TREE OF THE MONTH

Know your conifers!

Only 10 species of larch occur in the world, mostly in cold parts of the northern hemisphere. Only western larch and subalpine larch grow in the Pacific Northwest. Larches are commonly called tamaracks, especially by people whose roots are in eastern North America. 

It is a deciduous conifer.  Its leaves (needles) turn color and drop in the fall!

Key identifying characteristic: Look closely at the little branches.  The needles are quite long and are in clusters that are separated from each other. ( Lots of bare limb between them.)  They explode out from a little peg on the limb.

MAY 2001

TREE OF THE MONTH

Know your conifers!

What is it? The answer is just below.

(The state tree, for pete's sake!)

Douglas-fir is the name of an entire genus of trees that contains six species--two native to North America and four native to eastern Asia. Because of its similarity
to other genera, Douglas-fir has given botanists fits. It has, at various times, been called a pine, a spruce, a hemlock, and a true fir. In 1867, because of its distinctive cones, it was given its own genus--Pseudotsuga--which means false hemlock. The hyphen in the common name lets us know that Douglas-fir is not a "true" fir--that it's not a member of the Abies genus. 

Key identifying characteristics: 
Needles: About 1" long with a blunt tip. Needles are green above with  2 white bands underneath. 

Fruit: Woody cones 3 to 4 inches long; pitchfork-shaped bracts are longer than scales. 

Cones hang down. 
 

JUNE 2001

TREE OF THE MONTH

Know your conifers!

What is it? The answer is just below.

The Grand Fir  is a real fir.  If you remember last month we featured the "Douglad Fir," Oregon's state tree, which is a Pseudotsuga, or "false hemlock."  It has also been called a pine a fir and a spruce, because it doesn't fit any one category perfectly. 

The Grand Fir, however does fit the fir category.  For one thing, its cones stand up instead of hanging down.  The Grand is sometimes called a "Balsam" because of pockets of resin that are found in the wrinkles of the bark.  This resin is also seen on the cones and even the fresh buds.

There are about 40 species of true firs, worldwide.  Seven species of true fir are native to western North America, and Oregon has
six -- more than any other state: grand fir, noble fir, Pacific silver fir, California red fir, subalpine fir, and white fir. 

They thrive in cold, snowy climates because they are spear-shaped.  Their pointy tops and short branches do not collect snow loads, and so do not break off during the winter.

Key identifying characteristics:

Needles: About 1" long; yellow-green on top surface of needles (no white bloom on upper surface)--whitish bands on undersides.  Sets of needles flattened or "V" shaped. Needles are two distinct sizes, with alternating long and short needles.  (Gently pull a needle away from its twig and notice the tiny, circular scar left on the twig. This circle makes it easy to recognize a true fir at any season. }

Fruit: Upright, cylindrical cones; 3-4" long; bracts shorter than scales.  Fall apart when mature. 
(Douglas Fir cones, right,  hang down, and bracts extend below scales.)

Twigs: Terminal buds round and clustered, and covered with resin. Young twigs are greenish. 

JULY 2001

TREE OF THE MONTH

Know your conifers!

What is it? The answer is just below.

The Sitka Spruce  (picea sitchensis) is found only along the Pacific coast from Northern California to SE Alaska.  It always grows near sea level, which should give you a great excuse to slip away from the city and head for where the waves are near.  Now some text from Trees of the Pacific Northwest

Many people think that spruces, Douglas-firs, and the true firs look alike. In a general way they do, but look closer. Feel the needles. Spruces have stiff, prickly needles, while Douglas-firs and true firs have soft, flexible needles. Each spruce needle springs from a tiny, woody peg; in fact, this peg is one of the best ways to identify a spruce. 

Spruce cones hang down from the branches like those of Douglas-fir (at left) while true fir cones stand up, but spruce cones do not have Douglas-fir's pitchfork bracts. 

The scales of most spruce cones are papery thin--yet another difference. And spruce bark is scaly--Douglas-fir and the true firs have smooth or ridged bark. 

Key identifying characteristics:

Needles: 1" long; sharp; yellow-green; often flat (difficult to roll between your fingers). Some needles on a twig point sideways while others point forward. 

Woody cones; 1-4" long; hang down; very thin scales with jagged edges.

Twigs: Each needle is borne on a square, raised, woody peg. 

(September-October)
The Three Junipers:

western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)

This unusual conifer is native to the mountain slopes and high plateaus of the Pacific Northwest, but may be found all the way down to near sea level.  Their top habitat is approximately 10,000 ft. (3100 m) elevation. 

As you have learned in the past,  cones are called "fruit," like peaches or apples.  Junipers produce a non-woody cone that reminds many people of a blueberry.  Here's a photo of the fruit of the shrublike Common
Juniper.  The next shot shows the fruit of the Rocky Mountain Juniper. You can see the similarity. Regardless of the variety, they all resemble blueberries instead of what we usually call a "pine" cone. Next, we'll take a look at Juniper bark, which can be like the photo here -- fibrous.  Like strips of cloth.  It can also be scaly.  The color is one shade or another of  reddish-brown.  Now, the needles come in two shapes (in at least one variety on the same twig).  Some look like a nail and others are flat, like scales. On the underside, you may see a dot of either white or clear resin.

Junipers can be identfied by a blind man because, like a cedar shingle, they have a very distinctive odor.

common juniper (Juniperus communis)

(This grows only in the form of a bush in the PacNW.  No tree version of this one.)

Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)

No resin dots on the needles.

TheYew is a small genus of about eight species scattered across North America,
Europe, and Asia. Although it's grouped with the conifers because it has 
needle-like foliage, its fruit is not a cone. Instead, it's an aril--a large, single seed
surrounded by a soft, fleshy, bright red pulp. Although they look inviting, DON'T TASTE THEM, for the seeds are highly poisonous. 

