JAN. 1896.^ FLORA OF W. VIRGINIA MILLSPAUGH & NUTTALL. 77 



from 2,500 and 4,800 feet to 500 at the southwestern corner of the 

 State on the Ohio, at Kenova, and about 600 on the same river at 

 Wheeling. The altitude of the eastern corner of the State at Harper's 

 Ferry is 272 feet; thus the range of altitudes in the State is from 272 

 feet to about 4,800, giving a climatic range of 3,728 feet, or the equiv- 

 alent of about 16 of latitude; consequently West Virginia has ex- 

 tensive areas of adaptability for every variety of forest growth that 

 is found within the limits of the northern States east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



The most elevated portion of the State is the great eastern border 

 of the ridgy plateau from which the trans-Appalachian country de- 

 scends, a territory some 200 miles in length from the headwaters of 

 the Big Sandy to those of the North Branch Potomac, this region is 

 in the main from 2,500 to 4,800 feet in altitude, and furnishes a con- 

 genial home to the black spruce, the white pine, and other evergreen 

 trees peculiar to northern latitudes. 



West Virginia has a greater amount of hardwood timber in its 

 forests than any other State in the Union. A thorough examination 

 convinces us that nearly or quite two-thirds of the State remains un- 

 cleared, and by far the greater portion of the uncleared land is still 

 in virgin forests where the ax of man has never found its way, and 

 where magnificent specimens of forest growth stand thickly side by 

 side and reach a towering height, no finer view of standing timber 

 may be had within the confines of the Union. These splendid forests 

 covering over sixteen thousand square miles yield nearly every species 

 found in the north. Here trees grow to such size that ordinary 

 methods will not suffice to handle them, and are frequently so densely 

 compact that the light of day scarce penetrates their shade, and path- 

 ways must be cut before the ax men can find room to work. 



The following list of the trees of the State, giving the diameter 

 of trunks and width of board yield, is that of the State exhibit in the 

 Forestry Building at the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893. The 

 specimens were all gathered during the winter of 1892-3. 



Ash (white), Fraxinus Americana. Logs 40 in., 62 in., 93 in., 

 planks 27 and 33 in., finished boards, plain, 20 and 21 in., mottled, 

 9, 13 and 16 in., figured 9 and 13 in. 



Ash (black), F. nigra. 



Ash (mountain), Sorbus Americana. Trunk 8 in. 



Ash (prickly), Xanthoxylum Americanum. Trunk 12 in. 



Alder (mountain), Alnus viridis. Trunk 4 in. 



Beech, Fagus atropunicea. Trunks 24 in., 27 in. and 38 in., plank 

 27 in., finished boards 27 and 31 in., quartered boards 7 and 9 in. 



Beech (water), Carpinus Caroliniana. Trunk 10 in. 



