Pike & San Isabel National Forests
Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands

Douglas-Fir

Psuedotsuga menziesii

Name Origin

Bark

Female Cones

Needles

Where

Uses

Trivia

Named by Scottish botanist David Douglas.

Fir is from the Middle English firre and Old English fyrh.

Smooth gray bark on young trees with numerous resin scars.

To 4” long, yellowish to light brown hanging cones with uniquely 3-pointed bracts protruding from cone scales like a  snakes-tongue.

Soft, flat, 2-sided, 1¼″ long and rounded at the tip. Dark yellow green or blue green. Shortly stalked spreading mostly in two rows. Single small groove on topside of needles and single white line on underside of needles.

Found on north or south-facing slopes, in shady ravines and on rocky slopes where the soil is fairly deep.

Railroad crossties, mine timbers, for building ships and boats, construction lumber, plywood, telephone poles, fencing, railroad-car construction, boxes and crates, flooring, furniture, ladders and pulpwood.

State tree of Oregon.

The Latin name psuedotsuga means “false fir.”

Can drop 2 million seeds in a good year.

Limber Pine

Pinus flexilis

Pine is from the Latin pinus and the Old English pin.

Light gray to blackish brown.

Smooth and silvery gray on young trees.

Big (to 9” long) cylindrical, greenish brown, with thick, broad scales. Cone scales lack prickles.

Stout in clusters of 5 needles, to 3″ long. Straight or slightly curved, not sticky to the touch. Dark green.

Found on rocky, gravelly slopes, ridges and peaks.

Lumber, railroad cross ties, poles, turpentine, tar and fuel.

Cones start to appear after the tree reaches 20 years of age.

Lodgepole Pine

Pinus contorta latifolia

Pine is from the Latin pinus and the Old English pin.

Bark is grayish or light brown, thin and  with many loose scales.

Light yellow brown, reddish or dark green, lopsided cones to 2” long. Egg shaped, stalkless, oblique or 1-sided at base. Cone scales are bristle-tipped. Needles shorter and more yellow than on ponderosa pines.

Stout, twisted needles, mostly in pairs, to 2½″ long. Needles are sparse and yellow-green.

Found in well drained soils, dry slopes and in burned areas. Shade intolerant.

Lumber, knotty pine paneling, cabinetwork, mine timbers, fence posts, poles, utility poles and pulpwood.

Many Plains Indian tribes use the trunks of these trees for their teepee poles.

Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa scopulorum

Named by Scottish botanist David Douglas for its ponderous size. Pine is from the Latin pinus.

Brown or blackish bark when young, furrowed into ridges when mature. Roundish topped.

Egg shaped woody cones, 3-6” long, short stalked, light reddish brown and the scales have prickles.

3-sided, 4-7″ long  and olive or dark green. Needles in bundles of twos and threes. Needles stiff and sharply pointed.

Found mostly on  south-facing slopes in well drained soils and on exposed hillsides and mesas.

Cabinets, molding, cut-stock, lumber, railroad ties, telephone poles, posts and mine timbers.

Some say the bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch? You decide.

Blue Spruce

Picea pugens

Spruce was once spelled pruce, and meant from Pruce, i.e., Prussia. Spruce trees are so named because they were first known as being native to Prussia.

Gray or brown, furrowed into scaly ridges. Young branches are reddish. Conical crown as compared to the Englemann Spruce which has a narrow, steeple shaped crown.

Greater than 3″ and up to 5″ in length, light brown with long, thin, flexible scales irregularly toothed and more or less pointed. Papery cone scales. Oval or cylindrically shaped. Cones concentrated at top of tree.

Rigid, sharp, 4-sided needles. Needles dull, bluish-green with a noticeable blue cast. Needles have a resinous smell when crushed.

Found mostly in bottom-lands and along streams on north-facing slopes in cool, damp areas. Also in moist valleys and in canyons.

Posts, poles and fuel.

State Tree of Colorado and Utah.

The 2000 Capitol Millennium Holiday Tree  was a Blue Spruce that came from the Pikes Peak area.

Englemann Spruce

Picea engelmannii

Spruce was once spelled pruce, and meant from Pruce, i.e., Prussia. Spruce trees are so named because they were first known as being native to Prussia.

Grayish brown on young trees. Purplish brown, cinnamon brown or reddish brown on mature trees. Thin, loosely attached scales. Narrow, steeple shaped crown.

Less than 3″ in length, light brown, with long, thin, flexible scales. Irregularly toothed and more or less pointed cones. Numerous small cones concentrated at the top of the tree.

Somewhat flexible, 4-sided needles, ¾″ long and dark or pale blue green of disagreeable, skunk like odor when crushed. Needles shorter than that of the Blue Spruce and not quite as sharp.

Found mostly on north-facing slopes in shaded areas and sheltered canyons. Also found along stream bottoms and in moist, cool sites.

Piano sounding boards, violins, plywood for home construction,  boxes crates, prefabricated wood products, furniture and pulpwood.

On average 135,000 seeds make up one pound.