of the Broken-cone Pines allow the cones to 
remain about two years. The three or four- 
inch stems of the Heavy Cones are not dis¬ 
turbed for four to six years. The long, 
slender, soft stems of the Sugar Pine either 
separate naturally from the branchlet or they 
are twisted off by the autumn winds next fol¬ 
lowing maturity. 
Mingling sparsely with the Monterey Pine, 
but increasing to sole possession of the shore 
northward, is the Prickle-cone Pine (P. muri- 
cata ), loving the wet places, from Tamales 
Point to Cape Mendocino, where it is found 
of large size, two or three feet in diameter, 
and with very hard bark, three to five inches 
thick, the thickest known. The cones in cir¬ 
cles are reduced to the size of a hen's egg 
and are armed with sharp prickles; the leaves 
are reduced to a pair in each fascicle. This 
tree, like the last, belongs to the group Tenaces, 
or Persistent-cone Pines, holding their cones 
through life. As the cones are carried along 
outward, the piece of stem causes a channel 
behind it from pith to bark, spoiling the lum¬ 
ber of the whole group, boards made from 
them being found full of “pinholes.” 
To make amends, they are beautiful trees, 
holding in check the ocean winds, and further, 
they readily yield to cultivation, like the mari¬ 
time pines of southern Europe, largely used 
in the reclamation of the southern coast re¬ 
gions. 
Near Cape Mendocino commences the long 
stretch of North Shore Pine (P. contorta ), 
the last and smallest of this quartette of sea- 
loving, fog-nurtured, aggressive, fighting pines. 
Pressing along the promontories, and taking 
possession of the sand dunes as soon as 
thrown up by the sea—despite the blasts of 
old Boreas—they yield so far as to become 
close-set, round-shouldered, flat-headed, many- 
( r 34) 
