On Tuesday April 30^th the City of Portland will conclude Arbor Month celebrations by inducting a very special tree to the Portland Heritage Tree list.  The dawn redwood isn’t overwhelming in size, height, or age and there are already five dawn redwoods on the Heritage tree list.  So what makes this tree so special?  Well, this is the first dawn redwood to bear seed cones inOregon in at least 5 million years. 

What did you say?

During the Miocene, 25-5 million years ago, the deciduous conifer Glyptostroboides metasequoia flourished around the world and in North America.  Their presence is evidenced by the fossil record (they are in fact the state fossil of Oregon).  The story of the dawn redwood is one of good timing.  In the early 1940s, a Japanese paleobotanist first described the fossil of a unique tree.  Not far away and shortly after, near the village of Moudao in China, a Chinese forester discovered a peculiar deciduous conifer he thought to be a Glyptostrobus, a Chinese swamp cypress.  He collected some samples from the tree, and later passed them on to a student at the National Central University.  The samples made their way into the hands of Dr. Wan-Chun Cheng, who concluded it was not a swamp cypress at all, and in fact was a new genus entirely.  New specimens were collected, and eventually were passed onto Dr. Hsen-Hen Hu, who matched these to the recently described fossils.  Through the late 40s, seeds were distributed to many places across the world, again, lucky timing, as the People’s Republic ofChina closed its doors to the outside world in 1949.

The Hoyt Arboretum was one of the recipients of dawn redwood seeds in 1948, making Portland home to some of the oldest trees in this country.  In 1952, one of these trees became the first to bear cones in the western hemisphere – the tree to be dedicated April 30^th. 

Today dawn redwoods are popular landscape trees found around the world.  They are named for their resemblance to the Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, and their resemblance to the swamp cypress, Glyptostrobus. 

Visit the event link for more information on the dawn redwood heritage tree dedication.

Pseudotsuga menzeisii, the Douglas-fir, “Nature’s All-Purpose Tree”

It’s a spruce, it’s a pine, it’s a…. well…what is it?  Since it was first noted by Archibald Menzies in 1793, taxonomists have called it a pine, a spruce, a hemlock, and a fir.  In fact, before Pseudotsuga menzeisii, the botanical name for Doug-fir was Pseudotsuga taxifolia, meaning, a false hemlock with yew-like foliage.  Despite the apparent difficulty classifying the tree, it is easy to identify by its distinct cone.  In Native American lore, a Douglas-fir invited a mouse to escape a sweeping forest fire by hiding in its cones.  We can still see the hind feet and tail peaking out from beneath the scales!  These three pronged bracts are unique to the genus and are seen in varying forms on other species.

 Barring what the tree is not, what the Douglas-fir is, is remarkable.  It is the most common tree in thePacific Northwest, accounting for 8 out of every 10 trees!  The ultimate generalist, Doug-firs are variously early successional, late successional, and monotypic, depending on the climate and fire regime.  This ability is owed to some shade tolerance and thick bark, which protects the tree from fire.

Earlier this month, I wrote about a giant left over from a previous epoch and a tree we widely recognize as the tallest in the world: the coastal redwood.  What is less widely known is that the Douglas-fir is the second tallest tree in the world, and may once have competed with the redwood as the tallest –over 400 feet.  Though no Tree of Life <link to Western Red Cedar> , the Douglas-fir was nonetheless important for medicine, wood, and deodorizing.  Today, the Douglas-fir “furnishes more products for use than any other tree in the world” according to Edward Jensen.  For the fungi-philes out there, the Douglas-fir furnishes something else: a delicious mycorrhizal associate – the chanterelle.

Five Doug-firs grace the Heritage Tree list including #134 on the TREEsure map atLowerMacleayPark.  This is the tallest tree inPortland, at 242 feet.  For East Portlanders, Heritage Tree #279 is located on the walking trail at Glendoveer Golf Course along the north fenceline.

Don’t worry if you’ve missed a few Arbor Month activities – we still have four days of fun and educational activities on the calendar!  It looks like it’s going to be a lovely weekend, and here are three opportunities to get outside:

Saturday April 27th

• Get on a first name basis with your urban forest! Join Neighborhood Tree Stewards at the Holgate Library for an introduction to tree ID followed by a practice ID walk in the Multnomah Pioneer Cemetery.

Sunday April 28^th

• Be uplifted by spring renewal on a Spring Blossom Tour at the Hoyt Arboretum.
• Get in a workout with a bike ride to Treephoria along the Spring Water Corridor.

We hope to see you out there!

Happy Arbor Month!

Join us this tonight for an evening of trees, fun, and great company.  As we wrap up Arbor Month, we'd like to invite you to a tree talk and reception at the North Portland's Lucky Lab.  Starting us off, Geoffrey Donovan, one of our favorite tree presenters, will give a talk about trees and their economic benefits.  Following his 45 minute presentation we will have a reception.  This is a great time to learn more about trees and their benefits and hang out with Portland's awesome tree enthusiasts' community.

Where: Lucky Lab Tap Room -

            1700 N Killingsworth

            (Just 2 blocks west of the MAX stop)

When:  Tonight, Thursday, April 25th

Snacks provided, drinks on your own.

All ages welcome!

Ten-inch long needles in groups of 3; thick orange, deeply fissured bark; the faint smell of vanilla… the ponderosa pine is a distinct tree, a hallmark of the American West, and the most widely distributed pine in North America.  The ponderosa pine, aka the yellow pine or bull pine by foresters, is drought-adapted and thrives where frequent, low-intensity fires keep forests low-density and free of underbrush.  They are shade intolerant and their own dropped needles and cones are excellent kindling.  In frequent-fire regimes, ponderosas live 500 or more years and develop sturdy trunks, reinforced by fire-induced pitch-run.  Likely named for their size, ponderosa pines are commonly 4 feet wide and 120 feet tall, though they reach 7 feet wide and more than 200 feet tall when allowed to do so. 

Though it comes as a surprise to some, ponderosa pines are frequent in the WillametteValley, and plantations of young trees are being established where it is too wet for Douglas-fir.  In Beavertonand Tualatin, 200-300 year old pines still stand.  There are no fewer than 5 ponderous pines on the Heritage Tree list.  A notable specimen, #285 on the corner of NE Fremontand 29^th, bears a stone telling us it used to mark the Pearson farm.  Here is the power of a tree to link us through time and capture our imaginations.  Looking out, it is not so hard for the street and the power lines and the houses to disappear, and a farm on the slope of a fertile valley to take their place.