358 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



plates from four to eight inches wide, and from twelve to 

 twenty inches long, whereby the tree may be recognized at a 

 distance. It is found in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range, 

 and is valuable for lumber, as well as for resin and turpentine, 

 extracted from the pitch which exudes when the tree is 

 gashed. 



The nut-pine (Pinus sabiniana) is remarkable as a conifer 

 for its spreading top, and for its large cones full of edible 

 seeds. It branches out somewhat after the manner of a ma- 

 ple ; rarely more than sixty feet high, though often with a 

 trunk four feet through a thickness of trunk that with most 

 other conifers would give more than double the height. About 

 half-way from the ground to the top, the trunk divides into a 

 number of branches, which grow upward. The nut-pine is 

 found in the lower part of the Sierra Nevada, and in the 

 coast mountains, near the head of the Sacramento Valley. 

 The seeds are larger than the common white bean, and are 

 very palatable, with a slight terebiuthine taste. The leaves 

 are from four to ten inches long, and grow in threes. The 

 foliage of the tree, when seen from a distance, resembles that 

 of the willow, both in color and distribution. In places where 

 the nut-pine is found, the woodpeckers select them as store- 

 houses for their winter food, cutting holes in their bark, and 

 putting an acorn in each. The Indians formerly relied upon 

 the nuts for a considerable portion of their food. They 

 climbed the tree by catching hold of the rough, strong bark 

 with their hands, then putting their foot against the tree, with- 

 out touching it with their body or knees, they walked up till 

 they reached the limbs. 



A liquid called erasine, similar to turpentine in its qualities, 

 is distilled from the pitch of the nut-pine. 



The Monterey pine (Pinus insignis) is extensively cultivated 

 as an ornamental tree, being hardy, quick in growth, and 

 dense and handsome in form and foliage ; but it has no value 

 for timber. 



