Identifying Tree Species

[Scooter]

One thing that I've noticed after a couple decades of training rookies to plant trees is that I get annoyed at having to explain the same concepts to dozens of planters over a span of years. I'm all about efficiency, so I've identified a couple tree planting topics that could easily be translated to video, so rookies could study the video before the season starts.

One topic in particular is teaching planters how to tell different coniferous species apart. I'm going to put together a short video, maybe four minutes long. I took some footage this fall, about sixty seconds each of the four main northern Interior species: Spruce, Pine, Fir, and Cedar. I'm going to do a minute long voice-over as each of the species is on screen, and put it on YouTube. I think this is the sort of video that every company in Western Canada that hires rookies would want to send out to new employees before they arrive for spring work.

I've just written up the text for the voiceover for each species. I'm going to cut and paste them below. If anyone here can think of anything important that I've omitted in the next day or two, can you let me know?

Thanks for the assistance ...

[Scooter]

Cedar

There are two types of Cedar trees in BC. Western Red cedar, often just called Red Cedar and abbreviated Cw, is found in scattered locations, mostly throughout the southern parts of the province. This particular branch is from a Red Cedar. Another species, Alaska Yellow cedar, often just called Yellow Cedar and abbreviated Yc, is usually only found down on Vancouver Island and close to the lower mainland coast.

Cedar is the provincial tree of British Columbia, and is quite valuable due to the unique colour, texture, and durability of its wood. Cedars thrive in wet areas, although they do grow in some moderately dry regions too. One of the problems with a lot of the cedars up around the center of the province is that they have “heart-rot,” where the entire center of the tree rots out. However, the trees can grow to be very large, and sometimes can live to be a thousand years old.

Cedar is one of the few types of lumber which is suitable for outdoor use, because it is durable and low maintenance. As such, it is often used for patio furniture, decks, and exterior decorative carpentry. It is also a very low density species, and has good properties (for wood) as an insulator.

As you can see from this video, the branches of young cedar trees are very flat, and the needles are also flattened. The needles also have a waxy appearance. Also, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the needles aren’t straight; they have a sort of clumpy pattern to them.

Cedar seedlings are not planted very commonly in the BC Interior, especially compared to pine and fir and spruce. In my career as an Interior planter, less than 1% of the trees that my camps have planted have been Cedar. However, coastal planters will plant cedar quite frequently.

[Scooter]

Spruce

Spruce is a very significant species in reforestation in northern BC & Alberta. I’d estimate that over 45% of seedlings planted are spruce. Disregarding pine and spruce, I’d guess that all of the couple dozen other species of trees planted in western Canada make up less than 10% of the trees planted. There are about thirty-five species of spruce trees, worldwide. Several types are planted in BC, such as Engelmann Spruce, which is abbreviated Se, White spruce, which is abbreviated Sw, Black spruce, which is abbreviated Sb, and a hybrid of Engelmann and White, which is abbreviated Sx.

Spruce trees are very shade tolerant. They’ll grow more slowly than pine, but they eventually overtake pine after a few decades. As seedlings, their stems are very rigid. Since some foresters don’t like “leaning” seedlings, planters have to put some effort in to make sure the trees are standing upright. Spruce trees are also quite tolerant of standing water, so you’ll often see foresters prescribing that spruce trees be planted in depressions and low areas of blocks. Black spruce in particular is extremely tolerant of water, and can be planted in ground that is practically a swamp.

Spruce is less expensive than pine, and is usually used for general construction purposes, such as for studs, plywood, framing, etc. It is also used for some specialty applications, such as the production of several types of musical instruments. However, spruce does not have any decay or insect resistant properties after harvest, so it isn’t suitable for use in outdoor applications unless the wood is treated or painted.

At first, planters usually find it difficult to tell spruce and fir trees apart. Their needles are both short, and from a distance, they look very similar. Although most of the methods of telling them apart aren’t 100% foolproof, here are some notes that will give you hints on which species is which:
- Spruce needles are four-sided, and fir needles are sort of like a flattened triangle. Therefore, spruce needles will “roll” between your fingers, while fir needles don’t.
- Spruce needles are much more prickly at the tips. You can grab a fir branch with your bare hand and squeeze it, but it won’t feel uncomfortable. However, if you grab a spruce branch, it will feel quite prickly.
- Spruce trees often (but not always) have a slightly more bluish-green tinge to their colour, whereas fir trees often have a slightly more yellowish-green tinge.
- The bark on spruce trees is thin, rough, and scaly, and is usually a brownish color. Balsam fir bark, on the other hand, is quite smooth (especially on younger trees) and is more greyish in colour.
- Spruce needles grow out in all directions from their twigs, but fir needles have a slightly flatter growth pattern, so there are very few needles on the “underside” of a twig or small branch.

