
How tall is the biggest Douglas fir tree in Oregon?
They grow to a height of about 70 feet (21 m) and have a trunk that is about 1 foot (30 cm) in diameter. Other species, such as firs, tend to be tall. ADouglas-fir in Oregon can reach up to 250feet (76 m) tall with a trunk 5 to 7 feet (150 cm to 200 cm) wide. But the largest trees in the world are the three species of sequoias.
How tall do fir trees usually grow?
They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range. Firs are most closely related to the genus Cedrus (cedar). Firs are large trees, reaching heights of 10–60 m tall with trunk diameters of 0.5–4 m when mature.
How long does a Douglas fir take to grow?
How long does it take to grow a Douglas fir? 7-10 years How fast does a douglas fir grow? A cultivated tree never achieves the same height or grandeur. In your yard, a Douglas fir will only grow 40 to 60 feet tall. Experts at Cal Poly estimate the growth rate of Douglas fir at 24 inches a year, but this also depends on its growing conditions.
What are facts about Douglas fir?
Habitat
- Native Range. The latitudinal range of Douglas-fir is the greatest of any commercial conifer of western North America.
- Climate. Douglas-fir grows under a wide variety of climatic conditions (table 1). ...
- Soils and Topography. The variety menziesii of Douglas-fir reaches its best growth on well-aerated, deep soils with a pH range from 5 to 6.
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Where is the tallest Douglas fir?
After more than a century of logging around it, the world's tallest known Douglas fir still stands 327 feet in a remote part of east-central Coos County. The Doerner Fir was measured with great accuracy by a team of two climbers from Ascending the Giants of Portland, who climbed to the top of the tree in 2008.
How tall can a Douglas fir get?
Coast Douglas firs are the faster-growing and larger of the two varieties, and they commonly grow up to 250 feet (76 meters) in old-growth forests and can reach five to six feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) in diameter. Rocky Mountain Douglas firs measure about the same in diameter but only grow up to 160 feet (49 meters).
How tall is a 20 year old Douglas fir tree?
Mature Size The Douglasfir grows to a height of 40–70' and a spread of 12–20' at maturity.
How tall is a 100 year old Douglas fir?
Young, open-grown trees typically have branches down to near ground level. It often takes 70-80 years for the trunk to be clear to a height of 5 m (17 feet) and 100 years to be clear to a height of 10 m (33 feet). Douglas fir is shallow rooting, and there is potential for windthrow in thin or disturbed soils.
What state has the most Douglas Fir?
OregonKnown scientifically as Pseudotsuga menziesii, these trees belong to the pine family and are an evergreen conifer species. Douglas firs are native to the western part of North America and are commonly found throughout Oregon....Hours of Operations.Monday24/7Sunday24/75 more rows
Is Douglas Fir a hardwood or softwood?
SoftwoodsPine, Douglas Fir, and Cedar are considered Softwoods. Hardwood is a generic term for the scientific name angiosperm. These plants are often deciduous trees that have broad leaves, and carry their seeds in some variation of a nut or fruit.
What is the lifespan of a Douglas fir?
Decay resistance helps this species live to great age; trees 600-800 years old are not uncommon in certain parts of its range with long fire return intervals. Trees 1,000 years or older have been recorded from several parts of its range, including several individuals between 1,300 and 1,400 years old.
Do deer eat Douglas fir trees?
Wildlife: The seed of Douglas-fir is an important food for chickadees, red crossbill, finches (house and purple), evening grosbeak, Douglas squirrel, Townsend chipmunk, deer, meadow mice, shrews, and many other birds and mammals. The needles are an important source of food of blue and spruce grouses.
Is Douglas fir harder than pine?
Douglas fir comes in between the types of pine, with its own rating of 660 on the Janka scale. So it's fairly comparable to the yellow pines in hardness, though a bit softer than the shortleaf varieties and significantly less hard than the Southern longleaf pine.
Is Douglas fir good firewood?
Fir. Probably the best conifer for firewood, Douglas Fir has a medium heating value and does not produce too much ash. Older trees are easy to split and easy to start. Fir does produce a moderate amount of sparking.
Why is it called Douglas fir?
It is a distinct species named after its discoverer Archibald Menzies and a botanist, David Douglas. A major characteristic that distinguishes it from true firs is its cone which falls from the tree intact. Douglas-fir is one of the world's most important and valuable timber trees.
