Trees of the forested vistas, from much needed lumber to homes for birds and other animals. Native Americans found an Shasta-Trinity excellent supply of food in the acorns of the California Shasta-Trinity National Forest Black Oak and in the nuts of the Gray Pine. Conifers, from which most lumber is sawn, shed needles ? throughout the year but keep green needles year round. In the winter they mark a stark, green contrast to the Because of its unique geographic setting, the Shasta- hardwoods of the forest. Hardwoods are deciduous trees Trinity National Forest is home to dozens of unique that lose their leaves each year and stand with bare species of trees. From the towering and stately Sugar branches throughout the winter months. Spring brings Pine of the mid elevation pine belt to the attractive new green leaves to these trees and in the summer they Quaking Aspen found in scattered pockets at higher provide us with shade. Autumn brings the turning of the elevations. Trees provide us with an almost innumerable leaves as another cycle of growth comes to an end and is variety of services… from simple shade, to stunning marked with a flutter of red and gold. Ponderosa Pine Sugar Pine Pinus ponderosa Pinus lambertiana Ponderosas are hard pines with three dark This soft pine not only has the longest green needles in a bundle. The upturned cones, but it is the tallest American limbs, tufted with needles, give this tree a pine, growing to 200 feet in height. well shaped appearance. It grows to 180’ Five needles appear in a bundle on in height and takes 35 years to reach saw mature trees. The bark is cinnamon red, timber proportions. On older trees, the and the branches are long and nearly orange to cinnamon colored bark breaks horizontal. Cones hang from the ends off in “jigsaw puzzle” pieces which are yellowish underneath. of the branches. The name is derived People unfamiliar with the species can easily mistake Ponderosa pine from a sugary substance in the sap. with Jeffrey Pine which has a distinct vanilla or pineapple smell to sun warmed bark. Gray or Foothill Pine Pinus sabiniana This tree, a hard pine with three long needles in stiff bundles, is an important Foxtail Pine food source for various forest animals Pinus balfouriana like squirrels and birds. The nuts are hidden in the thick, woody scales of the The Foxtail pine is a subalpine tree, growing cone. Native Americans prized the nuts on high ridges and mountainsides. The of this tree also, frequenting groves of branches are often thick and grow at odd the trees during the harvest season. It is angles, reflecting its lifelong battles with wind an odd shaped tree, with branches and snow. These trees can reach amazing sizes, growing at dizzying angles and sometimes leaning close to the earth. never very tall, but very big in girth. When It offers very little shade. they die they can stand for centuries, white and stark against the sky. Knobcone Pine Pinus attenuata Lodgepole Pine The knobcone is a hard pine with three Pinus contorta stiff, yellow-green needles in a bundle. It often grows on southerly exposed slopes. Lodgpoles grow throughout a wide Cones form on the main trunk and larger variety of habitats on the Shasta- branches in clusters of 3 to 5. These Trinity but will most often be seen at cones do not drop so the trunk may grow mid to higher elevations. It is over them. The cones open to disperse characterized by very straight trunks their seeds when heated by fire. which were highly prized for building log cabins by early settlers. Its needles grow in bundles of 2 and the cones can persist on the branches years after opening. United States Forest Service Shasta-Trinity National Forest Department of Pacific Southwest Region www.fs.usda.gov/stnf Agriculture www.fs.usda.gov/r5 Revised: 5-14 Western White Pine Mountain Hemlock Pinus monticola Tsuga mertensiana This is a soft pine with five needles in a bundle. The This is a tree of the subalpine open crowned tree has silver gray bark and can grow regions and in the colder areas of to 125 feet high. The cones are long and slender and the red fir and mixed conifer shorter than the Sugar Pine. forest. Because it grows at higher elevations, its branches are stiff to shed snow. Dead trees are persistent, often standing for centuries after they die. The wood is tough and the bark is a beautiful mix of soft purples, grays and silvers. The cones are small and are bright purple when very young, crowding the tops of the tree and often covered with dripping pitch. Incense Cedar Douglas Fir Calocedrus decurrens Pseudotsuga menziesii This aromatic tree