86 



EVERGREENS. 



The body and the branches of this tree seem to belong to 

 two entirely distinct systems. The trunk Is straight as an ar- 

 row, and the limbs are the crookedest things that grow on i. 

 tree. The first time I saw a grove of them I stopped anfi 

 studied theni a long time. The foliage is of yel- 

 lowish green, in fine contrast to the neighboring Concolor. Nj 

 straighter tree grows in any forest, but as the lower limbs dlo 

 and are dried up, they turn and knot and twist like so many 

 writhing serpents, forming one of the most striking contrasts 

 in tree life. 



Native Forest of Pinus Contorta Growing in Idaho. 

 By permission ol Forestry Department. From Giflord Plncliols, Primer of Forestry 



The cones of this tree are very remarkable in that they 

 hold the seeds in a vise-like grip instead of opening them to the 

 sun and letting the seeds fall like other Conifers, and herein is 

 a most remarkable provision or compensation of mature. The 

 trees are full of pitch and the dry limbs easily catch fire and" 

 the whole tree is wrapped in flame, and the entire grove is a 

 charred and ruined mass. But the fires open the cones and 

 the seeds spill out into the ashes. They sprout and take root 

 and come up by the million. They spread out further and 

 further. Thus by their destruction they push their conquests. 



In this respect the tree much resembles the Pinus Tubercu- 

 lata of the Pacific slope. In a visit to the Yellowstone Nation- 