Why is Douglas fir not a true fir?
The Douglas Fir is not considered a true fir because the cones hang down off the branch and fall off whole. The Douglas Fir's one-inch long needles are also Flat, Friendly and Flexible.
How long do Douglas Fir trees live?
The largest coast Douglas-firs regularly live over 500 years, with the oldest specimens living for over 1,300 years. Rocky Mountain Douglas-firs, found further to the east, are less long-lived, usually not exceeding 400 years in age.
How long does it take a Douglas Fir to mature?
Douglas firs grown for Christmas trees take 7-10 years to grow to the right size depending on the growing conditions, the trees are sheared once every summer so they grow in uniformly in shape and size.
How can you tell how old a Douglas Fir is?
Estimating Tree AgeLocate the spot on the trunk that is 4.5 to 5 feet above the ground. If the ground is sloped, find a middle point in the slope.Measure the circumference of the tree at that height in inches.Multiple that measurement by 1.6. The result is the approximate age of the tree.
How much does an old growth Douglas Fir weigh?
Douglas-fir has a green specific gravity (SG) of 0.45. At 6 percent MC, the SG is 0.50. The weight, when dry, is 32 pounds per cubic foot or about 2.0 pounds per board foot (planed to 3/4-inch thickness). Most Doug-fir lumber will be sold dried and planed (S4S, surfaced 4 sides).
Girth records
In this table of girth records worldwide only girth measurements made at a height between 1.30 m and 1.50 m are listed. Trees with multiple trunks are excluded.
Height records
In this table of height records worldwide only height measurements made by laser (like eg. the Nikon 550 Forestry) or tape drop are listed.
Age records
In this table of age estimates and measurements worldwide are shown. Of course this inventory contains only age records as far as they are registered on this site.
When was Douglas Fir planted?
The state champion Douglas Fir is estimated to have been planted after the construction of the Emerald Hill mansion in 1830. Powell says the condition of the tree shows “great care has been given to this tree over the past 150 years.”
Which university has the largest tall tale in the state?
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Austin Peay State University holds the largest tall tale in the state with a tree on campus reaching record-breaking numbers.
Is Douglas Fir a forgery?
The Douglas Fir isn’t the only prized piece of forgery on campus as the university is home to all of the state’s native trees.
What is the tallest tree in the world?
The Coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest tree species on earth. This is a list of the tallest known tree species, as reflected by measurements of the tallest reliably-measured individual specimen. Although giant trees grow in both tropical and temperate regions, they are very restricted geographically and phylogenetically.
Where do giant trees grow?
Although giant trees grow in both tropical and temperate regions, they are very restricted geographically and phylogenetically. All the known giant trees occur in mesic climates, and nearly all of them are found in three regions: western North America from California to British Columbia, Southeast Asia ...
How tall is Eucalyptus Amygdalina?
For example, several articles published in 1878 describe an Eucalyptus amygdalina exceeding 380 ft and others nearing 420 ft up to 500 ft. The heights of the tallest trees in the world have been the subject of considerable dispute and much exaggeration.
How tall is Douglas Fir?
330 According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin published in October, 1930, there is a standing Douglas Fir near Little Rock, Washington, which is 330 feet in height, with a diameter of approximately 6 feet.
How tall is a fir tree?
400 "In the typical fir forests, the trees, crowded close together, become very tall, two hundred fifty to four hundred feet high, and sometimes eight to twelve feet in diameter.". 400 "The maximum height known is nearly 400 feet; the greatest diameter of the stem is 14 feet.
How big is a Clatsop Fir?
The Clatsop fir, in Oregon was once nearly 16 feet in diameter, and a number of monster firs were measured in the Skagit flats area, like around Mt Vernon, Woolley, Arlington, and at Conway stood the grand daddy of the Douglas fir race, an approx. 18 feet diameter giant.
What causes Douglas Fir to die?
The primary cause of Douglas fir mortality in stands over 250 years old is velvet top fungus (Phaeolus schweinitzii).
How tall is Maple Falls?
This was on the south fork of Nooksack, whereas the greater known reported tree, 465 feet in height, felled in 1896, was on the north fork of Nooksack, and approx. 550 feet above sea level - east of Bellingham, and surrounded by hills,, situated in a valley just about where the town of Maple Falls, is located.
When was the fir tree cut?
