130 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



coast, but the accessible areas have been mostly stripped of 

 timber, with the development of the cities and agricultural 

 districts. These forests, where they still exist, are very dense, 

 and the trees attain a great height, occasionally upwards of 

 300 feet. 



The trees of the Alaska coast forest also occur, and the Sitka 

 or "tideland" spruce attains its greatest development here, 

 as does the giant arbor-vitae (Thuja plicata) known usually as 

 " cedar." Of the deciduous trees of this region, the big-leaved 

 maple (Acer macrophyllum) and the handsome flowering dog- 

 wood (Cornus Nuttallii) are conspicuous. These with the smaller 

 vine-leaved maple (A. circinnatum) , color brilliantly in the 

 autumn and make fine masses of color in the evergreen forest. 

 From Washington south, the fine western rhododendron (R. 

 Calif ornicum) is abundant, as well as the shrubs found in the 

 more northern forest. Another characteristic shrub is the salal 

 (Gaultheria shallon), related to the little wintergreen of the Atlan- 

 tic states. 



In the neighborhood of Tacoma are some open prairies where 

 are oaks (Quercus Carry ana) in scattered groves; but as a rule, 

 oaks are not abundant in this region. 



While the forest has been largely cut away from the lowlands, 

 one can get an idea of the primaeval forest from the pieces of 

 forest land that have been reserved for parks. Thus Stanley 

 Park at Vancouver has enormous, specimens of tideland spruce, 

 cedar, and Douglas fir, and shows what the coastal forests were 

 before the advent of the white man. 



The western slopes of the Cascades are covered with dense 

 forest in which the Douglas fir is much the most abundant tree, 

 and often forms pure stands of great extent. 



The great volcanic peaks which rise from the Cascades illus- 

 trate very beautifully the change in vegetation as one ascends 

 from sea -level to the regions of perpetual snow and ice. The 

 snow-line is about 6500 feet elevation. 



The finest of all these mountains, Mt. Rainier, is easily acces- 

 sible, and shows perfectly the different zones of vegetation. 

 Moreover, as it is a National Park, the forest is largely intact. 

 At the base the forest is mostly Douglas fir. Above this the 

 Douglas fir is associated with white pine (P. monticola), hemlock, 



