THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE 129 



tare is especially favorable for seed-germination, and myriads 

 of tiny spruces and hemlocks are found on every log and stump, 

 growing in the moss. As the logs decay very slowly, it is common 

 to see a young tree perched on a stump several feet above the 

 ground, sending down its roots until they reach the earth. When 

 the log or stump finally decays and disappears, the tree is sup- 

 ported by a cone of stilt-like roots often five or six feet high. 



In every clearing is an impenetrable jungle of shrubs and 

 young trees, among which the spiny devil's club (Echinopanax) 

 is only too abundant. It is, however, a remarkably handsome 

 plant, with its large palmate leaves and spikes of showy red 

 berries. This, with the huge leaves of the Aroid, L} r sichiton, 

 known locally as " skunk-cabbage, " gives quite a tropical aspect 

 to the edge of the jungle. The salmon-berry {Rubus spectabilis) 

 with pretty pink flowers, and showy red and j^ellow fruit, is a 

 common and characteristic shrub. Red-berried elder, huckle- 

 berries, mountain ash, roses and spiraea, are also abundant 

 in the woodland thickets, and in low ground are extensive growths 

 of the giant horse-tail (Equisetum telmateia). 



Deciduous trees, willows, poplars, alders and small maples, 

 are mostly restricted to the banks of the numerous streams. 



Sphagnum bogs abound near Sitka and contain the usual 

 northern bog-species: sundews, cranberries, Kalmia glauca, 

 various bog orchids, buck-bean (Menyanthes), etc., with numer- 

 ous grasses and sedges, including species of cotton-grass (Eri- 

 ophorum). The pools in the Sphagnum bogs are very rich in 

 small algae, e. g., desmids, diatoms, and a great variety of other 

 unicellular species. 



British Columbia and Puget Sound 



The general character of the coastal vegetation of British 

 Columbia and Puget Sound, is much the same as that of south- 

 east Alaska, but with the warmer climate, the number of species 

 increases and the trees reach enormous size. About Puget Sound, 

 the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), 1 is the most abundant 

 species, and is the most important timber-tree of the Pacific 

 Coast. Originally forests of this species everywhere lined the 



1 P. taxifolia. 



