Dendrology - Conifers

Western redcedar (Thuja plicata)

• needles scale like with butterfly

• thin, reddish brown and stringy bark

• 150-200ft in height

Port-orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

• scale like needles with x on underside

• brown, fibers, ridged bark

• range: coastal N Cali to S Or

Alaska-yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis)

• scale like needles, prickly to touch

• bark: gray, stringy, thin

• droopy form

incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)

• Scale like needles; set of 4 leaves is much longer than wide and can look like a stemmed wine glass

• Bark: flaky when young, platy/furrowed and reddish brown when mature

coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

• Needles about 1” long, green on top with white bands below, grows in flat plane

• very thick radish brown bark

giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron gigantea)

• short, thick, sharp needles

• reddish brown, stringy, thick bark

• cones: 2”-3.5”

baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)

• deciduous needles turing red in fall

• cones .75-1”

• bark variable, fibrous, reddish brown

• roots that form knees

• found in wet areas

• 100-120’ high

Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia)

• needles 1” long, dark green above, light green below, pointed but not sharp

• bark thin purple and scaly

• slow growth

torreya (Torreya spp.)

• Needles: 1-3.5” long linear with 2 white stomatal bands below, often aromatic

• plum like fruit

• bark gray brown

• found usually along streams

western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)

• needles: combo of scale like and awl like

• bark: thin, reddish brown, fibrous

• 60’ tall and 3’ diameter

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

• needles: 1” long with blunt tip, spirally arranged, green above with 2 stomatal bands below

• woody cone with 3 pronged bract

• bark with resin blisters when young

western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)

• Needles: .5-.75” long, flattened, dark shiny green above two weak stomatal bands below

• Cones .75-1”long brown

• bark: thin brown sometimes streaked with purple

• droopy leader

mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)

• Needles under 1”, long blue green in color, star like appearance on short shoots

• woody cones 1-3” long

noble fir (Abies procera)

• Needles white on both surfaces, shaped like hockey stick, tiny groove on upper side

• bark 1-2” thick with prominent resin blister, dark gray

California red fir (Abies magnifica)

• Bark 4-6” thick

• cones 6-9” long without bracts

• needles : .75-1.75” long, 4 angled which give appearance of ridge, crowded on upper side of twig

Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis)

• Needles: .75-1.25”, long dark green above, silvery white below, deeply grooved above

• Cones 3.5-6” long

• bark: ash gray, large irregular chalky colored blotches and resin blisters

grand fir (Abies grandis)

• Needles .5-2” long flattened,

• Cones 2.5-4.5”

• bark is smooth gray brown with resin bliseters

white fir (Abies concolor)

• needles: 2-3” long silvery blue to silvery green, 2 ranked, stomatiferious above and below

• Cones: 3-5” long

• Bark: ash gray with deep irregular furrows

subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)

• Needles: less than 1” long pale blue green in color and stomatiferious on both surfaces

• bark: smooth, chalky

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)

• Needles: .5-1” very sharp point tend to be at right angles from all sides of twig

• Cone: 2-4”

• bark thin

Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii)

• Needles: 1”, 4 sided, blue green, rank odor

• Cones: 1-2.5” papery

• thin bark

western larch (Larix occidentalis)

• Needles in fascicles of 20-40, 1-2” long, deciduous bright yellow in fall

• cones: 1-2”

lodgepole (shore) pine (Pinus contorta)

• Needles: 2 per bundle, 1-3” long

knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata)

• Needles: bundles of 3, 3-7” long slender and twisted

• woody cones 3-6”

sugar pine (Pinus lambertina)

• Needles: 5 per cluster, 2-4” long

• cones: 10-20” long with woody scales

• bark is dark green, thin on young and grayish brown to purplish brown on old

western white pine (Pinus monticola)

• Needles: 2-4” long with bundles of 5, blue green with 2-6 stomatal rows on ventral surfacs

• Cone: 5-15”

Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi)

• Needles in bundles of 3, 5-10in long

• Cones: 5-15” with scales having a prickle that turns in

ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)

• Needles: bunches of 3, 5-10” long, tufted near ends

• Cone, egg shaped, 3-5” long with each scale having a prickle that runs out

• branches start high up