Named after David Douglas a Scottish botanical explorer of the late 1700s, this giant has been known to reach an age of well over 1000 years. Most of the original coastal forests are gone now but drought adapted youngsters thrive on the landscape, perhaps in anticipation of changing climates to come. The grey bark develops large deep grooves as it thickens to fend off ground fires. The interior subspecies of Douglas-fir has bluish green needles whereas the needles of the coastal subspecies are yellowish green. Soft reddish brown male cones produce a dusting of yellow pollen.
Botanists believe that a female conifer cone originated by the reduction of large fertile branches.
The cone axis is the main branch. The scales which produce the seeds are shortened and modified cone-bearing branches. The little bracts, which look like the back legs and tail of a mouse disappearing under the scale, are a modified leaf which once flourished at the base of the fertile branch. B.C. The tree favours drier sites at medium to low elevations though both on the coast and in the interior it can reach timber line. The North American range extends from B.C. and Alberta south through the mountains to Mexico.