [[pine beauty]] and [[turnip moth]]. The [[Gelechiidae|gelechiids]] ''[[Chionodes abella]]'' and ''[[Chionodes periculella]]'' and the [[tortrix moth]] ''[[Cydia illutana]]'' have been specifically recorded on ''P. menziesii''.

==Culture==
A California [[Native Americans in the United States|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 [[List of U.S. state trees|state tree]] of [[Oregon]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category}}
* [http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pseudotsuga.php Gymnosperm Database – ''Pseudotsuga'']
* [http://www.pinetum.org/cones/PScones.htm Arboretum de Villardebelle: Images of Pseudotsuga species cones]

{{Plant classification}}
{{Acrogymnospermae classification}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q158771}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pseudotsuga| ]]
[[Category:Conifer genera]]
[[Category:Forestry in Canada]]
[[Category:Forestry in the United States]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière]]