They are everywhere on the UW campus. They tower next to buildings, looking in on lectures. Students can see them outside their dorm windows at night. They are alive, tall and often green.

They are trees.

A plethora of them reside on campus, and these trees play a crucial role outside of aesthetic appreciation. They provide the air we breathe.

Forestry professor Frank C. Brockman (1902-1985) realized the importance of trees and initiated a comprehensive tree tour in 1980. Brockman’s highly popular tour was adapted online in 1997. Six prominent campus trees that have shaped the Pacific Northwest community reveal their potential beyond eye candy.

Douglas fir

Dubbed “the Michael Jordan” of trees in the Pacific Northwest, the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a front-runner symbol of the Pacific Northwest.

The Douglas fir is part of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. They are named after David Douglas, a Scottish botanist who introduced the tree into cultivation in 1826. Douglas firs are coniferous trees, meaning they bear cones. They have evergreen leaves or needles.

Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, a book by Jim Pojar and Andy Mackinnon, states that Douglas firs did not appear commonly until about 7,000 years ago. The species is an integral part of the region’s landscape and history.

Robert Van Pelt, research affiliate professor with the UW and author of Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast, said the tree’s contribution to the boom of lumbering in the Pacific Northwest has played an important role in the economies of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia for the past 150 years.

These trees can also get extremely old. Van Pelt said Quinault Lake, Wash., located at the southern edge of Olympic National Park, is a spot where old-growth Douglas firs thrive. Hinckley said that trees there are 100 years old with heights as tall as 250 feet. Passersby might recognize one near the northwest exit of the Husky Union Building (HUB).

Western red cedar

The Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is also native to the Pacific Northwest. It is an coniferous evergreen tree in the cypress family Cupressaceous. It does well in wet, boggy sites and is characterized by a buttress base. Strong trees have very thick bark, allowing them to survive moderate surface fires. Brockman’s tour states that it may not be as strong as Douglas fir, but it is rot-resistant and popular for decking.

Few trees have been more important for survival than the Western red cedar. The tree was crucial to the continued existence of native peoples in the Northwest. Tribes that depended on it for many facets of their lives included the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuxalk, Comox, Salish, Puyallup and many other coastal tribes.

“Native Americans regarded Western red cedar as a very important tree as it provided them with material for clothes, baskets, canoes, materials for constructing long houses, paddles, tools, nets, art work including totems and masks [and] bowls,” said Thomas Hinckley, a professor in the College of Forest Resources.

Curious readers can see a Western red cedar just outside the north exit of the HUB.

Yoshino cherry

Students who walked through the Quad during spring can tick an item off their to-do list: seeing one of the world’s wonders. The Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus x yedoensis) should indeed be counted among such beauties as the pyramids and the Great Wall of China.

Yoshino is originally native to Japan’s natural landscape. It is a natural hybrid, first described in 1870 as a small deciduous tree growing up to 12 meters tall. It produces small cherries that are an important food source for many birds and mammals. The life expectancy of a Yoshino cherry tree is 60 to 100 years.

The Yoshino cherry tree also has a rich past on the UW campus. According to Brockman’s online tour, this tree was relocated from the arboretum to the Quad due to highway construction in 1964.

Tree climbers in the Quad may notice parasitic larvae creeping on the current trees’ bark. They are nearing the end of their natural life cycle, while the moths’ offspring parasitically speed up the process.

“It is sad,” UW senior Raquel Garciduenas said. “It’s a symbol, a signature of the school.”

As soon as these trees die, new Yoshino cherry trees will replace them.

“We have thirty new trees [Yoshino] in a nursery ready to be transplanted in the Quad when those trees are on their last legs,” UW Central maintenance zone manager Jon Hooper said.

Even so, students might want to enjoy these amazing trees while they can.

Big leaf maple

Students can find Brockman’s favorite tree, the big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), between Balmer and Denny Hall at one end of the bicycle rack.

The big leaf maple, also known as broadleaf maple and Oregon maple, belongs to the genus Acer. This tree is yet another tall deciduous tree native to the Pacific Northwest, reaching heights of 100 feet and growing in a wide range of temperature and moisture conditions.

The tree received its name as a result of its huge leaves. The leaves grow up to 15 inches wide with flower groups and winged “helicopter” seeds. The trees can live more than 200 years and support several epiphytic, or non-parasitic, plants.

The big leaf maple is commonly used in furniture, including piano frames. It is also used for fuel wood and syrup.

Hybrid plane trees/sycamore

The hybrid plane trees, or sycamores (Platanus x hybrida), on campus are historically significant. Fifty-eight of these sycamores were planted along Memorial Way in 1920 to commemorate faculty and students who died In World War I.

Platanus is a small genus in the family Platanacea.

According to Brockman’s 1980 tree tour, “The eastern U.S. Sycamore (P. occidentalis) crossed with its Old World counterpart (P. orientalis),” and resulted in hearty offspring that have been planted since the late 1600s. The hybrid has turned out to be an ideal urban tree.

These large — 70 to 80 feet tall — deciduous trees are pollution-tolerant, and have a spherical clump of seeds that can thump an unwary pedestrian on the head during autumn.

Irish yew

The Irish yew (Taxus Baccata ‘Fastigiata’) is a small- to medium-sized — 33 to 66 feet in height — evergreen tree and is native to Western, Central and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, northern Iran and Southwest Asia.

According to Brockman’s tour, Irish Yew originated before 1760 in the mountains above Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland.

There are four Irish yews that divide sections A and B in the old part of the medicinal garden on campus. UW Medicinal Herb Garden manager Keith Posse planted them along with several exotic fruit trees in 2000.

Its Pacific Northwest cousin, the Pacific yew (Taxus Brevifolia), has received a lot of attention the past few years. It contains taxol alkaloid, a chemical that can be isolated from the bark and used to treat certain types of cancer.

After stripping bark from these plants for cancer research was opposed in the 1990s, the medical field shifted toward a conservationist approach, Posse said, replicating the alkaloid in labs for continued chemotherapy use.

From treating cancer patients to honoring fallen heroes to being a source of economic and cultural prosperity, trees have been an imperative part of the ecosystem and of distinct cultures in this region and around the world.

Reach contributing writer Julian Estrada at features@dailyuw.com.