IPostelsia 85 



moss laden crotches and branches can furnish. 

 The ultimate fate of the countless seedlings of 

 spruce, cedar and hemlock which one finds in 

 this peculiar habitat and upon fallen trees is, 

 however, in most cases different. They quickly 

 outgrow the possibilities of their substratum and 

 die. Now and then an individual by chance 

 circumvents the impending fate in a manner 

 which would be impossible in a climate less 

 rainy than this. 



In Plate X. is shown an example of how^ a 

 seedling cedar from such an airy position has 

 succeeded in juggling its young roots, evidently 

 along the decaying branches of its host into the 

 ground and has grown into a large tree, still 

 holding between its massive roots, or more cor- 

 rectly its bifurcated stem, the decaying spruce 

 log. Frequently seeds lodge upon high stumps 

 from which elevated position the roots of the 

 growing young trees reach down and into the 

 soil. As the stump decays and falls away, it 

 leaves the tree standing as it were on stilts. 



Parasitism — It is not the intention under 

 this head to discuss the numerous aspects of 



