ALASKAN PLANTS. 



283 



and v^aluable that he was unwilling to submit to the condi- 

 tions of the recent wild flower competition in Dawson City. 

 In order to compete for the two hundred dollar prize the 

 competitor was required to agree to the use by the commit- 

 tee of his collection until after the Alaska-Yukon, Pacific 

 Exposition to be held in 1909. As Gervais is constantly 

 adding to his collection, and since he values it at $2,000.00, 

 he was unwilling that it shouki leave his possession before 

 the exposition. 



Owing to the climatic conditions it is very difficult to 

 make anything approaching a complete collection of the 

 flora of the Yukon region. Many seeds lie dormant in the 

 ground for years, until an unusual season brings them to ger- 

 mination. A particularly dry or moist spring, a warm or 

 early spring, a wet summer or late autumn 'may each cause 

 the appearance and development of forms of vegetation 

 which in more normal years would not be seen at all. For 

 example, during the summer of 1905, which was abnormally 

 suitable for plant growth, numerous species were seen in 

 abundance which were not present at all in the visible flora 

 of the country during the following summer. It is thus ap- 

 parent that the collecting of botanical specimens in the Yu- 

 kon presents difficulties not often met with outside of desert 

 or arctic regions, and involves much time and patience as 

 well as special aptitude of the collector. 



"I took this up as a pastime," said Gervais. "I some- 

 times spend three weeks at a time on a prospecting trip, often 

 without horse or boat, and under these conditions find it 

 very hard to pack about with me, in a rough country a pros- 

 pector naturally negotiates, these specimens of dried plants, 

 which must be handled with much care to avoid injury. I 

 find that my memory is to be relied upon for telling whether 

 I have already in my collection any species I may come 

 across, for it is very rarely that I collect a plant thinking it a 

 new one, only to find that there is already a specimen at the 

 cabin. 



