24 BULLETIN 207, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



drical for any considerable length, most of them being crooked or 

 variously bent and with irregular ridges and hollows. It is rare for 

 old trees to have single stems. As a rule, the trunks are divided 

 near the ground into large, crooked, sharply ascending branches. 

 The bark is characteristically thin, about one-fourth of an inch 

 thick on small or medium-size trees and from one-third to one-half 

 of an inch on large, old ones. It weathers to a brownish-gray, 

 beneath which the layers of bark are a deep chestnut-brown. It is 

 very stringy and fibrous, and irregularly broken into laterally con- 

 nected, narrow ridges and deep furrows. Long-persisting loosened 

 shreds of bark often give old trees a more or less shaggy appearance. 

 Bark of the branches is dark brown mottled with white. 



The deep bluish-green foliage of mountain cedar is rather roughish 

 and prickly to the touch. The slender twigs are noticeably four- 

 sided, due to the four-ranked arrangement of the scalelike, sharp- 

 pointed, closely overlapping leaves, which occur in pairs and are 

 about one-sixteenth of an inch long (PL XIII). The laterally com- 

 pressed upper ends of the leaves give a keeled appearance to their 

 backs, and emphasize this four-sided feature. The edges of the 

 leaves bear minute, irregular teeth. Vigorous terminal shoots and 

 young plants have very keenly pointed leaves, from one-fourth to 

 one-half of an inch long, the points of which are often slightly spread- 

 ing. The backs of the leaves are marked with a minuted pit or 

 bear a resinous gland (PI. XIII) . 



Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. The ripe 

 berries (PL XIII) , matured in September at the end of one season's 

 growth, are deep blue and with a whitish bloom. They have a 

 tough skin and a thin, pungent, sweetish pulp. As a rule, only the 

 points of the female flower scales are visible on the surface of the 

 berries. The berries contain from 1 to 2 light brown, shiny seeds 

 (PL XIII, a), which are pointed, slightly grooved at the top end, and 

 marked at the bottom with a low, narrow, scalelike scar (hilum). 

 The seed-leaves are two in number, and narrowly lance-shaped. 

 Seedlings continue to bear the long awl-shaped form of leaves for 

 3 or 4 years, when these are gradually succeeded by the shorter, 

 adult form. 



The wood of mountain cedar is moderately heavy (about 43 pounds 

 per cubic foot, seasoned), rather hard, exceedingly n arrow-ringed 

 and of a clear cinnamon-brown color, interspersed with irregular 

 paler streaks. The sapwood is very thin, seldom more than one- 

 half of an inch thick. Freshly cut, dry, or green wood has a strong 

 cedarlike odor. The heartwood is very durable, and the best 

 sticks are useful for fence posts, telephone and telegraph poles, and 

 light- traffic ties. It is much used locally for fuel. The wood of old 

 trees is brittle and can be cut with an easily parted chip, qualities 

 that make clear sections suitable for pencil wood. 



