BOTANICAL OPPORTUNITY IN COLORADO 0, 



scattering seeds rather than on account of any special hardiness of the 

 plants themselves. Very little study along this line has been made 

 and an interesting field awaits the student who enters it. Some species, 

 as Achillaea, live in all the plant zones and in nearly every possible habitat 

 in each zone. A knowledge of the special features of such a plant which 

 permit its wide distribution is much needed. 



Because of the few botanical workers in the Rocky Mountain region 

 very little has been done on plant anatomy. While the plants of Europe 

 and even of the eastern United States have been much studied, the 

 anatomy and even the details of gross structure of many Colorado species 

 remain to be worked out. The student can make use of many large 

 genera here which are but poorly represented elsewhere. 



In the field of embryology almost nothing has been done on our 

 native species. Since material for such work must be preserved by 

 approved methods it is, as a rule, put up by the student who expects 

 to work with it. Thus far neither local botanists nor visitors from the 

 east have entered this field. While nothing startling may be expected 

 in the embryology of Rocky Mountain plants yet interesting results 

 may come from the investigation of species or genera not found else- 

 where in the world. 



A knowledge of seedling structure may furnish a key to family 

 relationships and even to affinities of genera and species. Seedling 

 study has not been a popular branch of botany, but will doubtless enlist 

 more workers in the future than in the past. A particularly interesting 

 piece of work would deal with the conditions which favor the establish- 

 ment of seedlings in the soil as successful plants. The absence of coni- 

 fers in the fine-grained soil of flat areas of mountain parks is largely 

 due to inability of seedlings to get a foothold. There is much to be 

 worked out concerning this subject and the varied conditions which 

 exist in Colorado offer opportunities which should be embraced by 

 students. 



For the study of experimental evolution and for plant breeding a 

 mountain region affords great advantages over ordinary situations. 

 Here it is possible to transplant species from one situation to another 

 having quite different climates and yet within easy reach of one another. 



