5O WILD FLOWERS OF THE 1'ACIFIC COAST. 



to be envied. He knew the name of every tree from the largest 

 to the smallest shrub. 



The trees of California, especially in the Yosemite, have a 

 grandeur of character hardly surpassed in any part of the world. 

 Of the pines, the sugar pine (Pinus Lambertiana) I think the 

 finest, often reaching three hundred feet in height, straight and 



o o o 



dignified in its bearing, with the trunk clear of limbs for twenty 

 and often thirty feet from the base. To stand on the ground and 

 look up at its top branches is like looking miles high, and one 

 can imagine the sun shining on its highest leaves, while night 

 has nearly overtaken the enormous roots that arc in places from 

 one to three feet above the ground come out, as it were, to look 

 after its young branches that every year are growing further and 

 further away from their parental care. 



Of the other trees seen on our trip, one I remember with 

 special interest is the red wood (S. sempervirens). Magnificent 

 forests of the red wood are found in the counties north of San 

 Francisco Bay, and are limited exclusively to this one species. 



Another beautiful tree is the laurel (Tetranthera Califor- 

 nica). 



The well-known ornamental tree, the Pinus Insignis, found 

 near Monterey, and the cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), of 

 which there is a magnificent grove at Cypress Point, are valuable 

 to the State. These are but a few of the names of her grand 

 collection, and California has cause to feel proud of the finest 

 collection of woods in the world. 



