Pseudotsuga macrocarpa
Common name: 
Bigcone Douglas-fir
Pronunciation: 
soo-do-TSOO-ga mak-ro-KAR-pa
Family: 
Pinaceae
Genus: 
Pseudotsuga
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Conifer, evergreen tree, 40-60(80) ft [12-16(25)] m tall, 60-90 cm (23-35 inches) trunk diameter, crown broad open conical, branches generally down swept, branchlets pendulous.  Bark thick, red-brown, deeply furrowed.  Young shoots red- to green-brown, gray in second year, glabrous to finely pubescent.  Leaves (needles) parted or all around shoot, arise from minute pegs, straight or gently curved forward and down, 3-5 cm long, even to 6-8 cm on strong shoots, light to deep glossy green above and indistinctly furrowed, two gray white stomatal bands beneath, apex acute.  Cones only produced on 50 year old plus trees, short thick stalk, cone proper ovoid-conic to cylindrical, 11-15 cm long and to 3-5 cm wide, even 18 cm in the wild, bract scales erect, 3 pointed, the central point only slightly longer than the lateral ones.  Seeds relatively large, 12 mm, not flattened, with 10-14 mm wing.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7-8   Native to southern California, in mountainous areas from Kern County to just north of the border with Mexico in San Diego County.
  • macrocarpa: macro, large, carpa, fruit; i.e., large fruit (cone)
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: southwest area in the Moreland Hall "arboretum", near 26th St.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branchlets with cones

    branchlets with cones

  • cone

    cone

  • branch with spent male cones

    branch with spent male cones

  • leaves and buds

    leaves and buds

  • leaves

    leaves

  • cone, comparison

    cone, comparison

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark