116 CONIFER.E. Lihocednis. 



been separated by Koch under the name of Ifcijderia, the chief differences being the third connate 

 pair of scales in the cone, the somewhat dillerently winged and shaped seed, and the arrangement 

 of the leaves in four ranks. 



1. L. decurrens, Turr. A tall tree (becoming 100 to 150 feet high or more, 

 by 4 to 7 I'eet ill diameter), with scattered lax spreading brandies: leaves bright 

 green, in two decussate pairs at each joint, closely adnate excepting the short acute 

 tip ; the lateral without glands and nearly covering the llattened obscurely pitted 

 inner ones: staminate flowers ovate, of 12 to 16 scales: cones 9 to 12 lines long, 

 scaly-bracteate at base, oblong, the lower scales very short, the upper connate into 

 a longitudinal septum, the middle pair oblong, convex, obtuse at the tip, all with a 

 short acute somewhat recurved mucro : seeds oblong-lanceolate, 4 to G lines long, 

 the narrow outer wing scarcely longer, the inner one broad and nearly equalling the 

 scale. — PI. Frem. 7, t. 3 ; Parlatore, DC. Prodr. xvi^ 'if)^. Tliinja Cruijiaita, 

 Ball". Oreg. I'lxp. 2, t. 2\ (/i(/ait(e<i, (Jarr. Fl. Scsrres, ix. 199, fig. 3-5, and Conif. 

 105. llti/Jerui dtcavrtns, Koch, Dendrol. ii. 177. 



In the Coast Jvan^'cs from Oregon to San Difgo and in the Sierra Nevada to an altitude of 8,500 

 feet or more ; in foliage and habit much resembling Tliuya <iiiiuiitcii. The tree is conical in shape, 

 with loose somewhat fibrous bark : wood very light and soft, light-colored, durable in water or 

 under cover, but said to decay when exposed. 



6. SEQUOIA, Eiull. ItEDWooD. Mammoth Ti;ke. 



Flowers monoecious. Aments terminal or axillary upon young shoots, of rather 

 numerous spirally arranged scales. Staminate flowers small, involucrate Avith scale- 

 like leaves, Avith 3 to 5 anthers under each ovate subpeltate connective scale; pollen- 

 grains simple. Fertile aments oblong-ovate, erect, with 3 to 7 inverted ovules at the 

 base of the spreading scales. Cone maturing the second year, woody, oval ; the 

 scales divergent at right angles from the axis, thick and wedge-shaped with a rhom- 

 boidal rugose umbilicate apex, setaceous-mucronate. Seeds compressed, oblong- 

 obovate, with thick spongy margin. Cotyledons 4 to 6. — Tall trees, with straight 

 columnar trunk and short spreading branches ; leaves scattered, decurrent, short- 

 linear to ovate-lanceolate, compressed and carinate, acute, the upper mostly sjjread- 

 ing distichously (especiallj' on younger trees and branches) ; bark very thick and 

 fibrous-spongy, cleaving longitudinally ; wood red, soft and easily split. — Welling- 

 tonia, Lindl. 



A remarkable and noted Californian genus. 



1. S. sempei'virens, Endh Leaves bright green, glaucous beneath, spreading 

 distichously, acute or acuminate and mostly i)ungent, 6 to 9 lines lung and about a 

 line broad ; those on the main stems and peduncles, and usually the lower ones on 

 the spreading branchlets, appressed and sliorteV : staminate flowers 1^ to 2 lines 

 long: cones oblong, 9 to 12 lines long ])y a half-inch broad, of about 20 scales: 

 seeds brown, 2 or 2.^ lines long. — Syii. Conif. 198; Decaisne, Pev. Ilortic. 1855, 

 9, t. 11, fig. 2 ; Newberry, Pacif. P. Pep. vi. 57, fig. 23 ; Parlatore, DC. Prodr. xvi''. 

 436; Bolander, Proc. Calif. Acad. iii. 231. Taxoilhim sempervirens, Lambert, Cen. 

 Pin. 2 ed. 107, t. 48, & 3 ed. 120, t. 64. Schuhertia sempervirens, Spacli. 



The most valuable tree of the Californian forests, occupying the Coast Hanges with few breaks 

 from Oregon to San Luis Obispo, wherever they are exposed to the fogs from the octaii, but most 

 extensively northward of San Francisco. In size it usually averages 8 to 12 feet in diameter and 

 from 200 to 300 feet in height, with a straight cylindrical trunk naked to the height of 70 or 100 

 feet or more. The bark is of a bright cinnamon color, G to 12 inches thick, and the wood a rich 

 brownish red, light but strong and durable, straight-grained and taking a handsome finish. The 

 species is remarkable for its tenacity of life, the roots and stumps of the older trees being almost 



