FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



— which must be framed and hung at a suitable 

 distance before we truly see it. 



The trees of which I had come in search were 

 recognizable at a glance ; the leaves, of a remark- 

 ably vivid green, bearing a strong resemblance 

 to those of the hemlock, but sharp as needles, 

 as if to cry ''Hands off ! " the flaky gray bark, 

 most incongruously like that of some kind of 

 white oak ; while the green fruits, prettily spaced 

 ornamental pendants, were really for shape and 

 size not a little like nutmegs : a surprising crop, 

 surely, to be hanging amid such foliage. The 

 largest of the few examples that I saw (they grow 

 plentifully along the road a little farther down, 

 and may be picked out readily from a carriage- 

 seat, as I discovered later) might have been, I 

 thought, about fifty feet in height. 



This tree (the species, I mean), whose only 

 congeners are found in Florida, China, and Japan, 

 may be considered as one of four that lend a 

 notable distinction to the Californian silva, the 

 others being the Torrey pine, the Monterey pine, 

 and the Monterey cypress. No one of them occurs 

 anywhere in the world outside of California, and 

 the nutmeg is the only member of the quartette 

 that ventures more than a few miles inland. 

 Stranded species we may assume them to be, 

 formerly of wider range, but now — how or why 

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