THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE 



125 



bocedrus decurrens). In moister ground the tamarack (Pinus 

 Murrayana) occurs. 



The drier ground is covered with chaparral, in which the char- 

 acteristic western shrubs Manzanita and Ceanothus are conspicu- 

 ous. Alpine meadows like those of the Northern Rockies are 

 common, and in general the vegetation is much like that of the 

 western Rockies at similar altitudes. 



The Pacific Coast 



Climatic conditions on the Pacific Coast are very different 

 from those elsewhere in North America, where for the most part 



~wftm& ^ 



Fig. 33. — Coniferous forest, Lake Tahoe, California. Left, incense cedar, yellow 



pine; right, white fir. 



the climate is a pronounced continental one, with great extremes 

 of heat and cold. 



The whole coast, from Sitka to San Diego enjoys a remarkably 

 equable climate, insular in type, rather than continental. The 

 two great factors concerned are the lofty range of the Great Cor- 

 dillera, protecting the coastal strip from the great temperature 

 fluctuations of the interior, and secondly the proximity of the 

 ocean whose surface waters maintain a nearly constant tempera- 

 ture, which has a very great influence on that of the coast, especially 

 as the prevailing winds are from the sea. 



