COMMON USES: Heavy construction, masts, flag poles, piles, railway ties. REMARKS: One of the greatest and the most valuable of the western timber trees. Forms extensive forests. [Illustration: Radial Section, life size.] [Illustration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.] [Illustration: Tangential Section, life size.] 20 GRAND FIR. WHITE FIR. LOWLAND FIR. SILVER FIR. _Abies grandis_ Lindley. _Abies_, the classical Latin name. [Illustration: Habitat.] HABITAT: (See map); best in Puget Sound region. [Illustration: Leaf.] CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, in interior 100'; diameter, 2'; on coast, 250'-300' high; diameter, 2'-5'; long pendulous branches; bark, quite gray or gray brown, shallow fissures, flat ridges; leaves, shiny green above, silvery below, 1-1/2"-2" long, roughly two-ranked; cones, cylindrical, 2"-4" long. APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light brown, sap-wood lighter; non-porous; rings, summer cells broader than in other American species, dark colored, conspicuous; grain straight, coarse; rays, numerous, obscure; resinous. PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Very light (62d in this list); 22 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.3545; weak (62d in this list); elastic (34th in this list); soft (65th in this list); shrinkage, 3 per cent.; warps little; not durable; works easily; splits readily. COMMON USES: Lumber and packing cases. REMARKS: No resin ducts. Not a very valuable wood. [Illustration: Radial Section, life size.] [Illustration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.] [Illustration: Tangential Section, life size.] 21 BIG TREE. SEQUOIA. GIANT SEQUOIA. _Sequoia washingtoniana_ (Winslow) Sudworth. _Sequoia gigantea_, Decaisne. _Sequoia_ latinized from Sequoiah, a Cherokee Indian; _washingtoniana_, in honor of George Washington. [Illustration: Habitat.] HABITAT: (See map); in ten groves in southern California, at high elevation. [Illustration: Leaf.] CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 275', sometimes 320'; diameter, 20', sometimes 35'; trunk, swollen and often buttressed at base, ridged, often clear for 150'; thick horizontal branches; bark, 1'-2' thick, in great ridges, separates into loose, fibrous, cinnamon red scales, almost non-combustible; leaves, very small, growing close to stem; cones, 2"-3" long. APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, red, turning dark on exposure, sap-wood thin, whitish; non-porous; rings, very plain; grain straight, coarse; rays, numerous, thin; non-resinous. PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Light (65th in this list); 18 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.2882; weak (63d in this list); brittle (62d in this list); very soft (61st in this list); shrinks little; warps little; remarkably durable; easy to work, splits readily, takes nails well. COMMON USES: Construction, lumber, coffins, shingles. REMARKS: Dimensions and age are unequalled; Big Tree and Redwood survivors of a prehistoric genus, once widely distributed. Some specimens 3600 years old. [Illustration: Radial Section, life size.]