548 BOTANY 



The outer range of Coast Mountains, however, especially in the north- 

 ern part of the state, has an extraordinarily heavy winter rainfall, 

 and the dense ocean fogs, which prevail all through the dry season, 

 take the place of rain to some extent. It is upon these outer Coast 

 ranges that the Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) grows, the tallest of 

 all our trees, some specimens reaching a height of nearly 115 metres 

 (340 feet), wifh trunks 6 metres or more in diameter. Many of the 

 northern plants have followed the mountains southward and estab- 

 lished themselves in the moist Redwood forests. Trillium, Violets, 

 Erythronium, Fritillaria, and, in the extreme north, Lysichiton and 

 Linneea, are found. The Redwood forests cease about 100 miles south 

 of San Francisco (lat. 38), and the forests from Monterey southward 

 are much dryer, with smaller and more scattered trees, mostly Pines. 



At Monterey itself are two trees, most interesting as the sole surviv- 

 ors of their kind. These are the Monterey Pine (Pinus insignis) and 

 the Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpd) (PL XV), which form 

 scattered forests close to the sea, but are unknown elsewhere. The 

 Monterey Pine also occurs sparingly at one or two other points along 

 the coast. 



The second great forest region of California is that on the western 

 slope of the Sierra Nevada, at a height of 1200 to 2000 metres. Here 

 is perhaps the most magnificent forest of the world. Among giant 

 Sugar-pines, Yellow-pines, Spruces, Firs, and Cedars, grow the mon- 

 archs of the American forests, the "Big-trees," Sequoia gigantea 

 (PI. 1, Frontispiece). This forest is comparatively open and park- 

 like, and while the large trees are all Conifers, there is an under- 

 growth of angiospermous trees, Oak, Dogwood, Maple, and some 

 others, while many beautiful flowering shrubs also occur. Most 

 beautiful of all is the fragrant Azalea occidentalis, which forms 

 thickets, covered with beautiful rose-tinted white flowers in early 

 summer. 



Ascending the mountains, the trees diminish in size, and disappear 

 entirely at about 3000 metres. On the east side of the mountains, 

 owing to the very much diminished rainfall, the trees are much 

 smaller, and the mountains slope into the deserts of Nevada, covered 

 with Sage-brush and other desert vegetation. 



The predominance of coniferous trees in all the forests of the 

 Pacific coast is remarkable. Nowhere do the deciduous trees form 

 any considerable element in the forest, although a considerable 

 number of species occur. These are found either as an undergrowth 

 of the coniferous forests or along streams, where they do not form 

 true forests. Most of these trees are related to eastern species, but 

 many of the characteristic trees of the Atlantic states are quite 

 absent. There are no Elms, Beeches, Hickories, Magnolias, or Gums 

 in the western forests, but the number of species of Conifers is very 



