128 TREES 



so it keeps near streams. With the broad-leaved maple 

 it gives character to the deciduous growth near the north- 

 ern boundaries of California, where it reaches eighty to 

 ninety feet in height, and a trunk diameter of four to five 

 feet. Sometimes it is tall, but usually it divides near the 

 ground into several large diverging stems, forming a 

 broad round head. In southern California, and at high 

 elevations, it oftenest occurs as a low shrub. 



The willow-like leaves, lustrous and evergreen, last 

 often through the sixth season. Unfolding in winter or 

 early spring, they continue to appear as the branches 

 lengthen until late in the autumn, turning to beautiful 

 yellow or orange and falling one by one. Beginning dur- 

 ing the second season, they continue to drop, as new shoots 

 loosen their hold. These leaves are rich in an aromatic 

 oil which causes them to burn readily when piled green 

 upon a campfire. Plum-like purple fruits succeed the 

 small white fragrant flowers, borne in clusters in the axils 

 of the leaves. The seeds germinate before the fruit 

 begins to decay. Indeed the plantlet has attained con- 

 siderable size before the acid flesh shows any signs of 

 change. 



This tree is a superb addition to the parks and gardens 

 of the Pacific Coast. It is strikingly handsome in a land 

 of handsome trees, native and exotic. Its wood is the 

 most beautiful and valuable produced in the forests of 

 Pacific North America for the interior finish of houses and 

 for furniture. It is heavy, hard, strong, fine-grained, 

 light brown, of a rich tone, with paler sap-wood, that in- 

 cludes the annual growth of thirty or forty seasons. The 

 leaves yield by distillation a pungent, aromatic, volatile 

 oil, and the fruit a fatty acid commercially valuable. 



