Vol.1] HuU . — Botcinical Survey of San Jacinto Mountain. 21 



far the most prevalent conifer of Sau Jaeiuto Mountain. It 

 forms the great bulk of the forest first encountered as one 

 ascends from the foot-hills and completely encircles the mountain 

 as a more or less distinct belt of varying width. 



Owing to the comparatively gentle slope it forms on the west 

 side a wide and magnificent forest area, the lower edge of which 

 is quite definite and oscillates between the 4500 and 5000-foot 

 contours in conformity with the steepness or direction of the 

 slope, while a few specimens were found in cold, shaded canons 

 as low as 2500 feet. The upper edge is less definite, but lies 

 between 8500 and 9000 feet, with a few patches at higher alti- 

 tudes. 



The lower limits of this belt on Fullers Ridge and on the 

 north side of the main mountain have already been discussed. 

 While on the northeast side it is very narrow on account of the 

 sudden dip from the higher valleys to the steep, brushy 

 slopes bordering the Colorado Desert, there is still room 

 for a small grove of Jeffrey Pine in the east end of Round 

 Valley at 8500 feet altitude, and a few scattered trees occur as far 

 up as 9300 feet on south slopes. This is probably the highest 

 recorded station for this pine. 



In Taljquitz Valley are found the largest and most sjanmetri- 

 cal specimens that grow on the mountain, extending from the 

 isolated clusters at 9000 feet down through the magnificent 

 gi-oves of the main valley to an altitude of 6000 feet, where they 

 abruptly give way to the chaparral formation of the lower slopes. 

 On the south side the species runs up to 8800 feet on the open 

 ridges. In Onstatt and Strawberry Valleys it forms open forests, 

 in which are also found Sugar Pine, Incense Cedar, White Fir 

 and Kellogg Oak, while the surrounding slopes are similarly 

 forested, except where slope exposure or warm air currents 

 prevent this, or where they have been denuded by man. A 

 narrow fringe also occurs on the south side and around the upper 

 end of Thomas Valley and sends tongues out into the drier parts 

 of the meadow. In many of the trees on the borders of these 

 meadows the trunks divide into two when aliout one hundred 

 feet from the ground, the two branches continuing as erect 

 shafts, but the cause of this unusual branching is not known. 



