Fact 205: Who is the Duglus fir named after?

Fact 205: Who is the Douglas fir named after?

The Douglas fir tree is named after David Douglas. David Douglas was born in Scone, Scotland on the 25th of June 1799 and died while climbing Mauna Kea (which is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi) on the 12th of July 1834 David Douglas fell into a cattle pit trap up Mauna Kea and is thought to have been eaten by a bull that was in the pit trap.

David Douglas was a Scottish botanist and explorer who brought the first Douglas fir tree seed from North America back to Britain in 1827.

The scientific name Pseudotsuga menziesii pays homage to Archibald Menzies who was born in Weem in Scotland on 15 March 1754 and died in Kensington in London on the 15th of February 1842. Archibald Menzies, was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who discovered the Douglas fir tree in North America 1791.