Rydberg: Phytogeographical notes 



467 



Montana, with a good deal of moisture, sometimes whole acres 

 are covered with Cassiope Mertensiana. Except the ericaceous 

 bog formation, made up of Phyllodoce, Kalmia, and Ledum, this is 

 the only poor representation of the shrubby ericaceous formation, 

 so characteristic of the Alps. This association of Cassiope sug- 

 gests in many respects the arctic tundra. I have not visited the 

 extreme northern part of the Rockies in British America, but I 

 suspect that Cassiope tetragona and Harrimanella hypnoides there 

 form similar associations. The only other plants in the alpine 

 regions of the Rockies that I know of as forming similar mats are the 

 dwarf alpine willows, Salix saximontana, S. nivalis, S. petrophila, 

 S cascadensis, and 5. Dodgeana. The last, the smallest willow 

 of the world, I found forming similar mats near the top of Electric 

 Peak, southern Montana, at an altitude of 11,000 feet. . When it 

 was first discovered I did not know that I had been walking on 

 top of a willow forest before I dropped down on my knees, 

 began to poke among the leaves, and found some minute catkins. 

 The following plants are common in the seep throughout the 

 Rockies : 



Poa alpina 

 Poa cenisia 

 Poa arctica 

 Juncoides spicatum 

 Salix petrophila 

 Salix saximontana 

 Oxyria digyna 

 Alsinopsis pro pin qua 

 Alsine baicalensis 

 Alsine laeta 

 Muscaria adscendens 

 Micranthes rhomboidea 

 Leptasea flagellaris 

 Sibbaldia procumbens 

 Trifolium Brandegei 

 Trifolium Parryi 

 * Vaccinium caespitosum 

 Primula angustifolia 

 Polemoninm pulcherrimum 



Sagina saginoides 

 Ranunculus pygmaeus 

 Ranunculus hyperboreus 

 *Aquilegia coerulea 

 Draba fladnizensis 

 Rhodiola integrifolia 

 Saxifraga cernua 

 Cerastium behringianum 

 Mertensia alpina 

 Myosotis alpestris 

 Taraxacum scopulorum 

 Artemisia scopulorum 

 Senecio cymbalarioides 

 J uncus Drummondii 

 J uncus Parryi 

 Juncus triglumis 

 Juncus castaneus 

 Chondropliylla americana 



