EC 1502 November 1998 $1.50 UNDERSTANDING NAMES OF OREGON TREES S. Leavengood

hy do we call white fir a Hemlock? true fir? Is Douglas-fir a Fir? W true fir? Is bull pine the Cedar? same as ponderosa pine or is it a Pine? separate species? Is juniper a cedar? Is incense-cedar really a cedar? It’s little wonder that people are confused by tree names. Foresters and lay people often name a tree based on its physical appearance, the wood products industry may call the tree by another name based on the characteristics of the wood, and botanists name a tree based on its anatomical characteristics and evolu- tionary relationship to other trees. To avoid confusion, scientists use the Latin scientific name, for example Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine). The first term in the scientific name refers to the genus, and the second term refers to the species. Trees in the same genus are closely related and have similar characteris- tics. Trees in the same species are capable of interbreeding. To put it The answer to simply, if you want to know whether the mystery is a tree is a fir, pine, cedar, or anything on page 7! else, check the genus name.

Scott Leavengood, Extension wood products agent, Klamath County, Oregon State University. 2

For example, unless a tree is in the True firs often hybridize between genus Abies, it is not a true fir, and species. Thus, Shasta red fir, in unless a tree is in the genus Cedrus, it addition to being a common name is not a true cedar. often used to refer to California red Another technique botanists use to fir, also is the name for a recognized distinguish the “false species” is to hybrid of California red fir and noble hyphenate or run together their fir. common names. As an example, white fir is a true fir, but Douglas-fir “HEM-FIR” is not. And Atlas cedar is a true Having trouble locating a Hem-fir cedar, but western redcedar is not. tree? Probably so, because there is no This trick is not very reliable, how- such tree. How is it then that you’ll ever, as people often misspell com- hear wood products industry people mon names (for example, using red talk about Hem-fir and can find cedar instead of redcedar, or leaving lumber with HEMFIR stamped on it out the hyphen in Douglas-fir). (Figure 1)? So, let’s try to answer some com- Hem-fir is a species grouping. mon questions about Oregon’s tree Groupings are used by the wood species. products industry to denote species with similar properties, in this case OFTWOODS hemlock and fir. There are six sepa- S rate species in the Hem-fir grouping, TRUE FIRS including western hemlock and five Oregon has six native true firs: true firs (California red fir, grand fir, • White fir (often called concolor fir noble fir, Pacific silver fir, and white by nurseries due to its scientific fir). Wood from these trees is graded name, Abies concolor) and sold together under the Hem-fir • California red fir (a.k.a. Shasta fir species grouping. or silvertip fir, scientific name, Abies magnifica) • Grand fir (Abies grandis) • Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) • Noble fir (Abies procera) • Subalpine fir (a.k.a. alpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa) Figure 1.—Don’t be fooled by a “Hem-fir” label. Hem-fir actually is a species grouping that includes both hemlock and fir. 3

DOUGLAS-FIR In summary, Dou- Douglas-fir is glas-fir is not a pine, not a true fir. not a spruce, not a Well, what is it hemlock, and not a true then? We could fir—it’s in a class by devote several itself! pages to this tree alone. CEDARS Douglas-fir We have four truly is a “cedars” native to unique species. Oregon, and not one of them is a true cedar. In This tree has Figure 2.—Douglas-fir cones have given botanists pitchfork-shaped bracts that are longer fact, there are no true fits. Over the than the scales. cedars native to North years, they America. True cedars have called Douglas-fir a pine, a are native to the Mediterranean and spruce, a hemlock, and a true fir. The Himalayan regions and are in the wood products industry often calls genus Cedrus. Oregon’s false cedars the wood of young trees red fir and are: the wood of older trees yellow fir. • Incense-cedar (a.k.a. pencil-cedar, The Japanese call it Oregon pine. scientific name Calocedrus decurrens) Douglas-fir’s scientific name is • Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) Pseudotsuga menziesii. Pseudotsuga • Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis (pronounced soo-doe soo-ga) means lawsoniana). See Figure 3. “false hemlock,” so at least we know • Alaska-cedar (known in Canada as it’s not a hemlock! yellow-cypress, scientific name The needles of Douglas-fir and the Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) true firs look fairly similar, so in some ways, Douglas-fir resembles true firs. Botanically speaking, one reason Douglas-fir cannot be classi- fied as a true fir is the difference in its cones. True fir cones stand upright on their twigs and disintegrate in the wind rather than falling to the ground. By comparison, Douglas-fir cones are quite unique in appearance (Figure 2), hang down from the branches, and usually fall to the ground intact. Figure 3.—Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana). 4

So, why do we call these imposters ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). See cedars? It’s hard to know for sure. Figure 4. The reasons for many of The best guess is that they all have these names have to do with the aromatic properties. The true cedars tree’s appearance. Like many tree of the world, Atlas cedar (Cedrus species, ponderosa pine’s appearance atlantica) and Deodar cedar (Cedrus varies with age. Young trees often deodara) for example, also have have black bark; hence the name aromatic wood. blackbark pine. On older trees, the bark becomes cinnamon red; hence WESTERN JUNIPER the names red pine and redbark pine. What about western juniper If a tree has been dead a long time (Juniperus occidentalis)? Is it a cedar? and the bark has fallen off, leaving a No. Some people call it a cedar smooth, weathered surface, it may be because of the aromatic properties of called a buckskin pine. its wood and because its foliage is Another native Oregon pine that similar to Oregon’s false cedars. often goes by many aliases is lodge- However, juniper definitely is not a pole pine (Pinus contorta). Along the cedar. coast, lodgepole pine is known as Interestingly, the scientific name of shore pine. In eastern Oregon, lodge- eastern redcedar (a.k.a. aromatic pole pine often is known as jack redcedar or Tennessee redcedar), which often is used for lining cedar chests and for animal bedding, is Juniperus virginiana. In other words, eastern redcedar really is a juniper just like our western juniper!

