The Trees of British Columbia. 89 



heart, and is less durable than the red one. Pseudotsug^a Doug- 

 lasii grows mostly in the southern parts of the province, also on 

 the mainland coast and on Vancouver Island, but is not to be 

 found on Queen Charlotte Islands. 



Menzies' or Western Spruce (Picea Sitchensis), very similar to 

 the Pseudotsuga Douglasii, grows chiefly on the coast, and is 

 found also in the Gold and Selkirk ranges. The wood is white, 

 and the tree grows to a very large size. 



The Western Hemlock o'r Hemlock Spruce (Tsuga Mertensi- 

 ana) occurs on the coast, also on Fraser river and the Selkirk 

 and Gold ranges. On Queen Charlotte Islands it reaches the 

 the height of 200 feet. Its timber splits obliquely, and decays in 

 the atmosphere, but the bark is very valuable for tanning, 



Engelmann's Spruce (Picea Engelmanni) occurs in the eastern 

 and interior parts of the province, and forms dense forests in the 

 mountains to the level ot nearly 4,000 feet in elevation. The 

 tree is very tall and straight, and the wood durable. 



The Great Silver or Western White Fir (Abies grandis) clings 

 to the coast, but reappears also in the southeast of the province. 

 It is a large tree, but the wood is soft. Abies amabilis, a species 

 most resembling it, grows in the valley of the Fraser river, and 

 on Silver Mountain, Yale. This tree is in some cases confounded 

 with Abies Subalpina or Mountain Balsam. 



The Mountain Balsam (Abies Subalpina) is found in the Gold 

 and Selkirk ranges, in the Rocky Mountains, and in the northern 

 portion of the interior plateau; sometimes in localities nearly 

 reaching 4,000 feet in elevation. 



The Mountain Weymouth or Western White Pine (Pinus 

 monticola) is found in the Columbia River region, and also in the 

 interior of Vancouver Island. It makes excellent masts, and its 

 wood resembles that of the eastern white pine. 



The so-called White-barked Pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a small 

 tree, and grows at a very great elevation. Not always distinguished 

 from this species is Pinus flexilis, the Rocky Mountain Pine. 



The Yellow Pine, sometimes called red, and pitch pine, 

 is Pinus ponderosa, var. scopulorum. It is a magnificent tree, 

 remarkable for the heaviness ol its timber. Its bark is reddish- 

 brown, and half the shaft branchless. It is found in the dry 

 regions of the mainland, and on the slopes up to 3,000 feet. 



The Scrub Pine (Pinus contorta) is a coast tree, and grows on 

 sandy dunes and rocky points. The ''interior" variety of this 

 tree, the so-called Black Pine (Pinus Murrayana) extends further 

 north than any other pine; it covers great areas of poor soil, and 

 sometimes is found on the hills over 3,500 feet high. In the in- 

 terior of British Columbia, the trees are 100 feet in height, but 

 their diameter is only about two feet. 



The Western Cedar, also called red or giant cedar, (Thuya 

 gigantea) abounds on the Columbia river, on the Gold and Sel- 



