3i6 Forest Trees of Oregon. — // 



tree; is durable, easily worked as finishing lumber and highly- 

 prized for its lightness. The northern Indians build their largest 

 canoes of it and use its bark for mats and cordage. In the south- 

 ern portion of the Willamette valley it is called the smooth-barked 

 cedar, to distinguish it from Libocedrus. 



LiBOCEDRUS DECURRENS — Rough-barked Cedar or Incense 

 Cedar. As a tree for lumber this is inferior to the Thuya. It 

 does not grow farther north than Lane county. It is abundant 

 throughout Douglas and Jackson counties. 



The Lawson Cypress— Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis 

 lawsoniana) is not found north ot the Umpqua river. It is at its 

 best around Coos Bay and the Coquille river and the north slopes 

 of the Siskiyous. It is called white cedar; is shipped extensively 

 jor the California market. So completely marketable is this tree 

 that one may see on the Coquille the finest example of lum- 

 ber economy: The log is cut into boards and squared timber, 

 the slabs into pieces for broom handles and lath, and the scraps 

 into blocks for matches; and it deserves this fine economy of 

 material. As a tree for landscape gardening it is questionable 

 whether North America has a finer tree than the Port Orford ce- 

 dar. It is at its best along the northern slopes of the .Siskiyous. 

 It is easily transplanted, will grow in a wide range of climate, 

 and will teach any one to love a tree. 



JUNiPERUS occiDENTALis. In many of the dryer regions 

 o^ Central Oregon this juniper, under the name of cedar, fur- 

 nishes the chief and often the only supply of firewood. It is not 

 abundant enough for extensive commercial demands. It strongly 

 resembles the red cedar of the Eastern States (Juniperus vir- 

 ginianus). 



Juniperus communis. A stranger to this species seeing it for 

 the first time experiences marked surprise. It is entirely pros- 

 trate, often growing over a space loo feet square, the stem five 

 or six inches in thickness. One could readily imagine many situa- 

 tions in landscape gardening in which such a plant would fill a 

 want. It is often met on the coast. 



Taxus brevifolia. The Oregon yew has a dense, durable 

 wood, often used in western Oregon for fence posts. It is not 

 abundant enough for commercial purposes. It is a handsome 

 tree, pays for transplanting in the beauty it adds to a lawn. 



Larix occidentalis.^ — Oregon or Western Larch. This is 

 a much larger tree than the tamerack of the Eastern States. Its 

 timber is good. It is at home along a belt of foothills from the 

 Upper De Chutes north into Washington, and abundant in the 

 Blue mountains but not in western Oregon. Excepting this larch, 

 all the foregoing trees are evergreen. 



We will now considei the deciduous trees that rank as valua- 

 ble for shade or ornament as for commerce. Oregon has three 

 oaks that are of commercial importance. Of these in abundance 

 and quahty, the Oregon white oak ranks first. 