Because spruce is almost always considered to be a good crop tree, it must usually be respected as a “good” natural if the natural displays acceptable form and vigour.

[Scooter]

Fir

There are five species of Fir found in British Columbia, but to the best of my knowledge, Douglas Fir and Subalpine Fir are the two that planters need to be most concerned with.

Subalpine Fir is also known as balsam fir, and is abbreviated Bl. Although small pockets can be found on Vancouver Island, Balsam Fir is predominantly found throughout the mainland. Douglas Fir, abbreviated Fdi or Fd, is found all over Vancouver Island and found sporadically in the southern half of mainland BC. Because of this, coastal planters and southern interior planters tend to be more familiar with Douglas Fir. Also, Douglas Fir actually has two varieties – the green variety usually grows in the Interior and the blue variety usually grows in coastal areas. Both Douglas and Balsam Fir are considered to be pioneer trees after fires.

Douglas Fir is a very valuable tree, and on contracts where it occurs naturally, it is usually respected as an acceptable species of natural. Balsam Fir, on the other hand, is usually viewed as a scrap tree or weed as far as acceptable naturals are concerned, even though mature trees are still used for lumber. It can be quite tricky for planters to tell young Balsam and Douglas Fir trees apart, which is frustrating, since foresters will usually ask planters to respect Douglas Fir as good naturals, but they will say that Balsam Fir naturals should be ignored. It is important for planters to figure out how to identify these young trees, because if a planter accidentally spaces off young Balsam naturals, the forester won’t be happy.

I’ve already covered some of the characteristics of fir trees: needles that don’t roll, needles that are softer and less prickly than spruce, possibly a more yellowish-green tinge than spruce, and smooth bark. Inexperienced planters will often have to touch young fir and spruce naturals to make sure they know which species they’ve encountered.

The fir branch in this video is from a Balsam Fir, not a Douglas Fir.

[Scooter]

Pine

There are over 120 species of pine trees, of which about 35 species are found in North America. Varieties such as Ponderosa, Shore, and White pine are sometimes planted in BC, although Lodgepole Pine is by far the most common variety that I’ve planted. You’ll know you’re planting Lodgepole Pine if you find the abbreviation “Pl” or “Pli” on your box-end stickers. Pine is one of the two species (along with spruce) that make up the vast majority of the trees planted in northern BC and Alberta.

In general, pine trees have the longest needles, which are usually quite soft. These needles are usually about five to eight centimetres long. Pine trees are easy to tell from a distance because of these long needles, which usually are not grouped tightly together. The bark is smooth in young trees, but thick and scaly in mature trees. The colour of the needles is usually a fairly rich green, perhaps with a very slight yellowish edge to it. Pine trees are usually pioneers in open plantations. They grow quickly, and will rise above spruce trees. They tend to grow best on sandy, open ground, but can survive in wet ground. However, they definitely prefer sunlight to shaded areas.

Pine cones often need a lot of heat to open. Usually, when a forest fire sweeps through a pine plantation, the heat from the fire is required to pop the cones and start a new crop of young trees. If a block is clear-cut, the cones that are left behind on the ground can also sometimes get warm enough on hot sunny days to pop open and start the germination process. Pine plantations can sometimes come back with very dense spacing, which can be so thick that it is impossible to walk through. In these plantations, the trees put almost all their growth into height, trying to grow higher than their neighbours, instead of into branches.

Pine trees are one of the most commercially important coniferous species, used for both lumber and pulp. Generally speaking, pine is used for higher-value carpentry items, such as furniture, panels, window frames, floors, and roofing. Pine trees have no insect or decay-resistant qualities after harvest, so they are always used for indoor carpentry. If the lumber is left exposed to the elements, it generally deteriorates within a year or so.

Pine tree seedlings are generally the best interior trees to plant because they’re usually slightly smaller and weigh less than spruce. They’re also soft, and the needles don’t prickle planters’ arms, giving them a rash. However, because the stems of these seedlings are very flexible, it’s harder to make them stand up straight when you’re planting them.

