INCENSE CEDAR. 13 



This impression is further strengthened by the appearance of the bark 

 on the younger trees, which is flaky rather than shreddy, and by the 

 crown, which is characteristically conical and compact in early life. 

 The pendulous, blunt-pointed cones, 1 however, are unlike those of any 

 other genus, and serve as a ready means of indentification. 



As stated, the tree in early life has a compact, sharply conical 

 crown reaching nearly to the ground. The stem is single and erect, 

 tapering more or less sharply to a slender, gracefully flexible tip. 

 The bark on seedlings is usually smooth and dark green or brown, 

 but in the sapling and pole stage it becomes flaky, more or less 

 tinged with red, and shows a lighter yellowish underbark where it 

 has scaled off. In middle life the tree loses somewhat its conical 

 form of crown, although usually retaining it at the top throughout 

 the period of height growth, unless damaged or badly suppressed. 

 The bark, too, at this stage becomes shreddy and takes on the char- 

 acteristic yellowish-brown color peculiar to this species, or in some 

 localities a decidedly reddish tinge, which it retains throughout 

 its life. At maturity the tree loses most of its symmetry of form, 

 becomes buttressed, swell-butted, and flat-topped. At this period, 

 too, the crown is usually more or less open and irregular, consist- 

 ing of a few large scraggly limbs, often deformed by mistletoe and 

 witches' brooms — a condition typical of incense cedar in virgin 

 stands. 



SIZE. 



Incense cedar varies greatly in size. At maturity, under ordinary 

 conditions, it may be said to average from 75 to 110 feet in height 

 and from 30 to 40 inches in diameter breasthigh. Much larger trees, 

 however, frequently occur. The largest of which there is any record 

 is located near Morgan Springs, Tehama County, Cal., and measures 

 96 inches in diameter at breastheight, 120 feet in height, and contains 

 approximately 9,700 board feet. Trees 150 feet in height occur in 

 several localities throughout the Sierras, and in Tuolumne County 

 a tree 186 feet high was cut recently. Under less favorable conditions 

 for growth, average diameters and heights, particularly heights, are 

 appreciably less. Thus, in the coast ranges and in southern California 

 cedars from 60 to 80 feet high are the rule, though in the Sierras trees 

 from 100 to 125 are not unusual. At high elevations ond on poor 

 sites generally the trees are smaller and scrubbier. On good sites at 

 moderate elevations they make their best growth. Table 10 gives, 

 for several localities, the average merchantable length of trees by 

 diameters, the average number of logs, the maximum and minimum 

 heights, and the average top diameters to which the trees can be cut. 



1 Described fully on p. 17. 



