Rocky Mountain Rambles. 185 



springs and brooks in mountain marshes, and the jmrple lousewort 

 {Pedicularis grocnlandica) are comir.on. Acres of these :r.ay be 

 seen below timber-line in many of the mountains of Colorado and 

 Utah. Some of these reach over into the Cascades, especially 

 northward. 



At the Dalles, in eastern Oregon, on the Columbia, on the 

 eastern slope of the Cascades, with a comparatively small rain- 

 fall, wheat and other s:.nall grains are grown without irrigation. 

 Peach and other fruit trees are plentifully planted in the valley 

 of the Columbia. The sandbars formed by the drifting sands 

 from the Columbia River for many miles down the stream are 

 interesting; they are ever changing and were it not for the "sand- 

 fences" erected by the Oregon Short Line, these drifting sands 

 would soon cover the tracks. Towards the stream these dunes 

 are often covered with a willow, known as the Columbia sand- 

 bar willow (Salix sessilijolia), which grows abundantly in this 

 valley. These bars, when moist enough, become covered with 

 grasses, followed later by this willow. 



In the bottoms along the stream near Hood River, one be- 

 gins to see large trees of the black cottonwood (Popuhis tricho- 

 carpa) from 2 to 4 feet in diameter, attaining a height of 150 feet, 

 although on the west slope of the Cascades along other streams 

 and the Columbia it may attain a diameter of 8 feet and a height 

 of 200 feet. It is the most magnificent of our poplars. It is 

 largely used for making excelsior and boxes. 



The slopes and valleys were covered with an abundance of 

 bull pine {Pinus ponderosa) in an early day before the forests 

 gave way to garden and field. The western larch {Larix oc- 

 cidentalis) was abundant on the slopes and has furnished much 

 lumber; up the valley and on the mountain sides the Douglas fir 

 the western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and red cedar of Wash- 

 ington {Thuja plicata) become more abundant. The mountain 

 sides are covered with great masses of the Aruncus vulgaris, with 

 ample panicles of white flowers. The trailing Rubus ursinus is 

 common everywhere in the woods. 



The mighty forests of Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock, larch 

 {Larix Lyalii) and spruce have in large part long since been re- 

 moved in the vicinity of Portland, but everywhere a vigorous 

 young growth of these conifers is appearing. Only a short dis- 



