90 The Forest Region of Northern Idaho — Leiherg. 



Claytonia, Brodisea, etc., added variety to the flora. For the first 

 thirty or forty miles along this stream, the arboreal vegetation 

 was rather scanty, composed mostly of straggling trees of Piilus 

 ponderosa, Juniperus occidentalis, Watson. Populus trichocarpa, 

 Torr. & Gray, and an occasional clump of Sambucus racemosa. 



As the outlying spurs of the Coeur d'Alenes were reached 

 where the rain-fall is more abundant, large bodies of timber of a 

 much more stately appearance became frequent. The geological 

 formations also commenced to undergo a change. The valley 

 through which the trail ran had hitherto been narrow and hemmed 

 in by high walls of lava, often over a thousand feet in height. 

 As the head-waters of the stream were gained, the bluffs gradually 

 decreased in height and gave way to large plateaus, densely cov- 

 ered with a magnificent growth of Pinus ponderosa, and inter- 

 sected here and there by high rugged hills of granite, micaceous 

 schists, and other rocks. 



Of the numerous varieties of conifers on the Pacific slope at 

 this latitute, none form forests of such pleasing aspect as Pinus 

 ponderosa, Douglas. The tree does not attain any great height as 

 compared with other members of the Pine family, though often or 

 considerable diameter. Its usual habitat is on top of high ridges, 

 and on the level plateaus, provided the soil is rather dry. Unlike 

 other conifers which have a large spread of root, but no depth, the 

 P. ponderosa sends its strong roots deep into the soil. In conse- 

 quence of this habit, it is rare to see a tree of this kind uprooted. On 

 the plateaus this species forms park-like forests, the trees growing 

 at distances varying from twenty to fifty feet apart, the 

 ground free from underbrush, and covered with a luxuriant 

 growth of grass. It furnishes a considerable portion of the 

 lumber sawn throughout northern Idaho. The wood is yellow in 

 color, heavy and coarse in texture, and somewhat resinous. 



Among the conifers composing the forests where the Pinus 

 ponderosa does not flourish, the following species were the most 

 noticeable: 



Abies concolor, Lindley and Gordon, a fir of little value as a 

 timber tree, having a soft, very tough, ill-smelling wood. The 

 tree is rather low, and would not be conspicuous, were it not for 

 the dense, almost impenetrable thickets it forms, by reason of the 

 lower portion of the trunk being closely covered with long dead 



