The Trees of British Columbia. 89 
heart, and is less durable than the red one. Pseudotsuga Doug- 
lasii grows mostly in the southern parts of the province, also on 
the mainland coast and on Vancouver Island, but is not to be 
found on Queen Charlotte Islands. 
Menzies’ or Western Spruce (Picea Sitchensis), very similar to 
the Pseudotsuga Douglasii, grows chiefly on the coast, and is 
found also in the Gold and Selkirk ranges. The wood is white, 
and the tree grows to a very large size. 
The Western Hemlock or Hemlock Spruce (Tsuga Mertensi- 
ana) occurs on the coast, also on Fraser river and the Selkirk 
and Gold ranges. On Queen Charlotte Islands it reaches the 
the height of 200 feet. Its timber splits obliquely, and decays in 
the atmosphere, but the bark is very valuable for tanning. 
Engelmann’s Spruce (Picea Engelmanni) occurs in the eastern 
and interior parts of the province, and forms dense forests in the 
mountains to the. level ot nearly 4,000 feet in elevation. The 
tree is very tall and straight, and the wood durable. 
The Great Silver or Western White Fir (Abies grandis) clings 
to the coast, but reappears also in the southeast of the province. 
It isa large tree, but the wood is soft. Abies amabilis, a species 
most resembling it, grows in the valley of the Fraser river, and 
on Silver Mountain, Yale. This tree is in some cases confounded 
with Abies Subalpina or Mountain Balsam. 
The Mountain Balsam (Abies Subalpina) is found in the Gold 
and Selkirk ranges, in the Rocky Mountains, and in the northern 
portion of the interior plateau; sometimes in localities nearly 
reaching 4,000 feet in elevation. 
The Mountain Weymouth or Western White Pine (Pinus 
monticola) is found inthe Columbia River region, and also inthe 
interior of Vancouver Island. It makes excellent masts, and its 
wood resembles that of the eastern white pine. 
The so-called White-barked Pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a small 
tree, and grows at a very great elevation. Not always distinguished 
from this species is Pinus flexilis, the Rocky Mountain Pine. 
The Yellow Pine, sometimes called red, and pitch pine, 
is Pinus ponderosa, var. scopulorum. It is a magnificent tree, 
remarkable for the heaviness of its timber. Its bark is reddish- 
brown, and half the shaft branchless. It is found in the dry 
regions of the mainland, and on the slopes up to 3,000 feet. 
The Scrub Pine (Pinus contorta) is a coast tree, and grows on 
sandy dunes and rocky points. The “‘interior’’ variety of this 
tree, the so-called Black Pine (Pinus Murrayana) extends further 
north than any other pine; it covers great areas of poor soil, and 
sometimes is found on the hills over 3,500 feet high. In the in- 
terior of British Columbia, the trees are 100 feet in height, but 
their diameter is only about two feet. 
The Western Cedar, also called red or giant cedar, (Thuya 
gigantea) abounds on the Columbia river, on the Gold and Sel- 
