Douglas fir
Pseudotsuga menziesiiDouglas 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 →
jamie-aa, CC BY 4.0
Lookalikes
Douglas fir or grand fir?
Both are big soft-needled conifers of western plantations, sweetly scented when crushed.
The quickest check
The quickest check is the shoot from above. Douglas fir: soft needles standing out all round it. Grand fir: combed flat into two rows either side. No leaves on the tree? Check how the cones are held.
At a glance
| Look at | Douglas fir | Grand fir |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot from above | Soft needles standing out all round it | Combed flat into two rows either side |
| How the cones are held | Hanging down, and dropping whole | Upright, falling apart on the branch |
Two ways to tell them apart
Shoot from aboveLeaves
How the cones are heldCones
The two trees
Grand fir
Abies grandisGrand fir is a conifer with glossy needles that lie flat in two rows either side of the shoot. Rubbed, they smell of tangerine peel. In many districts it is the tallest tree.
How to identify grand fir →
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
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), rockybajada (CC0), bobwardell (CC0), Jonathan Curley (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.