BOTANY OF LARIMER COUNTY 129 
Exposed place-rock offers a foothold for lichens, Selaginella, and various 
shrubs, while the finer-grained soil furnishes a suitable substratum for 
grasses and flowering herbs. The rock pine (Pinus scopulorum) is the 
dominant species and no other tree of any importance occurs in the 
formation. Sabina scopulorum is rare. Pseudotsuga can hardly be 
classed here as it occurs only on very steep north slopes and belongs with 
canyon plants. Some of the shrubs recorded for the canyons occur in 
this formation also where they grow on exposed rocks. Throughout 
the foothill region there are broad-topped plateaus, rounded knolls with 
broad U-shaped depressions between them and here and there deep 
canyons. The sides of the hills have a richer flora than the tops owing 
to different sun exposure, run-off and seepage. Everywhere, except 
in the depressions, the vegetation is sparse. Probably not over one- 
fourth of the ground surface is covered with plants and the light brown 
and pink of the granite gives color to any near view. The pines, however, 
are sufficieatly numerous to make the distant landscape appear green. 
Rocks with lichens abound and these often appear yellow or reddish- 
brown or pale green. (See Figs. 6, 9, and 10.) 
Partrat List OF PLANTS OF THE FOOTHILL FOREST FORMATION 
DomInant SPECIES 
Pinus scopulorum 
ABUNDANT SPECIES 
Selaginella sp. Various grasses 
Pentstemon humilis Harbouria trachypleura 
Less ABUNDANT SPECIES 
Geranium fremontii Ranunculus sp. 
Scutellaria brittont Aragallus lamberti 
Delphinium sp. Lesquerella montana 
Artemisia frigida Mertensia lanceolata 
Artemisia gnaphaloides Heuchera parvijiora 
Drymocallis glandulosa Townsendia grandiflora 
Erigeron sp. 
Erysimum asperrimum 
Pulsatilla hirsutissima 
Opuntia polyacantha 
Cactus missouriensis 
SHRUBBY PLANTS NOWHERE ABUNDANT 
Ribes pumilum 
Edwinia americana © 
Juniperus sibirica 
Cercocarpus parvifolius 
Prunus americana Sabina scopulorum (a tree) 
Meadow Formation.—The North Box Elder has an old and well- 
established drainage area as is shown by the places where its canyon 
