FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 21 



In dense forests, in which its most characteristic form is found, this pine has 

 a tall, slender shaft, with a peculiarly short-branched, narrow, symmetrical 

 crown; the branches are usually slender and drooping and in early life extend 

 over one-half or two-thirds the length of the trunk. Its height ranges from 90 

 to 100 feet, and its diameter from 2$ to 3$, or. exceptionally, 4 feet. In open 

 forests, where the conditions are less favorable to its hetter development, it is 

 a short-bodied tree, 50 or 60 feet in height, with one or several very long, 

 stout, horizontal branches extending from 1<> to 1." feet or more beyond the 

 other slender branches. This striking character distinguishes the tree as far 

 as it can be seen. The bark of trees a foot or more in diameter is distinctly 

 broken into peculiar small, square Mocks. No other tree associated with it 

 has this bark character. Bark of mature trees is rarely over 1 ! inches thick. 

 In dense stands the color of the hark is grayish-purple, while in open, wind- 

 swept stands it is a distinct cinnamon color. The action of wind constantly 

 tears off thin outer scales of hark and exposes the red-brown interior. Young 

 trees have thin, smooth, bright gray hark, as do also the branches and upper 

 stems of old trees. The foliage of (his pine is bluish-green, with a whitish tinge. 

 The leaves are from 2 to about 4 inches long, borne •"> in a bundle (fig. 1). The 

 cones are matured at the end of the second summer, usually by the first of 

 September. They shed their seed soon afterward and fall from the trees within 

 a few months. The cones (fig. U) vary in length from about 6 to 10 inches — 

 occasionally slightly longer or shorter. In unweathered mature cones the tips 

 of the scales are red-brown or yellow-brown, the inner portion of the scales 

 being a deep red. The seeds (fig. 2, (/ 1 are reddish brown, with small blackish 

 spots. Seed leaves, 6 to 8 or P. 



Wood, very light and soft ; heartwood, pale brown, of high commercial value. 



Longevity. — A long-lived tree, attaining an age of from 200 to 500 years. 



RANGE. 



Middle and upper slopes of northwestern mountains from west side of Continental 

 Divide in northern Montana and southern British Columbia to Washington, Oregon, and 

 California. 



British Columbia. — Lateral valleys east of Columbia-Kootenai Valley, northward to 

 Donald, on Gold and Selkirk ranges (in region of heavy rainfall), northward to Great 

 Shuswap and Adams lakes: also on central ranges, hi southwesl in Coast Range, there 

 extending 51 miles up Homathco River to -,235 feet elevation. On interior mountains 

 of Vancouver Island and southwest coast, but not yet found on Queen Charlotte Islands. 



Washington. — Mountains of Northeast, Blue Mountains, and westward to Cascade and 

 Coast ranges, at elevations from 300 up to 6,000 feet. In northern Cascades, from near 

 sea level on Puget Sound up to about 3,000 feet : farther south on west side, at from 

 2,000 to O.ooo feet, and on the east side, ;l t from 1,150 to 4.TOO feet; eastward 5 miles 

 above Lake Chelan, and in Okanogan County to mountains west of Okanogan River (T. 36 

 N. K. 24 L.i. Farther south, noted up to 6,000 feet, Tolt, Snoqualmle, Cedar, Green, 

 White. Yakima, Wenache, and Kntiat river basins. In Olympics, From near sea level 

 up to 1,800 feet. 



Obkqon. — On both sides of Cascades and on coast ranges, at from 3,000 to G.000 feet 

 in north and 5,000 to 7,500 feet in south, extending eastward to Blue and Warner moun- 

 tains. On north side Mount Hood from 20 miles south of II 1 River on the Columbia 



at 2,000 to 4,300 feet: on south side from Camas Prairie to Government Camp. Cascade 

 National Forest (North) at 1,500 to 6,100 feet, throughout aim slope north of McKenzie 

 River, on east slope south of Mount Hood in White River Basin, and at headwaters of 



Warm Springs Liver and Beaver Creek. Eastward in Deschutes Liver Valley east of cas- 

 cades to upper Paulina Creek Canyon. Cascade National Forest (South) only on main 

 divide southward I to T. 39, S.. L. 5 L.I. on west side at 5,000 to 7.-~>nii feet, and not over 

 14 miles west of summit, except upper South I nipqualtiver Basin and on Siskiyous between 

 Siskiyou and sterling peaks. Frequent on east side of Cascades, but confined to declivities 

 at 5,500 to 0,000 feet. Noted on Mount Ma/.ama (Crater Lake) from 5,000 to above 



