Bud primordia

Douglas-fir is monoecious. Trees commonly reach reproductive maturity at 12 to 15 years of age. Primordia of undifferentiated buds are already present when vegetative buds flush in the spring of the year preceding the cone crop (Hermann and Lavender 1990). By mid-June, vegetative bud primordia, pollen cone primordia (usually clustered near the base of the extending shoot), and seed cone primordia (borne singly near the tip of the shoot) (Allen and Owens 1972) can be separated based on histochemical differences. 

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