Deserts and Desert Flora of the West 

 ing upon these are 700 feet of bedded sandstone 

 and limestone which are often weathered into ter- 

 races and alcoves. Then comes the great red wall, 

 1600 feet of limestone, "stained a brilliant red by 

 the ironoxide washed from the overlj^ing beds. ' 

 At the top are 1000 feet of limestone with gypsum 

 and chirt, sculptured into terraces and turrets, pin- 

 nacles and spires, the whole an endless city of 

 magnificent cathedrals and citadels built by the 

 genii of nature. 



Flora of the Grand Canon. — The rim of the 

 caiion in the vicinity of El Tovar is on the Gocinino 

 plateau at an elevation of 6866 feet. This plateau 

 is covered with a yellow pine forest (Pinus ponder- 

 osa scopulorum), which is an extension of the 

 magnificent pine forests of the San Francisco 

 Mountains. But a narrow belt of the piiion-juniper 

 forest extends along the edge of the rim, and is 

 encountered at the head of Bright Angel Trail. 



Descending Bright Angel Trail, trees continue 

 for the first 2600 feet. On account of the cool 

 shaded slopes species are found here that are not 

 met with on the rim, but which belong to the 

 higher altitudes of the San Francisco Mountains; 

 such a species is the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxi- 

 folia). A thousand feet farther down and the 

 desert shrub Coleogyne ramosissima becomes 

 abundant, forming thickets over the terraces of 

 limestone. From this point to the bottom of the 

 gorge desert plants occupy all the terraces and sun- 

 scorched slopes. Agaves, cacti, parkinsonias, 

 ephedras, and, along the river, Baccharis glutinosus, 

 indicate a desert flora essentially like that of the 

 lowlands many miles to the west, whence they have 

 worked their way up the canon along the hot slopes 

 of the gorge. 



Other Wonders of the Grand Canon Region. — 

 The Painted Desert. — The Painted Desert, lying 

 north of the San Francisco Mountains, and traversed 

 by the Colorado River, is another wonderland of 

 color, as gorgeous and spectral as the land of the 

 Arabian Nights. In this region the great bed of 

 limestone, known as the "red wall," has been 

 changed to a beautiful marble. 



The Petrified Forests.— The Petrified Forests of 

 Arizona are the finest fossil woods known. Giant 

 trees five to seven feet in diameter and 200 feet long 

 remain intact. One spans a chasm sixty feet across, 

 forming a bridge of solid jasper and agate. There 

 are three principal forests situated about 100 miles 

 east of Flagstaff and easily accessible from Adam- 

 ana, a station on the Santa Fe route. The first 



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