198 Pub. Puget Sound Biol. Sta. Vol. 2, No. 46 



shrub on this "prairie". Much of the opening had a scattered growth of 

 this shrub not more than 30 cm. (1 foot) in height. In other places 

 there was a dense growth of it 15 dm. (5 feet) or more in height. Wild 

 crabapple (Pi/7-us rivularis) occurred commonly along the edge of the lower 

 jjlaces in which the water was a foot or more in depth. 



Sphagnum was quite common in this opening. In some cases it 

 occurred in areas 60-90 m. (several hundred feet) in diameter. In other 

 cases it was in small bunches not exceeding 30 cm. (1 foot) in diameter. 

 Very small hummocks of this moss were mostly associated with sedges 

 although in a good many cases they were with rushes and in some cases 

 Avith grasses. In some cases the succession had gone on to the typical bog 

 stage in which nothing was present except Sphagnum, Labrador tea, swamp 

 laurel, and cranberry. The latter plant was found only occasionally and 

 then only in small areas, usually not more than 1.5 to 3 m. (5 to 9.8 feet), 

 in diameter. In every instance it was found with Sphagnum. Cranberry 

 is the onh^ bog plant that the writer has not frequently found without 

 Sphagnum. Bunchberry was frequently associated with this moss both 

 with and without Labrador tea and swamp laurel. 



In many cases Sphagnum was found in very swampy places, usually 

 associated with Labrador tea and swamp laurel, and sometimes with 

 cranberry. In some cases Sphagnum, swamp laurel, and the deer fern 

 [Lomaria spicant) grew together. The writer has not elsewhere seen the 

 deer fern associated with this moss. The growth of Sphagnum in pools 

 of water in this area is common but has not progressed far enough to fill 

 the pools and enable the bog succession to occupy them. 



In this "prairie" then, small areas of bog are already established, 

 and are quite evidently spreading. The drainage is so poor that in the 

 normal course of development it seems probable that large portions of 

 the prairie will become sphagnum bog. The bog may even kill portions 

 of the forest in the course of its development. The course of events as 

 elsewhere observed (Rigg 1917), however, indicate that the forest will 

 finally invade the bog, and that the climax vegetation of the area will be 

 the climax coniferous forest (probably hemlock) of the region. 



It may be of interest to call attention to the striking similarities be- 

 tween this so-called prairie at Carlisle, Washington, and the "prairie" at 

 Yakutat, Alaska. The resemblance between these two extensive forest 

 openings consists mainly in that both are flat and poorly drained, and are 

 characterized mainly by swamp vegetation such as sedges and rushes, 

 together with grasses and marsh marigold, and that both have small 

 coniferous trees and patches of Sphagnum. In both the bog succession 

 has gone on to the typical bog of the Northwest in many small patches, 

 while earlier stages are common. In the Yakutat area there are numerous 



