AN ENUMERATION OF THE PTERIDOPHYTES AND 



SPERMATOPHYTES OF THE SAN BERNARDINO 



MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA 



S. B. PARISH 

 San Bernardino, California 



The name San Bernardino Mountains is applied to that part 

 of the southern Sierra Nevada between the Cajon and the 

 San Gorgonio Passes, a distance of some 50 miles in a nearly 

 east and west direction. Their general ridge line is 4000-6000 

 feet above sea level, but at their eastern extremity they culmin- 

 ate in the twin peaks of San Bernardino and San Gorgonio 

 (or Grayback), respectively 10650 and 11725 feet high. The 

 distance north and south across the mountains is about 20 miles. 

 The curving southern and western ridge rises from a base 1200- 

 1500 feet in altitude and overlooks the San Bernardino Valley; 

 from a like base the eastern acclivities of the terminal peaks face 

 the Colorado Desert ; on the north they have a higher base, 3500- 

 4000 feet in altitude, and look out upon the Mojave Desert. 

 On all sides the ascent is abrupt, and there is no proper foothill 

 region. 



Except for hmited outcrops of limestones, sandstones and con- 

 glomerates at a few places along the southern base, the rocks 

 are of the granite series, often exposed in naked masses. The 

 resultant soils are stony, coarse and porous for the most part, 

 but in the valley bottoms they are finer and contain more or 

 less humus. All the streams have eroded deep channels, the 

 larger profound and steep canons. The general aspect of the 

 mountains is extremely rugged. 



The streams have their sources in numerous mountain valleys, 

 most of them of small size. Bear Valley is the largest of them, 

 and has a length of 10 miles and a width of 1 or 2. The upper 

 end of it is occupied by a "dry lake" of the same type as those 



163 



THE PLANT WORLD, VOL. 20, NO. 6 

 JUNE, 1917 