PINE What about Oregon’s dozens of species of pine? Actually, there are only eight species of pine native to Oregon; however, each species often goes by multiple names, making it seem that we have dozens of pine species. As an example, the names blackbark pine, red pine, redbark pine, buckskin pine, yellow pine, bull pine, and yellow-belly pine most often refer to a single species— Figure 4.—Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). 5

pine, which in fact is another species HARDWOODS of pine. Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) is MOUNTAIN-MAHOGANY native to the Great Lakes region of Mountain-mahoganies are native the United States and Canada. Jack to eastern Oregon. Notice the pine looks very similar to lodgepole hyphen, a dead giveaway for an pine, and therefore it’s possible that imposter. True American mahoganies Northwest settlers who were familiar are in the genus Swietenia, and Afri- with jack pine gave lodgepole its can mahoganies are in the genus other common name. Khaya. West Indies mahogany Our other native Oregon pines are (Swietenia mahagoni) is native (and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), knobcone rare) to extreme southern Florida pine (Pinus attenuata), western white and is the only true mahogany native pine (often called Idaho white pine to North America. by the wood products industry, There are two mountain-mahoga- scientific name Pinus monticola), nies in eastern Oregon: curlleaf sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), limber mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus pine (Pinus flexilis), and whitebark ledifolius) and birchleaf mountain- pine (Pinus albicaulis). mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides). The wood of mountain-mahogany is WESTERN LARCH very hard and dark reddish-brown A very unique tree species in like true mahogany wood. This may northeastern Oregon goes by a be why we call these trees “mahoga- couple of names. This species is a nies.” conifer (commonly called “ever- greens”), yet it is not evergreen. It is TANOAK Oregon’s only native conifer that Is tanoak an sheds its needles every year. oak? No. Western larch (Larix occidentalis) is Notice how the the tree’s proper name, although it name is run more commonly is known as tama- together. Yet rack. Tamarack actually is another another species of larch, namely eastern larch imposter. True (Larix laricina), which is native to the oaks are in the Great Lakes, New England, and all genus Quercus. across Canada. Again, it is likely that Three of them Figure 5.—Tanoak acorn (Lithocarpus densiflorus). settlers in the West dubbed western are native to larch “tamarack,” a tree they were Oregon: Oregon white oak (Quercus accustomed to seeing in the eastern garryana), California black oak United States. (Quercus kelloggii), and canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis). 6

Tanoak’s scientific name is Adding to the confusion is all the Lithocarpus densiflorus. It has fruit attention that hybrid poplars (a.k.a. (acorns) similar to oaks, although the hybrid cottonwoods) have received acorns have spiny caps like chestnut in recent years. Hybrid poplars are acorns (Figure 5). The wood of trees produced from cross-fertiliza- tanoak resembles that of true oaks. In tion of two species in the genus addition to the acorns, this oak-like Populus. Hybrid poplars may be wood may be why we call it an crosses of cottonwoods; a cotton- “oak.” wood and a poplar (Lombardy poplar, for example); a cottonwood POISONOAK and an aspen, etc. To date, all of the Is poisonoak a true oak? No, and hybrid poplars in commercial planta- again, that’s why we run the name tions in Oregon are cottonwood together. Poisonoak’s scientific name crosses (typically eastern cottonwood is Rhus diversiloba. Its leaves look a and black cottonwood). bit like oak leaves, which may be why we call it an “oak.” MYRTLEWOOD Last, but not least, there’s POPLAR myrtlewood (Figure 6). Here’s yet What’s a poplar? Several species of another tree that goes by a number of poplar are called cottonwood, and names: myrtlewood, Oregon-myrtle, several are called aspen. Then there and California-laurel. Notice the are trees with the term poplar in their common name, Lombardy poplar for instance. Will the real poplar please come forward? Actually, poplar is a term that often is used to refer to any tree in the genus Populus, of which four are native to Oregon: • Black cottonwood (Populus deltoides var. trichocarpa, where “var.” refers to a recognized variety) • Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) • Narrowleaf cottonwood (rare in Oregon, scientific name Populus angustifolia) • Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), which recently was recognized as native to Oregon Figure 6.—Myrtlewood (Umbellularia californica). 7

hyphens; this tree is not a myrtle (not your county office of the OSU Exten- in the genus Myrtus) and it’s not a sion Service to ask for advice about a laurel (not in the genus Laurus). diseased cedar tree in your yard. To Oregon-myrtle’s scientific name is identify a disease, we often begin by Umbellularia californica, and it is the looking at common diseases for the only tree in this genus. Like Douglas- genus. The question is, is this fir, it’s in a class by itself! “cedar” a Cedrus (a true cedar such as Atlas cedar), a Thuja (such as HY DOES IT MATTER western redcedar), a Calocedrus W ? (incense-cedar), or maybe even a Is there really any harm in using Juniperus (such as western juniper)? common names for trees? Usually Unless we know the genus, the not. However, problems occasionally disease may be misidentified, and arise. For example, you might call control recommendations may be incorrect.

WHAT IS IT?

The tree on page 1 is a Douglas-fir. Notice how the cone hangs down from the branch and has pitchfork- like bracts. FOR FURTHER READING Trees to Know in Oregon, EC 1450 (Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1994). $4.50

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© 1998 Oregon State University This publication was produced and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Extension work is a cooperative program of Oregon State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Oregon counties. Oregon State University Extension Service offers educational programs, activities, and materi- als—without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, disability, and disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran status—as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Oregon State University Extension Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Published November 1998.