Miscellaneous Circular SI, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 



forms, it occurs in both the Coast 

 Range and the Sierras. The needles 

 are in threes and are light green; 

 the cones, in clusters around the stem, 

 remain indefinitely on the tree with 

 the prickly scales closed. 



The Torrey Pine (fig. 4), found 

 near the sea only in San Diego County 

 and on Santa Rosa Island, is the 

 rarest of California pines. Bent by 

 sea winds, it is a crooked, sprawling 

 tree 20 to 30 feet in height, and from 

 8 to 14 inches through. Occasionally, 

 away from the sea winds and in pro- 

 tected hill coves, it has a straight 

 trunk from 50 to 60 feet in height. 

 The stout, gray-green needles, in clus- 

 ters of five, are from 7 to 12 inches or 

 more in length; while the russet or 

 chocolate brown, strongly attached 

 cones, about the size of a coconut, bear 

 large edible seeds. 



The elevations at which the various 

 pines grow are about as follows : 



Bristlecone 7,000 to 11,000 feet 



Coulter 2,500 to 6,000 feet 



Digger 1,000 to 3,000 feet 



Foxtail 5,000 to 11,500 feet 



Jeffrey 6,000 to 8,000 feet 



Knobcone 1,500 to 3,000 feet 



Limber 8,000 to 12,000 feet 



Lodgepole 4,000 to 11,000 feet 



Monterey At or within a few hundred 



feet of sea level. 



Parry 4,000 to 8,000 feet 



Single-leaf 2.500 to 9,000 feet 



Sugar 4,000 to 7,000 feet 



Torrey Sea level to about 100 feet 



Western White 5,500 to 9,000 feet 



Western Yellow 2,500 to 7,000 feet 



White-bark 7,000 to 11,000 feet 



FIRS, CEDARS, AND SEQUOIAS 



The White Fir (fig. 5), mainly of 

 the western slopes of the Sierras and 

 the Cascades, is a beautiful tree, often 

 200 feet high and 4 to 5 feet in diam- 

 eter. The old bark is dark ashy gray, 

 and the leaves are 1 or 2 inches long, 

 in flat rows, and fragrant. The cones, 

 standing upright on the upper 

 branches, are 3 or 4 inches long and 

 fall to pieces when they are mature, 

 while still on the tree. The branches 

 of young White Fir grow in whorls, 

 and the bark is grayish with a brown- 

 ish tinge. Young White Fir is one of 

 the most desirable Christmas trees. 



The Red Fir resembles the White 

 Fir but occurs at higher elevations. 

 Its furrowed bark, in zigzag ridges, is 

 dark red or purplish. The mature 

 leaves are deep green, while the new 

 foliage is silvery. The upright cones 

 are 5 or 6 inches high and, like those 

 of the White Fir, fall to pieces on 

 the tree when ripe. The 4-angled 

 leaves are longer and flatter on the 

 lower branches, but shorter, closer set, 



and more silvery on the young high 

 branches. 



The Bristlecone Fir is one of the 

 rarest of California's true firs. Scat- 

 tered patches of it grow mainly in 

 Monterey County at the heads of 

 canyons on the seaward slopes of the 

 Santa Lucia Mountains. The sharply 

 pointed, spirelike crowns are so dis- 

 tinctive that the tree can be recog- 

 nized among its associates several 



Fig. 5.— White Fir (Abies concolor) 



miles away. So also its long, flat, 

 keenly pointed, lustrous leaves and 

 its egg-shaped cones bristling with 

 slender needlelike bracts are ready 

 means of distinguishing this beautiful 

 fir. 



The Douglas Fir (fig. 6), the most 

 valuable timber tree of Washington 

 and Oregon (the "Oregon Pine" of 

 commerce), occurs in small groups or 

 mingled with other species in the Cali- 



