14 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



shortly peduncled, oval to slightly obovate, about 1 to 1^ inches in 

 length, contained in a shallow cup. 



It ranges from Vancouver Island southwestward through western Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and, the Coast Ranges of California, to Santa Cruz. It 

 is the only oak used for lumber on the Pacific Coast, and furnishes the 

 oak lumber for the furniture factories of West Berkeley. 



The other form of this species is a mere shrub from 2 to 6 feet high, 

 but identical with the larger form in every other particular. 



Its range begins in an exposed portion of western Washington, where 

 apparently it is stunted by the severe sea-breezes. Passing along the 

 western slopes of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, its elevation 

 continually increases until in California it is found only on the highest 

 ridges and peaks. Its southernmost range is Snow Mountain in Lake 

 County. 



The entire range of this oak is swept by cold driving north winds, 

 which apparently serve to keep the temperature and other conditions 

 uniform throughout. 



It is to this form of Q. garryana that stockmen turn when seeking 

 "browse" in their mountain pasture. It is gregarious over hundreds of 

 acres on the ridges, peaks, and higher slopes in the most exposed places 

 of the northern Coast Ranges. It forms thickets to the exclusion 

 of everything else except the Maul Oak (Quercus chrysolepis) , and 

 occasionally Wild Cherry (Cerasus demissa). 



This species, almost unaided, supplies pasture for thousands of sheep 

 and goats as well as cattle and horses, and not only keeps them up, but 

 actually fattens them. The stock keep whole ranges of it eaten down 

 often to within less than two feet of the ground. Aside from the value 

 of the leaves, the acorn, which is quite sweet, forms a rich diet for stock. 

 The mast is usually sure and abundant. 



POISON OAK (Rhus diversiloba). 



The Poison Oak (Rhus diversiloba) is usually a small shrub from 2 to 

 5 feet high, but occasionally it ascends the trunks of trees as a vine, to a 

 height of 15 or 20 feet. The leaflets are orbicular to ovate, glaucous, 

 with distinct venation. They contain an irritating and poisonous vola- 

 tile oil, which poisons many persons by simple contact or even by diffu- 

 sion in the air. The fruit is pale, about three lines thick, and quite 

 abundant. 



Rhus diversiloba is everywhere common through the hilly portions of 

 California. 



On the ranges the leaves and berries are readily eaten by sheep, goats, 

 and horses, but not by cattle, as far as could be ascertained by observa- 

 tion and numerous inquiries. Many of the bushes are stripped entirely 

 of leaves long before they would naturally drop them. 