The mountain pine beetle infestation has devastated a lot of pine forests across BC over the past decade, but I don’t think this problem has significantly changed the rate at which pine trees are used for new plantations. I’d guess that in my experience in northern BC and northern Alberta, over 45% of the trees planted are pine.

Because pine is almost always considered to be a good crop tree, it must usually be respected as a “good” natural if the natural displays acceptable form and vigour.

[Scooter]

By the way, I also found this very useful link that the Ministry of Forests has online, to cover all of the species in BC:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/silviculture/Compendium/

Maybe someday in the future, I'll do a second video that covers all the species that Coastal planters might encounter.

[PlantinTaders]

Its awesome that you are doing this. Not only will it help new planters become more efficient by learning species, but vets can garner valuable knowledge from this as well. I'm amazed at the amount of veteran planters and bush workers I meet who know little to nothing about identification beyond a base level, much of which is often false or widespread misconceptions.

The four groups cedar, fir, pine and spruce are not actually species in and of themselves but groups of species, or Genii(plural of genus?), and each genus is comprised of a number of individual species.

The Alaska-cedar is actually not a cedar at all, but is classified in the false cypress genus, Chamaecyparis, commonly referred to as a cedars because they bear a strong resemblance to cedars, and are in the same family, the Cypresses. The hyphen in the name Alaska-cedar indicates that it is not a true cedar tree. I believe its found north to Alaska along the coast.


Distinguishing fir from spruce can be challenging at first and one of the most telltale signs at first glance will be the cones. Fir cones are generally larger than spruce, depending on species, and often grow up at right angles from branches with a more filled out, often almost velvety appearance. Fir cones will often break off by individual cone scales from the top, leaving a bare axis. In juvenile individuals identification can be made from the needles as stated above. Although both fir and spruce needles grow from the branch leaving a somewhat flat bottom, fir tends to grow more horizontally oriented giving a "fan" like appearance. After working around them for a while you will get an eye for which species are which.

Douglas-fir is another impostor species which belongs to its own genus, Pseudotsuga. Again, the hyphen denotes that it is a "false" fir. There are two distinct regional varieties of this species, coastal and interior doug-fir, the coastal variety growing much larger. I once saw several douglas-firs growing on the Western University campus in London, Ontario. They were maybe 20-30 years old, alive but definitely not doing well, I think the climate was more than warm enough but suspect they had problems adapting to the different growing season and more dry conditions of their new home. Douglas-fire needles are flat somewhat like a fir, but grow in a pattern more resembling a spruce's foliage, from what I can gather. Mature doug-firs can be identified by their distinctive cones, with bracts that look almost like little three-pronged snake tongues extending from the cone scales.


The balsam fir I am used to is the familiar one found in eastern Canada, which often comes up incredibly thick and will grow in the understory under the shade of other trees. It is named for the horrible bubbles of sap which develop in its bark that will pop and release incredibly sticky resin that is impossible to clean. I think this is somewhat common for fir species.

As for the grand fir of southern BC and the silver fir of the coast, I have no knowledge of their harvest or reforestation efforts or how likely a planter is to encounter them.

A good source for very reliable and somewhat concise information is the Silvics of North America, for any nerdshows like myself out there who want to learn more.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvi ... ntents.htm

Hey Scooter do you do any hemlock planting in BC? And how likely is it that you would have to honour hemlock and tamarock/larches as crop naturals?

[mwainwright]

damn it scooter, the balsam on the coast is actually amabilis fir, and is abbreviated Ba. i should rookie-slap you for that.

[Scooter]

Good notes, thanks.

Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that my coastal tree knowledge is weak, at best. I've actually learned quite a bit just looking at these first four species-groups in more detail.

So which firs are actually planted on the Island? Are all five? Or just Ba and Bl and Fdi? All the stuff that I planted near Meziadin was Bl, not Ba. I planted a bit of fir in September near Port Hardy, but I can't remember what type it was.

PlantinTaders, yes, I've planted hemlock several times, but not in significant numbers. I think most of the time it was in blocks to the east of Purden Lake, up north. I remember a couple contracts where the hemlock would be mixed with white or hybrid spruce, cedar, and balsam fir. The only times I've ever been asked to respect hemlock naturals would be when I was planting either hemlock or cedar (or both).

