STANDLEY- 



-FLORA or GLACIER PARK. 309 



Flowers white or yellowish; fruit juicy; plants usually much less than a meter 

 high, the stems often branched. 

 Flowers in racemes or panicles at the ends of the stems, wliite; stems not 



branched 10- VAGNERA. 



Flowers solitary at the ends of the branches or solitary or clustered in the 

 leaf axils; stems nearly always branched. 

 Flowers greenish white, in the axils of the leaves; leaves pale on the under 



gide 11- STREPTOPTJS. 



Flowers yellow or greenish yellow, solitary at the ends of the branches; 

 leaves green 12. DISPORTJM. 



1. XEROPHYLLTJM Michx. 

 1. Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt. Beargrass. Common at middle altitudes, 

 in thin or dense woods or on open slopes; frequent in meadows just above timber line, 

 and occasional in woods at low altitudes. B. C. to Calif, and Mont.— Plants glabrous, 

 0.5 to 1.5 meters high, with thick woody rootstocks, the stem simple, leafy; leaves 

 mostly basal, narrowly linear, 20 to 40 cm. long, green above, whitish underneath; 

 flowers creamy white, long-stalked, in dense racemes; petals 5 to 8 mm. long; fruit 



a small capsule. 



Known also as squawgrass, basket grass, or bearpaw; there is no apparent explana- 

 tion of the name beargrass. This is ^\^th little doubt the finest and most striking 

 flower of the park, and it receives more attention than any other. In many places, 

 especially near timber line, it often forms great patches which are almost a solid mass 

 of the stately plumelike racemes (see pi. 41). One of these fields is a sight long to be 

 remembered, and one which can be found only in the mountains of the Northwest. 

 The beargrass reaches the eastern limit of its range in Glacier Park. It is said that 

 during some seasons only a few plants bloom, wliile during others flowering plants 

 abound everywhere. The plants bloom for a long time, beginning at the lowest 

 altitudes; in 1919 a fine patch of them was in flower just below Sperry Chalets m 

 early September, when snow fell. When the plants begin to bloom the racemes are 

 globose, but as flowering proceeds they elongate and the pedicels finally stand erect. 

 The flowers have a rather strong odor, which some people consider unpleasant. The 

 sterile plants often form dense mats on steep slopes, and the leaves are so slippery 

 that it is diflficult to climb over them. The leaves are very tough, and they have 

 rough edges almost as sharp as a knife; they were formerly employed by some of the 

 northwestern Indians for making baskets. The specimens of Xerophyllum from 

 Glacier Park are about intermediate in size of flowers between X. tenax and X. 

 douglasii S. Wats. It seems very doubtful whether the latter is a distinct species. 



2. STENANTHIUM (A. Gray) Kunth. 

 1. Stenanthium occidentale A. Gray. Bronzebells. Frequent, but seldom 

 very abundant, at nearly all altitudes; on open slopes, in woods, or in alpine meadows; 

 seen on the west slope only at high altitudes. B. C. to Oreg., Mont., and Alta. 

 (Stenanthella occidentalis Rydb.)-Plants 20 to 50 cm. high, glabrous, with 

 bulbs; leaves linear or oblanceolate, usually 10 to 20 cm. long; flowers drooping, m 

 racem'es or panicles, pale yellow within, greenish yellow or more often bronze out- 

 side; petals about 1 cm. long, their tips spreading or recurved; capsule about 2 



cm. long. 



The plant is inconspicuous and often hidden among grasses or sedges. It grows 

 usually in moist places, but plants were found on dry open slopes at the east entrance. 

 Plants collected in a deep swamp had leaves as much as 4.5 cm. wide. The flowers 

 have a characteristic spicy odor. 



