UNITED STATES 

 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Miscellaneous Publication No. 217 



Washington, D.C. 



Issued January 1936 

 Revised September 1936 



FOREST TREES AND FOREST REGIONS OF 

 THE UNITED STATES 



By Wilbur R. Mattoon, extension forester, Division of Private Forestry, Forest 



Service 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Natural groups of forest trees 2 



Native trees in great variety 2 



Descriptive list of native forest trees 4 



Forest trees of the United States 4 



Eastern forest trees 5 



Western forest trees 24 



Forest regions of the Urjited States 33 



Extent of forests 33 



Timber contents of forests 36 



Forest types or tree associations 37 



Northern forest region 39 



Northern forest trees 39 



Central hardwood forest region 40 



Central hardwood forest trees 40 



Southern forest region 41 



Southern forest trees 43 



Page 



Tropical forest legion 43 



Tropical forest trees 43 



Rocky Mountain forest region 43 



Rocky Mountain forest trees 45 



Pacific coast forest region 45 



Pacific coast forest trees 46 



Forests of Alaska 46 



Forests of Puerto Rico 48 



Forests of Hawaii 49 



Hawaiian forest trees 51 



Tree labels 51 



Publications on forest trees 52 



State forest-tree guides 52 



Books on forest trees 53 



Federal publications 53 



INTRODUCTION 



Trees serve us in so many different ways that we are naturally 

 interested in knowing more about the trees of our country and the tree 

 communities, or forests, in which we live or which we visit. More 

 people^ than ever before are now getting out of doors and visiting 

 unfamiliar sections of the country. Increasing numbers are going 

 into the forests in search of adventure, recreation, and health. The 

 automobile, Scout, and 4-H Club movements, and the shorter hours 

 for labor all encourage wider travel. 



Many States have published popular manuals giving the names 

 and brief descriptions of their more important or common forest 

 trees. In the preparation of many of these the Forest Service has 

 been a cooperator. 1 The purpose of this publication is to present in 

 simple form the names of all the tree species of continental United 

 States with their geographic ranges and afew distinguishing charac- 

 teristics of each, and to give brief descriptions of the various natural 

 forest regions, together with the names of the principal trees which 



1 See list of names and addresses on pp. 52 and 53. 1 



138662°— 37 1 



