purplish in color. In appearance it resembles the Norway spruce. It loves a moist climate and soil, growing on brackish marshes and inundated islands. The timber is used in making packing-boxes for fruit, as it has no strong flavor like the fir.
The Oregon cedar (Thuya gigantea ) grows very abundantly near the coast. This tree attains to a very great size, being often from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, but is not so high as the spruce. The branches commence about twenty feet from the ground. Above this the wood is exceedingly knotty; but the lumber obtained from the clear portion of the trunk is highly valued for finishing work in buildings, as it is light and soft, and does not shrink or swell like spruce lumber. For shingles and rails it is also valuable, from its durability.
The Indians make canoes of the cedar nearly as light and elegant as the famous birch canoes of more northern tribes. Formerly they built houses of planks split out of cedar with no better implement than a stone axe and wedge. An axeman can split enough in two or three days to build himself a cabin. This tree is nearly allied to the arbor vitce, which it resembles in foliage, having its leaves in flat sprays that look as if they had been pressed. On the under side of the spray is a cluster of small cones. The bark is thin, and peels off in long strips which are used by the Indians to make matting, and a kind of cloth used for mantles to shed the rain. It is also used by them to roof their houses, make baskets, etc. Altogether, it is the most useful tree of the forest to the native.
Hemlock-spruce (Abies Canadensis ) is next in abundance near the coast. It grows much taller than the cedar, often to one hundred and fifty feet, and has a diameter of from six to eight feet. The color is lighter and the foliage finer than that which grows in the Atlantic States, and the appearance of the tree is very graceful and beautiful.
Another tree common to the coast is the Oregon yew ( Taxus brevifolia .). It is not very abundant, grows to a height of thirty feet, and flourishes best in damp woods and marshy situations. The wood is very tough, and used by the Indians for arrows. When much exposed to the sun, in open places, the foliage takes on a faded, reddish appearance. It bears a small, sweet, coral-red berry, of which the birds are very fond.
