FLORA AND SYLVA 
Again, in the Pacific Survey, treating 
of the country between the Cascades 
and Sierra Nevada and the RockyMoun- 
tains, we read : — 
" The climate is everywhere characterised by 
the absence of moisture, which, with the ex- 
ception of the mountain summits which stand 
above the general level, gives to the surface a 
character to which the name of desert has 
been well applied. The general aspect of the 
botany of this region is made up of three dis- 
tinct elements. The first is the grassy plains 
which border the streams flowing down from 
the mountains ; on these grow a considerable 
variety of herbs, mostly annual, in character 
not unlike those of the Sacramento Valley. 
The second of these botanical phases is that 
of the Sage-plains — tracts upon which little 
or nothing else than clumps of Wormwood will 
grow. The third is formed by forests of the 
Yellow Pine. It sometimes happened to us 
that, during the whole of a day's ride, we were 
passing through a continuous forest of these 
Yellow Pines, in which scarcely a dozen differ- 
ent plants could be found. As it grows in 
these sterile regions, the Yellow Pine is a noble 
tree ; and, though never rivalling the gigantic 
Sugar Pine [Pinus Lambertiana) in its di- 
mensions, it claims the second place among 
the western Pines. At M'Cumber's we saw 
many trees of this kind which measured 6 to 
7 feet in diameter, 3 feet from the ground ; 
and near the base of Mount Jefferson in Oregon, 
I saw one that was 25 feet in circumference 
at the same height. Again, at a height of 
nearly 4,000 feet in the Merced Canon, was 
a giant tree well over 200 feet high, and 
nearly 9 feet in diameter at the base." 
On the Sierras it grows at elevations of 
from 1,500 to 9,000 feet, attaining a 
height of 100 to nearly 250 feet, and 
seen at its best in the gravelly lake basins 
of the older Yosemites, where it is so 
abundant as to be called the " Yosemite 
Pine." 
Wood The Yellow Pine is the prin- 
cipal timber tree of many of 
the Western States, forming an immense 
pillar-like trunk which tapers very grad- 
ually and is often 6 to 8 feet in diameter 
at the base. The wood is in general 
highly resinous, and though hard, heavy, 
and very finely grained, it is brittle and 
less valuable than that of the Sugar Pine. 
But like the "Pitch-pine " of the Eastern 
States, it is often of excellent quality, 
containing little resin, soft, tough, and 
durable. The colour of the mature wood 
is yellowish-brown or light red, grow- 
ing darker when full of resin; the heart- 
wood is then sometimes so heavy as to 
sink in water. The sap-wood is nearly 
white and often very thick, though it 
varies strangely as to amount in different 
trees, as well as in different parts of its 
area. The sap-wood is so slowly con- 
vertedintoheart-wood thatthetree often 
shows from 100 to 200 annual rings 
before the change commences, and fine 
mature trees are thus of great age. The 
wood is mainly used for building, as 
piles for jetties and embankments, for 
railway sleepers, fencing, and as fuel. 
In the early days of California it was a 
common thing to fence land quickly 
and easily by felling successive trees of 
Yellow Pine, laying their stems end to 
end as a wasteful but effective barrier. 
From its large amount of resin the wood 
is difficult to work, oil being constantly 
required for the tools, while it may be 
recognised at once by its penetrating 
odour. In times of scarcity Sargent says 
that the Indians have been in the habit 
of stripping the bark in early spring, to 
get at the soft layers j ust beneath it which 
are scraped away and eaten as food . The 
tree shows a tendency to twist which 
