84 THE AMERICAX BOTANIST 



en be led up one side of a cliff and pushed or urged down the 

 other. Many of us elected to make the return trip on foot. 



The canyon walls are frequently sheer cliffs of bare red 

 sandstones with here and there a stunted pine of cedar rcxjted 

 in the crevices. Along the more level portions of the route, 

 sage brush and one of the joint firs {Ephedra) vied with each 

 other for preeminence. Rabbit-brush and grease-wood formed 

 open thickets where the soil was favorable. The sage brush 

 in most areas is the dominane plant. It is seldom out of sight 

 and even then its strong bitter-aromatic odor is sure to apprise 

 one of its vicinity. In the shelter of the shrubs an occasional 

 flowering plant appeared, usually small leaved and gray clad. 

 The most noticeable of such specimens were low goldenrods, 

 pentstemons, sunflowers, asters, and mallows, but they were 

 never in sufiicient numbers to become the dominant note in the 

 landscape ; in fact a hasty glance over the region would incline 

 one to say that the desert has no flowers. 



One noticealjlc difference between the desert and dry 

 grounds elsewhere -constantly came to (uu- attention. The des- 

 ert is almost invariably gray-green, while dry areas in humid 

 regions have a yellow-green hue. The desert plants do not 

 appear to Ijc languishing for moisture; they have a cheerful 

 bearing which seems t*o indicate a liking for dessication or a 

 disposition to thrive in spite of it. July and August are the 

 rainv months, though ihey are not moist enough for the fact 

 to be especially noticeable. Nevertheless the light rains hat! a 

 wonderful effect upon vegetation .and we saw the desert Ije- 

 coming greener each day of our stay. Grass sprung up as if 

 l)\- magic and flocks of shee[) and goats suddenly appeared and 

 began to give animation to the landscape. 



From Kaibato the trail steadily rises to Navajo mountain 

 and when we arrixed at its base we found ourselves more than 

 a mile above sea-level, in the edge of a straggling forest of 



