THE BOTANY OF THE ROUTE. 
23 
perhaps of the same species, and much more like the European yew than that is, grows 
commonly in damp soil, about the edges of meadows, springs, &c. It is a tree thirty feet 
high and a foot in diameter, though commonly smaller, the largest being about Puget Sound. 
Its wood has all the toughness and elasticity of the European yew, and, like it, was formerly 
used for bows by the natives. Its larger and brighter leaves, smooth red bark, and coral-red 
sweet berries, easily distinguish it from the hemlock, which it much resembles in growth and 
foliage. I have seen it at a height of about a thousand feet on the Cascade mountains. 
But one other coniferous tree is common in the Avestern region—a pine (P. contorta) so much 
resembling the “Jersey scrub pine” (P. inops) as to be commonly considered identical. It 
grows in dry, sandy prairies, forming groves along the sea beach and also high up the 
mountains. It groAvs forty feet high and tAvo in diameter, but is of little value as timber. 
The range of the Jersey pine is AAudely separated from it, and none occur in the interval from 
Kentucky to the Rocky mountains. 
Besides these seven species, Avhich compose the bulk of the forests, there are a feAv other 
coniferous trees Avhich I shall briefly mention, as they occur only in scattered localities, and 
are therefore of little value. 
A tree called “white spruce,” but very distinct from that so named in Canada, found in 
small numbers about the sound, becoming scarcer toAvards the Columbia river. It has smooth 
Avhite bark, Avhen old becoming dark; very long, shining, dark green leaves, arranged mostly 
in a single series; and as it branches at regular intervals and in symmetrical whorls, forms one 
of the most beautiful trees of this family. I never could obtain cones, as they fall to pieces 
after ripening, but from the characters of its leaves have little doubt of its being Abies 
taxifolia, Lambert. It is certainly entirely distinct from the Douglass or red fir. 
A feAv stunted trees of the yelloAv or heavy pine, (P. ponderosa,) already described, are 
found on the dry, gravelly plain near Steilacoom, but are so stunted as to be scarcely 
recognizable as the same tree so majestic on the eastern slope of the Cascade range. 
A “Avhite pine” is said to groAv abundantly on the Olympia range and along the Avest side 
of Hood’s Canal, AAdiere, I believe, it is saAved into lumber. I could never ascertain Avhether it 
Avas the species found on the Cascade mountains (P. Monticola) or some other. 
The Nootka cypress (Cupressus Nutkatensis) is doubtless found in the Territory, as it groAvs 
both northward and far south on the Cascade mountains of southern Oregon, Avhere it Avas 
found by my friend Dr. Newberry. From the general similarity of its foliage to that of a 
juniper, it seems probable that the tree seen by Mr. Gibbs, “in SAvamps at the mouth of the 
Snohomish river,” Avas the former, Avhich is much more likely to grow in such a situation than 
a true juniper. 
A second species of arbor-vitae (Thuya plicata) is said by Nuttall to be found on the islands 
north of the Straits of Fuca, and probably extends Avithin the Territory. “Cedars” on 
Whidby’s and other islands resemble it in their smaller size and denser branching, but I 
attributed the variety to soil and did not preserve specimens. 
BROAD-LEAVED TREES. 
Forests almost exclusively composed of the evergreen coniferae produce, of course, but feAv 
trees of other classes; but those found in the Territory are Avell worthy of special notice, on 
account of their valuable properties. 
The “foliaceous ’' trees there groAv almost exclusively on the borders of prairies, river banks, 
