NARRATIVE. 



/ " "> i. oni-^e^o, B^n 



By F. S. EARLE. V /A , : ,, I ; O K ; K; 



In planning a botanical collecting trip to Southwestern 

 Colorado our objects were first, to secure sets of plants rep- 

 resentative of the flora of this interesting region ; and, 

 second, to study in the field the effect of altitude and 

 exposure on the variability and the distribution of species. 

 It was at first hoped that we might be able to examine some- 

 what critically the La Plata Mountains in the extreme South- 

 western part of the State, and also considerable portions 

 of the larger neighboring range of the San Juan. Lack 

 of time prevented carrying out the latter plan, the work 

 being confined exclusively to the La Plata Range, and 

 the neighboring lower levels. The region proved ad- 

 mirably adapted to the purposes of the expedition. The 

 Range is isolated, and though small in area is of consider- 

 able altitude, the central peak, Mt. Hesperus, holding its 

 rugged snow-streaked crest at the height of 13,300 feet. As 

 seen from the west this mountain presents a peculiar and 

 fantastic appearance. The portion above timber line is a 

 regularly outlined rock pyramid formed of nearly horizontal 

 strata of various colors giving a curious banded effect ; while 

 numerous gulches filled with snow mark it with vertical 

 lines of white. Mt. Hesperus is flanked and supported on 

 the North by Shark's Tooth, a pinnacle of rock well deserv- 

 ing its name ; on the South by the jagged double peak of 

 Mt. Moss, or Mt. Hayden as it is locally called, and on the 

 East by Snowstorm Peak, which justified its cognomen dur- 

 ing our stay in its neighborhood by covering itself with a 

 fresh coat of white in the middle of July. None of these 



