12 FOREST OUTINGS 



scars. On the floor of the forest are the twinflower and woodsorrel and lady- 

 slipper and saxifrage. 



The hardwoods in the coves of the southern Appalachians grow higher 

 than any other hardwoods on the continent. Here the straight boles of the 

 tulip poplars rise more than 100 feet without limbs and jut up far above the 

 surrounding oaks. In the small openings of the forest grow dense clumps of 

 laurel and azalea which in May and June blossom forth in brilliant orange 

 and pink and cardinal. 



Between the innumerable bodies of water which cover northern Minne- 

 sota are varied forests. The sandy places are clad with white and red pines. 

 The white pine has short, delicate, light-green needles. The foliage of red pine 

 is long, coarse, and dark green. As you come off the lakes and start to portage 

 through these pine forests, the trail leads into an unknown world of exciting 

 mystery. Spruce and balsam grow in the moister places, and among them 

 the tundra vegetation of labrador tea and pitcherplant and sheep laurel. 

 Wherever forests have been burned in the past hundred years you see hill- 

 sides covered with aspen. These aspens turn a quivering, brilliant yellow in 

 the fall. 



Throughout the interior West, from the Black Hills to the eastern Cas- 

 cades and from New Mexico to the western foothills of the Sierras, are beau- 

 tiful forests of ponderosa pine, covering millions of acres. The mature tree 

 trunks appear almost orange color in the bright sunlight of this western 

 region. Darker-colored Douglas firs grow among the pines and lend variety 

 to the landscape, and the ground is gay and bright with green forage. The 

 forest here is invitingly open and parklike, almost without underbrush. 



In northern Idaho, the western white pine dominates the forests. For 

 more than 175 feet it rises tall and straight, and for half of this reach, or 

 more, it is free from any branches. Beneath it grow the cedar and hemlock, 

 dense-crowned trees. The limbs extend almost to the ground and cast a deep 

 shade on a forest floor carpeted with delicate woodferns, twinflowers, gold- 

 thread, and wild ginger. Scattered throughout these stands is the western 

 larch with bark that is sometimes a foot thick, and needles that turn pure 

 gold when touched by the frost. 



All through the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to southern Colorado, 