As for larch, I think I've only planted it once. I can't even remember where it was, but it was mixed with other species, and I think it was just a small amount for diversity, not because they expected to ever use it as a crop tree. I've never been asked to respect larch as a natural. I think larch is a more important tree in the Maritimes, where they call it tamarack or hackmatack. But the tamarack in the Maritimes is a slightly different species than western Larch. It's harvested for pulp pretty often in New Brunswick.

[Rainman]

So which firs are actually planted on the Island?

Fdc - Coastal Douglas-Fir. Not Fdi which is the interior species. Fdi is planted east from Lillooet, Merritt and Princeton. Fdc is west from Pemberton and Hope.

Ba - Amabilis Fir. A true fir. By far the most widely planted true fir on the coast.

Bg - Grand fir. Also a true fir. Sometimes planted on the Coast, but rarely because it's range barely makes it into BC. It is more common in the Pacific Northwest of the USA.

Bl - Lasiocarpa. I have never planted Bl on the coast, only in the interior.

As for larch, I think I've only planted it once. I can't even remember where it was, but it was mixed with other species, and I think it was just a small amount for diversity, not because they expected to ever use it as a crop tree.

Actually, Larch is a very important tree in the Southern Interior. I've been on contracts that it was the dominant species, along with pine (Pli). As far as I know, it get's graded as fir and is very good lumber. Can anyone else confirm this?

[Mike]

I've planted larch in 10% mix around Burns Lake, as well.

[Shelley]

Scooter,

We planted Larch in Kamloops one year, as a part of a four species mix designed to counteract the widespread root rot in the land (remember all the stumps were pulled?)...

[Shelley]

Balsam - Needles have blunt ends and are often notched at the tip. They are blue-green with a single white band on the top and two beneath. Needles all tend to turn upwards, but often a few stick out from the underside of the branch.

Douglas -Needles are flat with a pointed tip. The upper surface is bright yellowish-green with a single groove down the centre; the lower surface is paler. The needles appear to stand out around the twig.

I find the white bands the easiest way to distinguish between the two, especially when they are both very young.

[Shelley]

This is a great "free" resource. You can just download the pdf from the link below:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/do ... /index.htm

[Scooter]

Yeah, actually now that you mention it, I remember that we've planted Larch quite a few times in Kamloops, and I think I might have planted it in 100 Mile back in the early 1990's too. When we replanted the Barriere fire, the entire contract was about 15% Larch.

[Scooter]

Ok, I've just updated the Cedar section. This is the version that I'll use in the video for now, although I'm going to try to get some good footage of all Interior AND Coastal species throughout 2012, and do a more comprehensive video next winter.


Cedar

There are two types of so-called Cedar trees in BC. Western Red cedar, often just called Red Cedar and abbreviated Cw, is found in scattered locations, mostly throughout the southern parts of the province. The branch you can see right now is from a Red Cedar. Another species, Alaska Yellow cedar, is actually not a Cedar at all – it’s a false Cyprus. But it resembles the true Cedars very closely. Alaska Cedar is often just called Yellow Cedar and abbreviated Yc, and is usually only found down on Vancouver Island and close to the lower mainland coast.

Cedar is the provincial tree of British Columbia, and is quite valuable due to the unique colour, texture, and durability of its wood. Cedars thrive in wet areas, although they do grow in some moderately dry regions too. One of the problems with a lot of the cedars up around the center of the province is that they have “heart-rot,” where the entire center of the tree rots out. However, the trees can grow to be very large, and sometimes can live to be a thousand years old.

Cedar is one of the few types of lumber which is suitable for outdoor use, because it is durable and low maintenance. As such, it is often used for patio furniture, decks, and exterior decorative carpentry. It is also a very low density species, and has good properties (for wood) as an insulator.

As you can see from this video, the branches of young cedar trees are very flat, and the needles are also flattened. The needles also have a waxy appearance. Also, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the needles aren’t straight; they have a sort of clumpy pattern to them.

Cedar seedlings are not planted very commonly in the BC Interior, especially compared to pine and fir and spruce. In my career as an Interior planter, less than 1% of the trees that my camps have planted have been Cedar. However, coastal planters will plant cedar quite frequently.

[Scooter]

And here's the updated Fir section. This one had a lot of changes, thanks for all the input.



Fir

There are five species of Fir found in British Columbia. These can be divided into the Balsams, which are true firs, and the two Douglas-Fir species, which are false firs (but fairly similar to true firs). Amabilis Fir is abbreviated Ba, and is the most commonly planted balsam on the coast. Grand Fir is abbreviated Bg, and is planted less commonly on coastal contracts. Subalpine Fir, which has the latin name Lasiocarpa, is the Interior balsam that new planters need to be most concerned with. Although small pockets of Subalpine Fir can be found on Vancouver Island, it is predominantly found throughout the mainland.

