BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 207 



flowers, and so burnt up again, that you can find nothing 

 to testify of the gaudy blossoms, which have been dried by 

 the sun, and swept away by the wind ! 



I. Subregion. Grassy Mountains and Plateaux of Skitsoe, 

 or Cceur d'Aleine river, in April and May. 



Scarcely has the sun effaced from the snow the prints of 

 the horses' hoofs iu the plains, when the first flower in 

 that region, Ranunculus glaben'imus, Hooker (459), shows 

 its large yellow glistening orb out of the snowy embankments. 

 Just so does Viola (60S) appear in the river valleys; the latter 

 indeed never ceases, but produces apetalous flowers under 

 the snow during the winter, which at the first opportunity, 

 display themselves. The deep snow soon melts, and all at 

 once the whole country is ornamented by flowers, which 

 exhibit a brighter degree of colouring than could be ex- 

 pected from the first rays of the spring sun. 



Commencing on a cold plateau, near Skitsoe or Cceur d'A- 

 leine river, we may see at once all uhe plants together, which 

 l>nng their flowers forth at the beginning of spring. It is a 

 trap plateau, naked and overlayed with a thick layer of loam, 

 "ere appears first the above Ranunculus in abundance, scat- 

 tered among masses of Sedum stenopetalum, which infest 

 the whole locality, together with its parasite, Orobanche 

 (372), which is very abundant and in full bloom. One quar- 

 ter is occupied by the pretty Primulacea (No. 319), its root 

 !s a vertical ramose brittle tuber, its leaves and flowers are 

 prostrate, the corolla is chalky white with elegant purple 

 reticulation, and it has golden-yellow bearded nectaries at 

 the base of the segments. Next space comes occupied by 

 Ferula (325), and close to it Ferula (298) ; both grow sepa- 

 rately and so densely, that their white and golden umbels 

 touch each other. The former is a rare species and occurs 

 0nJ y there, it has farinaceous tubers, which are gathered by 

 the Indians, like those of many other species of this genus. 

 Ihe other yellow species is a curious plant, it being only a 

 biennial, but it forms a tuber to live over that one winter. 

 Another portion of this plateau is clothed with the 



