54 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



these situations when they are very much distorted by the prevailing 

 winds from the ocean, leaning and reaching almost full length off to 

 leaward. 



PHYSICAL PKOPERTIES. Wood light, soft, (or sometimes quite hard) 

 of moderate strength, brittle and usually very resinous. It is of a light 

 pinkish yellow or brown color with lighter sap-wood and when freshly 

 cut markedly fragrant with an odor suggestive of that of lemons, 

 Specific Gravity, 0.5815; Percentage of As7i, 0.19; Relative Approxi- 

 mate Fuel Value, 0.5804; Coefficient of Elasticity, 158533; Modulus of 

 Rupture, 093 ; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 554 ; Resistance to 

 Indentation, 149; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 36.24. 



HABITAT. In the close proximity of the coast from Mendocino 

 County, California, to Alaska, and farther inland on the western slopes 

 of the Coast Kanges. 



USES. Wood little used, but the shelter offered by the barrier of 

 these trees against the storms from the ocean in winter is really worthy 

 of mention. Not only tender plants but cattle, etc., are sheltered by it. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. None are mentioned of this tree. 



149. PICEA SITCHENSIS, CARE. 

 TIDE-LAND SPRUCE. 



Ger., Fluthland-Tanne ; Fr., Sapin du rivage de la mer ; Sp., Abeto de 



la ribera del mar. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS : Leaves i-f in. long, flat but keeled above and below, 1 

 line or less in width, rigid, abruptly pointed, with conspicuous stomata, glaucous 

 whitish, prominently so when young, pointing every way, with prominent bases, 

 persistent on the long thickish drooping glabrous branchlets. Cones cylindrical, M-3 

 in. long and scarcely 1 in. thick when closed, pale yellowish-brown, with thin elon- 

 gated scales, rather truncate and incisely denticulate at apex and lanceolate rigid 

 bracts of ^ or ^ their length; seeds 1 line long or somewhat, more and with wing {- 

 in. long by about H lines broad; cotyledons, 4-6. 



(The specific name, Sitchensis is a Latinized word, meaning of Sitka, near which 

 place this tree is abundant.) 



A tree of rare beauty, developing as it does a vigorous wide pyramidal 

 top, with long gracefully curved lower branches festooned with its droop- 

 ing sprays and beset with its handsome pendant-like cones. Probably 

 the tallest of its genus, it sometimes attains the height of 200 ft. (61 m.) 

 with a trunk even 15 or 16 ft. in diamoter, and vested in a thin and rather 

 smooth reddish-brown bark, which flakes off in irregular rounded scales. 



HABITAT. The near proximity of the Pacific Coast from Mendocino 

 County, California, northward to Alaska, in rich moist soil, and especially 

 abundant and well-developed in western Oregon and Washington where 

 it forms extensive forests. 



