44 H. B. HUMPHREY AND J. E. WEAVER 



majority were but a few weeks old at the time of observation. 

 They were indeed scarce; not more than sixty to eighty per acre 

 on east and north slopes and none at all on south and south- 

 east or southwest exposures. In two instances it was observed 

 that as many as fifteen to twenty seedlings were growing in one 

 spot as though a cone had become planted and all its viable seeds 

 had germinated. The area investigated seemed to show no 

 signs of any other conifer, which fact corroborates observations 

 of a similar nature made 2 years earlier in a certain denuded sec- 

 tion in the Thatuna Hills. 



In September, 1912, another trip was taken to the hills about 

 St. Maries, and it was found that between May 25 and the 

 September date many seedlings of Thuya, Larix, Pseudolsuga 

 and a few of Abies had sprung into existence, apparently from 

 seed of scattered surviving parent trees in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood. Their distribution was very irregular. In some 

 areas of a square meter or more none could be found, while in 

 other more favored spots the seedlings would average as many 

 as eight per square meter. The ground occupied by these 

 seedlings was well covered with a mulch of the dead leaves and 

 stems of such herbaceous plants as have already been described 

 for the region. 



An examination of denuded south slopes where the original 

 forest growth consisted of an abundant stand of Pinus ponderosa 

 with scattered individuals of Pseudolsuga mucronata resulted in 

 the enumeration of the following plants: Funaria hygromelrica, 

 Achillea sp., Symphoricarpos racemosus, Pieridium aquilinum var. 

 pubescens (most abundant), Epilobium paniculaium, Carduus 

 breweri, all, excepting Pieridium, about equally abundant and 

 intermingled so as to form a semi-shaded area. Stray speci- 

 mens of Aster douglasii, Rosa nulkana, and Gnaphalium sp. were 

 observed; and in spots Berberis repens was predominant. 



The most careful search failed to reveal any coniferous seed- 

 lings even in the most favorably shaded ravines of these south 

 slopes, an absence due, no doubt, to insufficient soil moisture and 

 excessive evaporation, although the writers had no recording 

 instruments in this field. That these same south mountain 



