. STUDIES IN THE GRAMINEAE 
IX. THE GRAMINEAE OF THE ALPINE REGION OF THE ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS IN COLORADO 
THEO. HoLtm 
(WITH FIVE FIGURES AND PLATE XXX) 
The object of the present paper is to offer a small contribution to 
the knowledge of the alpine vegetation of the Rocky Mountains, 
which I explored during the summers of 1896 and 1899. It is the 
intention especially to present some data in regard to the geographical 
distribution and to make a comparison between the grass vegetation 
of these mountains and that of mountains in the Old World; also that 
of the polar regions, which I had the opportunity to visit as a mem- 
ber of three Danish expeditions. Furthermore, I thought that a 
comparison of the alpine species with those from the wooded belts 
and the plains of Colorado might be of some interest; and finally a 
brief anatomical description of the alpine types has been inserted, 
since thus far the Gramineae have been much neglected in works 
dealing with structures of alpine plants. It will be seen that the 
geographical distribution of these species shows several points ot 
interest, more so than their structure; nevertheless, to do full justice 
to the study of the anatomical characteristics of alpine plants, 4 
consideration of all the families that are represented in these regions 
is necessary, even if the monocotyledons are of less importance 0? 
account of the frequent uniformity in their internal structure. 
The ‘exact number of alpine species in Colorado is of coursé not 
known; the wild country is very far from being well explored, and the 
literature is scanty. A very instructive paper was published by 
Parry," however, who gives a long list of species from these reg? 
among which 56 species are said to be confined to the bald exposures 
above the timber line, while 86 others are also to be found at lower 
* Parry, C.C., The Rocky Mountain alpine region. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci. 18: 248; 
see also PoRTER and Courter, Synopsis of the flora of Colorado. Washington. ap 
Gray and Hooker, The vegetation of the Rocky Mountain region. Bull. U: > 
Geol. Survey 6: No. 1. 1880. 
Botanical Gazette, vol. 46] ie 
