JEFFREY PINE (_Pinus jeffreyi_) is often classed as western yellow pine,
both in the forest and at the mill. Its range extends from southern
Oregon to Lower California, a distance of 1,000 miles, and its width
east and west varies from twenty to one hundred and fifty miles. It is a
mountain tree and generally occupies elevations above the western yellow
pine. In the North its range reaches 3,600 feet above sea level; in the
extreme South it is 10,000 feet. The darker and more deeply-furrowed
bark of the Jeffrey pine is the usual character by which lumbermen
distinguish it from the western yellow pine. It is known under several
names, most of them relating to the tree’s appearance, such as black
pine, redbark pine, blackbark pine, sapwood pine, and bull pine. It
reaches the same size as the western yellow pine, though the average is
a little smaller. The leaves are from four to nine inches long, and fall
in eight or nine years. The cones are large, and armed with slender,
curved spines. The seeds are too heavy to fly far, their wing area being
small. It is a vigorous tree, and in some regions it forms good forests.
Some botanists have considered the Jeffrey pine a variety of the western
yellow pine.
GRAY PINE (_Pinus sabiniana_), called also Digger pine because the
Digger Indians formerly collected the seeds, which are as large as
peanuts, to help eke out a living, is confined to California, and
grows in a belt on the foothills surrounding the San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys. Its cones are large and armed with hooked
spines. When green, the largest cones weigh three or four pounds.
Leaves are from eight to twelve inches long, in clusters of two and
three, and fall the third and fourth years. The wood is remarkable
for the quickness of its decay in damp situations. It lasts one or
two years as fence posts. A mature gray pine is from fifty to
seventy feet high, and eighteen to thirty inches in diameter. Some
trees are much larger. It is of considerable importance, but is not
in the same class as western yellow and sugar pine. The wood is
light, soft, rather strong, brittle. The annual rings are generally
wide, indicating rapid growth. Very old gray pines are not known. An
age of 185 years seems to be the highest on record. The wood is
resinous, and it has helped in a small way to supply the Pacific
coast markets with high-grade turpentine, distilled from roots. It
yields resin when boxed like the southern longleaf pine. There are
two flowing seasons. One is very early, and closes when the weather
becomes hot; the other is in full current by the middle of August.
It maintains life among the California foothills during the long
rainless seasons, on ground so dry that semi-desert chaparral
sometimes succumbs; but it is able to make the most of favorable
conditions, and it grows rapidly under the slightest encouragement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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