Exception might be made, however, of Dr. Harshberger's pop- 

 ular account 2 of the ecology of the mountain. 



2. Harshberger, J. W. A botanical ascent of Mount Ktaadn, Me. Plant World 

 5: 21-29. 1902. 



The material for the present paper has been gathered from- two 

 visits to the mountain. The first made in 1898 during the last 

 two weeks in September ; the second in 1902 extending over the 

 last two weeks in August. 



The conclusions which the writer ventures are presented with 

 the hope of exciting further ecological study in addition to 

 purely floristic work upon the mountain. The conclusions 

 drawn are given tentatively, but the writer fully believes that 

 similar studies of the Mount Ktaadn flora, as well as of other 

 alpine and alpestine regions would yield excellent results. 



The author wishes to here express his obligation to Dr. 

 Henry C. Cowles for many valuable criticisms and suggestions, 

 Miss Nettie B. Dickson for the relief map of the mountain, 

 and to Mr. John Thompson for figures I, 7, and 10. 



II. TOPOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



No attempt will be made to give a detailed description of the 

 topography and physical geography of the mountain, for this has 

 been thoroughly done by Hamlin, 1 Tarr, 2 and others to whose 

 accounts the reader is referred. Only those facts will be pre- 

 sented which lend themselves to a better appreciation of the 

 physiographic conditions bearing pertinently upon an ecological 

 discussion. The writer has drawn very freely from the above 

 articles. Subsequent reference, in this description, to the general 

 features of the mountain will be rendered more intelligible by a 

 study of the accompanying relief map ( Plate I ) . 



Mt. Ktaadn and its foot-hills constitute a continuous granite 

 area eruptive through a vast region of stratified rock which 



1. Hamlin, C. E. Observations upon the physical geography and geology of 

 Mount Ktaadn. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoo. Harvard. 7:206-223. 1881. 



2. Tarr, R. S. Glaciation of Mount Ktaadn. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 11:433-448 

 1900. 



forms even the lower slopes of the mountain itself. Though of 

 the same range, Ktaadn is quite distinct as a mountain. To the 

 south, east and west, stretches a vast plain whose elevation can 

 scarcely be more than 550 feet above sea level. From this low 



