Doug Fir and the Chocolate Chip Tree In Washington’s Deception Pass State Park are several awe-inspiring specimens of the chief timber trees of the Pacific Northwest from Northern California to Alaska. It was my pleasure to observe and pat the flanks of several of these a couple weeks ago (the hugging of such giants being out of the question): the Douglas fir and the Sitka spruce. Without these trees, the building of our homes would cost us a great deal more. Their abundance, qualities, size, and growth rate make them the most utilized sawn timber in North America—and hence the most likely candidates for overharvesting. Like the great white pines of the Great Lakes region and the longleaf pine of the Southeast, without adequate regulation and commercial restraint, these vast forest resources are also destined for virtual depletion. Symbolic of our lack of foresight regarding the conservation of our forests is America’s premier wooden battleship, the USS Constitution—now preserved in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard: Its original three main masts were of eastern white pine, which have been replaced with western Douglas fir—a wood unknown to settlers when “Old Ironsides” went to sea in 1798. No white pines could be found that were large enough for the great ship. This presently abundant tree is truly a giant, surpassed in height only by the coast redwood—its tallest measured specimen being 329 feet high! And it is really not a fir. It’s a species of its own that is more spruce-like than fir. Hence it was commonly referred to in the late 1800’s simply as the “Douglastree.” The tree has retained its “Douglas” designation in part as a tribute to David Douglas, the Scottish botanist who first obtained its seeds for cultivation in the UK. Douglas, in fact, introduced some 240 plants into British horticulture before he died at age 35 while doing research in Hawaii. He fell into a pit-trap while climbing the Mauna Kea volcanic peak, and was trampled to death by a bullock, which had also fallen into the trap. The Douglas fir is the fourth most common tree in North America, and it is the second most common Christmas tree (after the Fraser fir). Because of its abundance and strength it is the most commonly used lumber for construction, so most folks who live in homes built in the past 60 years or so probably sleep each night with heads only a few inches from a Douglas fir 2×4. As standing timber, the Doug fir is fairly easy to pick out among its peers: western redcedar, western hemlock, and Sitka spruce. Of the four, the Douglastree has the most deeply fluted trunk and its cones, usually ubiquitous beneath the tree, have three-pointed bracts that stick out between the scales—sort of like a forked tongue sticking out of a snake’s mouth. There is really no other cone like it. The Sitka spruce, with a cone about the same size without the bracts (like the Colorado spruce), is identified by its scaly bark and could be taken at first to be a hemlock. But when you pull a scaly chip from its trunk, the color beneath is a rich milk chocolate—hence my designation as the “chocolate chip tree” (at my age one needs those sorts of memory aids!). The Sitka spruce is also a champion tree in height—the tallest of which was measured at 317 feet, and it’s the premier timber tree of Alaska. Of all the woods, it has the highest strength-to-weight ratio—a fact that led to its common use in the manufacture of airplanes before World War II. This same feature has also made it the best wood for ladders. The Sitka spruce is also known as one of the fastest growing conifers, being able to reach a height of 200 feet in 100 years. Because of its knot-free nature and its fiber structure, it is the most common wood for music sounding boards: in pianos, guitars, and pipe organs. So most church-goers have their soul blessed by the resonance of Sitka spruce every week or so. Its most common uses, however, are for lumber and paper pulp—a common blessing we might contemplate every time we visit our home’s “necessary room.” Thus endeth my ambling among the great trees of the Pacific Northwest—for this year at least. I leave you with a sunset silhouette featuring the Douglas firs, Western hemlocks, and Western redcedars of Bluebell Springs on Orcas Island of the San Juan Archipelago in Washington State of the United States of America—where I hope the conservation of our forests is now a primary national aim (a hope for Canada too, eh - See more at: wonderofcreation.org/ambling/doug-fir-and-the-chocolate-chip-tree/#sthash.zyKuWc5N.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 14:43:43 +0000
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