TREES OF THE SHOSHONE PINES.—Pines are conifers distinguished principally by the needles that are gathered together at the base in bundles of from one to five in a little sheath that usually wears off after the first year. The cones have woody scales. There are three pines on the Shoshone. Limber Pine (_Pinus flexilis_).—Needles are fine, almost silky, dark green, 1½ to 3 inches long, always in bundles of five. Cones are 3 to 5 inches long, with seeds ⅓ inch long; scales smooth. Bark is light gray or silvery white, except on old trunks, which are blackish brown and furrowed. Whitebark Pine (_Pinus albicaulis_).—Very difficult to distinguish from limber pine, although needles are more rigid and slightly curved. Needles are from 1½ to 2½ inches long. Cones are from 1½ to 3 inches long and of a dark purple color. The bark is chalky-white. This tree is found at elevations of from 8,500 to 10,000 feet, or slightly above the limber pine. It is not as important for commercial use as are the other pines. Lodgepole Pine (_Pinus contorta_).—Needles are 1½ to 2 inches long, yellow-green, growing in bundles of two. Bark is thin. Cones are one-sided, 1½ to 2 inches long, and cling to the branches for years without opening or dropping their seeds. Cone scales are armed with short spines. This species is used mostly for railroad ties, mine props, and telephone poles. SPRUCES.—Spruces have sharp-pointed, four-sided needles scattered over the twigs singly, leaving twigs rough like a grater when they fall off. There is only one spruce on the Shoshone Forest. Engelmann Spruce (_Picea engelmanni_).—The new-growth twigs are covered with soft, short hair. Needles are less rigid and less sharply pointed than those of blue spruce, green, dark blue, or pale steel-blue. Cones are 1 to 2 inches long. Bark is dark, reddish brown, and separates in the form of small, rounded scales. Main trunk, in contrast to blue spruce, is smooth and clean. FIRS.—Needles are blunt, flat, and soft to the touch, without any stem where they join branches. They leave flat, round scars when they fall off in contrast to short stubs left by spruce on twigs. Cones, unlike those of other species, stand erect. In the fall, the cones fall to pieces and leave only spikes on the branch. Buds are blunt and pitchy. Blisters, containing liquid pitch or balsam, are scattered over the smooth bark. Alpine Fir (_Abies lasiocarpa_).—Leaves are flat, 1 to 1¾ inch long, without any stem where they join the branches. Needles tend to turn upward. Cones are 2½ to 4 inches long, dark purple. The bark is gray and smooth, except in older parts of the tree where it is broken into ridges. Tree has a sharp, spirelike crown. It usually grows mixed with Engelmann spruce.