Ponderosa pine panelling graces the walls and ceiling in this remodelled home in Portland, OR. Sliding doors are Douglas fir. Baseboard mouldings are Hem-Fir.

To view photographs of timber in many of the western softwood grades, along with detailed information on standard sizes, click here “Western Softwood Species & Grades.”

Western Softwood Species & Combinations

Standard Species Combinations 

(based on similar structural performance properties) 

Douglas Fir – Larch (DF-L)

Douglas fir – Pseudotsuga menziesii (DF)

(Coastal, Interior West and Interior North DF grown in WA, OR, northern CA, ID, MT, and WY) 

Western larch – Larix occidentalis (LARCH)

Douglas Fir – South (DF^s)

Douglas fir-South – Pseudotsuga menziesii (DF^s)

(Interior South DF grown in AZ, CO, NV, NM and UT)

Hem-Fir (H-F)

Western hemlock – Tsuga heterophylla (HEM)

Noble fir – Abies procera

California Red fir – Abies magnifica

Grand fir – Abies grandis

Pacific Silver fir – Abies amabilis

White fir – Abies concolor

Spruce Pine Fir – South (SPF^s) 

Sitka spruce – Picea sitchensis (SS)

Engelmann spruce – Picea engelmannii (ES)

Lodgepole pine – Pinus contorta (LP)

Western Woods

(specifically applied to the following but sometimes used to reference any combination of the above) 

Alpine (or Subalpine) fir – Abies lasiocarpa 

Ponderosa pine – Pinus ponderosa (PP)

Sugar pine – Pinus lambertiana (SP)

Idaho (or Western) White pine – Pinus monticola (IWP)

Mountain hemlock – Tsuga mertensiana (M-HEM)

California Redwood 

(always sold as an individual species)

California redwood – Sequoia sempervirens (Redwood)

Western Cedars 

(generally sold as individual species)

Incense cedar – Libocedrus decurrens (INC CDR)

Western Red cedar – Thuja plicata (WRC)

Port Orford cedar – Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 

Alaskan cedar – Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

White Woods Combination 

(designates any combination of the following true firs, spruces, hemlocks or pines) 

True Firs

Alpine (or Subalpine) fir – Abies lasiocarpa 

Noble fir – Abies procera

California Red fir – Abies magnifica

Grand fir – Abies grandis

Pacific Silver fir – Abies amabilis

White fir – Abies concolor

Spruces

Sitka spruce – Picea sitchensis

Engelmann spruce – Picea engelmannii

Hemlocks

Western hemlock – Tsuga heterophylla

Mountain hemlock – Tsuga mertensiana

Pines

Lodgepole pine – Pinus contorta

Ponderosa pine – Pinus ponderosa

Sugar pine – Pinus lambertiana

Idaho (or Western) White pine – Pinus monticola

Other combinations available:

Alpine fir / Hem-Fir (A-F / HEM FIR)—(for similar appearance)

Ponderosa pine / Sugar pine (PP-SP)—(similar appearance)

Ponderosa pine / Lodgepole pine (PP-LP)—(similar appearance)

Engelmann spruce / Lodgepole pine / Alpine fir (ES-LP-AF)—(similar appearance)

Engelmann spruce / Lodgepole pine (ES-LP)—(similar strength, ES controls)

Engelmann spruce / Alpine fir (ES-AF)—(similar strength, AF controls)