SUGAR PINE 147 



above the ocean. From 4000 to 7000 feet appears to be 

 the altitude best adapted to it. Its best development is, 

 probably, along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in 

 the central and northern parts of California. The author 

 saw some very fine specimens around the base of Mount 

 Shasta. Mr. Muir, as above cited, speaks of the tree in the 

 following literally accurate yet glowing terms : " In many 

 places, especially on the northern slopes of the main ridges 

 between the rivers, it forms the bulk of the forest, but 

 mostly it is intimately associated with its noble companions, 

 above which it towers in glorious majesty on every hill, 

 ridge, and plateau from one extremity of the range to the 

 other ... the largest, noblest and most beautiful of all 

 the seventy or eighty species of pine trees in the world, and 

 of all the conifers second only to King Sequoia." 



In early life the tree is generally covered with rather 

 slender limbs from the ground up, and though the crown 

 is somewhat open it assumes a conical form. Its tendency 

 to take that shape at that time is far greater than with our 

 Eastern White Pine, but there is, in the main, less uniform- 

 ity of form in mature trees than with most conifers. As 

 it approaches maturity, however, it develops a peculiarity 

 that always makes it recognizable. It throws out near the 

 top, long, slender, but somewhat specialized limbs, which 

 stand out horizontally or slightly drooping, with large 

 pendant cones, in clusters or singly, at the ends. Sometimes 

 these limbs reach out thirty-five or forty feet from the stem, 

 branching mainly at the ends. The cones require two years 

 to mature and hang on another year after that event, and 

 thus emphasize that peculiar feature. One who has once 

 seen a Sugar Pine with its outstretched arms, holding great 

 drooping cones, will never forget the sight or fail to recog- 

 nize the tree. 



By all odds it is the largest and most magnificent of all 

 the Soft Pines, and of the Pine family only the Western 

 Yellow Pine can lay claim to rival it in size. It is claimed 

 that trees three hundred feet high and twenty feet in dia- 



