One will have no difficulty in knowing the Nut Pine
(Pinus Sabiniana), for it is the first conifer met
in ascending the Range from the west, springing up
here and there among Douglas oaks and thickets of ceanothus
and manzanita; its extreme upper limit being about
4000 feet above the sea, its lower about from 500
to 800 feet. It is remarkable for its loose,
airy, wide-branching habit and thin gray foliage.
Full-grown specimens are from forty to fifty feet
in height and from two to three feet in diameter.
The trunk usually divides into three or four main
branches about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground
that, after bearing away from one another, shoot straight
up and form separate summits. Their slender,
grayish needles are from eight to twelve inches long,
and inclined to droop, contrasting with the rigid,
dark-colored trunk and branches. No other tree
of my acquaintance so substantial in its body has
foliage so thin and pervious to the light. The
cones are from five to eight inches long and about
as large in thickness; rich chocolate-brown in color
and protected by strong, down-curving nooks which
terminate the scales. Nevertheless the little
Douglas Squirrel can open them. Indians climb
the trees like bears and beat off the cones or recklessly
cut off the more fruitful branches with hatchets, while
the squaws gather and roast them until the scales
open sufficiently to allow the hard-shell seeds to
be beaten out. The curious little Pinus attenuata
is found at an elevation of from 1500 to 3000 feet,
growing in close groves and belts. It is exceedingly
slender and graceful, although trees that chance to
stand alone send out very long, curved branches, making
a striking contrast to the ordinary grove form.
The foliage is of the same peculiar gray-green color
as that of the nut pine, and is worn about as loosely,
so that the body of the tree is scarcely obscured
by it. At the age of seven or eight years it begins
to bear cones in whorls on the main axis, and as they
never fall off, the trunk is soon picturesquely dotted
with them. Branches also soon become fruitful.
The average size of the tree is about thirty or forty
feet in height and twelve to fourteen inches in diameter.
The cones are about four inches long and covered with
a sort of varnish and gum, rendering them impervious
to moisture.
No observer can fail to notice the admirable adaptation
of this curious pine to the fire-swept regions where
alone it is found. After a running fire has scorched
and killed it the cones open and the ground beneath
it is then sown broadcast with all the seeds ripened
during its whole life. Then up spring a crowd
of bright, hopeful seedlings, giving beauty for ashes
in lavish abundance.
