HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



Oregon ash {Fraxinus oregona) is "the only timber asli of the 

 Pacific region. It is found for the most part in the vicinity of 

 streams on alluvial bottoms or flats from the shores of Puget Sound 

 southward through Washington. Oregon and California. It readies 

 its best development in southwestern Oregon. In the northern part 

 of its range it is usually in rather close stands of red alder, Oregon 

 maple and California laurel: farther south it occurs" with white alder 

 and California sycamore. Forest grown trees have long, clear trunks 

 and are from sixty to seventy-five feet high and from sixteen to 

 thirty inches through, occasionally larger. 



The wood is pale brown in color, quite hard and strong, rather 

 light but tough and resilient. The sapwood is nearly white but 

 with a slight reddish tinge. The wood looks like white ash but 

 structurally is more lilse black ash. The dry material is subject to 

 the attack of powder-post beetles, which often destroy its usefulness 

 and limit its employment. It is used for many purposes, such as 

 handles, furniture, interior work, fixtures, boats (finish and ribs), 

 vehicles and saddles. About 446,000 board feet of the wood is 

 consumed annually by the wood-using industries of Oregon, but only 

 .58,800 feet in Washington. 



Oregon maple (Acer macrophyttum) , also knowu as bigleaf .Tnd 

 broadleaf maple, is the only commercial representative of maple on 

 the Pacific coast. It m-ikes its best growth in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington coast regions, especially in alluvial river bottoms. Its 

 botanical range extends from Alaska to southern California. It 

 varies greatly in form and height in different soils and situations 

 from a short-stemmed crooked tree from twenty-five to thirty feet 

 high and under a foot in diameter to one from sixty to eighty feet 

 high, with a long, straight, clear bole from fourteen to thirty inches 

 through. It is one of the most important hardwoods in Oregon 

 where about 2,.500,000 board feet of the lumber are consumed 

 annually in the wood-using industries. In Washington it is also 

 important though only 300,000 feet are reported as used by the 

 wood using industries of that state. 



The wood is, in structure, more like the soft than the hard maples 

 but is fairly heavy, hard and strong, being intermediate of the two 

 groups. The color is dteper and richer as a rule than in the other 

 maples. The wood turns readily, takes a good polish, and wa^y- 

 graiued forms which are common are especially desirable for imita- 

 tion mahogany furniture. \Yliile it is principally employed for fur- 

 niture it is also used for handles, interior work, fixtures, pulleys, 

 saddles, musical instruments and firewood. It should be adapted to 

 the same uses as eastern red" maple, but because of its scattered 

 occurrence and rather poor form, commercial quantities of clear, 

 soun^l ma.terial of good sizes are difhcult to obtain, 



Ked alder {Alnus oregona) is the only important alder in the 

 Tnited States, iilthough fifteen different species are recognized by 

 botanists. It is distinctly a tree of moist situations and grows 

 chiefly along streams, near springs, in river bottoms and on par- 

 ticularly well-watered slopes. While its botanical range extends from 

 southeastern Alaska to Los Angeles county, California, it reaches 

 its best development in Washington and Oregon. Its usual size 

 in these two states is from fifty to seventy-five feet high and from 

 a foot to a foot and a half in diameter, sometimes much larger. 

 In form it is usually straight, fairly cylindrical, and free of branches 

 for at least twenty-five or thirty feet. 



The color of the wood is light brown tinged with red. The 

 wood is light, rather soft, fairly strong, brittle, fine-textured, works 

 easily and takes an excellent polish. It turns and glues well and 

 does not shrink or check badly. When finished it resembles cherry, 

 making it a desirable cabinet wood. It is used also for broom 

 handles, pack saddles, interior finish, pulleys, moldings, columns, 

 piling and fuel. Although suited for other purposes the tree has 

 little future, as it is an incidental species on soils which are either 

 adapted to better forest trees or are suitable for agriculture. 



