The Evergreen Trees oe Coeoraeo. 13 
On the approach of winter the bed of seedlings should be 
mulched with straw, leaves or evergreen boughs, which will pro¬ 
tect the little trees from the injuries of alternate freezing and 
thawing. In the spring the mulch should be removed a little while 
before growth begins and careful cultivation with a fine toothed 
rake be given. At the age of two years the seedlings should be 
transplanted four to six inches apart in nursery rows as recom¬ 
mended for forest grown seedlings. They will in most cases be 
too small to transplant to permanent quarters until four years old. 
SPECIES OE evergreen trees IN COLORADO. 
The evergreen trees native to this state belong in two families 
—the pine family and the juniper family. The two families as they 
occur here may be distinguished by the following characters: 
Pine Family .—Foliage leaves needle-shaped; single or in 
bundles of two to five; fruit a dry, scaly cone; seeds usually fur¬ 
nished with a thin wing. 
Juniper Family .—Leaves awl-shaped or scale-shaped, in the 
latter case entirely covering the twigs; fruit berry-like, juicy or 
nearly dry; seeds usually without wings. 
Of the thirteen evergreens occurring in Colorado which grow 
to the stature of trees ten belong in the pine family. 
Pinaceae — pine eamily. 
(Plate I.) 
KEY TO THE COLORADO GENERA. 
I. Needles in tufts or bundles of two to five, mostly more than 25 m m. 
(1 in.) long, surrounded at base by a short sheath; cone scales thick, 
hard and woody when mature. 
1. Genus Pinus. 
II. Needles single, mostly less than 25 m m. (1 in.) long. Cone scales thin, 
leathery or papery when mature. 
A. Needles in our species stiff and four angled, each one jointed to a 
short, hard, brownish base; branchlets rough from the prominent 
leaf bases which remain long after the upper part has fallen; 
cones pendulous, wilth persistent scales. 
2. Genus Picea. 
B. Needles fiat, without hard, persistent bases, faliing entirely away 
and leaving rounded scars; branchlets from which the leaves have 
fallen quite smooth. 
a. Needles with a narrowed or stalk-like base, scars small, ellipti¬ 
cal across the branchlets; cones pendulous, feathered with pro¬ 
jecting, 'three-poinrted bracts. 
3. Genus Pseudotsuga. 
b. Needles not narrowed at b'ase, scars quite large, circular in 
outline; cones erect, dark purple or blackish, the scales falling 
separately from the axis. 
4. Genus Abies. 
