THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE 



139 



The redwood formation reaches its maximum development 

 along the Eel River, south of Eureka, about latitude 40°. In 

 places there is a pure stand of these enormous trees, many of 

 them more than 300 feet in height, and probably the heaviest 

 stand of timber in existence. 



Between Eureka and the Oregon line, a region of extremely 

 heavy rainfall, the redwood is replaced gradually by the tideland 

 spruce, hemlock, and a fir, Abies grandis. This forest has a 

 dense undergrowth of almost tropical luxuriance. The ground 



Fig. 38. — Grove of Monterey cypress; Monterey Peninsula. 



is carpeted with ferns, and there is an abundant growth of rhodo- 

 dendrons, evergreen barberries and huckleberries, dogwood, and 

 alders, and a variety of other shrubs and small trees. 



In the southern redwood belt the Douglas fir is common, as 

 far south as the Santa Cruz Mountains. 



The main body of redwood is confined to the coastal mountains 

 north of San Francisco; but there are fine redwood forests in the 

 Santa Cruz mountains, and smaller growths in the sheltered 

 coastal canyons of the Santa Lucia mountains south of Monterey. 



The range of the redwood is controlled by the summer coastal 

 fogs. Only where these reach does the redwood naturally flourish, 