Douglas Fir, abbreviated Fdi or Fd, is found all over Vancouver Island and found sporadically in the southern half of mainland BC. Because of this, coastal planters and southern interior planters tend to be more familiar with Douglas Fir. Also, Douglas Fir actually has two varieties – the green variety, abbreviated Fdi, usually grows in the Interior to the east of Lillooet, Merritt, and Princeton. The blue variety, abbreviated Fdc, is planted on the Island and also on the mainland to the west of Pemberton and Hope. Both Douglas Fir and the various Balsam Firs are considered to be pioneer trees after fires.

Douglas Fir is a very valuable tree, and on contracts where it occurs naturally, it is usually respected as an acceptable species of natural. Balsam Fir, on the other hand, is usually viewed as a scrap tree or weed as far as acceptable naturals are concerned, even though mature trees are still used for lumber. It can be quite tricky for planters to tell young Balsam and Douglas Fir trees apart, which is frustrating, since foresters will usually ask planters to respect Douglas Fir as good naturals, but they will say that Balsam Fir naturals should be ignored. It is important for planters to figure out how to identify these young trees, because if a planter accidentally spaces off young Balsam naturals, the forester won’t be happy.

I’ve already covered some of the characteristics of fir trees: needles that don’t roll, needles that are softer and less prickly than spruce, possibly a more yellowish-green tinge than spruce, and smooth bark. Inexperienced planters will often have to touch young fir and spruce naturals to make sure they know which species they’ve encountered. Although both fir and spruce needles grow from the branch leaving a somewhat flat bottom, fir tends to grow more horizontally oriented, giving a fan-like appearance.

Telling young Balsam and Douglas fir naturals apart is going to be the biggest challenge for a new planter. Balsam needles have blunt ends and are often notched at the tip. They are blue-green with a single white band at the top, and two bands beneath. The needles all tend to turn upwards, but often a few stick out from the underside of the branch. Douglas Fir needles, by contrast, are flat with a pointed tip. The upper surface is bright yellowish-green with a single groove down the centre; the lower surface is paler. The needles appear to stand out around the twig. The white bands will probably be the easiest way for a planter to distinguish between the two, especially when the naturals are quite young and small.

The fir branch in this video is from a Balsam Fir, not a Douglas Fir.

[Nate]

This is a great "free" resource. You can just download the pdf from the link below:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/do ... /index.htm

Nuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnuggetnugggggggeeeeeetttttttttttt!

[Seabass]

What we've told new planters who have problems differentiating between the spruce and fir is that you can jerk off a fir seedling but you can't with a spruce. Obviously due to the needles for anyone who doesn't get that. The pods for the spruce don't seem to be as fragile and tend to hold together much better than a fir pod but that could also just be a result of how they were grown at the nursery and not indicative of all fir/spruce bundles.

[Jimbo the Mook]

What we've told new planters who have problems differentiating between the spruce and fir is that you can jerk off a fir seedling but you can't with a spruce. Obviously due to the needles for anyone who doesn't get that. The pods for the spruce don't seem to be as fragile and tend to hold together much better than a fir pod but that could also just be a result of how they were grown at the nursery and not indicative of all fir/spruce bundles.

That was by far the most unhelpful post I've ever heard. I think what this forum is hoping to make clear to rookies is how to properly identify between different trees when they're in their natural state. If a rookie can't tell the difference between a fir and a spruce that are in their bags, which I'm assuming they just bagged up from their respective identifying boxes, then they probably shouldn't even be out there, period! Why on earth would anybody want to waste their precious planting time by wanking a tree in the hopes of trying to figure out what kind it is?

That being said, I think this is a really great subject, Scooter! Thanks for all the great info. I've been planting for well over a decade and I'm actually embarrassed to say that I didn't realize fir and balsam were even in the same family.

[Seabass]

Jimbo, it's intended as a joke and not something that should be done. It does illustrate though that the fir needles are softer and more pliable than the spruce needles.

[mwainwright]

not something that should be done.

too late

[Scooter]

Here's the first version. I'll try to make this a lot more comprehensive next year, once I get more video footage.

