Geographic Variation in Leaf Essential Oils of Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Adams RP, Vargas-Hernandez JJ, Elizondo MG, Hunter G, Fairhall TA, Thornburg D, Callahan F. 2012. Geographic Variation in Leaf Essential Oils of Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Phytologia. 94(2):22-41
The volatile leaf oils of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) were analyzed from throughout its range. The major differentiation found was the divergence of the inland populations (var. glauca) from the coastal and Sierra Nevada populations (var. menziesii). The oils of var. menziesii differed from var. glauca in their major components: camphene (0.4-17, 25-30%), b-pinene (25-38, 2.5-12%), sabinene (4-12, trace-0.5%), a-terpinene (2.1-3.3, 0.2-0.0%), y-terpinene (3.4-5.5, 0.1-0.3%), terpinolene (9.5-14.6, 1.2-1.6%), cis-p-menth-2-en-1-ol (0.7-0.8, 0.0-trace), terinen-4-ol (10-12.1, trace-0.5%), and bornyl acetate (0.2-1.3, 14.6-44.7%). The oil of the Sierra Nevada population (Sierra Nevada race of Snajberk and Zavarin, 1976) was quite similar to typical coastal Doug Fir from WA and OR and not as distinct as found in the oleoresin oils of Snajberk and Zavarin. Overall the oils of the inland variety (var. glauca) varied from Yellowstone southward with the AZ - NM oils forming a group along with the southern Mexico oils except for the population at Cerro Potosi that had a different oil. The Cerro Potosi oil differed from other inland (var. glauca) oils in having larger amounts of a-pinene, b-pinene, d-3-carene and and smaller amounts of camphene, limonene and bornyl acetate. The leaf oil of var. oaxacana did not differ from var. glauca from nearby populations in southern Mexico. The leaf essential oils of Ps. macrocarpa are also reported.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Adams, Robert; Vargas-Hernandez, J.; Elizondo, M. Socorro; Hunter, Gay; Fairhall, Thomas; Thornburg, David; Callahan, Frank
- Units
- OLYM
- Keywords
- Douglas Fir, geographical variation, leaf essential oils, P. menziesii var. glauca, P. menziesii var. oaxacana, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii