856 



AMERICAN FOREvSTRY 



I \ I'l: I ii- CA.w . 



i\V IX \i)SEMITE VAIvLEV CAMP 



Secretary of the Interior Lane's policy of opening our national parks as real playgrounds for the people strikes a new and popular note in 

 these splendid camps, where the tourist with a medium-sized purse can get close to nature at a minimum expense. 



Seated in hammock is George Sterling, the California poet; standing is Lawrence Harris, whose poem on the San Trancisco fire received world- 

 wide comment, and on the chair, E. D. Coblentz. editor of the San Francisco C a!L 



pose<l til the salt winds, take on irregular sliai)es, re- 

 semliling the Monterey cyiiress. It has. however, a con- 

 sideral.)lv wider range, there being three groups along the 

 coast and others on the Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz 

 Islands. 



Three other trees of limited range nr rare (iccurrence 

 deserve specific mention. < 'ne of these, the bristlecone 

 fir, is found mainly in Monterey County, where it is ir- 

 regularly grouped or scattered on the eastward slopes of 

 the Santa Lucia Aluuntains. It is a little known tree 

 because confined to a region which attracts few visitors. 

 The onlv place it would be seen without a special trip 

 is along the stage road near Pajarijo Springs. It is the 

 most unique of all the firs, and striking in character be- 

 cause of its dense Indian club-shajied crown, which 

 often extends to the ground, and ends in a long, ex- 

 tremelv narrow, sharp point. The foliage is of a lustrous 

 green, so pronounced that the color becomes a dis- 

 tinguishing characteristic at some distance. .\ further 

 remarkable feature is found in the cones, which have 

 long needlelike ])oints, which protrude from among the 

 cone scales. While ncit deserving a special trip in order 

 to see it. the bristlecone fir merits attention from any- 

 one who is in the region where it grows. 



The rarest and most restricted of all the California 

 conifers is the Torrey. or Soledad pine of San Diego 

 Countv. It is confined to a sea-c<iast range -iliout 1 milj 

 wide on both sides of the iiKjuth of the Soledad River, 



and to a limited area mi Santa Rosa Island. Where ex- 

 j)osed to the high winds, it is low, crooked and deformed, 

 although in ])rotected situations it may have a straight 

 trunk ."lO or liii feet in height. .V few of these trees can 

 Ije seen from the Santa Fe train between Los Angeles 

 and San Diego, the narrow strip along the coast starting 

 about :1 miles north of Del Alar. 



.Vnother interesting e\ergreen of considerably wider 

 range is the coulter or bigcone pine. The general dis- 

 Iributinn of this tree is the middle elevations on the coast 

 and cross range mountains in Southern California. Al- 

 tliough common throughout this range, it is nowhere 

 abundant, and rarely forms pure forests. Its claim to 

 particular notice is the enormous size of the cones, which 

 are often 1'.^ to 14 inches long, sharp spiked and armed, 

 and extremely heavy. None of the other pine trees pro- 

 tects its seeds in such a strenuous way, and wdiile the 

 sugar pine cones are longer, the cone scales are thin, 

 light ami harmless by comparison. \'isitors to anv of the 

 well-known mountain resorts or peaks in Southern Cali- 

 fornia can hardly miss seeing some of these trees. The 

 large cones and stifif foliage will distinguish the coulter 

 from yellow jfine, wdiile the cone itself deserves close in- 

 vestigation and proves an interesting and lasting souvenir. 



C)f the California trees wdiich are unique or different, 

 the pines receive special attention. This is deserved be- 

 cause no less than seventeen distinct species grow in Cali- 

 fornia and at least six are found in no other State, 



