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DOUGLAS-FIR - Pine Family Pseudotsuga menziesii      True firs belong to the genus Abies, but Douglas-fir has its own genus Pseudotsuga. Doug fir is a large straight-trunked tree, here about the size of Grand Canyon's ponderosa pines. The rough gray trunk is about 2 or 3 feet in diameter. Young trees and upper trunk can have smooth white bark like the white fir, a much less common tree in the area. With few exceptions, both Douglas-fir and white fir grow only below the South Rim, on shaded north-facing slopes and cliffs of the Kaibab and Toroweap Formations. Here a cooler micro-climate mimics the trees' preferred environment around 8,000 feet and above.     Douglas-fir vies with ponderosa pine as the two most important lumber trees in the United States.

   

Unlike the cones of true firs, those of Douglas-fir hang downward and have distinctive 3-pointed, papery bracts extending out from the scales. Some call these "mouse-tails" but they are more like the two hind feet and the tail. Immature cones are a beautiful deep purple color. Cones persist throughout the winter. The Douglas-fir needles are short like those of the Pinyon Pine.

  Up to Trees and Shrubs  Ponderosa Pine  Pinyon Pine  Utah Juniper  Gambel Oak  Douglas-fir  Cliffrose  Apache Plume  Mormon Tea  Utah Serviceberry  Fernbush  Wax Currant  Big Sagebrush  Fremont Barberry  Rabbit Brush  Banana Yucca  Utah Agave  Mountain Mahogany Blueberry Elder Rock Mat Brickellbush Buffalo Berry