108 Muhlenbergia, Volume 5 



than a remote connection with that well known and very defi- 

 nite group of trees, the Hemlocks." 



In the Manual of the Trees of North America, 52, Sargent 

 writes as follows concerning the distribution of this species: 



"Exposed ridges and slopes at high altitudes along the up- 

 per borders of the forest from southeastern Alaska, southward 

 over the mountain ranges of British Columbia to the Olympic 

 Mountains of Washington, and eastward to the western slopes of 

 the Selkirk Mountains in the interior of southern British Co- 

 lumbia, northern Montana, northern Idaho, the Powder River 

 Mountains, and along the Cascade Mountains of Washington 

 and Oregon, on the mountain ranges of northern California, and 

 along the Sierra Nevada to the canyon of the south fork of 

 King's River, California; in Alaska occasionally descending to 

 the sea-level, and toward the southern limits of its range often 

 ascending to elevations of 10,000 feet.' 11 



The specimen that furnishes our illustration was taken from 

 a tree growing at an elevation of 8000 feet some fifteen miles 

 or more southwest of Reno on the trail to Mt. Rose. Here, at 

 the lower limit of the tree's distribution, it is straight and hand- 

 some, growing as it does on a protected northerly slope. But 

 farther up, on the slopes of Mt. Rose near timber line, which 

 ranges from 9700 to 10000 feet according to exposure, while 

 usually a tree of considerable size, it is no longer symmetrical. 

 Buffeted by the fierce winter winds and snows, the branches on 

 the west side of the tree are either entirely wanting or very 

 short and gnarled, and the bark is commonly denuded. Unlike 

 its associate, Pinus a/bicau/is, which is abundant as a prostrate 

 shrub far above timber line, the spruce is rarely encountered 

 above timber line at this place, but here and there a hardy indi- 

 vidual may be found lurking among the pines. The greatest 

 elevation at which it was noticed is 10500 feet. 



Alter having observed the living tree, I quite agree with 

 Mr. Leminon that it should be considered generically distinct 

 from Tsuga, the true Hemlock. There is nothing about the 

 appearance of the tree or the mature cone that would lead one 

 familial with Tsuga to consider it as belonging to that genus. 



