I04 Muhlenbergia, Volume 7 



The plant seems to represent the typical form of Phlox 

 Douglasii. It is low, but with loose, much branched prostrate 

 stems and remarkably stout, almost woody roots. The originals 

 were collected by Douglas in the Blue mountains of Oregon, and 

 near snow banks somewhere in the Rocky mountains. The 

 species with its varieties is found throughout the great range of 

 mountains traversing northward through Colorado, Utah, Wyo- 

 ming, South Dakota, then west through Montana and Idaho to 

 the Cascade range in Oregon and Washington, and extending 

 south through the Sierra Nevada to California and Nevada. 



With us it may be found growing at elevations of 6000 to 

 loooo feet, displaying a profusion of white flowers sometimes 

 delicately tinged with light purple. 



THE FLCfRA OF THE RUBY MOUNTAINS— I 

 By a. a. Heller 



The Ruby mountain range, situated in Nevada- about 75 

 miles west of the Utah line, is about 80 miles long, with a 

 northeast-southwest trend, and as described in the Botany of the 

 King Expedition, "are by far the most stern and alpine of all 

 these ranges, the main peaks between 11,000 and 12,000 feet in 

 height, precipitous and rugged, the deeper canyons evidently 

 scooped out by glaciers, gemmed with snow-fed lakes beneath 

 the peaks, and carrying full streams into the valleys. The 

 southern portion, however, below Fremont's Pass [now known 

 as Harrison pass], is less rugged and of different geological 

 structure, mainly of nearly horizontal strata of limestone. The 

 canyons here, often mere gorges with close precipitous walls, 

 are perfectly dry on the eastern slope, the melting snows sinking 

 almost immediately, but reappearing at the base in bold ice-cold 

 springs. The water from these springs and streams unites to 

 form Ruby and Franklin Lakes, .bodies of nearly fresh water, 

 very shallow and largely occupied by a dense growth of the 

 "Tule," [Scirptis validiis). As usual in these ranges, the western 

 slope is much the more gentle, with a broader line of foothills. 



