NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



161 



Between this Alpine belt and the sub- 

 alpine vegetation is found a great 

 variety of habitats bearing different 

 associations of plants. On Rock slides 

 are stone crop (Sedum divergens) ; juniper 

 (/. communis); lupine (L. arcticus); 

 Jacob's ladder (Polemoriium confcrlum). 

 Cold gravelly creek banks bear great 

 masses of. dark crimson Mimulus {M. 

 Lewisii), while sand bars or islands in 

 the middle of shallow streams are 

 covered with the golden yellow alpine 

 Mimulus (M. alpinus) ; butter-bur (Peta- 

 sites frigidus) ; or fireweed (Epilobium 

 latifolium) . 



Alpine slopes are bedecked with lu- 

 pines, Indian paint-brush, of all shades 

 from pale pink to fiery scarlet, moun- 

 tain heliotrope {Valeriana sitchensis), 

 louseworts (Pedicularis bracieosa, and 

 others'), columbines, alpine speedwell 

 (Veronica alpina), numerous tall sedges, 

 and rushes, but compartively few species 

 of grasses. 



To see the vegetation of alpine regions 

 in British Columbia as above described 

 one should visit them sometime between 

 the latter part of Julj^ and the end of 

 August. (J. D.) 



Mammals and birds {E. A. P.). The 

 hoary marmots {Marmota c. okanagana 

 and M. c. cascadensis) , races of a species 

 which farther north ranges down to 

 sea level, are confined in southern 

 British Columbia practicallj^ to the 

 treeless mountain summits. Rangifer 

 montanus and Ovis canadensis are also 

 generally found there. 



Birds breeding on the Alpine summits 

 include the following: Rock ptarmigan, 

 white-tailed ptarmigan, pallid horned 

 lark, Hepburn's rosy finch, and pipit. 



E. LOCAL OR EDAPHIC COMMUNITIES 

 (j. D. AND E. A. P.) 



1. Muskeg and^peatbogs 



The principal muskeg and bog areas 

 are to be found in the northern parts 

 of the Province, especially in the Liard 

 and Peace River basins, others occur at 

 various points along the Grand Trunk 

 Railway system in central British Co- 



lumbia, Prince Rupert, Queen Charlotte 

 Islands, the northern part of Vancouver 

 Island, and in the southwest part of 

 the mainland. 



In the north-eastern regions tamarack 

 (Larix laricina), and black spruce 

 encroach on these areas, whereas in the 

 southern and western bog areas these 

 are replaced by the coast form of lodge- 

 pole pine (Pinus contorta) which is also 

 found on rocky bluffs and on well drained 

 sandy soil along the coast. 



Excellent opportunities for the study 

 of bog evolution are found within a few 

 miles of Vancouver, B. C, where one 

 may find every transition from the open 

 lake to the mature bog. The margin 

 flora of yellow water lilies, cat-tails 

 (Tijpha latifolia); bogbean (Menyanthes 

 trifoliaia) ; cinquefoil (Comarum pa- 

 lustre), is followed by a floating Sphag- 

 num layer with approximately ten or 

 twelve feet of water or liquid muck 

 underneath. On this sphagnum layer 

 the bog flora develops somewhat in the 

 following order: Sedges and rushes, 

 clumps of sweet gale {Myrica gale), and 

 Spiraea (S. Douglasii), followed by the 

 usual western bog association : Labrador 

 tea {Ledum groenlandicum) , mountain 

 or bog laurel {Kalmia polifolia), and 

 cranberry {Vaccinium Oxycoccus). Into 

 this ericaceous association the lodgepole 

 pine encroaches, and sometimes succeeds 

 in establishing a dense stand of low 

 stunted trees, often badl}^ affected by 

 mistletoe {Arceuthobium americanum), 

 and lodgepole pine blister rust. 



One interesting feature is the frequent 

 occurrence of stranded or isolated 

 pioneers, water lilies which have sur- 

 vived for ages, cut off from their con- 

 freres in the lakes, and separated from 

 them by several hundreds of yards of 

 bog. These stranded lilies have suc- 

 cessfully competed with the Sphagnum 

 and ericaceous shrubs by sending up 

 their leaves on long petioles thus mo- 

 nopolizing the light over an area 6 or 8 

 ft. in diameter. This results in a kind 

 of "pot-hole" in the bog, and in some 

 places, where the water lilies have 

 succumbed, these "pot-holes" take the 



