FOUR SUB-ALPINE PINES 
The widest distributed of the Sub-Alpine 
Pines is the Murray Pine (P. Murrayana), 
often called Tamarack Pine from its resem¬ 
blance to the Larch or Tamarack of the east. 
It is one of the Thimble-cone group, with 
tiny cones and short leaves in pairs, like the 
North Shore Pine described, with which some 
botanists classify it. The bark (from a little 
distance above the base) is exceedingly thin, 
flaking off in small scales, leaving but an 
eighth inch of hard bark remaining. In north¬ 
ern regions, where it is called Lodge-pole 
Pine, it is usually found tolerating the pres¬ 
ence of sister trees, so forming dense groves 
of tall, slender, white stems, suggesting 
bamboo. Southward in California they oc¬ 
cupy almost exclusively the high plateaus. 
Beautiful groves enliven the scenery of such 
glacier lakes as Tahoe, Donner, Independence, 
and Webber, and similar valleys elsewhere 
emptied of their lakes. The broad, glaciated 
plateau eastward of Yosemite, upon which 
arise the Sierra peaks, is mostly covered with 
this singular pine, interspersed with little 
sun-filled intervales, where the unaffrighted 
deer may be seen nibbling the lush autumn 
grasses and the chattering red squirrel thinks 
it no intrusion to share the comforts of your 
camp—likewise its provisions. 
Most trees are greatly modified by environ¬ 
ment ; those growing in the open often branch 
freely and retaining all the limbs, this be¬ 
havior being very different from trees of the 
same species in a dense forest. 
A tree of the Murray Pine rioting alone 
in the moraine soil above Webber Lake was 
felled to obtain a log specimen for exhibition 
at the Centennial Fair. It proved to be 300 
years old, 123 feet high, 7 feet in diameter, 
( 40 ) 
