6o 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. "JO 



paragraph. Two species of alpine shrubs are common, mountain 

 birch {Betula glandulosa) and a small willow {Salix brachycarpa). 

 These last two form extensive areas of dense low growth, in many 

 of the depressions from 10,000 to 12,000 feet. A common plant of the 

 alpine meadows is the bistort [Bistorta bistortoidcs) , with oval heads 

 of white flowers. Probably the most beautiful of the mountain 

 flowers is the columbine (Aqitilci^ia cocnilca), with large blue 



Fig. 66. — The columbine (Aqtiilcgia cocnilca), one of Colorado's most 

 beautiful wild flowers. The large flowers are blue or lavender. The state 

 flower of Colorado. 



flowers, which is found through a wide altitudinal range, in the 

 forested zone, and on the alpine slopes to 12,000 feet. 



The chief object of the visit to Long's Peak was the study of the 

 grasses, especially the species growing above timber-line. It is only 

 by a study of the species of mountain bluegrasses (Poa) in situ, that 

 one can determine whether the different forms belong to a single 

 variable species or represent distinct species. Twenty-one species 

 of grasses were obtained, the common or well-known species not 

 being collected. 



