24 CONIFEK^. 



above the middle, with a rhomboidal apex and depressed umbo; seeds 

 brown, H lines long or less. 



The redwood is the most characteristic and abundant forest tree of 

 the coast region. It is seldom found 30 miles from the ocean, never 

 ranging inland beyond the influence of the sea-fogs, and forme a 

 narrow belt along the coast, from southern Monterey Oo. to the 

 Oregon line. It is a common tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 

 where there is an especially fine grove, famous as the " Santa Cruz 

 Big Trees.;' In the Mt. Diablo Kange, the redwood is not known, 

 except in one limited locality on Redwood Peak, in the Oakland 

 Hills, directly opposite the Golden Gate. In Napa Valley it is rather 

 common and passes over the summit of Howell Mountain and 

 descends the slope towards Pope Valley. It thus crosses at one point, 

 the divide of the North Coast Ranges, and this locality is the farthest 

 of any from the ocean. The redwood belt has here, consequently, its 

 greatest width. It is the tallest tree on the American continent. In 

 the forests near Scotia, a tree 662 years old, measured in September, 

 1896, by C. S. Sargent, had a trunk diameter of 10 ft. 5 in., at 6 ft. 

 above the ground, and was 340 ft. in height. Trunks from 15 to 20 

 ft. in diameter are not uncommon in that region, and trees 20 to 25 

 ft. in diameter, can be found. The wood is exceedingly valuable for 

 all sorts of building purposes and in manufactures and the arts, 

 wherefore the demand for it is constantly growing. The region of 

 this great coniferous forest is a very attractive one, regarded from 

 almost any point of view, and delights the eye and mind of the 

 tourist, as well as the botanical traveler. 



S. GIG ANTE A Lindl. is the " Big Tree " of the Sierras. 



5. LIBOCEDRUS Endl. Iscense Cedak. 



Aromatic tree with flattened branchlets disposed in one horizontal 

 plane, and scale-like opposite leaves, imbricated in four ranks. 

 Flowers monoecious. Stamens 12 to 16, in many ranks, decussately 

 opposite. Scales of the pistillate ament 6, thick, coriaceous and 

 valvate, only the middle pair fertile; ovules 2. Cone oblong, of 

 imbricated or valvate . oblong scales; seeds 2 to each scale, unequally 

 2-winged, maturing in one season. (Greek libas, relating to a 

 fragrant resin, and cedrus, cedar.) 



1. L. decurrens Torr. Incense Cedar. A tree with bright 

 einnamon-red bark and with spreading branches; leaves in two 

 decussate pairs at each joint, 2 to 4 lines long, closely coherent, except 

 the short acute tip; cones 10 lines long; seed 5 lines long, winged on 

 both sides toward the apex, one wing very short, the other nearly as 

 long as the scale. 



Coast Ranges (Mendocino Co. and Mt. St. Helena, southward to 

 the San Jacinto Mountains); Sierra Nevada. 



6. JUNIPERUS L. Juniper. 

 Trees or shrubs with scale-like and awl-shaped leaves. Flowers in 

 ours dioecious in small coiies. Anther-cells 3 to 6, attached to the 