There's a photo from Darius Kinsey's collection, of a 16 feet wide fir tree, 350 feet tall which was cut in May of 1902, some couple of miles from Sedro-Woolley, in Skagit Valley, and report of a 17 ft diameter 328 ft felled fir at or near the town site of Sedro-Woolley in 1905-1910.
How tall is a coast redwood tree?
And there is documentary evidence of coast redwood, and a form of Eucalyptus (E. Regnans) achieving heights in excess of 350 to 400 feet, and even reports of 430-450 feet and greater exist for these trees, although further confirmation and authentic documentation is needed.
Where was the last big fir tree?
Pilchuck giant”, fir tree cut down on October 22, 1952 near the small town of Verlot, Washington. The big tree, 700 years old, was reported to be over 350 foot high, 11 ft 6 inches diameter and 30,000 board feet. From that point on, records are few for the big trees over that height range, except of course, the redwoods in California which have about 300 trees alive today of that height. (Impressive, considering 96% of old growth Coast Redwood has been clear-cut).
Which state has the tallest tree?
Here is a familiar fact to many people across the United States and the world: the Redwoods of Northern California are the tallest trees in the world at nearly 400 feet. This is both true and false. It’s true because right now the redwoods are the tallest trees. But it’s false because not long ago, that wasn’t the case.
How tall is the tallest redwood tree?
The tallest known redwood is 379 feet tall. But historical accounts are full of references to Douglas Fir trees 400 feet tall and more. One tree in the lower North Fork of the Nooksack River Valley is thought to have been 465 feet tall, probably the largest known tree ever recorded anywhere on the planet. And it wasn’t alone.
How big was the forest in Seattle?
Thanks for the mention. Yeah the size of forest that was growing in Seattle was astounding. 250 – 300 foot trees were common back then. I am trying to follow up on an old report of a 412 footer said to have been logged around Tacoma, and another big tree 17.8 feet in diameter east of Seattle was reported in 1909 at over 400 feet, the tree was so big that the Puget Sound railroad had to be built around it. Another fir tree reported in Chehalis County in 1893 was measured with survey instruments at over 400 feet, and 17 feet diameter. There were even reports of 300 foot cedars, and 400 ft Sitka Spruce, 20 ft in diameter in Washington and Oregon 100 years ago.
How many redwood trees are there in California?
From that point on, records are few for the big trees over that height range, except of course, the redwoods in California which have about 300 trees alive today of that height. (Impressive, considering 96% of old growth Coast Redwood has been clear-cut).

Overview
Description
Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 20–100 metres (70–330 feet) tall (although only Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, common name coast Douglas-firs, reach heights near 100 m) and commonly reach 2.4 m (8 ft) in diameter, although trees with diameters of almost 5 metres (16 feet) exist. The largest coast Douglas-firs regularly live over 500 years, wit…
Taxonomy
The common name honors David Douglas, a Scottish botanist and collector who first reported the extraordinary nature and potential of the species. The common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i.e., not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason, the name is often written as Douglas-fir (a name also used for the genus Pseudotsuga as a whole).
The specific epithet menziesii is after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish physician and rival naturalist to …
Distribution
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 o…
Ecology
Douglas-fir prefers acidic or neutral soils. However, it exhibits considerable morphological plasticity, and on drier sites P. menziesii var. menziesii will generate deeper taproots. Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca exhibits even greater plasticity, occurring in stands of interior temperate rainforest in British Columbia, as well as at the edge of semi-arid sagebrush steppe throughout m…
Uses
Many different Native American groups used the bark, resin, and pine needles to make herbal treatments for various diseases. British Columbia's Bella Coola tribe mixed the resin with dogfish oil for many medicinal applications. Some tribes used the foliage as a hygienic freshener in sweat baths, and the leaves were used as a coffee substitute. Native Hawaiians built waʻa kaulua (double-hulled c…
See also
• List of Douglas-fir species
• List of Douglas-fir diseases
• List of superlative trees
Further reading
• Brock, Emily K. (2015). Money Trees: The Douglas-Fi.r and American Forestry, 1900–1944 Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Press.
• Chase, J. Smeaton (1911). "Pseudotsuga taxifolia, Also called P. douglasii or P. mucronata, (Douglas-spruce, Douglas-pine, Hemlock, Red-fir)". Cone-bearing Trees of the California Mountains. Eytel, Carl (illustrations). Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co. p. 36. LCCN 11004975. OCLC 3477527.