Botanical Observations in Washington; 



225 



which has a large root system, and is one of the earliest plants 

 to break through the remaining crust of snow. When three or 

 four inches in height it blooms, after which a single very toment- 

 ose leaf is developed, followed successively by another flower 

 and a second leaf. Along with the Pulsatilla grow Lupinus 

 Lyallii, Polygonum bisiortoidcs, Scnecio triangularis, Oxyria 

 digyna, Epilohinm alpinum, Lcptorrhina amplcxifolia, Poa 

 alpina, and numerous other grasses, sedges and junci, all ex- 

 tremely depauperate in size. 



Fig. .■?. The Tatoosli Range a>; seen from Paradise Park. In Uie foreground Tsuga 

 Mertenstana and Alris lasiocaipa 



The effects of wind and snow on the vegetation are ex- 

 tremely manifest at these higher altitudes. What the greatest 

 depth of snowfall is I was unable to learn, l)ut all of the herba- 

 ceous plants of the ])receding season are pressed quite flat to the 

 ground, and moreover show the down-hill movement of the 

 snowbanks. Indeed the largest trees are seldom without a 

 crook at the blse resembling a sled runner, and doubtless due to 

 this same cause. The winds, strong even in summer, are re- 



