FLOWERS OF HIGH ALTITUDES 75 



darkest purple; but, whether in lavender and gold 

 or in lavender and purple, she is one of the loveliest 

 of her family. 



The most beautiful Brodiaea above the Tahoe 

 level is a white so pure that it seems the very soul of 

 whiteness. Most of the shrubs have white blossoms, 

 and the white is always a surprise in its utter clean- 

 liness. The Ceanothus, the Cherry, the Service 

 Berry, the Bridal Wreath, the Elder, the Chamisso, 

 the Labrador Tea, all seem to revere the mem- 

 ory of the pure snow that protects them for so 

 many months a year and to strive to perpetuate 

 it in their blossoms. They achieve a whiteness 

 that the flowers at the Coast do not reach. 



One could go on in- 

 definitely enumerating 

 the variations from the 

 Coast species, but the es- 

 pecially Sierran blos- 

 soms are more interest- 

 ing. Probably the one 

 th'at most interests the 

 Alpine visitor is the 

 Snow Plant. This is one 

 radiant cardinal glow 

 from root to bell-rim- 

 med crown, symbolic of 

 



SNOW PLANT 



