221. PlNUS MONTICOLA MOUNTAIN WHITE PlNE. 47 



221. PINUS MONTICOLA, DOUGL. 

 MOUNTAIN WHITE PINE. 



Ger., Gebirgige weisze Flchte; Fr., Pin llano de montagne; Sp., 

 Pino bianco de los 'monies. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS : Leaves in clusters of 5 each, vested at first in a sheath 

 of scales, but which is soon deciduous, thick, rigid, glaucous, from 1| to 4 in. 

 long, serrulate, with rows of central and sometimes also dorsal stomata and con- 

 taining a single fibro- vascular bundle and usually 2 dorsal resin ducts; branch- 

 lets rather stout, tough, and rusty pubescent the first season but finally glabrous. 

 /77ot0ersstaminateoval, about | in. long and surrounded by eight involucal scales; 

 anthers knobed or crested; pistillate flowers erect and in clusters at the tips of 

 branchlets, oblong-cyiindric, about | in. in length and with stout peduncles which 

 hear long-pointed, conspicuously keeled scales persisting during the season. 

 Fruit cones cylindrical, pointed and generally curved, from 5-11 in. long, light 

 green and pendulous the second season, with stout incurved peduncles 1-1^ in. 

 long; scales thin, from 1-1| in. long by about f in. in width, slightly thickened and 

 smooth towards the small darker colored umbo at the apex. Tlie cones, after hav- 

 ing opened and liberated their seeds, in the autumn ot the second season, fall 

 during the following winter, the exposed portion of the scales being then light 

 brown and the rest dark reddish brown; seeds about ^ in. long, pale brown, 

 somewhat pointed and furnished with a wing f to 1 in. in length: cotyledons 6-9. 



(The specific name, monticola, is from two Latin words, mews, mountain, and 

 colo, I dwell,' designating the tree as a mountain dweller. 



The Mountain White Pine occasionally attains the height of 150 ft. 

 (45 m.) with a straight columnar trunk 6 or 8 ft. (2 m.) in diameter, 

 vested in a dark bark fissured lengthwise into firm, scaly ridges more 

 or less broken by cross fissures. 



HABITAT. From British Columbia southward to northern Mon- 

 tana and Idaho, where it is quite abundant, thence southward along 

 the Cascade and coast ranges of Washington and Oregon and both 

 slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where it attains its greatest 

 dimensions at an altitude of about 16,000 ft., and finds its southern- 

 most point of distribution in Tulare Co., CaL 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood very light, soft, not strong, not 

 durable in contact with the soil, with close grain, not very resinous, 

 easily worked. It is of a light reddish or brownish buff color with 

 lighter sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.3908; Percentage of Ash, 

 0.23; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.3899; Coefficient of 

 Elasticity, 95038; Modulus of Rupture, 609; Resistance to Longi- 

 tudinal Pressure, 334; Resistance to Indentation > 67; Weight of a 

 Cubic Foot in Pounds, 24.35. 



USES. This tree yields a valuable lumber of superior working 

 qualities, suitable for the various uses to which the eastern Wiiite 

 Pine is applied, though not considered as valuable a timber as that of 

 the eastern species. 