[aaron]

I wonder if it would be useful to devote some time to identifying deciduous trees? I think this would probably only be relevant brushing, but maybe if someone has some time?

[Scooter]

I think that's a good idea. The common ones, anyway. That would be a pretty short section. I'll try to do that when I do the full version next fall/winter.

[mwainwright]

honestly the best way to learn to identify your species is to go brushing or spacing, and get yelled at for cutting down the wrong trees. no joke, i learned my trees pretty quick this way.

[Scooter]

Cutting trees is much more fun than planting them.

[Leon]

Would it be worth checking out some of the types of young trees that are used by planters at a nursery or similar (if they will let you) after reading up about them using the above info and videos etc? Personally I remember much better when I combine some hands-on with the theory.

't would be in the interest of a rookie such as myself to be as much in the know as possible or nay?

[North Isle. Tech]

Hey Scooter do you do any hemlock planting in BC? And how likely is it that you would have to honour hemlock and tamarock/larches as crop naturals?

Hope you don't mind if I add to this. My experience is on the north coast of Vancouver Island performing Free to Grow, Natural Regen., and planting walk-through surveys along with some timber cruising and forest engineering. Hemlock (both mtn and western) is generally left for natural regen. and typically not planted. They are prolific cone/seed producers and do just fine on their on. Fdc, Cw, and Yc are favored for planting (depending on the area).

To Leon, I don't think its all that useful to visit a nursery. By now, nurseries have their planting stock in dormancy so I doubt the seedlings are accessible. Depending where you are in the country, nurseries may be shut down this time of year. I recommend just spending some time with whatever tree you're learning to identify and then reinforce by quizzing yourself once you're in the field.

[Leon]

To Leon, I don't think its all that useful to visit a nursery. By now, nurseries have their planting stock in dormancy so I doubt the seedlings are accessible. Depending where you are in the country, nurseries may be shut down this time of year. I recommend just spending some time with whatever tree you're learning to identify and then reinforce by quizzing yourself once you're in the field.

Thanks, good to know.

[newforest]

a client asked me once "What is the difference between a conifer and an evergreen?" I suggested he get in touch with his local conservation district forester. Sometimes I can only take so much explaining the forest for the trees.

That question does have a neat technical answer though: The Larch. And, The Cypress.




I like working with Chamaecyparis thyoides, one of my favorite species. I have a difficult choice coming up in June about going to a conference re: that tree, or heading out to a really good brushing job at the same time, but about 12 state lines away.

[SwampDonkey]

Also the difference between the spruce and true fir seedlings can be quickly determined by the bare stem. The spruce is rough with little nubs (pulvinus) and long ridges where the needles attach up and down the stem and the fir is smooth and rounded.


Spruce:

SD_spruce_1.jpg (23.5 KiB) Viewed 31652 times

(True) Balsam Fir:

SD_balsam1.jpg (22.96 KiB) Viewed 31652 times

Also western cedar grows all along the BC coast and up into the Alaskan coast. Usually within 400 m of elevation. And then the interior red cedar like around Prince George. Up around Prince Rupert a lot of the red cedar was half dead, from fires and being plain old on poor wet sites.

[Scooter]

We're planting about six species here on the coast right now. I'm going to be using the camera on a few days off over the next month or so to get some good HD footage of the different trees, both on seedlings and mature trees. And I've just ordered a book about BC trees, so I can help get them really straightened out in my head. Those photos in that last post are good for spruce vs. fir.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes BC has all kinds of silviculture books including site classification that identifies the sites and local climates the trees grow in. On the Queen Charlottes they have no fir, but they are the same zone as Vancouver Island. 60 miles to the east in Prince Rupert and offshore islands like Porcher I, they are their own zone.

[North Isle. Tech]

A good place to find free field guides is the http://publications.gc.ca/. If you search "field guide" a plethora will come up, most for free. There is a field guide to common tree diseases of BC that I'd recommend if you're interested in forest pathology. Good descriptions and photos - http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/6236 ... ation.html

[bc-steve]

I've planted mountain hemlock and.western hemlock together. They look more or less.identical. We also planted amabalis fir and 'balsam' fir aka sub-alpine fir. Those were easy to tell apart though.

[Gual]

Let me know if this has been mentioned but Douglas-fir has red pointed buds- thats all you have to know if you aren't sure between douglas-fir and balsam. Balsam have genaric looking rounded white buds while douglas-fir have very distinct buds.

FDI= RED POINTED BUDS