May, 1893.] TKEES OF THE DEATH VALLEY EXPEDITION. 337 



Charleston Mountains. — Common, ranging down on the west slope to 

 1,430 meters (4,700 feet). 



UTAH. 



Beaverdam Mountains. — Common, descending to 1,340 meters (4,400 

 feet) on the west slope, and to 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) on the east slope. 



Pinus monophylla. 



Finus monophylla is the only pine belonging properly to the Great 

 Basin region, where it occupies the summits of the desert ranges in 

 company with Juniperus californica utaliensis. It belongs to the Up- 

 per Sonoran and Transition zones, and consequently is absent from the 

 highest peaks of the White and Charleston mountains, whose summits 

 are truly Boreal. It usually begins a few hundred feet above the lower 

 border of the juniper belt and ranges up a little higher than the juniper, 

 though the two are mixed over the greater part of their ranges. In 

 some areas the juniper predominates, as in the Juniper Plateau between 

 Meadow Creek Valley, Nevada, and the Escalante Desert in Utah, while 

 in other areas the nut pine predominates, as on Mount Magruder. 



Pinus monophylla is easily distinguished from the piiion of Arizona 

 {Pinus edulis) by its greater size, larger nuts, and single leaf. P. 

 edulis has two leaves. Both species have short and open cones from 

 which the nuts are easily dislodged by shaking. The nuts are eagerly 

 devoured by wild turkeys, pinon jays, and many other species. 



The nut pine furnishes the most important food of the Indians in- 

 habiting the southern part of the Great Basin, namely, the Paiutes, 

 Shoshones, and Panamints, who gather its cones in large quantities 

 and roast them in heaps, after which the nuts are extracted and placed 

 in large caches for winter use. They are eaten in a raw state as well 

 as roasted, and are pounded into flour and baked into a sort of bread. 



Mount Magruder is notable for the luxuriance of the nut pine for- 

 ests which clothe its higher hills and peaks, aud has long been a 

 favorite resort of the Paiute Indians, who speak of it as 'Nut Pine 

 Mountain,' and spend a considerable part of each year there for the 

 sole purpose of collecting the nuts. The trees often attain a height of 

 12 or even 15 meters (40 to 50 feet) and a diameter of half a meter 

 (nearly 20 inches). The following notes were recorded on the distribu- 

 tion of the nut irine in the region traversed : 



CALIFOKNIA. 



Sierra Nevada. — On the east slope of the Sierra opposite Lone Pine 

 the nut pine belt ranges from 1,830 to 2,440 meters (6,000 to 8,000 feet) 

 in width. 



Walker Pass. — On the east side of Walker Pass it begins a little 

 above 1,430 meters (4,700 feet) on northerly exposures and ranges up 

 over the summit of the pass at 1,525 meters (5,000 feet) and down on 

 the west slope as low as 1,310 meters (4,300 feet) in places. 



Tehachapi Mountains. — Commou, and ranging dowu to about 1,130 

 12731— No. 7 22. 



