the American Botanist 



VOL. XXIII JOLIET, ILL., AUGUST, 1917 No. 3 



Uhe deep reel cones or" the sumach 

 Jxnd the woodbine s crimson sprags 

 Jfave bannered the common roadside 

 •J'or the pageant of passing dags. 

 TJhese are the oracles ifature 

 Jills with her holy breath, 

 Siving them glorg of color, 



TJranscending the shadow of death. 



— Bliss Carman. 



PLANT LIFE ON THE PEAKS 



By Mrs. Blanche H. Soth. 



TH ROM sea-level in the Arctic regions, timberline gradu- 

 ally ascends until, in the central Rockies, it lines the 

 mountain sides at between 11,000 and 12,000 feet. All the 

 world above this distinct, but natural, boundary belongs, to 

 the Arctic-alpine zone of plant life. The climatic conditions 

 are similar in many respects to those of the Arctic regions 

 and the plants that grow there are peculiar to the Arctic 

 lands and to the tops of those mountains that are high 

 enough to tower above the influence of the forests. 



The amount of moisture in the soil available for root 

 absorption determines the limit of tree growth. They grow 

 at a higher altitude on the southerly exposed mountain 

 sides than upon the northward facing slopes because the 

 intense sunlight and the prevailing southwest winds melt 



