Metal sign for Abies douglasii tree planted in 1834
The image is from a collection of slides and photographs ‘rescued from the skip’ and handed to Forestry Memories. Generally very little information with or about them and for details we will have to rely on readers’ memories or geographical knowledge.
The sign indicates that this is a tree, Abies douglasii (Douglas fir) planted in 1834 from the first seed brought or sent over by David Douglas in 1827.
Can any reader say where this tree was located and if it is still to the fore? (See Comments below)
Comment from Syd House, Perthshire:
I am attaching a copy of a picture I took of the tree in around 1998 prior to publication of the 1999 biography of Douglas which I co-wrote. Intriguingly, the stones in the foreground to the picture belonged to the original village around the Palace in which Douglas was born in 1799. The village was moved to ‘New’ Scone in 1804/5 however, the tree is planted in an area Douglas would have played in as a child and known well. How fitting!
See PDF below
Download Large Version (720kB)
Groups: Forest Signs
Group: Forestry in Action - 1908 pictures
3 Comments
I can confirm that what Joan says is correct. In fact there are a number of trees around Perthshire with this sort of plaque which, given that the botanical name quoted for Douglas fir (Abies douglasii) is the old version rather than the current version (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The Tree Council information is based on Douglas' own account of seed collecting. There are numerous other original DF specimens from Douglas' collections at various other places in Scotland including Lynedoch, near Perth, Dumlanrig and Dawyck Gardens. I'd be interested to know what skip this pic was rescued from! Comment left on 12 February 2021 at 10:40 by Syd House
Here’s a description from the Tree Council website..
“This magnificent tree was grown from seed brought back from the Pacific north-west by the celebrated Scottish botanist and explorer David Douglas – hence its name. Most likely the seed was collected from the lower reaches of the Columbia River, near Fort Vancouver in 1825, arriving in Britain in 1827. The seeds were sown, the seedlings raised in a nursery and then planted out at Scone in 1834.”
David Douglas originally worked as a gardener at Scone. I enjoy working in the grounds as a volunteer and know this tree well!
Comment left on 11 February 2021 at 16:34 by Joan Park