The Deciduous Woods of British Columbia. 115 



shade, and as it does not grow to any great size, is well adapted 

 for small grounds. The leaves in the autumn turn red, some- 

 times striped with yellow. 



Vine Maple — Acer circinatum. — This tree, as its name 

 indicates, grows small and crooked, much in the shape of a vine. 

 Its range is confined to the mainland, to the westward of the 

 Coast Range of mountains, where it grows in dense impenetrable 

 thickets, and does not occur on Vancouver Island or to the east- 

 ward of the Coast Range on the mainland. It seldom exceeds 8 

 inches in diameter at the butt, and is a most useful wood to the 

 settler, as, the wood being tough, it makes excellent wagon 

 tongues, handles for implements, ox bows, and various things 

 of that kind. The natives made use of it for various household 

 utensils, such as spoons, dishes, etc. The bark is smooth and 

 green, the leaves are seven-pointed, nearly round, turning to a 

 beautiful scarlet in the autumn; the flowers, which occur in 

 loose corymbs, are a dark red, and the seeds are in twos, with 

 the wings spread at right angles. 



Western or Red Alder— ^/m« rubra. — So called on 

 account of the sap, which turns to a dull red when exposed to the 

 air, and was used by the natives as a dye for basket work, mats, 

 etc. The habitat of this tree is the low rich valleys, where it 

 generally grows in large groves, attaining a size from 10 inches to 

 three and even four feet at the base, and height of 50 to 100 feet. 

 The bark is white on the outside, smooth on the younger trees and 

 roughened, with wart-like excrescences in the older trees. The 

 range is principally along the sea coast of the mainland and Van- 

 couver Island. The tree can hardly be called a handsome one, 

 being of a rather stiff, formal character. The leaves are a dark 

 green, often whitish on the underside, oval in shape, and falling 

 on the approach of winter without turning color. Like some 

 other trees of this family, it bears staminate and pistillate 

 flowers separately, the former in the shape of what are popularly 

 known as catkins, emitting quantities of yellow pollen in the 

 spring. The wood, which is of a light brownish color, nearly 

 white, resembles black walnut in grain, and is used stained to 

 the proper shade, in imitation of that wood, for furniture, inside 

 finishings, bannisters, etc. The natives used this wood, which 

 is easily worked, for various purposes of domestic economy. 

 Spoons, dishes, boxes and furniture, such as they required, and 

 the inner bark as before mentioned, as a dye. 



Mountain Alder — Alnus rhombifolia. — This is a small in- 

 significant tree or bush, generally growing along water courses on 

 the steep sides of high mountains, taking the place often of larger 

 trees, which have been destroyed by avalanches, but occurring 

 sometimes on the low lands on margins of lakes. It seldom or 

 never grows straight, usually in a contorted form, especially when 



