Creator

John Muir

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Circa Date

circa 1887

Transcription

[34]

[section cut out]

with it, also a few bush compositae [such as] baccharis linosyris, etc & some liliaceous plants, Calochortus brodaea, etc with deepset bulbs safe from fire [that can defy the fire This shaggy growth of Adenostoma] In the densest places the exporter can hardly get through it but it makes a fine home for bears. deer too like to hide in it in winter when driven down from the high mountains by snow storms & foxes & a multitude of small birds that find good [fine] nesting places & abundance of food – a most admirable plant. It is now in bloom and I like to wear its pretty fragrant racemes [in] my buttonhole. to [which is transformed into sweet song cheering each others feathers breasts & [sweeten] mingling with the singing winds that [come singing across the Coast range and the hot plains] every summer] day on the way up the mountains from the [coast] sea came [[from the sea, over the Coast Mountains] [across the hot plains & up the long slopes of the Sierra]

[This ade] [It is a wholesome attractive] most admirable [plant & I liked to wear [one of its] [a raceme of its fragrant [racemes] [bloom in my buttonhole.]

Another charming shrub, Azalea occidentalis grows beside [is a charming plant characteristic of] cool streams here-

35

-abouts & much higher in the Yosemite region [up to an elevation of about 6000 feet]. We found it this evening in full bloom a few miles above [today on a stream bank near] Greelys Mills [in full bloom.] where we are camped for the night. It is closely related to the rhododendrons, is very showy & fragrant, and everybody must like it not only for itself but for the shady alders and willows, ferny mossy meadows, and living water associated with it. [in the shade of alders etc. Very showy in generous masses loved by everybody Ferns mosses alders willows & cool running water always found with it]

Libocedrus

[Yet] another conifer was met today. Incense Cedar [The rich brown] Libocedrus decurrens, a large tree with warm yellow green foliage in flat plumes like those of arborvitae, [its] bark cinnamon colored & as the boles of the old tree are without limbs they make[ing] striking pillars in the woods where the sun chances to shine on them [it]. A worthy companion of the kingly Sugar & Yellow Pines. It seems to have a strong grip on life. The wood is like cedar, brown & close-grained and fragrant the plumes [everlasting. The foliage] make[s] fine [smooth] [deliciously fragrant] bedding. I feel strongly attracted to this tree. A crowd of young ones are always found about the feet of the old trees ready to take their places [& perpetuate their beautiful forms]. The flat overlapping plumes must shed the rain well [& the mountaineer finds good shelter beneath the larger specimens] [trees]. It would be delightful to be stormbound beneath one of these noble hospitable inviting old trees, its broad sheltering arms bent down [to the ground] like a tent. [on a sheltered hillside beneath the blessed arms of one of these thousand-year old cedars] a stream of [delicious] incense rising from the [purple flames of the] fire made from its dry branches, [& the storm wind] a hearty wind chanting overheard. [on the high ridges roundabout.]

Date Occurred

1869

Resource Identifier

MuirReel31 Notebook05 Img020.jpg

Contributing Institution

Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

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