MOUNTAIN TREES 



the head. I have personally seen sev- 

 eral narrow escapes and when camping 

 I now take care to lay my blankets be- 

 yond the borders of a Coulter pine. 



This tree is particularly a dweller of 

 dry rocky ridges and slopes ; in fact, he 

 seems to be at home nowhere else. 

 Sometimes he wanders far down the 

 boulder-strewn washes and may be the 

 first conifer you see as you come into 

 the mountains. He is then a solitary 

 creature and weathers the heat of the 

 lower altitudes alone. The Coulter pine 

 is rather frequent in the coniferous for- 

 ests of the San Bernardino, San Jacinto, 

 Cuyamaca, Palomar and Laguna Moun- 

 tains, but less so in the San Gabriel 

 Range. 



The whole tree has a look of open- 

 ness not noticeable in the pines of high- 

 er and more moist locations. Though 

 ordinarily of medium height, 60 feet or 

 so, the main stem may grow, in espe- 

 cially favorable locations, into a much 

 more robust and taller tree. The side 



22 



