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THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFOKNIA 



summit peaks, upon moraines or crumbling ledges, 

 wherever it can obtain a foothold, to an elevation 

 of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, where it dwarfs to a 

 mass of crumpled, prostrate branches, covered with 

 slender, upright shoots, each tipped with a short, 

 close-packed tassel of leaves. The bark is smooth 



GROUP OF ERECT DWARF PINES. 



and purplish, in some places almost white. The 

 fertile cones grow in rigid clusters upon the upper 

 branches, dark chocolate in color while young, and 

 bear beautiful pearly seeds about the size of peas, 

 most of which are eaten by two species of tamias 

 and the notable Clark crow. The staminate cones 



