ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALASKA. 65 
the botanizing ground appears to be divided into five classes: 
1st, the beach; 2nd, the coniferous woods; 3rd, the sphag- 
nous marshes; 4th, the upland meadows, and, 5th, the 
mountains. Of these the first is undoubtedly the most 
varied, and the second the least so. The margins of the 
many deserted and diminishing beaver ponds furnish a few 
additional plants, such as Lycopus Virginicus, Scheuchzeria 
palustris, Eleocharis, Utricularia, etc., that are rarely if ever 
found in any of the other localities; but these ponds are 
scarcely sufficient to be placed in a class by themselves. 
The lack of soil in this region is somewhat remarkable. 
The surface of the country is generally a mass of moss-cov- 
ered rocks from the seashore to the mountain sides, the only 
exceptions to this rule being the sphagnous marshes, the 
upland meadows, and the few deltas which have been de- 
posited at the mouths of the larger streams. 
Notwithstanding this, the whole section is covered with a 
heavy growth of conifers, and at all the lower elevations 
with a dense undergrowth of the various shrubs. 
To one newly come, this great forest growth appears hard 
to account for, but after a residence of a few years it is readily 
explained by the humid atmosphere and the prevailing rains 
of the summer season, which are so continuous that the moss 
covering the surface never dries. 
The size of the trees near sea level somewhat exceeded 
my expectations for this latitude, some specimens of Picea 
Sitchensis and Thuya gigantea being found fully 5 feet in 
diameter, the former 200 feet high. During my first season 
I concluded that there were only 7 species of conifers to be 
found in this locality (56? north), viz: Juniperus nana, 
Chameecyparis Nutkaensis, Thuya gigantea, Tsuga Mertensi- 
ana, T. Pattoniana, Picea Sitchensis, and Pinus contorta. I 
now believe there are 10 and possibly 11; for, in addition to 
the above, Taxus brevifolia has been found on Annette and 
Gravina Islands, though I have not observed it on the main- 
land; Tsuga Pattoniana var. Hookeriana, an Alpine variety 
9 : : 