Western chinquapin (Castanopsis cliysopliyUa) or as it is more 

 commonly called simply "chinquapin" is one of two trees on 

 the Pacific coast which are intermediate between chestnut and 

 oak. This tree favors the chestnut mostly while the other, the tan- 

 bark oak, is niostlv oak. Western chinquapin occurs on mountain 



slopes, sheltered ravines and valleys, and in rather dry or very dry 

 rocky and gravelly soils from southwestern Washington to southern 

 California. It is largest in valleys in northwest California, being 

 small or shrubby in dense pure-growth thickets over large areas 

 elsewhere of its range. While sometimes a very large tree is found, 

 ordinarily it is from thirty to fifty feet high and from eight to 

 fifteen inches in diameter in the region best suited to it. It has 

 thick, evergreen leaves, and bears a small bur like a chestnut. 



The wood is pale reddish br-,)wn in color, light, rather soft, fine- 

 textured, stiff but not strong, somewhat brittle, works easily. It 

 is odorless and tasteless, though the tannin contained is somewhat 

 astringent. Unlike chestnut the pores in the springwood of the 

 growth rings are few, small, usually round or nearly so, and rather 

 widely separated in a single row. There is little about the appearance 

 or structure of the wood that resembles oak as all the rays are 

 very fine and the pores small. The radial lines of pores in the 

 summcrwood and the presence of wood parenchyma in fine tangential 

 lines is like both chestnut and oak. Large trees furnish excellent 

 saw timber suitable for agricultural implements, certain grades of 

 furniture, and miscellaneous purpose.-. 



Tanbark oak {Quercus densiflora or Pasania densiflora) occurs 

 from northern Oregon through the cascades and coast ranges and 

 west slopes of the Sierras to the mountains of southern California. 

 It reaches its greatest size and is most abundant in the redwood 

 forests of California, though nowhere does it form more than a 

 small part of the stand. The average size of mature trees under 

 fair conditions is between seventy and eighty feet high and from 

 two to three feet in diameter, though it is occasionally much larger. 

 It is economically the most important of the sixteen Pacific coast 

 oaks, not on account of its wood but because it furnishes the chief 

 material used in the extensive tanning industry of that region. 

 Fully a million cords of the bark worth $18,000,000 have been used 

 in the last sixty years in California in the manufacture of heavy 

 leather. The wood of the tanbark oak is usually allowed to rot in 

 the ground after the bark is removed. There are a great many pur- 

 poses for which the hard, hcavj' material can be employed, such 

 as flooring, wagon and car stock, and possibly cooperage. It 

 makes exceUeut fuel. 



Oregon oak {Quercus garryana), known most commonly as 

 "white oak," is the largest oak in the Pacific coast region and 

 the most valuable for its wood. It occurs mostly in alluvial 

 high bottoms, valleys and prairies, from Vancouver Island south- 

 ward through western Washington and Oregon into central Cal- 

 ifornia. It is the only oak in the Pacific coast of Canada. It is 

 usually a medium sized tree with a short, clear trunk and a broad, 

 round-topped crown, growing only in open mixture. The wood is 

 yellowish brown, very liard, rather coarse-textured, strong, rather 

 tough and durable. It is similar in quality to that of eastern 

 white oak. Its principal uses are handles, furniture, cooperage, 

 saddles and stirrups, boats, vehicles, interior work, fi.xtures, 

 baskets, fence posts and fuel. About 2,000,000 board feet is 

 consumed annually in Oregon, an equal amount in California for 

 tanks and pipes, and 200,000 feet in Washington. 



California laurel, Oregon myrtle or pepperwood (XJ mbrellaria 

 californica) is an evergreen rather closely related to the cam- 

 phor and bay trees of the Old World and the well-known sassa- 

 fras of the eastern United States. Its range is from southwestern 

 Oregon, where it is largest, to the southern Iwrder of California. 

 It is variable in size and shape according to the site, but under 

 favorable conditions makes a large tree of good timber form, but 

 of limited occurrence. 



The wood is of a rich yellowish-brown color, often beautifully 

 mottled. The color can be improved and blackened by soaking 

 the green and unseasoned logs in water. The wood is moderately 

 heavy, hard, very firm, fine-textured, takes a high polish and fine 

 finish. It is an excellent cabinet wood surpassed by none of our 

 native hardwoods. Only the small supply limits its extended use 

 for furniture, cabinets, mantels and novelties. Only a little over 

 5,000 board feet of the wood was reported consumed in one 

 year by the wood-working industries of the Pacific coast. 



