58 



except regions at the north in meadows and deep forests where there 

 is much humus, and at the south only in moist meadows at high eleva- 

 tions. There seems to be no causative connection between red- 

 tinted flowers and the soil as to acidity or alkalinity in the soil. 

 All such flowers at the north turn bluish on drying in ordinary paper. 

 The white flowers have less yellow In them at the north. There are 

 very few creamed-colored flowers at the north. From southern Idaho 

 and Oregon to Mexico the white flowers are never pure white, or 

 rarely so in A. Patt-^vsoni, but variably cream-colored but never 

 yellow. Thi:^ indicaiej alkalinity. This icdtinted species at tlie 

 south vary somewhat in the tendency to turn blue. A. coccineus 

 remains bright red on drying, but its nearest relative A. funereus and 

 Utahensis either remain red or turn blue on drying which indicates 

 acidity in the flowers part of the time. Many of the red tinted flowers 

 are brilliant pink, such as A. funereus, Utahensis, Toanus, Woodruffi, 

 Preussii, amphioxys. Bigelovii, Zionis, and they all turn bluish-purple 

 on drying, and are therefore acid when in bloom and all grow on 

 dpcidedly alkaline soil. Practically all the species of the Arizona- 

 Mexican region (mostly Tropical) are either white or dull bluish which 

 would indicate an alkaline condition of the soil. The same is mostly 

 true c.r the California 'J'lopict] region. On the other hand many spor^ins 

 ff Astragalus gn^^ing in humus and presumably add soils ar^ bluish 

 such as agrestis, crassicarp is, elegans, Bourgovii, argophyllus, sim- 

 plicifoliiis, montanus, debilis, andinus, etc. Iron in the soil seems 

 to highten the colors. Lime is almost everywhere at the north as 

 limestone, but is at best a neutral alkali and not active as are 

 those of the Great Basin and the south. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The map published with this shows the topography of the United 

 States. The British American portion of North America is the same 

 continuation of low elevations on the east, spruce forests of the 

 Upper Temperate life zone, to the Arctic. 



The region east of the mountains in Alberta is a coutinuation of 

 the Montana Plains region to the Saskatchewan, thence northw^ard is 

 the Spruce region to the Arctic. 



West of the Plains there is a low valley here and there which has 

 the Middle Temperate flora, particularly the branches of the Columbia, 

 and the Fraser river region. All else is Upper Temperate, with 

 the alpine on all the ranges of mountains. 



The Mexican region is a continuation of the Arizona floor at 

 about 2000 to 3000 feet altitude nearly to Mexico City. On the western 

 edge of the floor about in a line south of Tucson Arizona to Deming 

 New Mexico the floor rises into a vast plateau from 6000 to SOOO feet 

 altitude and about 30 miles wide and 300 miles long, called the 

 Sierra Madre mountains. West of this the country breaks down into 

 immense barranccs or canons to the sea and with a Tropical climate. 

 This barranca condition of the west slope continues nearly throughout 

 Mexico southward at least beyond Colima. East of the Sierra Madre 

 Plateau from the floor of the country rise scattered and low ranges 

 of mountains in Coahuila San Luis Potosi etc. to the Gulf of Mexico 

 water shed. This whole region is a very hot and barren country with 

 very little rainfall. In the Zacatecas region it rises to SOOO feet altitude 

 but" with little change in the vegetation. South of Zacatecas it drops 

 down again and a wide area of desert runs out to Guadalajara. South 



