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Postelsia I 
An alpine tree with slender, often drooping 
branches and _ short, stout, erect branchlets; 
leaves crowded, extending out from the twigs 
in all directions, not flattened, stomatiferous on 
all sides, 1-2 centimeters long, obtusely pointed 
at the apex; cones 2-8 centimeters long, oblong 
cylindrical, sessile at the end of short leafy 
branchlets, pendulous or erect, purple or some- 
times pale yellow-green; cone-scales oblong- 
ovate, longer than broad; seeds about 3 milli- 
meters long with large resin vesicles and long 
wings. From Alaska southward along the moun- 
tain ranges to the southern Sierra Nevada and 
eastward in the high mountains of the interior 
of British Columbia, Idaho and Montana. 
This tree usually occupies alpine regions 
near the limit of tree growth. It has been found 
on some of the higher mountains of southern 
Vancouver Island. On Mt. Edinburgh, near 
Port Renfrew, it occurs only close to the summit, 
not descending below three thousand feet. In 
the extreme northern part of its range it descends 
to sea-level and occurs in Alaska almost as far 
northwest as the tideland spruce and as it is able 
