100 FAMILIAR TREES 



a height of 300 feet, and a diameter of from six to 

 twelve or, it is stated, even twenty feet. In these 

 plains the stems are free from branches for more than 

 200 feet from the ground ; and their canopy of foliage 

 is so dense overhead as completely to shut out the 

 light of the sun. On the steep slopes of the mountain 

 canons, on the other hand, trees often stand alone, 

 and are clothed with branches from base to summit. 

 On the Californian Sierras it seldom grows at an alti- 

 tude of more than 5,000 or 6,000 feet above sea- 

 level ; but in Northern Arizona it forms forests at a 

 level of between 8,000 and 9,000 feet ; and in Colorado 

 it even extends to an elevation of 11,000 feet. At all 

 these high levels, however, it attains dimensions far 

 less than those it reaches in the plains, and at its 

 highest vertical limit it is but a low shrub. The 

 <: Douglas Fir " and " Douglas Spruce " are the names 

 most commonly applied to it in the European 

 pinetum ; but " Oregon Pine " is the name by which 

 the timber is chiefly known in our market, though it 

 was at one time known as the " Nootka Fir." In the 

 Uintah Mountains it is known as " Swamp Pine " and 

 " Bear River Pine," while such misleading appellations 

 as " Western Pitch Pine " and " Hemlock " are natural 

 to the non-botanical pioneer who sees slight resem- 

 blances. " Black Fir " or " Black Spruce " refers pro- 

 bably to the dark green of the foliage ; but " Red 

 Fir " and " Yellow Fir " seem to belong to different 

 varieties of the wood, the produce most probably of 

 different conditions of growth. 



The sapwood is generally narrow and yellowish ; 

 but the heart is sometimes also yellow, fine-grained 





