Tree #2 Douglas-fir Tree

A close “cousin” to yesterday’s cedar tree (which is all bucked up now...) …they like to grow together in the same places.  Not a true fir, the Coastal Doug-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) honors  a Scottish botanist and collector, David Douglas,  who first reported it on a trip to the Pacific Northwest in the 1820s.  (the specific epithet is after Archibald Menzies, A Scottish physician and rival naturalist to David Douglas…he first documented  the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791.) They are medium size to extremely large ..from 70-330 feet tall.  Usually they grow straight …… this one near my studio has this lovely big curve and today the sun was on the tops so I couldn’t resist.  ..it’s big with a diameter of over 5 ft., but we have bigger ones in our forest.  Used mostly for lumber, this variety is very dense and heavy,.. the bark is thick and deeply grooved in older trees.  The leaves/needles are flat but stand out around the twig.  Cones are 5-11 centimeters long and between each scale a long 3 proved bract is seen, resembling the tail of a mouse burrowing in)  (sorry I didn’t get a cone picture on here) The squirrels (they are Douglas squirrels too) love them and we see many piles of scales all over.   The natives in this area used it for cooking and covering floors…

A big pod of orcas went north in front of our place (alerted by the neighbor who saw them —he says 13— from his boat)   By the time I got the camera they were too far for a decent photo..darn (note to self: Always be ready..don't I know this???)… but one could still see the 2 huge fins of big males..  A thrill to behold!    (extra)