What do Douglas-fir cones look like?
Needles are yellowish-green, 1-inch-long and arranged in a spiral around the branchlets, like a bottlebrush. Cones are oblong, 2 to 4 inches long with three-pointed bracts and are located primarily in the upper crown.
What do fir tree cones look like?
Fir Tree Identification One distinguishing feature of fir trees is that the cones do not hang downward, but stand up straight like candlesticks. Mature cones can be brown, blue, purple, or black in color, depending on the species. Fir trees are popular as Christmas trees.
How do you identify a fir cone?
Firs are the only type of conifers where the cones grow upward rather than droop. Spruce and pine cones all hang off branches. Looking and fir cones and pine cones side by side, you can spot the fir cones because they are generally cylindrical. Pine cones are usually oval or triangular-shaped.
Do fir trees bear cones?
Many conifers, including spruces, firs and Douglas-fir, produce cones in a two-year cycle. Cone buds are produced in the first year and then cones develop and mature in the second year.
How do you identify different types of pine cones?
The conical or cylindrical woody cones help identify the species of pine trees. Most pine cones have an overall cone-like or egg shape. Some seed cones from pine trees are long and cylinder-like, whereas other pine cones are more egg-shaped with woody spiny scales.
Is fir and Douglas fir the same?
Douglas fir, which has sometimes been called the Douglas tree, Oregon pine, and Douglas spruce, is not actually a true fir, a pine, or a spruce.
How can you tell the difference between hemlock and fir?
Needles. The evergreen foliage of fir trees differs from that of hemlocks. Hemlocks feature a narrow, flat, evergreen needle that tapers at its base to form a tiny stem, attaching to the twigs on what resembles a woody cushion. The needles on a fir tree appear plump or flat in a cross-section view.
Do Douglas firs have cones?
Look at the buds. Douglas fir has unique buds that are pointed, reddish-brown and papery. Cones: The cones are the only ones you will find in the Northwest with three-pointed bracts sticking out of the scales. Unlike the true firs, the cones hang down rather than standing up on the branch.
How many cones does a Douglas fir tree have?
It can be well into the thousands, and probably well into the ten thousands. Let’s round down to 1,000 cones per tree. Douglas-firs, like many other Pacific NW conifers, go through cycles of cone productivity.
What are the two types of pine cones?
The difference between male pine cones and female cones is in their size, shape, and color. Female pine cones are the characteristic woody, scaly ovoid cones that dangle visibly on pine trees. Male pine cones are the smallest types of pine cones.
What is Douglas Fir good for?
Commonly, Douglas Fir is a species of softwood, but it is also considered to be one of the widely-used types of lumber, especially in fencing, home construction and decking in the United States. It is also popular due to its perfect proportion of weight and strength.
How do you tell a western hemlock from a Douglas Fir?
Hemlock has narrow, flat needles that are usually only one inch long. They are completely green or covered with white bands in some species. Needles are spirally arranged on the twigs and attached to them via raised, rounded pegs. Fir has longer (3 inches on average) and more flat needles compared with hemlock.
What’s the difference between a male and female pine cone?
Much like humans, coniferous trees have specialized male and female sex organs. male pine cones have close-knit “scales,” that hold pollen sacks, the pollen acting as air-borne “sperm;” female pine cones have looser scales and lie lower on a tree to make pollination easier.
How do you clean pine cones?
One of the best tips to clean pine cones for crafts is to sink them into the solution of one cup of water and a half cup of white vinegar. Take care that the solution covers the pine cones entirely. After sinking your pine cones into the water-vinegar solution for 20 to 30 minutes, rinse them properly.
Which is better pine or Douglas Fir?
Pine has much more soft grain. For stability and strength, fir is much less prone to warping or twisting, and much stronger than pine.
Do Douglas firs have cones this year?
Cones on Douglas-firs this year! Douglas-firs ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ), along with many other conifers, produce a heavy crop of cones only once every several years, in cycles. A cycle for Douglas-fir cone production is typically 5 to 7 years long.
What does Douglas fir look like from the tree?
Douglas fir has unique buds that are pointed, reddish-brown and papery. Cones: The cones are the only ones you will find in the Northwest with three-pointed bracts sticking out of the scales. Unlike the true firs, the cones hang down rather than standing up on the branch.
How do you take apart a Douglas fir cone?
Later in the summer, try taking apart a Douglas-fir seed cone (female cone). You can do it with just your thumbnail, or perhaps with the help of scissors. Pry a cone scale outward to reveal the two seeds developing underneath. You will see that each seed is winged, with the wing several times as long as the seed itself.
Does Douglas fir need direct sunlight?
It thrives in direct sunlight but is shade intolerant. It naturally propagates from seeds on bare ground in areas destroyed by fire. It is often planted after logging, resulting in extensive stands of pure Douglas fir.