SUPPLEMENT 



among the redwoods can be found in "Picturesque California," 

 page 453- 



The Douglas spruce, Pseudotsuga Douglasii, popularly called the 

 Oregon Pine, grows in dense forests in Oregon and Washington, 

 where it is frequently three hundred feet high. It is also widely dis- 

 tributed in California, its variety macrocarpa extending to the very 

 southern counties. In Ix>s Angeles County it is found at lower alti- 

 tudes than the other Coniferae. It is not a true pine ; its leaves are 

 linear, not needle-like ; they are two-ranked and are petioled. The 

 most characteristic feature of the tree is its cones, which have fringe- 

 like bracts overlapping the scales. Of the true pines, the most 

 majestic is probably Pinus Lambertiana, Torr., popularly known as the 

 sugar pine because of the sugar that exudes from its heartwood when 

 wounded. This tree, too, ranges from one hundred and fifty to three 

 hundred feet in height and from ten to twenty in diameter. It can be 

 readily recognized from its cones ; they are from fifteen to eighteen 

 inches in length and, when open, from four to five inches in diameter. 

 Its needles are in fascicles of five, but are only about three inches 

 long ; the bark is broken by fissures into small scales or plates. The 

 bark of the yellow pine, P. ponderosa, Dougl., on the other hand, is 

 in massive plates ; its needles, eight inches long, are in groups of 

 three, but its cones are only about four inches long. This pine rivals 

 the other in height and has a much wider range, being by far the 

 more common in the mountains of Southern California. Both of 

 these pines are prominent in the Sierra forest belt, and are vividly 

 characterized by Muir. Also of this illustrious company of mountain 

 kings, are the silver firs, Abies concolnr, Lindl , and A. magnified, 

 Murr., slender, beautifully symmetrical, silvery trees, hardly less than 

 the others in height, " the younger trees dressed with such loving 

 care that not a leaf seems wanting." 



From our list of Coniferae, the nut-pines should not be omitted. 

 P. Sabiniana, Dougl., grows on the hot foot-hills of the western 

 slopes of the mountains ; it has sparse foliage but very large cones. 

 P. monophylla, T. & F., is the nut-pine of the eastern slopes of the 

 Sierras and the arid regions beyond. The cones of this species are 

 very small but are full of nuts ; Muir believes that in fruitful years 

 the crop of these nuts exceeds the wheat crop of California ; his 

 account of the gathering of the nuts by the Indians would be sure to 

 appeal to school children, to whom the nuts or piiions are familiar 

 objects. The coast, or Monterey pine, P. insignis, Dougl., has been 

 already referred to as our most common cultivated pine. Its leaves 

 are in threes and are from four to six inches long ; the cones are 



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