Archibald Menzies: Plant Explorer

The exotic plants of China and Japan were a prime target of early European plant explorers, but the New World, North America, was also high on their list. Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist who travelled on the HMS Discovery with Captain George Vancouver on his Vancouver Expedition from 1791 to 1795. This four and a half year expedition circumnavigated the globe and introduced Europe to many new plant varieties. Menzies was the first collector to bring specimens from the Pacific Northwest directly to England.

One of these specimens was the Douglasfir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, which is today the most commercially important tree in Western North America, and the world’s second tallest conifer (behind the Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens). Menzies found huge specimens growing along the Pacific coast, some reported to exceed 300 feet in height. Though these giants have since fallen to time and the logger’s axe, you can still find trees that top 200 feet while travelling down the coastal highway. Unlike most pyramidal conifers, the trunk of Douglasfir retains its massive girth for much of its length, tapering just below the summit. This characteristic makes it extremely useful for lumber and poles. It is also a very popular Christmas tree in some parts of the country.

Douglasfir is not a true fir, which is in the genus Abies. Though it too is in the Pine family (Pinaceae), it has unique cones and buds. The cones have scales like other Pinaceae members, but also has forked bracts emerging from between the scales, like that of the tongue of a snake. Buds are shiny, have a chestnut-brown color, and are pointed. Most conifers have rounded buds. Douglasfir is not for poor dry soils, preferring cool moist soils that are either neutral or slightly acidic. Though not ideally suited to the Cedarburg area, those that I have seen seem to be doing fairly well.

The hardiness of Douglasfir depends on the source of the seed. It is one of the widest ranging conifers of Western North America, but the population breaks down into two distinct groups, designated as separate varieties. Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii is known as the Coast Douglasfir and lays claim to the largest specimens. Hardiness, however, is only zone 6, which makes it somewhat tender in SE Wisconsin. Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca is known as the Rocky Mountain Douglasfir. It is shorter than the Coast Douglasfir, but usually has bluish-green needles, making it a nicer landscape specimen. A cultivar that is much bluer than the typical Rocky Mountain Douglasfir is ‘Wycoff Blue.’ So blue is its color that it is often confused with Blue Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens var. glauca.) Hardiness of Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca is zone 4, easily tolerating the minus 25 degree winter temperatures we recently had.

Douglasfir may be too large for many urban landscapes, but there are several dwarf cultivars that can fit into even the smallest of yards. Too find them, though, you may have to search the internet for mail order sources, as few garden centers carry either the species or its cultivars. The most readily available of these is ‘Graceful Grace,’ which has sprawling, drooping branches. If the leader is supported with a stake, it may reach a height of 25 feet, but most likely it will stay under 10 feet. ‘Emerald Twister’ has a mounded form and twisted branches. ‘Little Jon’ is a dwarf globe. ‘Foxy Fir’ has a nice bluish color and a narrow pyramidal, dwarf form. The latter three only grow about three inches per year.

I can only imagine the reaction that Archibald Menzies and others of his party had when they first encountered the monstrous trees of the Northwest. Though we will never see the huge splendor of old-growth Douglasfirs, we can still enjoy this pyramidal specimen and the dwarfs that have originated from it.

Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca

Younger Rocky Mountain Douglasfir

Mature cone

Immature cone

Foliage showing pointed buds

‘Wycoff Blue’

‘Graceful Grace’

‘Graceful Grace’

‘Emerald Twister’

‘Little Jon’

‘Foxy Fir’