CHAPTER X 



FLOWERS AND FORESTS OF THE FAR WEST 



Temperate North America, as regards its types of 

 vegetation, consists of four well-marked subdivisions. 

 The most important and the richest in species is the great 

 forest region of the Eastern States, whose main peculiari- 

 ties were indicated in the preceding chapter. West of 

 this area, and extending from a short distance beyond the 

 Mississippi to the base of the Rocky Mountains is the 

 region of the great plains, almost destitute of trees, except 

 in the river bottoms, but with a fairly rich herbaceous 

 flora ; and a very similar vegetation is found in the half- 

 desert valleys and plains between the Rocky Mountains and 

 the Sierra Nevada. A third botanical district consists of the 

 higher wooded portions of the Rocky Mountains, together 

 with the peaks and high valleys above the timber-line, in 

 which the vegetation is, in many respects, very distinct 

 from that of any other part of temperate America. Lastly 

 comes the Californian region, extending from the Pacific 

 coast to the upper limit of trees in the Sierra Nevada, a 

 country of surpassing interest to the botanist, and well- 

 known to every lover of flowers for the great number of 

 beautiful and peculiar forms it has furnished to our 

 gardens. It is proposed to give a brief sketch of the more 

 prominent features of the flora of the three western regions, 

 derived partly from personal observation during a summer 

 spent in the country, largely supplemented by the writings 

 of the late Professor Asa Gray and other American and 

 English^botanists . 



