AMERICAN FOREST TREES 69 



cones. They are larger than those of any other American pine and are armed with 

 formidable curved spines from half an inch to an inch and a half in length. The 

 cones are from ten to fourteen inches long. The tree is found on the Coast Range 

 mountains from the latitude of San Francisco to the boundary between California 

 and Mexico. It thrives at altitudes of from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. It never occurs in 

 pure stands and the total amount is small. It looks like the western yellow pine, but 

 is much inferior in size. Trunks seldom attain a length of fifteen feet or a diameter 

 of two. There is no evidence that Coulter pine is increasing its stand on the ground 

 which it already occupies, or spreading to new ground. The wood is light, soft, 

 moderately strong, and very tough. The annual rings are narrow and consist largely 

 of summerwood. The heartwood is light red, the thick sapwood nearly white. It is 

 a poor tree for lumber, and it has been little used in that way, but has been burned 

 for charcoal for blacksmith shops, and much is sold as cordwood. The leaves of 

 Coulter pine are in clusters of three, and they fall during the third and fourth years. 



CALIFORNIA SWAMP PINE (Pinus muricata) clearly belongs among minor 

 species listed as timber trees. It meets a small demand for skids, corduroy log roads, 

 bridge floors, and scaffolds in the redwood logging operations in California. It is 

 scattered along the Pacific coast 500 miles, beginning in Lower California and ending a 

 hundred miles north of San Francisco. It is known as dwarf marine pine, prickle- 

 cone pine, bishop pine, and obispo pine. The last name is the Spanish translation of 

 the English word bishop. The largest trees seldom exceed two feet in diameter, and 

 a height of ninety feet. The average size is little more than half as much. The 

 wood is very strong, hard, and compact, and the annual growth ring is largely dense 

 summerwood. Resin passages are few, but the wood is resinous, light brown in 

 color, and the thick sapwood is nearly white. The needles are in clusters of two, and 

 are from four to six inches long. They begin to fall the second year. Some of the 

 trees retain their cones until death, but the seeds are scattered from year to year. 

 Under the stimulus of artificial conditions in the redwood districts this pine seems to 

 be spreading. Its seeds blow into vacant ground from which redwood has been 

 removed, and growth is prompt. The seedlings are not at all choice as to soil, but 

 take root in cold clay, in peat bogs, on barren sand and gravel, and on wind-swept 

 ridges exposed to ocean fogs. Its ability to grow where few other trees can maintain 

 themselves holds out some hope that its usefulness will increase. 



MONTEREY PINE (Pinus radiata). This scarce and local species is restricted 

 to the California coast south of San Francisco, and to adjacent islands. Under 

 favorable circumstances it grows rapidly and promises to be of more importance as a 

 lumber source in the future than it has been in the past. It is, however, somewhat 

 particular as to soil. It must have ground not too wet or too dry. If these require- 

 ments are observed, it is a good tree for planting. Its average height is seventy or 

 ninety feet, diameter from eighteen to thirty inches. Trunks six feet in diameter are 

 occasionally heard of. The wood is light, soft, moderately strong, tough, annual 

 rings very wide and largely of springwood; color, light brown, the very thick 

 sapwood nearly white. The leaves are from four to six inches long, in clusters of two 

 and three, and fall the third year. Cones are from three to five inches long. 

 The lumber is too scarce at present to have much importance, but its quality is 

 good. In appearance it resembles wide-ringed loblolly pine, and appears to be 

 suitable for doors and sash, and frames for windows and doors. Its present uses are 

 confined chiefly to ranch timbers and fuel. If it ever amounts to much as a 

 lumber resource, it will be as a planted pine, and not in its natural state. 



JACK PINE (Pinus divaricata) is a far northern species which extends its range 



