PARRY — ASCENT OF PIKE'S PEAK. 121 



tracts its dimensions, as the valley through which it descends 

 becomes narrow ; and, farther up, is obstructed by fallen rocks. 

 Winding among these, its swift current rushes along till a 

 sudden descent projects it in the form of rapids and falls. 

 Here, the scenery is wild in the extreme ; the torrent, often 

 lost entirely to view among masses of rock, shoots forth in 

 frequent cascades, or is seen, through the vista of overhanging 

 cliffs, boiling along its tortuous channels. The trail here is a 

 succession of tedious clamberings from one mass of rock to 

 another, or winding along the steep vergeof precipices, and 

 over sloping banks of decomposing granite. Among these 

 rock crevices, grows profusely the elegant flowering shrub 

 Miibus deliciosus of James, now just passed out of flower, 

 and maturing its reddish purple fruit. This latter, however, 

 will hardly be found to merit the title of delicious, the mass 

 of the berry being composed of large grains, with very meagre 

 insipid pulp. An interesting associate of this common shrub 

 is the Jamesia Americana, Torr. & Gr., its neat white flow- 

 ers contrasting prettily with its wrinkled velvety leaves. 

 Conspicuous among other plants, may also be noticed the 

 Yucca angiistifolia, now in the full glory of its globe-shaped 

 flowers, of satiny lustre. Here and there, also, in detached 

 localities, Penstemon Torreyi, Benth., sends up its brilliant 

 red spikes. 



The trees include the elegant pyramidal forms of Abies 

 grandis, here remarkable for the unusual length and breadth 

 of its leaves; Abies Douglasii is also common, associated 

 with Abies Menziesii, and Pinus ponderosa. Succeeding 

 these at a higher elevation comes the Pine, which must now 

 be undoubtedly regarded as the original Pinus flexilis, James. 

 As such it has" for several years been recognized by Dr. En- 

 gelmann, from the collection of Fendler, and others, though 

 still doubtfully regarded in late European works on Conifene. 

 Dr. James' account of this tree being quite meagre, and in 

 some respects contradictory, it may be satisfactory to dwell 

 at some length on its peculiar habit, as exhibited in this its 

 original locality. In general appearance, it very closely re- 

 sembles our P. Strobus, from which it differs mainly in its 

 shorter and stouter entire leaves, more branching mode of 

 growth, as well as in the yellowish brown cones, with peculiar 

 thickened ligneous scales. The cones are inclined to be pendu- 

 lous. The fertile amenta occupy the extremity of the growing 

 branch, extending in the same line with it; but in the second 

 year the terminal bud shoots out, and by its development the 

 orowimj cones, 1 to 5 together, are gradually deflected. Rarely 

 more than two of these become fully grown, and as a g neral 

 rule the mature cones fall off at the close of the second year, 

 the opening scales having previously dropped their wingless 

 seeds. These seeds are nearly equal in size to those of the 



