224 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



so that probably but a few days of suitable weather 

 in the spring are needed to open the flower. Mr. 

 Meehan has stated on the authority of Dr. C. C. 

 Parry, that miners used frequently to find the plants 

 under snow slides. A denizen of coniferous for- 

 ests, the Sarcodes has been considered a parasite on 

 the tree roots, but there is evidence that it may 

 really be an example of symbiosis a curious part- 

 nership with some fungus which in return for board 

 and lodging, acts as a gatherer and preparer of ni- 

 trogen for its host. As is the case with a number 

 of plants which California has preempted for her 

 own, the snow plant is now known not to be abso- 

 lutely confined to the State, but is found in places 

 across the border in Oregon and Nevada. Neither, 

 within California, is it limited to the Sierra Nevada, 

 as was at first supposed, but is often met with as 

 far south as Mount San Jacinto. 



Some plants, as is well known, are not averse to 

 a bit of meat with their meals, and among such one 

 of the strangest is the California pitcher-plant 

 (Darlingtonia Calif 'arnica), which occurs in moun- 

 tain bogs at high altitudes in the northern part of 

 the State, from Truckee Pass to the Oregon border. 

 Its most remarkable feature is the character of the 

 leaves. These are hollow and tube-like, enlarging 

 upward, and attaining a height varying from a foot 



