WHITE-BARKED PINE AND ENGELMANN SPRUCE. 47 



feet) and a diameter of 1.2 meters (4.!) feet), more commonly 40 to 55 

 cm. (1.3 to 1.8 feet). The crown is very large and spreading and occu- 

 pies about two-thirds of the entire height. Very frequently the tree 

 begins to branch immediately at the ground. The crown is rarely sym- 

 metrical. The branches are crooked and gnarled and bent in all direc- 

 tions. The wood is white, moderately dense, and resinons. ISTo use is 

 made of the species. 



The impression one receives from the general appearance of the tree 

 in this region is that the species is in the process of extinction. Cone- 

 bearing individuals are very rare. Among thousands of trees which 1 

 examined for the purpose of obtaining cones I found but a single one, 

 and the remains of old cones at the base of the trees were found but 

 rarely. Few saplings were seen; nearly all the trees were old ones, 

 upward of 100 and 150 years of age. 



Possibly climatic changes are going on which are tending toward 

 the obliteration of the tree in the Ceeur d'Alenes. These would be less 

 humidity and a general lowering of the mean temperature, in the spring 

 especially, when the young cones are forming. It is a very noticeable 

 fact that the male catkins were present in abundance in the. majority of 

 instances, giving the tree the appearance of a dkecious species. 



ENGELMANN SPRUCE. 

 Picea engelmanni (Parry) Engelm. 



This is the only representative of the genus Ticca known to occur in 

 the Ceeur d'Alenes. It is of general range throughout, at elevations from 

 700 to 1,550 meters (2,300 to 5,100 feet); the latter is rarely exceeded. 

 Its principal habitat is in the low, wet bottoms of the streams, which it 

 follows to their source in the ridges. The localities in which it reaches 

 its greatest abundance and its largest development are in the basin of 

 the Xorth Fork. It never forms pure growths, but is always scattered 

 among the other conifers. In favorable localities it grows to a height 

 of 40 to 00 meters (130 to 190 feet), with a diameter of 2 meters (0.0 feet) ; 

 the sizes one most frequently sees are 0.75 to 1 meter (2.5 to 3.3 feet). 

 In places where other trees do not crowd it, the outlines are exceedingly 

 symmetrical, and with the deep bluish green of the leaves it is by far 

 the most beautiful of the forest trees of the Cceur d'Alenes. In such 

 places the shape of the young individuals, up to the age of 50 years or 

 thereabouts, is a perfect cone from base to summit, the branches com- 

 mencing immediately at the ground. As the tree grows older the lower 

 limbs die off and the symmetry of the whole is lost in the formation of 

 the thick bole. The crown is seldom less than two-thirds of the height, 

 more frequently as much as three-fourths. The branches are long and 

 pendulous in old trees, but not especially so in the young. It is a rather 

 fast and regular grower and appears to mature at 180 to 200 yeafs 

 of age. 



