The Forest Trees of Oregon. Sy 



THE FOREST TREES OF OREGON.— I. 



(From Rest urces of Oregon ) 



There are two directions in which economical botany may find 

 with the public special interest: One, the need of timber for com- 

 merce and in manufacture; the other, the home demand for 

 shade treis and landscape gardening. For both of these lines of 

 demand, that Oiegon is well endowed may be seen in even a 

 brief enumeiation of the native trees suitable for these objects. 



Beginning with the demands of our market, we place first on 

 our list of timber the pines. The principal oi these is the Sugar 

 Pine (Pinus lambertiana.) It is at home along the northern 

 slopes of the Siskiyous, is fairly abundant along the line of the 

 Oregon & California railroad near Grant's Pass. It is also 

 very fine and very abundant on the loothills of the Cascades 

 that overlook Klamath Marsh. The timber is not inferior to 

 that of the white pine of the eastern slope of the continent. The 

 tree is large, often growing to the height of 150 to 175 feet. It 

 bears a large cone, often 15 to 17 inches in length, suspended 

 from the extremities of the limbs and therefore scattering. The 

 timber of this sugar pine is highly prized f >r finishing, scarcely 

 distinguishable from the best eastern white pine. 



Another pine, the Pinus ponderosa (Oregon yellow pine), flour- 

 ishes in many regions, a good marketable timber in and out of 

 Oregon. It is abundant in central Oregon from the Dalles along 

 the eastern slopes and foothills of the Cascade mountains and 

 southward into Lake county. It is met with seldom in the 

 Willamette valley and is there of inferior quality for timber 

 Farther south one meets it more frequently. It is quite abundant 

 on the eastern slopes of the Cascades throughout Oregon and 

 Washington, and in many places is so fine a timber that its boards 

 are often equal to the best of any market. The supply of this 

 timber in Eastern Oregon is very great. 



The black pine (Pinus contorta) is abundant along the coast, 

 along the eastern slopes of the Cascades and on the more ele- 

 vated of the plains beyond. It is a small tree, used for fuel, but 

 is of very little value for timber or for dressed lumber. 



The tuberculated pine (Pinus tuberculata) is only found on the 

 mountains and is a small tree of but little economic value. It is 

 remarkable for its habit of retaining all of its old cones attached 

 to the body of the tree. Small groves of this tree may be seen 

 on the upper slopes of the Siskiyous and many places on the 

 Cascades. It rarely reaches the height of 60 feet; its cones, six 

 inches long, never open of their own accord to show their seeds 

 as do other pine cones. 



Pinus Muricata and Pinus Sabiniana are rarely found in Ore- 

 gon. 



A good deal of confusion of names has fallen on this group 

 of trees, not only in the popular names they have received but 



