Douglas-fir Traditional Cache

Douglas-fir is the X-mas tree looking one by Judd Falls Rd and Campus Rd on the Cornell campus. Usual tricky parking, except on weekends and at night, when it's a P&G.

Douglas-fir 

Scientific Name: Pseudotsuga menziesii 

Family: Pinaceae (pine family) 

Overview: Douglas-firs are arguably now the most popular and widely sold Christmas trees in North America due to their soft needles, attractive foliage and good smell. It also is priced slightly below the Fraser fir, which is its competitor for the title of "Most Popular Christmas Tree." Often referred to simply as the "Doug-fir" by people in the know. 

Fun Facts: The state tree of Oregon, where it is known as the Oregon-pine. The tallest tree in North America behind the redwoods. The most important timber species in North America. 

Etymology: The common name commemorates Scottish botanist David Douglas (1799-1834), who first introduced this species into cultivation in Europe in 1826. Although not truly a fir (hence the hyphenation), "fir" in the name probably refers to this species's soft needles, which true firs also have. Other common names of Oregon-pine and Douglas-spruce are less common and are also clearly misnomers since this species is neither a pine nor a spruce. The genus name Pseudotsuga literally means "false hemlock" and alludes to a superficial resemblance of the needle bases of this species to those of another group of conifers, the hemlocks of the genus Tsuga. The specific epithet menziesii commemorates the Scottish surgeon and botanist Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) who was first to document the tree to science in 1791 (on Vancouver Island). 

Pseudotsuga is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. Common names include Douglas fir, Douglas-fir, Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. Pseudotsuga menziesii 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. 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. Because of their distinctive cones, Douglas-firs were finally placed in the new genus Pseudotsuga (meaning "false hemlock") by the French botanist Carriere in 1867. The genus name has also been hyphenated as Pseudo-tsuga.

Description

Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, 20–120 metres (70–390 ft) tall (although only coast Douglas-firs reach such great height). The leaves are flat, soft, linear, 2–4 centimetres (0.8–1.6 in) long, generally resembling those of the firs, occurring singly rather than in fascicles; they completely encircle the branches, which can be useful in recognizing the species. The female 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).

Coast Douglas-fir seed cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas

The coast Douglas-fir has attained heights of 393 feet (120 m). Only coast redwood and Eucalyptus regnans reach greater heights based on current knowledge of living trees (379 and 331 feet, respectively). At Quinault, Washington, is found a collection of the largest Douglas-firs in one area. Quinault Rain Forest hosts the most of the top ten known largest Douglas-firs.

Species and varieties

Coast Douglas-fir branch

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir twig

By far the best-known is the very widespread and abundant North American species Psudotsuga menziesii, a taxonomically complex species divided into two major 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, whereas others have proposed multiple separate species in Mexico 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

Uses

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-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 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.

Culture

A California 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.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, small, "small" pill bottle. This one has a tiny tab, with an arrow pointing to it, to help you push it open. Please make sure you seal it well, all around, when you are done. It holds only the usual rolled log with the rubber band, in the zip locked plastic bag, so please BYOP and put things back as you found it, also report if anything seems amiss.