FLOWERS OF HIGH ALTITUDES 73 



Their written descriptions of plants* have placed in 

 the hands of the average citizen books more intelli- 

 ble to him than those written by men, probably be- 

 cause the unscientific eye is most quickly attracted 

 by the color of the blossom. 



The heyday of blossomtide in the Sierras lies be- 

 tween the middle of July and the middle of August. 

 The wise old mountains have learned that they have 

 only three months free from their snowy blanket, 

 and they respond to every ray of the sun with a 

 plant that joys through its whole life history in an 

 accelerated beauty. Nothing seems listless. The 

 plants which at the Coast produce inconspicuous 

 seeds here wave a bright scarlet or cardinal pod 

 Along our whole Eastern Range, the season is about 

 the same, although the varieties of flowers may 

 differ. In the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve, one gets 

 a representative collection of Sierran plants with 

 only a healthful amount of mountain climbing. 



From the Tahoe level of 6,200 to the 10,000 fool 

 summits, one finds a varying array. First, one is 

 impressed by the aspiring sisters of the blossoms that 

 gladdened the Coast in the spring days of March 

 and April; and then by the new flowers that never 

 descend to the lower levels. In the upper regions 



*Miss Parsons: "Wild Flowers of California " and Mrs. Dana- 

 Parsons: "How to Know Wild Flowers", both based on color classi- 

 fications, have made many people acquainted with the wild flowers. 



