| Index |
| True Fir |
| Spruce |
| Pine |
| Hemlock |
| False Cedar |
| Other Conifers |
| Bibliography |
Other Conifers
There are other conifers in Coastal British Columbia, but are the only one in their group that is in the area that was used. They are Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii, a false fir), Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), and Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia).Jump to: Home|
Projects Page|
PRP Page
Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Douglas fir grows up to 85 m tall and has a diameter of 150-440 cm. Older trees have a long, branch-free trunk and a short cylindrical crown with a flattened top.
The needles are about 2 cm long with a blunt tip and green above with 2 white bands underneath. Pollen cones are small and reddish-brown while the seed cones are woody and 5 to 10 cm long with pitchfork-shaped bracts that are longer than the scales and are reddish-brown to grey. Young seed cones hang downwards. Douglas fir is abundant in western North America from British Columbia to Mexico and found at sea level to 1, 650 m of elevation along coastal regions, west of the mountain regions in the Pacific Northwest.
Photos from Tree Book B.C. Online and Trees of the Pacific Northwest, map from Tree Book B.C. Online
Back
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A shrubby tree with a wide, irregularly rounded crown, the Rocky Mountain juniper has a knotty, twisted trunk reaching 13 m in height. Its scale-like leaves grow in pairs, barely overlapping but covering the twig in four rows. On young, faster growing branches the leaves may be longer and more needle-like, scattered in twos or threes, and pale yellowish-green, while on older branches the leaves are greyish-green. The seed cones are rounded, small, fleshy, and bright to dark blue with a greyish tinge and located at the ends of the branches.
Rocky Mountain juniper is commonly found on dry, rocky, or sandy soils, especially in moist rocky canyon bottoms, along lake and stream shores, and on dry, rocky south-facing ridges.
Photos from Tree Book B.C. Online and Trees of the Pacific Northwest, map from Tree Book B.C. Online
BackWestern Yew
Taxus brevifolia
 |
 |
 |
 |
Western yew is an evergreen shrub to a small tree, only about 2 to 15 metres high. It grows in moist forest at low to middle elevations within a few kilometres of shoreline.
The trunk of western yew is often twisted and can be 30 cm in diameter. The bark is reddish and papery. The needles are flat, dull green on top and striped with stomata underneath, and usually 2 to 3 cm long. These end abruptly in a thin point and are arranged in two rows in flat sprays. Although western yew is a conifer, it has a single seed almost enclosed a small bright orange-red "berry" or cup and not a seed cone, like most conifers. The seed is poisonous to humans.