grows to a height of 150 Botanically speaking, this is not feet. The branches are flattened with the a fir at all. It more closely leaves overlapping in whorls of four. On resembles the hemlock. The 1 older trees, the bark is a dark brown to red inch needles grow out from the and very fibrous with deep irregular slender branches in all furrows. Wood from this tree is used for directions and leave a leaf scar making pencils, and lining closets. Use when detached from the your sense of smell to discover how this branch. Three pointed, tongue tree got its name. like bracts give the downward hanging cones a shaggy look. The bark, which is resistant to fire in older trees, is gray to reddish brown and deeply furrowed. This tree is our most important timber tree, being used for lumber, plywood, veneer and other products. California Red Fir Port Orford Cedar Abies magnifica Chamaecyparis lawsoniana This is a widespread, high elevation fir that has Close in appearance to incense cedar, short, stiff needles curving upward from its the branches of this tree are not as branches. On older trees, the bark is a furrowed flattened and they have silver Xs of reddish brown and is a deep red when broken. stomata on the underside. The The cones are barrel shaped and stand upright vertically ridged bark is reddish on the branches near the crown of the tree. The brown when new, weathering to a cones appear shaggy because of bracts which fibrous silver brown. This cedar is are longer than the scales. The cones worth more commercially than any other tree on the Shasta-Trinity. disintegrate from the top down leaving the central stem standing needle like atop the branches. A variety of the California Red Fir known as the Shasta Red Fir grows at higher Pacific Yew elevations throughout the northern part of the Forests. Taxus brevifolia White Fir The flat, prickly tipped Abies concolor needles of the Pacific Yew are dark green on This fir is variable throughout its wide top and light green range on the Shasta-Trinity. At higher beneath and emerge elevations, the needles are short and horizontally from the stout, curving upwards from its stems, branches on two sides. somewhat resembling the Red Fir. At Seeds are encased in mid elevations the needles tend to fleshy, salmon colored berries. The reddish purple bark peels off to emerge flat from the stems growing expose a soft, rose colored inner bark. This tree can grow as high as horizontally out on either side. The 75 feet in moist areas, most frequently along deeply shaded streams. cones are smaller than red fir cones and Because of its strength, Native Americans long used yew wood to not as shaggy looking. They stand make bows for hunting. More recently a chemical compound found upright and disintegrate in the same manner as Red Fir cones when in yew bark and needles has become important in treating certain the seeds are mature. cancers. Weeping Spruce Sadler or Deer Oak Picea breweriana Quercus sadleriana This very uncommon and beautiful This shrubby oak grows tree grows at higher elevations on on open, rocky slopes in cool, moist slopes. It is readily association with mixed identifiable by its very “droopy” conifer trees at mid aspect, Its long, slender and flexible elevations. The light branches sometimes hanging all the green leaves are broad way to the ground. The silver green and toothed. The acorns needles emerge from the branches are an important part of all the way around. Cones are a the diets of deer and other light, ochre brown and hang animals. downwards from the branches. The bark is variable and plated in thin, soft purple to light brown and silver gray sheets. Black Oak Blue Oak Quercus kelloggii Quercus douglassii The dark green, deciduous The leaves of this lower elevation leaves of this tree are deeply oak are a light bluish green on top, lobed and each lobe has a smooth edged and wavy. Some prickly tip. The dark bark is leaves can be slightly lobed. The ridged and furrowed. Acorns underneath side of the leaf is a from this tree were the staple pale bluish green. Bark on this tree diet of Native Americans is light, almost white and papery throughout California. They feeling. It prefers open woodlands, on dry slopes and flats. would gather the nuts, leach them in water to remove tannic acid and grind them into a meal. This meal was Big Leaf Maple used to make soup and mush. Acer macrophyllum Canyon Live Oak This broad crowned shade tree Quercus chrysolepsis has the largest leaf of any tree in the area. The five lobed leaf, This oak keeps its thick, leathery which may be up to a foot leaves year round.