THE FORESTS OF LOS ANGELES, SAN DIEGO, AND 
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA? 
By ABBot Kinney, California. 
The term ‘ forest,” as it is understood in the older States, is appli- 
cable in only a limited extent to the natural tree and brush growths of 
southern California. 
Upon the mountain heights alone would the Eastern man feel himself 
to be in a forest. No account of the forests of southern California 
would, however, be complete without a description of all the natural 
tree and brush growths found here. 
As has been said, there are no forests, properly speaking, in the 
valleys or on the plains. The growths in these portions of the country 
consist of the following: On the plains, near the sea, and near rivers or 
damp swampy places, Willows grow inrank dense groves, and furnish 
a large amount of fire-wood. The Sycamore strays down the canyons 
and water-courses to within sound of the ocean breakers. It is only 
used for fire-wood. 
In the valleys large groves of Oak occur; these trees are from 20 to 
40 feet apart, and are often magnificent old monarchs, most picturesque 
and attractive. Quercus lobata, or the White Live-Oak, forms the larger 
part of the groves, but the Red Oaks, Quercus chrysolepis, and Quer- 
cus agrifolia, with their dark-green, glistening, holly-like leaves, are 
the most attractive. These are scattered through the groves and can- 
yons. The oak groves resemble the plantations of the most beautiful 
'This short report by Mr. Abbot Kinney, now chairman of the California State 
Board of Forestry, was prepared for this Division in the spring of 1886, in the hope 
that by aiding such work the then incipient forestry interests of California might be 
- fostered. It has been printed in the report of the California Board of Forestry, and 
is here produced because it serves to show how even the preservation and protection 
of natural brush lands may become a subject of solicitude on the part of States and 
communities. 
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