26 



THE CONIFERS OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. 



are thus sown sometimes within two days of the passing of the fire, 

 and being early on the ground and in great numbers are enabled often 

 to preoccupy the ground to the exclusion of everything else. The 



FIG. 12. Three western Montana trees near Flathead Lake. Left, Western Larch; center, 

 Douglas Spruce; right, Lodgepole Pine. The Lodgepole is about a foot in diameter. July . 



seeds thus released are not one crop merely, but the combined fruitage 

 of several years. The uniform density of lodgepole reproduction 

 over wide areas is a natural result of wind sowing. 



