STANDLEY FLORA OF GLACIER PAEK. 245 



large spring of cold water, from which a good-sized stream flows to 

 the creek. The coldness of the water must have a decided influence 

 upon the vegetation, for here, surrounded chiefly by Transition 

 vegetation, are found such plants as Eriophorum chamissonis, Carex 

 gynocrates, Salix Candida, Pinguicula vulgaris, Petasites sagittata, and 

 several others which are commonly found only at much higher 

 altitudes. Just above the edge of the road along the side of Altyn 

 Peak, on an open slope, is a small bog carpeted by deep moss and 

 filled with scrub birch. In it there are hundreds of plants of 

 Botrychium virginia7ium, growing with other species that are scarce 

 in this region. Dozens of similar spots of exceptional interest might 

 be mentioned. 



One of the most distinctive botanical features of the park is the 

 large sphagnum bogs about Fish and Johns lakes (see pi. 40, B), 

 on the west slope, and a visit to these localities, which are within 

 a short distance of the head of Lake McDonald, will richly repay 

 anyone searching for the less common plants. These bogs are 

 similar to many that are found in the eastern and northern States. 

 They have a dense covering of different species of Sphagnum, through 

 which one's feet sink into water. Some of the sphagnum masses 

 extend out into the lake, and many of them are merely floating 

 upon the water, so that they will not support any considerable 

 weight. The sphagnum belt is only a few yards wide, and is 

 bordered by a thicket of shrubs, which gradually encroaches upon 

 the bog. In and at the edge of the sphagnum grow such plants as 

 Lycopodium selago, L. annotinum, L. clavatum, and L. complanatum, 

 Dryopteris cristata, Scheuchzeria palustris, Eriophorum chamissonis, 

 Carex diandra, C. limosa, C. huxhaumii, and C. lasiocarpa, Juncus 

 iiliformis, Ihidium romanzoffianum, Drosera rotundifolia and D. 

 longifolia, PotentiUa palustris, Cicuta hulhifera, and Kalmia micro- 

 phylla. Most of these are species which are not found elsewhere in 

 Glacier Park. 



HUDSONIAN ZONE. 



The Hudsonian Zone is the least clearly defined of all the zones 

 represented in the park. It is stated by competent authorities that 

 in some regions this zone is well marked, but the writer has never seen 

 such a locality. In Glacier Park, as in many other places, it is an 

 ill-defined belt which forms a sort of transition between the Canadian 

 and Arctic- Alpine zones, and its vegetation consists of a mixture of 

 species which are characteristic of those areas. It embraces a rather 

 narrow belt at the upper edge of the timbered slopes, covered with 

 small, often stunted trees and shrubs, which are often widely spaced, 

 with open meadows between them (see pis. 41, 42). The Hudsonian 



