Let's Know Some Trees 



so-called Bigcone Spruce, too, from 

 eastern Santa Barbara County south 

 to the limits of the State. This was 

 long considered a variety of the Doug- 

 las Fir, which it much resembles ex- 

 cept for its larger cones. This tree is 

 of value only as " protective cover." 



The rare Mountain Hemlock, when 

 small, looks like the Deodar Cedar of 

 the Himalayas, so often planted in 

 parks. The leaves grow in close tufts, 

 and the oval cones, 1 to 2 inches long, 

 have an exquisite purple bloom when 

 young. 



Nor must we forget our California 

 " Nutmeg Tree," that strange tree 

 with the flat, shining, sharply-pointed 

 leaves whose keen aroma has won it the 

 name of " stinking cedar." Its seed- 

 kernel suggests in shape the nutmeg 

 of commerce. The trunk, usually 

 twisted or crooked, occasionally 

 reaches a height of 80 feet, but is 

 more often from 35 to 50 feet in height. 

 The rather soft bark, with its finely- 

 checked seams, is green on the younger 

 branches, but becomes yellowish as it 

 gets old. Though found both on the 

 west slopes of the Sierras and in the 

 Coast Range, from Lake County to 

 Kern, it is in such small, scattered 

 groups that it is not of commercial 

 value. 



Several books suitable for studying 

 the cone bearers of California have been 

 issued. Unfortunately, Willis L. Jep- 

 son's " Trees of California " and J. 

 Smeaton Chase's " Cone-Bearing Trees 

 of California " are both out of print. 

 It is sometimes possible, however, to 

 find them in a second-hand book shop ; 

 and they may, of course, be consulted 

 in libraries. Especially useful for 

 those not trained in botany is George 

 B. Sudworth's " Forest Trees of the 

 Pacific Slope" (441 pages), published 

 by the Forest Service in 1908. This is 

 fully illustrated and should be a part 

 of the outfit of every automobile that 

 goes into the mountains. It is on sale 

 by the Superintendent of Documents, 

 Government Printing Office, at Wash- 

 ington, D. C., at 60 cents a copy. 



THE OAKS 



The oaks of California are divided 

 roughly into white and black, accord- 

 ing to the color of their trunks; and 

 each of these sections is again divided 

 into live oaks and deciduous oaks. 

 One species, the Morehus Oak, seems 

 like a cross between the two last- 

 mentioned groups, for it holds its 

 leaves until the swelling buds of spring 



10215°— 25 2 



push them off, leaving the branches 

 bare but a few weeks. 



California oaks do not furnish good 

 commercial lumber, although occasion- 

 ally barrel staves, flooring, bridge 

 planks, and even furniture have been 

 manufactured from some of them. As 

 a rule, all the varieties form poor, 

 cross-grained, brittle wood, decaying at 

 the heart before saw-timber size is 

 reached. They have been used prin- 

 cipally for firewood and one species 

 (Tanbark Oak) for tanbark. But 

 from valley floor up the mountains to 

 4,000 feet they give the beauty and 

 shade that are dear to every camper. 

 Beyond that elevation they still gleam 

 bright green, or in the fall golden and 

 scarlet, among the darker pines; or 

 form thickets of " scrub " in openings. 



The three most widely scattered and 

 abundant of the deciduous oaks — the 

 three attaining the largest size — are 

 the Valley Oak, the Blue Oak, and the 

 California Black Oak. A fourth, the 

 Garry Oak, is abundant in California 

 in the northern coast region. 



The Valley Oak (fig. 10) is the 

 tree of the interior plains and valleys, 

 growing in open stands, in groves, or 

 scattered over miles of level or gently 

 sloping ground, from the headwaters 

 of the Eel River to Los Angeles and 

 Santa Monica. It is found up to 5,000 

 feet in the watersheds of the Sur and 

 Carmel on the north and west slopes 

 of Tamalpais, and up the first foot- 

 hills of the Sierras, in some places as 

 high as 3,000 feet. Occasionally a 

 tree 100 feet high is seen, or one with 

 a diameter of 30 to 40 inches — some- 

 times much more. As a rule, how- 

 ever, 40 to 50 feet is the height and 

 20 to 30 inches the diameter of a 

 Valley Oak. 



One of the finest specimens is the 

 Sir Joseph Hooker Oak near Chico, 

 150 feet in spread of branches, and 

 with a trunk QV 2 feet in diameter. 

 When the late General Bidwell took 

 Sir Joseph Hooker to see this tree, the 

 latter said he thought it was the larg- 

 est and most beautiful oak he knew 

 of anywhere in the world. Another 

 splendid specimen, 130 feet high, is in 

 the Ojai Valley, and the Henley Oak 

 in Round Valley is 150 feet high and 

 over 8 feet in diameter. 



The incut leaves vary in size, but 

 are of the sort from which the oak- 

 leaf patterns used in carving, table 

 linen, and embroideries are taken. It 

 is one of the few trees that give us 

 autumn color near San Francisco, 

 and loads of the colored foliage are 



