134 'J'HE PLANT WORLD. 



vellow blossoms of the buttercup, Ranunculus adoncus. The 

 snow which Hes on the mountain tops until summer becomes 

 coarsely granular and hard, and it seems strange that this par- 

 ticularly tender and fragile buttercup should push its way 

 throus'h the hard icv snow. I have always found it blossoming 

 close to retreating snow, and have noticed that some other plants 

 blossom under like conditions. The dogs-tooth violet is ordi- 

 narily an early spring flower, but I have seen it in full blossom 

 beside a retreatuig snow bank on the high mountains in the mid- 

 dle of August. No matter what the time of year, it is spring only 

 when the snow melts, and early spring beside a retreating snow 

 bank. 



While busily engaged in getting some of the Ramincuhis I was 

 attracted by a slight noise, and looking round saw within a few 

 feet of me a mother Ptarmigan which had hidden at my ap- 

 proach ; and looking more carefully I saw several chicks which 

 could not have been many hours out of the shell. Both the 

 mother and chicks were so like the color of the rocks and soil 

 that it was difificult to see them. I put my hat over and then 

 held in my hand several of the little brown bodies, which were 

 feathered to the toes. 



In the middle foreground as I came out on the mountain top 

 is a ledge of rock standing ten to fifteen feet above its surround- 

 ings, and on the western edge another ledge. Soil has accumu- 

 lated in the crevices and on the less precipitous places, and it was 

 about these ledges that I found the most interesting collecting, 

 particularly on the eastern side which is sheltered from the cold 

 west winds. Growing in the crevices was the alum-root, 

 HcucJicra bractcosa. which is almost always found in the crev- 

 ices of ledges; Orco.vis luunilis. a very small umbellifera which 

 blossoms in July and reaches the fruiting stage about the middle 

 of August; cinque-foil, Potcufil/a iiiz'ca; mountain sorrel, O.vyria 

 digyna; Macroncnia {^ygtjucuni : and Saxifraga ccnnia. 



About the bases of the ledges, sheltered by large boulders 

 which probably hold the moisture, were several larger plants, 

 such as Scnccio Frcinoitti. first collected by Lieut. Fremont and 

 described bv Torrey and Gray in their Flora of North America ; 



