Douglas fir: leafjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0
Douglas fir
Giant redwood: leafBen Hayden, CC BY 4.0
Giant redwood
Lookalikes

Douglas fir or giant redwood?

Both are huge estate conifers whose thick corky bark gives under a hand.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the leaves on a shoot. Douglas fir: soft single needles, up to 3 cm. Giant redwood: hard scales up to 1 cm, clasping the shoot. No leaves on the tree? Check the trunk.

At a glance

Look atDouglas firGiant redwood
Leaves on a shootSoft single needles, up to 3 cmHard scales up to 1 cm, clasping the shoot
TrunkStraight, a single unforked stemEnormous, flaring out at a ridged base
Scales of a fallen coneA three-pointed strap out past every scaleThick and woody, set in a spiral

Three ways to tell them apart

Leaves on a shootLeaves
Douglas fir: leaves on a shootjamie-aa, CC BY 4.0
Douglas firSoft single needles, up to 3 cm
Giant redwood: leaves on a shootBen Hayden, CC BY 4.0
Giant redwoodHard scales up to 1 cm, clasping the shoot
TrunkShape
Douglas firStraight, a single unforked stem
Giant redwoodEnormous, flaring out at a ridged base
Scales of a fallen coneCones
Douglas fir: scales of a fallen cone
Douglas firA three-pointed strap out past every scale
Giant redwood: scales of a fallen coneNicole, CC BY 4.0
Giant redwoodThick and woody, set in a spiral
Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Douglas fir

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Douglas fir is a tall, slender conifer. A thin three-pointed strap pokes out from under every scale of its hanging cones. Its soft needles smell sweet and fruity when crushed.

How to identify Douglas fir →

Giant redwood

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Giant redwood grows into a dark, narrow spire, often taller than anything around it. Its thick dark red bark is deeply furrowed, and soft enough to give under a flat hand.

How to identify giant redwood →

Their other lookalikes

Douglas firGrand firDouglas fir or grand fir?Quickest check: the shoot from aboveDouglas firWestern hemlockDouglas fir or western hemlock?Quickest check: the along a shoot
In the app

See them side by side in Treely

  • Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
  • Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
  • A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
  • The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
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Free to download.

Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: jamie-aa (CC BY 4.0), Ben Hayden (CC BY 4.0), bobwardell (CC0), Nicole (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.