HEATH FAMILY 1 79 



nearly sessile, oblong or nearly linear, the edges strongly 

 rolled backward, J4 to Y\ m - long, glabrous, pale beneath. 

 Flowers in a simple terminal cluster, on pedicels longer than 

 the leaves. Corolla bowl-shaped, }£ to Yz in. across, lilac- 

 purple, longer than the stamens. (K. glauca microphylla 

 Hook.) 



The smooth foliage and the bright showy flowers of the 

 Pale Laurel are very attractive along creeks and moist 

 meadows near timber-line, but it is one of our most poison- 

 ous plants. In the Rocky Mts., where it is more plentiful, 

 many sheep and cattle are lost each year by eating it. 



9. BRYANTHUS. 



1. B. breweri Gray. Leafy stems 6 to 12 in. high, erect 

 from a prostrate branching base. Leaves alternate but much 

 crowded, linear, entire, with thickened or recurved margins, 

 obtuse, % to l /i in. long, glabrous. Flowers in head-like ter- 

 minal clusters, the glandular pedicels slightly exceeding the 

 leaves. Corolla rose-purple, cup-shaped, deeply lobed, y% in. 

 across, the stamens and style conspicuously protruding. 

 {Phyllodoce breweri Heller.) 



The Bryanthus, often called "Kteather," because of its simi- 

 larity to the true heather of Europe, grows on gravelly slopes, 

 moist banks, and grassy places at high altitudes. There are 

 patches of it on Clouds Rest, among the summit rocks. The 

 narrow, thickly set leaves standing out all around the stem 

 like the bristles of a bottle-brush, and the showy clusters of 

 red flowers with their conspicuously protruding stamens, are 

 characters which at once distinguish this interesting plant. 



10. CASSIOPE. 

 1. C. mertensiana Don. Stems rigid and ascending, 1 ft. 

 or less high, densely leafy. Leaves closely overlapping in 4 



