Redwood 



89 



widely spreading, light green, soon becoming dark green, and after the leaves 

 have fallen, brownish red and covered with thin scaly paper-like bark. The buds 

 are about 3 mm. long, and scaly. The leaves are linear, 6 to 20 mm. long, some- 

 what curved, 2-ranked, spreading at wide angles to the twigs by a twist of the 

 base, sharply stiff-pointed, decurrent at the tapering base, somewhat revolute on the 

 margin, dark green and 

 shining above, glaucous, 

 and with a prominent 

 midrib beneath ; on young 

 twigs they are often many- 

 ranked and appressed or 

 ascending, somewhat 

 scale-like, often only about 

 6 mm. long. The stami- 

 nate flowers are ovoid, 3.5 

 mm. long, blunt, short- 

 stalked, composed of 

 about 12 stamens, their 

 connectives ovate, blunt 

 or pointed; the pistillate 

 flowers are oblong, about 

 8 mm. long, consisting of 

 15 to 25 ovate-orbicular, 

 curved, and pointed scales 

 concealing about 6 ovules. 

 The cones are oblong, 2.5 

 to 4 cm. long, reddish 



brown, their scales open- ^' ^' 



ing widely when shedding the seed, about 20 in number, obpyramidal, enlarged 

 above into an oblong disk 3 by 8 mm. across, grooved, with no bristle-hke tip; 

 seeds 3 to 5 under each scale, oblong-lanceolate, about 1.5 mm. long, light brown, 

 the wings about as broad as the body. 



The wood is soft, brittle, rather weak, close-grained, and hght red ; its specific 

 gravity is about 0.42. It is easy to split and work, takes a fine poUsh, and is largely 

 sawed into lumber for general purposes and used in the eastern United States as 

 well as all over the West, and much exported; also made into shingles, veneering, 

 telegraph poles, railroad ties, tanks, and barrels. The bark is used to stuff furni- 

 ture, and for articles such as pin cushions, and the burl turned into dishes. 



Although largely lumbered this tree rapidly renews itself by the numerous vig- 

 orous sprouts that spring up from the stumps, and there appears to be no immediate 

 danger of its extermination, though it is very desirable that large areas should be 

 preserved for the public use. 



This, one of the most magnificent North American coniferous trees, will not 



■ Redwood. 