The distinguishing characteristic of the Yew is its bark, which is thin, purple and scaly. 

The needles are about an inch long, dark green ontop and light green below.   They are pointed, but not sharply so, and stick out in a flat plane rather than all around the twig. 

All yews contain a natural chemical called taxol, which is very promising in the treatment of certain types of cancer. Only one yew, Pacific yew, is native to the Pacific Northwest.  However, English and Irish yews are commonly planted in lawns and gardens for ornamental purposes. 

You'll find them mostly along the coast, above two thousand feet in altitude.

(January - February)
Lodgepole pine 
(Pinus contorta)

The pine family generally has long, narrow needles in whisk broom  bundles.  The fruits are
large, woody cones with thick, tough scales.  Branches commonly grow in distinctive "whorls," or rings that make their trunks easy to climb.  Each whorl represents one year's growth.

Lodgepoles grow in the Rockies and the PacNW, from sea level to 11,000 feet.  The ones you see along the coast are commonly called Shore pines. 

Each bundle has two twisted needles from 1-3 inchs long. 
 
 

The cones (fruit) are 1-2 inches long, and often have a prickle at the end of each scale.  They may remain closed for years, waiting for just the right conditions to open and cast their seeds.

The bark is thin, dark and flaky.

On a world-wide basis, pines are the
most common type of conifer; there are
nearly 100 different species. North
America alone has over 30! In general,
pines are easy to distinguish from other
needle-leaved trees because of their long, narrow needles bound in bundles; the
woody cones and the regular way the limbs are arranged.. 

Pine forests are also distinctive. In
general, pine trees like a lot of light, so pine forests are open and sunlight spills through to the forest floor. Wind moving through their long needles also gives pine forests a distinctive sound, and no one can miss their unique fragrance. 

Eight species of pine are native to the  Pacific Northwest, although many others have been introduced. Four pines (lodgepole, sugar, ponderosa, and
western white) were named by Scottish
botanist David Douglas. Apparently this
diversity surprised even him, for he wrote to his employer at the Royal Horticulture
Society of England, "you will begin to
think that I manufacture pines at my 
pleasure". 

To identify pines, count the needles in each bundle. This will divide the species into smaller groups. Then check the range and the appearance of the cones to pinpoint the species. 

Two needles per bundle: LODGEPOLE 
Three needles per bundle: PONDEROSA, 
JEFFREY, and KNOBCONE 
Five needles per bundle: WESTERN 
WHITE, SUGAR, LIMBER, and
WHITEBARK 

Source: Trees of the Pacific Northwest  by  Betsy Littlefield and Ed Jensen; College of Forestry, Oregon State University  (Photos by Ed Jensen)

Tree of the Month Archive

(March-April)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)

Hemlocks are noted for short needles and droopy tops and branches. There are only about 10 species of hemlock in the world--mostly in North America, China, and Japan. The Pacific Northwest has two hemlocks: the abundant and commercially important western hemlock and the lesser known mountain hemlock. Even when found growing together, they're easy to tell apart. 

Needles: Short (under 3/4" long) and blunt; two distinctly different sizes; green above and white underneath each needle; most needles appear to arise from the sides of the twigs. 

Fruit: Small, woody cones (about 1"); egg-shaped; thin, smooth scales.

Twigs: Thin and droopy; have small, rounded pegs (leaf scars) on
twigs. 

Distribution: Primarily found in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest. Occurs from sea level to 7400 ft. (2250 m).

 (May - June)
Alaska cedar 
(Chamaecyparis nootkatensis)

The Pacific Northwest has four species of trees that are called cedars,but none of them are truly cedars. In fact, they don't even resemble true cedars. True cedars belong to the genus Cedrus and bear their evergreen needles in dense clusters on small, woody spur shoots (similar to our larches). Their cones are large, sit upright on their branches, and fall apart when the seeds are ripe (similar to our true firs). True cedars are native only to the Mediterranean and Himalayan regions of the world. 

The Pacific Northwest's false cedars have tiny, scale-like foliage and small cones that remain on the tree long after their seeds are gone. Why then are they called "cedars"? Although we can't be sure, it's probably because of their wood. In ancient Rome, Cedrus referred to a group of trees with fragrant wood. Our "cedars" also have aromatic wood, and that's probably how the confusion in
names first started. 

"False cedar" is a name commonly used for 3 separate but similar species, grouped because of the following shared characteristics:

Needles: Scale-like and appressed to twig, but with flaring tips. No white pattern on undersides. 

Fruit: Small, round, woody cones less than 1/2" diameter; similar to Port-Orford-cedar's cones, but with a distinctive point on each scale. 
 
 

Bark: Gray and stringy; often pulling away from tree. 
 
 
 
 

Distribution: Range from southeastern Alaska to Oregon in cool, humid climates. Usually found at 1900-8200 ft. (650-2500 m); at high elevations Alaska-cedar may grow as a shrub. 

(July-Aug)
Port-Orford-cedar
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

Needles: Scale-like and appressed to twig. Undersides bear a distinct, white "X" pattern. 

Fruit: Small, round, woody cones less than 1/2" diameter. 

Bark: Brown, fibrous, and ridged. Thicker than the bark of other false cedars. 
 
 

Distribution: Restricted range extends from Coos Bay in southwestern Oregon to the Klamath River in northwestern California. Occurs near the coast and inland on seaward slopes up to 5600 ft. (1700 m).

Source: Trees of the Pacific Northwest  by  Betsy Littlefield and Ed Jensen; College of Forestry, Oregon State University  (Photos by Ed Jensen)