194 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



forming carpets in the forests. It is a pioneer in rocky barren areas and often 

 one of the first to come into recently burned areas. The stems traiUng along 

 the ground help to hold the seeds of tree species and act as a protection to 

 the seedlings until they become established. The common name, kinnikinnick, 

 comes — from an Indian expression applied to a mixture of the dried leaves 

 or bark of certain plants used with or in place of tobacco. This species was 

 one of the plants most commonly used. The leaves are often browsed by 

 ieer and mountain sheep and many species of wild life are fond of the berries. 



Occurrence. — OLYMPIC, occasional on rocky canyon sides and ridges, 2,000 to 6,000 

 feel: Elwha River Valley on lower slope of Mount Dana; Hurricane Ridge; summit 

 of Mount Storm King; Constance Ridge; Mount Angeles. MOUNT RAINIER, occasional 

 in rocky places, 5,000 to 8,000 feet. GLACIER, common, 3,000 to 8,000 feet: Kintla 

 Lake trail to Boulder Pass; Bowman Lake; park headquarters at Belton; Lake Mc- 

 Donald; trail to Sperry Chalet; Avalanche Lake trail; Dry Fork Two Medicine 

 Creek; Cut Bank Pass; below Cut Bank Chalet; Atlantic Creek valley below Triple 

 Divide Pass; Mount Stimpson; Swiftcurrent Lake; Mount Altyn; Crossley Lake. 

 YELLOWSTONE: Old Faithful; near Tower Falls; upper Geyser Basin; Mammoth Hot 

 Springs. GRAND TETON. ROCKY MOUNTAIN, common on rocky ground, particularly in 

 burned areas. ISLE ROYALE, common in rock openings: Mott Island. 



Wintergreen (Gaiilther'.a L.) 



Except for one species, salal, which is found in the Pacific Northwest, the 

 species of Gaultheria are small prostrate or trailing plants only a few inches 

 high. These small species, commonly known as wintergreen, have an aromatic 

 fragrance to the herbage and berries. The eastern species has been used to 

 furnish some of the commercial "oil of wintergreen" used in flavoring and 

 medicine. The fruits are interesting and unique in that the calyx becomes 

 enlarged and colored in fruit, forming part of a fleshy berry. These furnish 

 food for birds and small mammals. 



Field Guide to the Species 



Conspicuous shrubs I to 6 feet high; flowers borne along slender stems near the ends 



of branches; berries purple 1. G. shallon. 



Small trailing or prostrate herb-like plants 1 to 8 inches high ; flowers borne singly 

 in the leaf axils; berries red. 



Corolla urn-shaped, shorl-lobed; anthers of stamens with awns; eastern species 



2. C. procunibens. 



Corolla bell-shaped, deeply iobed; anthers without awns; western species. 



Matted shrub up to about 4 inches high; leaves to about % inch long; 



corolla slightly longer than calyx 3. C. humifusa. 



Loosely spreading shrub up to 8 inches high ; leaves to about 1 l/i inches 



long; corolla much longer than calyx 4. C. ovalifolia. 



I. Salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh), fig. 114. — Evergreen shrub, com- 

 monly 1 to 6 (or 10) feet high, with erect or spreading branches; leaves 

 egg-shaped, with a rounded base and pointed tip, 1 to 4 inches long, thick, 

 glossy, the margins finely toothed; flowering stems 3 to 6 inches long, the 

 flowers bell-shaped, white or pinkish, 1/3 to I/2 inch long, borne on short 

 stalks curved towards one side of an unbranched stem; berries dark-purple 



