Natural history of Alberta

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 59. Chapters: Earthquakes in Alberta, Flora of Alberta, Natural disasters in Alberta, Trees of Alberta, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Chinook wind, Calamagrostis purpurascens, Lodgepole Pine, Larix laricina, Acer negundo, Calamagrostis canadensis, Populus trichocarpa, Whitebark Pine, Limber Pine, Picea glauca, Populus tremuloides, Carex rossii, Frank Slide, Cypress Hills, Campanula rotundifolia, Artemisia tridentata, Viburnum opulus, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Picea mariana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Betula papyrifera, Edmonton Tornado, Populus deltoides, Alberta clipper, Camassia quamash, Cornus sericea, Juniperus scopulorum, Abies lasiocarpa, Vaccinium uliginosum, Jack Pine, Abies balsamea, Picea engelmannii, Western White Pine, Taxus brevifolia, Ribes hudsonianum, Cicuta virosa, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Goodyera repens, Ribes laxiflorum, Ribes inerme, Rhus trilobata, Acer glabrum, Pterospora, Pine Lake, Alberta Tornado, Beynon, Alberta, Viburnum trilobum, Maianthemum canadense, Ambrosia trifida, Rhinanthus minor, Alberta Mountain forests, Canadian blueberry, Artemisia cana, List of wildflowers of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests, Larix lyallii, Xerophyllum tenax, Maianthemum stellatum, Rhododendron groenlandicum, Utricularia cornuta, Populus angustifolia, Romanzoffia sitchensis, 1985 Nahanni earthquakes, Polemonium viscosum, Senecio fremontii, Volcanism of Western Canada, Drosera linearis, 1996 Rocky Mountain House earthquake, Rough Fescue, Bridge River Ash, Burmis Tree. Excerpt: Pseudotsuga menziesii, known as Douglas-fir, Oregon Pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. Its variety Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, also known as coast Douglas-fir grows in the coastal regions, from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by the other variety, Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. glauca). Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia, and from there ranges northward to central British Columbia and southeastward to central Mexico, becoming increasingly disjunct as latitude decreases and its altitudinal limits increase. The specific name, menziesii, is after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish physician and rival naturalist to David Douglas. Menzies first documented the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791. Colloquially, the species is also known (incorrectly) as "Douglas Pine" or simply as "doug-fir". Coast Douglas-fir is currently the second-tallest conifer in the world (after Coast Redwood). Currently, Coast Douglas-fir trees 60-75 metres (200-246 ft) or more in height and 1.5-2 metres (4.9-6.6 ft) in diameter are common in old growth stands, and maximum heights of 100-120 metres (330-390 ft) and diameters up to 4.5-6 metres (15-20 ft)...