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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



in the western half also serves as a 

 secondary barrier, producing a still 

 more humid coastal strip. In south- 

 western Oregon the Cascade and Coast 

 ranges merge into the Siskiyou moun- 

 tains. This region is somewhat drier. 

 The Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue 

 River valleys are the principal low 

 areas between the two mountain ranges. 

 Elsewhere the western part of Oregon is 

 broken into numerous mountain peaks 

 and ridges with small and often long, 

 narrow valleys between. 



The bulk of the mountain and foothill 

 area is covered by a heavy forest of 

 Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga mucronata). 

 Western cedar (Thuja plicata), and 

 western hemlock Tsuga heteropJujlla may 

 replace the Douglas fir on the moister 

 slopes and in the v-shaped valleys. The 

 lowland white fir (Abies grandis) on the 

 low lands, the noble fir (Abies nobilis) 

 silver fir (Abies amabilis), and mountain 

 hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) on the 

 higher elevations, and Sitka spruce 

 (Picea sitchensis) near the coast may 

 occur as conspicuous associates if not 

 occasional dominants in the Douglas fir 

 forest. The Sitka spruce characterizes 

 the moist coastal strip along the north- 

 ern half of the state, while the Port 

 Orford Cedar, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 

 is an important Coastal species in the 

 southwestern part of Oregon. A small 

 stand of very fine redwood (Sequoia 

 sempervirens) is found in the fog belt 

 in the extreme southwestern corner of 

 the state. Elsewhere the lodgepole 

 pine (Pinus contorta) occupies the sandy 

 coastal area. 



In the drier mountains of southwestern 

 Oregon, the western yellow pine, 

 Douglas fir, and incense cedar (Liboce- 

 drus decurrens) make, up the coniferous 

 forest. 



A dense undergrowth occurs through- 

 out much of the humid coniferous forest 

 in western Oregon. Salal, vine maple 

 (Acer circinatum), salmon berry (Rubus 

 spectabilis), Devil's club (Falsia horrida) 

 and other shrubs often grow so profusely 

 that it is difficult to travel on foot. 

 Along the forested streams in the 



northern part of western Oregon nu- 

 merous species of deciduous shrubs 

 and trees are always seen. Oregon ash 

 (Fraxinus oregona), broadleaf maple 

 (Acer macrophyllum) , choke cherry 

 (Prunus demissa), western flowering 

 dogwood, and alders (Alnus oregona) are 

 common. Willows, black cottonwood 

 (Populus trichocarpa) , hazel (Corylus 

 calif ornica) , chittim or cascara (Rham- 

 nus purshiana), and Oregon grape 

 (Berberis aquifolium) are more common 

 along the more open streams. 



The original forest was composed of 

 Douglas fir, but in the more mature 

 stands western cedar and western 

 hemlock will take the place of Douglas 

 fir. Extensive lumbering operations, 

 and great fires in the past have destroyed 

 large stands of this one time magnificient 

 and valuable timber. It is a real fight 

 to preserve these forests from fire, and 

 the United States Forest Service is doing 

 a great work in preserving the remainder 

 of this wonderful national asset. Ore- 

 gon has more standing merchantable 

 timber than any other state in the Union, 

 and it behooves every citizen to assume 

 personal responsibility for his part in the 

 prevention of fire and to further re- 

 forestation. 



Fires have probably been recurrent 

 for an indefinite period in the past so 

 that the bulk of the forest has probably 

 always been composed of the Douglas fir. 

 Under normal conditions these burned 

 areas will reforest. On the west slope 

 of the Coast mountains and elsewhere 

 are large areas that are not reforesting. 

 These old burns are covered by a dense 

 growth of the bracken fern (Pteris 

 aquilinum pubescens) and the accom- 

 panying herbaceous flora. The bracken 

 fern is also common on burns and cut 

 over lands that are restocking. How- 

 ever in the latter situations the fern is 

 quickly overtopped by the vine maple, 

 service berry (Amelanchier florida), 

 thimble berry (Rubus parviflorus) , red 

 flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), 

 blue elder berry (Sambucus glauca), 

 ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor) and 

 young Douglas fir. 



