A STUDY OF THE REDWOOD. \) 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE REDWOOD. 



The Kedwood is popularly thought to occupy a .strip of country" 10 

 to 30 miles wide, from the Oregon line to the Buy of Montere}', but 

 these boundaries do not cover its actual distribution. Two thousand 

 acres of Redwood, in two separate groups, are gTowing in Oregon 

 along the Chetco River. South of the Chetco a continuous Redwood 

 belt begins. By way of the river valleys and lowlands it increases its 

 width from 10 miles, at Del Norte Count}^, to 18 or 20 miles, and 

 keeps on unbroken to southern Humboldt Count3\ Here, for about a 

 township, it thins out, but becomes dense again 6 miles north of the 

 Mendocino line, and after entering that county widens to 35 miles, its 

 greatest width. The Redwood belt ends in Mendocino County, but 

 isolated forests of the species are growing in sheltered spots as far 

 south as Salmon Creek Canyon, in the Santa Lucia Mountains, Mon- 

 terey County, 12 miles south of Punta Gorda, and 500 miles from the 

 northern limit of the tree along the Chetco River. 



CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY. 



The climate and topography that have brought about this limited 

 distribution of the Redwood deserve attention. North and south along 

 the coast, in nearl}^ parallel ridges, lie the mountains of the Coast 

 Range, steep and rising to altitudes of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. A few 

 large rivers and many smaller streams cut through them to enter the 

 sea, and along their courses in places are broad bottom lands and 

 gentle slopes. West of the Coast Range the climate is even and mod- 

 erate, with a range from just below freezing to 80^ F., and a yearly 

 average of from 50° to 60'^. Snow lies on the tops of only the high- 

 est ridges. Thirty to 60 inches of rain falls in the autumn and winter, 

 and in the summer sea fog bathes the coast. But east of the moun- 

 tains, less than 50 miles from the sea, lie hot interior valle^^s, never 

 visited by the fog, parched and rainless in the summer, and wet onh^ 

 occasionally b^" the winter rains — conditions too unfavorable to permit 

 the growth of the Redwood. 



SILVICTJLTTJRAL TYPES. 



The Redwood may be considered in two t3"pes — Redwood Slope and 

 Redwood Flat. It passes from one to the other as the ground l^ecomes 

 steep and dry or level and moist, and admits other species wherever 

 the situation satisfies their requirements. 



THE REDWOOD SLOPE. 



The common type is the Redwood Slope (PI. I). It occurs on the 

 steep sides of the Coast Range, and is a mixture of Redwood, Red Fir^ 

 Tanbark Oak, and White Fir, with an occasional Madroiia or Hemlock. 



