CHAPTER VIII 



other trees. Birds as well as rodents collect acorns, but it is doubtful 

 whether they aid in propagating the oak, since woodpeckers deposit 

 the acorns in holes made in the bark of trees, and blue jays put them 

 in hollows in trees, into the pith of broken elder branches and like 

 places ; whether the numbers lost and scattered by the birds is consid- 

 erable I do not know. The elder, Sambucus glauca, Nutt., is often 

 of sufficient size to be counted with trees. It is nearly evergreen in 

 our climate, and is rather attractive, with its fresh foliage and large 

 clusters of white flowers. Its flowers are pollinated by insects ; the 

 fleshy fruits will be considered later. The Spanish Californians use 

 the leaves medicinally ; the fruit, also, is esteemed. 



The maple, Acer macrophyllum, Pursh, and the bay, or laurel, 

 Umbellularia Calif ornica> Nutt., of our canons, are not generally 

 accessible for class work ; neither, in Southern California, are any of 

 our native conifers, except such cultivated species as the Monterey 

 pine, Pinus insignis, Dougl., the Monterey cypress, Cupressus micro- 

 carpa, Hook., and the " big tree," Sequoia gigantea, Decaisne. These, 

 or any other cultivated conifers, can be watched as they push out new 

 leaves, shed their clouds of pollen and mature their cones. Most of 

 them are in flower in January or February. The staminate flowers 

 of the pine are most impressive, but the fertile clusters and young 

 cones of the cypress are generally more accessible. The staminate 

 catkins of Coniferse consist merely of scales bearing pollen sacs, two 

 each in the pine, and from three to five each in the Sequoia and 

 cypress. The fertile flowers, which, after fertilization, develop into 

 cones, consist of scales bearing naked ovules, two each in the pine, 

 more in the cypress. The illustration shows staminate and fertile 

 flowers of an introduced pine and cypress, and the development of a 

 cypress cone from the tiny green cluster on the branch to the woody 

 cone that has opened and allowed the seeds to escape. This develop- 

 ment is easily seen on the trees ; the fleshy scales close over" the 

 ovules soon after pollination, grow larger and more woody, and 

 ultimately separate to allow the seeds to escape. Conifers are very 

 deliberate in all of their habits ; many of them, like the Monterey 

 pine and cypress, require two years to ripen their seeds, and some 

 retain their seeds even five years. Our native conifers and trees gen- 

 erally, will be further referred to in Chapters XIII and XIV. Some 

 facts as to the size and age of trees will be given in the Supplement 

 to Chapter XIII. It is well to cultivate the habit of measuring the 

 finest trees available. 



The awakening of the deciduous trees of our orchards is full of 

 interest from the time that the swelling buds impart wondrous tints to 



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