28 STOCK RANGES OF NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. 



timber, whether covered with grass or with dwarf brush. Along the 

 coast of Mendocino Count} 7 the name .is applied to the areas of light, 

 sandy "white-ash" soil covered with dwarf scrub and surrounded 

 by timber. In the interior the "prairies" are open pastures sur- 

 rounded by either timber or brush. 



"Prairie" pastures usually occur in comparative^ low altitudes, 

 as on the western slopes of the hills which form the eastern wall of 

 Russian River Valley (PI. IV, fig. 1), where the timber is composed of 

 oak. On Walker Mountain they ascend somewiiat higher and are 

 surrounded by brush of manzanita, deer brush, mountain mahogany, 

 wild lilac, etc. 



Around Sherwood Valley the prairies occupy the lower slopes, 

 between the meadows and the wooded hilltops (PL IV, fig. 2), while in 

 the central portion of Humboldt County they form comparatively large 

 open clearings, several acres in extent, on knolls bordered by spruce 

 and fir woods, as at Elk Prairie, Kneeland Prairie, and elsewhere. 



Wherever these inland prairies occur the grasses and other forage 

 plants are practically identical with those of the adjacent open ranges, 

 of which they are simple continuations like the bays and inlets along 

 the shores of an ocean. 



THE WOODLAND OR WINTER RANGE. 



The gulches and steep sides of the canyons, especially their eastern 

 slopes, are thickly covered with trees and underbrush. Several species 

 occur, and there appears to be little of the preponderance of one kind 

 over another which characterizes the river bottom lands. 



Trees. — The prevalent trees are: Douglas spruce (Pseudotsuga taxi- 

 folia) ; Black or Kellogg oak ( Quercus calif ornica) , which is the largest 

 species of oak in Mendocino County, sometimes 6 or 7 feet in diameter 

 and with 50 feet of trunk clear of branches (Clarke); white oak 

 (Quercus garryana)\ tan oak (Quercus densiflora) , sometimes attain- 

 ing 130 feet in height and 7 feet in diameter, one measured by the 

 writer on the Clarke ranch having a circumference of 30 feet at 1 foot 

 from the ground, one of its branches measuring 11 feet 9 inches in 

 circumference at 7 feet from the trunk, and five or six limbs nearly 9 

 feet in circumference; Madroiie (Arbutus men ziesii) ; and along the 

 streams, pepper wood (Umhellularia calif ornica). Less abundant, 

 but by no means uncommon, are the yellow pine (Pinus pojiderosa), 

 chinquapin (Castanopsis clirysopliylla), Oregon maple (Acer macro- 

 phyllum), and tree dogwood (Cornus nuttallii). The California nut- 

 meg (Tumion calif ornicum) , incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), 

 and Oregon ash (Fraxinus oregana) are occasional^ met with, and 

 the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) occurs on Mount Sanhedrin. The 

 redwood (Sequoia semper vir ens) scarcely ever grows beyond the limit 

 of its own particular belt or isolated grove. The valley oak ( Quercus 

 lobata), golden oak (Q. chrysolepis), and other trees occur in the 



