i6o 
WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES. 
a three-clawed bract, whereof the middle claw or awn is very 
long. Several well-marked varieties of the Douglas Fir are also 
to be met with occasionally in parks and gardens. 
The Douglas Fir produces excellent timber, and is a most 
valuable forest tree, not only on that account, but because of its 
adaptability to varying conditions of soil and climate. It is 
the most widely distributed of all American forest trees, and 
the area of its distribution is spread over thirty-two degrees of 
latitude, and from end to end of this range it has, in the words 
of Sargent, “ to endure the fierce gales and long winters of the 
north, and the nearly perpetual sunshine of the Mexican 
Cordilleras ; to thrive in the rain and fog which sweep almost 
continuously along the Pacific coast range, and on the arid 
mountain slopes of the interior, where for months every year 
rain never falls.” It appears to thrive best where the air is 
humid and the soil well drained. It begins to bear cones about 
its twenty-fifth year. The straight tapering trunk is largely 
used for the masts and spars of ships, its suitability for this 
purpose being evident to all visitors to Kew who have gazed at 
the flag-staff set up in the arboretum. This pole is 159 feet 
long, with a circumference of 6 feet at the base, tapering to 
2 feet 2 inches at the top, and weighing about 3 tons. It was 
brought from Vancouver Island, and an examination of its rings 
before it was set up showed that it represented the growth of 
about 250 years. The full life of the Douglas Fir is estimated 
to be about 750 years. 
The Stone Pine {Pinus pinea). 
Between the tall, graceful spire of the Douglas Fir and the 
squat, heavy, umbrella-like head of the Stone Pine, there is an 
enormous contrast. It must be confessed that the Stone Pine 
is less beautiful than picturesque, a point that strongly commends 
it to the landscape painter working in the countries bordering 
