(Roc% (Itloun^atn ;!^oxte(0 



their golden leaves, while the old pine stood still 

 in the sunlight. 



Along the streams, between the altitudes of 

 sixty-five hundred and eighty-five hundred feet, 

 one finds the Colorado blue or silver spruce. 

 This tree grows in twos or threes, occasionally 

 forming a small grove. Usually it is found grow- 

 ing near a river or brook, standing closely to a 

 golden-lichened crag, in surroundings which em- 

 phasize its beauty of form and color. With its 

 fluffy silver-tipped robe and its garlands of cones 

 it is the handsomest tree on the Rockies. It is 

 the queen of these wild gardens. Beginning at 

 the altitude where the silver spruce ceases is the 

 beautiful balsam fir {Adzes lasiocarpa). The bal- 

 sam fir is generally found in company with the 

 alders or the silver spruce near a brook. It is 

 strikingly symmetrical and often forms a perfect 

 slender cone. The balsam fir and the silver spruce 

 are the evergreen poems of the wild. They get 

 into one's heart like the hollyhock. Several years 

 ago the school-children of Colorado selected by 

 vote a State flower and a State tree. Although 



more than fifty flowers received votes, two thirds 



207 



