Trees of the Forest: Their Beauty and Use by Anonymous

Douglas-Fir, ponderosa and southern pines, yellow-poplar, sugar maple, and the white oak are great American trees, beauties on the landscape wherever they stand. As forest trees, they are grown to serve many useful purposes. You can derive more enjoyment from your travels through the National Forests by observing these and other species and learning why each grows best in its particular environment.

"Douglas-Fir", the State tree of Oregon, produces more wood products than any other American tree and perhaps is the world's most valuable species of conifer. It grows in moist forests from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, reaching its largest size on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains and along the northwest coast, where soil is rich and moisture plentiful. Douglas-fir grows second in size only to the California sequoias, giant sequoia and redwood ("Sequoia gigantea" and "Sequoia sempervirens"), with heights of 200 feet or more and diameters of 3 to 6 feet. Under favorable conditions individual trees may live a thousand years, grow 10 feet through and 300 feet tall, with furrowed, cinnamon-brown bark 1 foot thick.