Foothills, montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Bear Creek Trail, October 10, 2008.

Neither a Fir nor a Spruce, Douglas Fir is more kin to Hemlock ("Pseudotsuga" means "false Hemlock" -- "Tsuga" is the Japanese name for Hemlock).  Douglas Fir is a magnificent tree usually growing on moist, shady, north-facing slopes, but it is also found on rocky open slopes.  In the Four Corners it is a giant at 180 feet and five feet in diameter, but in Pacific coastal areas it reaches well over 250 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter.  It is common in cool mesa coves, foothills, lower mountains, and even in the subalpine zone of the Four Corners.

Douglas Fir was formerly known as "Douglas Spruce", and thus came the name for the now famous "Spruce Tree House" of Mesa Verde National Park.  In the late 1880s the Wetherill brothers saw a large group of sandstone buildings tucked into a high and shallow cave in a canyon wall.  They shinnied down a "Douglas Spruce" to reach the buildings.

The tree at left has a base diameter of about 1 1/2 feet and is about 40 feet tall and 40 years old.

The specific epithet is for Archibald Menzies (1754-1842), Scottish botanist who collected leaves, cones, and seeds of this grand tree on Vancouver Island in 1791.  The common name is for David Douglas, widely acclaimed botanist and explorer in the early 1800s, who was for a number of years considered to be the first collector of specimens of this tree. (More biographical information.)

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Abajo Mountains, Utah, July 8, 2006.

Douglas Fir needles are flat, soft, shiny green, fragrant, and 1 to 1 ½ inches long.  New needles are light blue-green to light green.  Notice the narrow, pointed, reddish brown buds that are characteristic of Douglas Firs.

Pseudotsuga menziesii cones are distinctive, having bracts projecting from the cone; they appear to be little mouse hind legs and tails.  Douglas Firs are easy to identify: look at the cones scattered along the trail under the trees.