REDWOOD FORESTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



147 



ward through northern California, nearly to the hay of San 

 Francisco. Indeed, a few scattering groves are found south of 

 the hay, in Santa Cruz county and other localities, and there are 

 evidences that not many centuries ago it extended over the Coast 

 ranges as far south as Los Angeles ; hut in all this region it is 

 now practically extinct. The densest forests are found in Hum- 

 boldt county. In Del Norte county, on the north, the area is 

 comparatively small and the forests somewhat less dense ; while 

 in Mendocino county, on the south, where the redwood area is 

 even greater than in Humboldt, the forests are not as dense, and 

 in Sonoma count}', still farther south, the timber becomes more 

 scattering, thinning out into groves. Its habitat is a region of 

 heavy rainfall, which comes in the winter, and of fogs which 

 sweep in from the Pacific at all times of the year. It is a very 

 moist, temperate region, both of which conditions appear to be 

 essential to the growth of the species. On the north its range 

 is probably limited by temperature, since the humidity is even 

 greater in Oregon and Washington than in California. On the 

 south it is probably limited by the diminishing amount of hu- 



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T,\ K, 1 1,1 I'STIi VT] KG DENSITY OF 



