Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. 85 
Vaccinium macrophyllum Fragaria platypetala 
Anemone pipert Linnaea borealis longiflora 
Arnica cordifolia Micromeria chamissonis 
Calamagrostis rubescens Pyrola picta 
Chimaphila umbellata Thalictrum occidentale 
Coptis occidentalis Trillium ovatum 
Cytherea bulbosa Vagnera amplexicaulis 
Fragaria bracteata 
While Opulaster pauciflorus is the most abundant undershrub 
in the pine consocies, in the Larix-Abies community it remains 
only as a relict. It is not unusual to find areas of dead nine- 
bark under a growth of tamarack or white fir. 
Ribes viscosissimum while occurring sparingly in the earlier 
stages of succession is frequent in these dry fir-tamarack forests 
but is a more typical undershrub of the more mesophytic fir- 
tamarack community. In the cedar consociation it gives way to 
the more mesophytic Ribes lacustre. : 
Likewise, Arstostaphylos uva-ursi, common in pine woods, is 
seldom found here. Linnaea borealis longiflora replaces it, cover- 
ing large areas with a carpet of trailing stems. The twin-flower 
is less abundant in the deep shade of well developed fir-tamarack 
forests and drops out completely in the cedars. 
In well developed forests the white fir not infrequently reaches 
a diameter of 2.5-3.5 feet, while neighboring tamarack trees reach 
diameters of similar proportions. Likewise, Douglas fir fre- 
quently attains.a diameter of 3 feet, a relatively small tree com- 
pared with the dimensions it reaches in the humid Washington 
region west of the Cascades. Under the closed canopy of such a 
forest, shrubs are almost excluded and herbaceous plants are not 
abundant. The light values may drop to an intensity of only 0.01 
or even 0.007. 
In more open places a poorly developed shrubby layer may 
overtop an upper layer of herbaceous plants, which like the former 
is not well developed. Indeed, both may be absent and then a 
scattered growth of low-growing herbs with a few fungi and 
mosses may partially cover the ground. The sparse growth of. 
85 
