Douglas-fir

Four Provenance Seedlots

Proseed's Douglas-fir orchard comprises several subsets of parents selected from the 1959 series of New Zealand wide Provenance trials. The available seedlots consist of four groupings based on provenance. The table below provides some basis for comparison. It is based on data from the Douglas-fir Cooperative (now SWP - Specialty Wood Products), taken from a 1999 study of the parents.

That study assessed trees for form characteristics: branch size, whorl clusters and stem straightness. Each feature was scored out of 10 giving a potential total of 30 for a perfect tree.  While Proseed does not have trial means for comparison and this is parental rather than progeny data, it is important to remember that the original criteria was to select large (fast growing), straight trees from a range of Californian, Oregon and Washington provenances.  It is therefore reasonably expected that the progeny should be vigorous with very good form.

Seedlot No of
Parents
Mean DBH
(cm)
Mean OWD
(Kg / m3)
Branch
Size
Whorl
Clusters
Straight
Stem
Total
Points
% Perfect
Tree
Ashley 9 47 495 7 6 6 19 63%
Oregon 32 59 410 7 6 8 21 70%
California 24 51 424 7 7 7 21 69%
Washington 20 54 424 7 8 7 22 74%

(Source: Douglas Fir Cooperative Proceedings - February 1999)

 

Seedlot  Source Price/kg¹
California Selections Amberley $1,000
Oregon Selections Amberley $1,000
Washington Selections Waikuku $1,000
Ashley Selections Waikuku    $600

¹Prices exclude NZ Goods & Services Tax (GST)