126 Botany of Mariposa. [zoe 



Mimulus Pulsifera; Gray of the list is M. florihcndus Dougl., and 

 the plant so designated in the list is yet undetermined. 



Fritillaria atropzirptirea Nutt. should be F. parviflora Torr. 



THE CONIFEROUS BELT. 



As we go eastward from Mariposa we gradually ascend, and at a 

 distance of about ten miles we meet the western or lower edge of 

 this zone. The line of demarkation here is quite plain and is in- 

 dicated by the commencement of the continuous pine forest, and also 

 by the appearance of the so-called bear c\ov&x ( Chamcebatia folio- 

 losa). This plant begins with the pine forest at about 3,000 feet, 

 and forms a nearly continuous elastic mat about a foot deep under 

 the trees, extending nearly or quite to the upper line of this zone, 

 at about 6,000 feet. This upper boundary is not as clearly marked 

 as the lower one, but is here understood to coincide with the line 

 which bounds the territory inhabitable throughout the year. Above 

 6,000 feet the country, though beautiful and furnishing the most de- 

 lightful and healthful summer residence in California, is usually 

 covered in the winter with snow to a depth which practically makes 

 a winter residence impossible, and hence excludes any permanent 

 population. The subalpine zone, as here indicated, consists prin- 

 cipally of certain high plateaux hereinafter described lying betweens 

 the principal mountain ridges and of the great intervening valleys 

 formed by the rivers, while all that portion of the heavily wooded 

 zone which lies below is included in the Coniferous belt. 



The forest, which, originally at least, covered substantially the 

 whole of this belt and still covers by far the greater portion of it, 

 consists principally of yellow pine ( Pinus ponderosa) , but the cedar 

 ( Libocedriis deairre7is) is everywhere common, without occupying 

 any tract exclusively. At about 4,000 feet, the white spruce (Abies 

 concolor) and the Douglas spruce {^Pseudotsuga Dojiglasii) begin to 

 be frequent along the streams, while the sugar pine ( Pinus Fa?n- 

 bertiaiia) becomes abundant on the upper slopes. 



The magnificent size and the perfection of growth which all these 

 trees here attain are not surpassed in California. Oregon, even, 

 can hardly show more noble specimens or more valuable tracts of 

 timber. 



The deciduous trees in this zone are not usually conspicuous, 

 either for number or size, but the golden cup oak ( Qiierciis c/iryso^ 



