16 



THE REDWOOD. 



Complete recovery from .such a fire is slow. The leaf mold is burned 

 off and the soil is made naked as a road. The large Redwoods will 

 sprout again from their stumps; but the rest of the space, once occu- 

 pied by Fir and Oak, will ])e covered first b}' buck brush and blue 

 blossom, until, after years, the Fir and Oak return. 



The common cause of fire in the forest is the carelessness of campers 

 and settlers, who leave their camp fires burning. Sparks from the 

 brush fires of logging camps occasionally start a blaze in the timber, 

 and lightning may be responsible for a few forest fires. 



WIND SELDOM UPROOTS THE REDWOOD. 



When a strong wind follows a long rain}' season, Redwoods exposed 

 on high ridges may sometimes be blown down, but. no considerable 

 tracts of forest are ever overthrown. 



SPECIES IN MIXTURE. 



Of the trees which grow with the Redwood in the forest the follow- 

 ing are the most important: 



Red Fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Lam.) Britt. 

 Tanbark Oak, Quercus densiflora Hook. & Arn. 

 Sitka Spruce, Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Trautv. & Mayer. 

 Port Orford Cedar, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Murr. ) Pari. 

 Giant Arborvitae, "Red Cedar," Thuja 2)liccita Don. 

 "Western Hemlock, Tmga heterophylla (Raf. ) Sargent. 

 Lowland Fir, "White Fir," Abies grandis Lindl. 

 Pacitic Yew, Taxus brevifolia Nutt. 



California Torrej-a, Turnion calif orrdcum (Torr. ) Greene. 

 Knobcone Pine, Pinas contorta Loud. 



California Laurel, "Pepperwood," Umbellularia caJijornica (Hook. & Arn.) 

 Nutt. 



Madrona, Arbvius menziesii Pursh. 



Cascara Buckthorn, "Cascara Sagrada," Rhamnm imrshiana de C. 



Red Alder, 'Ahms oregona Nutt. 



Gowen Cypress, Cujjressus goveniana Gord. 



These trees are usually beaten in the struggle for growing space by 

 the Redwood, which is climaticalh' the most favored, but each species 

 finds places here and there where the conditions enable it to hold its 

 own. Red Fir. or Oregon Pine, the mo.st abundant and important of 

 the trees in mixture, occurs with Redwood everywhere except on damp 

 flats and in gulches. It gi-ows best on medium soil, on ridges and 

 high flats where the forest is comparatively open. On some fine tracts, 

 as in Del Norte County, it constitutes 75 per cent of the stand. Next 

 to Redwood, it is the most used of the timber trees on the coast, and 

 in Mendocino County forms from lt» to 2U per cent of the output of 

 the mills. 



