TORREYA 



Vol. lo 



February, igio 



No. 2 



THE VEGETATION ON LOOKINGGLASS MOUNTAIN * 

 By Homer Doliver House 



I. Location and Geology 



Lookingglass Mountain or rock is located in the northern part 

 of Transylvania County, North Carolina, on the estate of George 

 W. Vanderbilt ; the extreme northern corner of the county 

 being occupied by that curious valley, the " Pink Beds." Look- 

 ingglass Mountain is about three miles southeast of Pisgah Ridge 

 which forms the northwestern boundary of the county with alti- 

 tudes of 4,500 feet (Pigeon Gap) to 6,040 feet (Chestnut Bald), 

 and situated between two streams, Rockhouse Creek and Look- 

 ingglass Creek, both emptying into Davidson River below the 

 mountain, at an altitude of about 2,300 feet. The summit of 

 Lookingglass is 4,000 feet altitude and three sides of the mountain 

 are granite cliffs, in places several hundred feet high, the top being a 

 table-like summit sloping southwestward toward Davidson River, 

 on which side the cliffs are few or in places none. The greatest 

 abruptness of slope is on the northern and eastern sides. Viewed 

 from the northeast (Fig. i) the mountain appears like a gigantic 

 dome rising in the middle of a valley, all the mountains sur- 

 rounding it possessing equal or greater altitudes except the nar- 

 row valley of Davidson River. 



The geological structure is Whiteside granite, the peculiar 

 shape said to be due to spheroidal weathering of the granite 

 which is supposed to be of an intrusive origin and younger than 

 the surrounding formations, perhaps as late as the Carboniferous 

 Age. 



The soil on the summit is nowhere deep and in many places 



* Illustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. 

 [No. I, Vol. lo, of ToRREYA, comprising pages 1-28, was issued January 29, 1910.] 



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LIBRARY 

 NEW YORIC 



BOTANICAL 

 GARDEN. 



