Pseudotsuga macrocarpa

Bigcone Douglas-fir is in the pine or Pinaceae family and is native to 4 small mountain ranges bordering Los Angeles in southwestern California.

Compared to Coast Douglas-fir, it is not a large tree, growing to less than 40 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. It is shade tolerant and prefers a Mediterranean climate of hot summers and mild wet winters.

• Needles are flat, 2.5–5 cm long (almost twice the length of P. menziesii needles) and spirally arranged, lacking a woody peg or suction cup attachment (as would be in Picea or Abies respectively).
• Buds are 4–8 mm long, narrow conic shape and pointed.
• Species is monoecious; males are oblong, red turning to pale yellow near ends of branches; females are reddish with long bracts, near branch tips in spring.
• Cones are the largest cones of all the Douglas-firs, from 10–18 cm long, with the characteristic long tongues (trident bracts) protruding from inside the cone scales. Seeds are large and heavy, 10 mm long and 8 mm broad, with a short rounded wing 12 mm long.
• Bark is originally gray, smooth, with resin blisters (resembling Abies); it becomes thick, with light and darker brown contrasts, and deep fissures on older trees. .

** Special thanks to Dr. J. Worrall from University of British Columbia for donating his only sample of a bigcone douglas-fir from his personal collection.