1899 | BRIEFER ARTICLES 69 
ROOT SUCKERS ON DOUGLAS FIR. 
THE occurrence of stool shoots among deciduous species of trees is 
very common, and their production by the forester is resorted to for 
the reproduction of many species. Among conifers the formation of 
stool shoots is limited to a few species. The California redwood 
(Sequoia sempervirens) is very commonly reproduced in this way. Much 
less common than stool shoots are root shoots, often known as root 
suckers or suckers. Among conifers only the redwood, the California 
nutmeg (Zumion Californica), and the short-leaf or yellow pine (Pinus 
echinata Miller) have so far been reported as producing root suckers. 
For several years the woodsmen of western Washington have 
recognized in the fir forests a curious growth which they have called 
“sap suckers.” As we see them in the forest they appear as a broken 
stub ranging in height from 0.6 to 3.5". Without leaves or branches, 
they appear entirely lifeless until cut into with an axe. An examina- 
tion shows that they are covered with living bark and beneath that a 
living woody tissue very hard and with a grain of very fine and intri- 
cate burl. 
The sap suckers vary greatly in size and external appearance. The 
diameters range from 30 to 60™ and the height from 0.6 to 3.5”. 
Investigation has shown that they are connected with one of the main 
Toots of the parent fir, their distance from the parent trunk varying 
from 0.6 to 4.5", an average distance being about 1.8". The living 
bark bears little resemblance to the bark of the fir except in color. 
The clefts are much finer and the plates much smaller. The living 
—, in every instance, forms only an enveloping sheath about a 
pen ae Bee It varies in thickness from 12 to 50" and there is 
a eins in the disposition of this living sheath. at begins at or 
he . ace of the ground and grows upward, entirely encircling 
wes vie ies nat In vaeecap cases where the stub was very short the 
ptottiberancs * :d =a it over, forming sometimes a hy globular 
bad ED os oat 0.6" high and sometimes a column 3.5" high; but 
veda. a. Cea oad of cases the burl covering has extended to only 
€ height of the stub, so that the rotting dead end still 
Protrudes above. 
we ad es is only a secondary growth on an ordinary root 
Ormation of these on the roots of the Douglas fir, Pseu- 
dotsy a . ‘ 
82 taxifolia, was proven by examination. In the dense woods of 
