98 A Study of the Vegetation of 
open light, average major quadrats revealed as many as 200 tree 
seedlings. Of these nearly four-fifths were white fir and tam- 
arack, about equally distributed, while the rest were Douglas fir, 
white and yellow pine. Many of these were 19-20 years old, with 
a height-growth of 6-13 feet, the tamarack as usual in the lead. 
In the moist ravines young cedars were abundant. The early his- 
tory of this forest was probably the same as that of the St. Maries 
region already described. 
In heavy burns in other parts of the region where big cedar, 
spruce, white fir, and tamarack timber have been completely de- 
stroyed, various species of shrubs, especially Vaccinium macro- 
phyllum, Menziesia ferruginea, Salix scouleriana, and thickets of 
’ Alnus, Rubus parviflorus, Ribes lacustre, Rubus macropetalus, 
and maple had sprung up and almost completely covered with 
their dense growth the fire blackened tangle of fallen trees. How- 
ever, they form a good protection for the tolerant cedar and 
spruce, and while they may shade out other seedlings for a time, 
still there are always openings, and especially in drier soil where 
the less tolerant but also the less exacting fir and larch can get a 
foothold. 
Without further details the general story of reforestation of 
burns in the region is as folows: Soon after the fire the ground 
is more or less completely covered with cryptogamic vegetation of 
which Funaria hygrometrica and Marchantia polymorpha are 
dominant. Soon plants with wind-blown fruits appear. Of these 
the following are most important: 
Epilobium spicatum Hieracium albiflorus 
Salix scouleriana Antennaria luguloides 
Cirsium palousense Anaphalis margaritaceae occi- 
Erigeron acris dentalis 
Certain grasses, as Bromus marginatus, and fire grass, Agrostis 
hyemalis, may predominate for a time but later give way to other 
herbaceous growths, especially of Epilobium (Fig. 44). After 
one or more years, varying with the severity of the burn and 
degree of exposure, tree seedlings begin to become established. 
98 
