224 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFOKNIA 



above these in lake basins the aspen forms fine 

 ornamental groves, and lets its light shine glori 

 ously in the autumn months. 



The Chestnut Oak (Quercus densiflora) seems to 

 have come from the coast range around the head 

 of the Sacramento Valley, like the Cham&cyparis, 

 but as it extends southward along the lower edge 

 of the main pine-belt it grows smaller until it 

 finally dwarfs to a mere chaparral bush. In the 

 coast mountains it is a fine, tall, rather slender 

 tree, about from sixty to seventy-five feet high, 

 growing with the grand Sequoia sempervirens, or 

 Redwood. But unfortunately it is too good to 

 live, and is now being rapidly destroyed for tan- 

 bark. 



Besides the common Douglas Oak and the grand 

 Quercus Wislizeni of the foot-hills, and several 

 small ones that make dense growths of chaparral, 

 there are two mountain-oaks that grow with the 

 pines up to an elevation of about 5000 feet above 

 the sea, and greatly enhance the beauty of the yo- 

 semite parks. These are the Mountain Live Oak 

 and the Kellogg Oak, named in honor of the ad 

 mirable botanical pioneer of California. Kellogg's 

 Oak (Quercus Kelloggii) is a firm, bright, beautiful 

 tree, reaching a height of sixty feet, four to seven 

 feet in diameter, with wide-spreading branches, 

 and growing at an elevation of from 3000 to 5000 

 feet in sunny valleys and flats among the ever 

 greens, and higher in a dwarfed state. In the 

 cliff- bound parks about 4000 feet above the sea it is 

 so abundant and effective it might fairly be called 

 the Yosemite Oak. The leaves make beautiful 



