THE TORREY PINE 



By Eloise Roorback 



CALIFORNIA is distinguished 

 forestrally, for the frequency of 

 what the botanists call Arboreal 

 Islands — localities pre-empted 

 by a single species of tree, surrounded by 

 a distinctly different flora. Groups of 

 trees of an entirely local character dot 

 the flora of the state as an ocean is 

 dotted with islands. Some of these tree 

 islands occur inland, of which the Se- 

 quoia Gigantia (or Washingtonia) is 

 a notable example. But the greater 

 ntimber are strictly littoral. The Mon- 

 terey Pine is a fine illustration of such 

 an island, being the dominant tree of the 

 Monterey Peninsula and confined ex- 

 clusively to this very limited area. 

 Monterey and Gowan cypress, Bishops 

 and Knob-cone pine, Santa Lucia fir, 

 Catalina Ironwood and the Torrey pine 

 (Pinus Torreyana) form other con- 

 spicuous examples. 



The Torrey pine is restricted to a 

 small tract at the mouth of the Soledad 

 River, just within the northerly limit 

 of San Diego's extensive city limits, and 

 to a few on the Santa Rosa Island, 



which is one of the Santa Barbara 

 group. These are its only known 

 stations. The San Diego island con- 

 tains a roughly estimated two thousand 

 of these isolated survivors of an ancient 

 forest that are making a last brave 

 fight for racial continuance. Upon an 

 arid cliff, overlooking the salt marshes 

 of the river, buffeted by swiftly driving 

 winds from the sea, they stand at bay. 

 Some cling pluckily, with long bark 

 covered roots, to the steep walls of 

 sandstone knowls. Some have heavily 

 buttressed their precariously leaning 

 trunks, bracing against the inevitable 

 as wrestlers thrust out a foot when, 

 resisting an antagonist. Some, foiled 

 by the winds, of their natural endeavor 

 to reach, tall and straight to the skies, 

 sweep the earth with prostrate crown — 

 their reverent genuflection to a higher 

 power. Some are recimibent, creeping 

 along the ground as vines creep, dragging 

 full ripened cones through the rifts of 

 sand. A few boldly toss their stifly 

 contorted branches into the air from the 

 top of a cliff, staunchly braving the 



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A Hardy, Audacious Torrey Pine Clinging Parallel with the Steep Slopes. 



Photo by E. Roorback. 



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