THE OENITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



87 



FLORA OF THE SAN LOUIS VAL- 

 LEY, COLORADO. 



BY JOHN HIGGINS, MEMBER OF THE GRAY 



MEMORIAL CHAPTER OF THE 



A6ASSIZ ASSOCIATION. 



This valley is an extensive plain 7.500 

 feet above sea level, comprising the 

 counties of Rio Grande, Saguache, (pro- 

 nounced Sa-watch ) and Castilla and is 

 entirely cut off from the outside world 

 by a cordon of mountain ranges, its only 

 outlet being that through which the 

 Rio Grande makes its way towards the 

 Gulf of Mexico. The valley bears evi- 

 dence of having been at one time the 

 bed of a great mountain lake whence 

 the waters were drawn off southward 

 through the channel of the Rio Grande. 



As might be expected from the sur- 

 roundings, the indiginous flora is largelj" 

 alpine in its character. A great major- 

 ity of the plants are covered with wool 

 and have finely dissected leaves be- 

 cause of the very dry air and the wide 

 daily variation in the temperature. 

 Broad-leaved and glabrous plants are 

 very rare. 



Another nrarked feature of the valley 

 flora is the number of prostrate or trail- 

 ing species. Genera of plants growing 

 tall and stout are here represented by 

 prostrate forms, cenoihera has several 

 trailing forms. A white-flowered spe- 

 cies growing along the banks of the 

 irrigating canals near Montevista some- 

 times covers yards of space. Each of 

 its multitude of branches is covered with 

 a profusion of beautiful flowers whose 

 delightful fragrance may be perceived 

 at two hundred yards' distance. The 

 low spreading mode of growth gives a 

 longer succession of bloom which in 

 some species lasts from May to Septem- 

 ber. 



Another peculiarity of the valley 

 flowers is the prevalence of yellow and 

 extreme rarity of red forms. This may 

 b? due to the intense brilliancv of the 



sunlight. The only red flowers I ob- 

 served was a gilia, probably G. ag- 

 gregata, and a small malvaceous plant, 

 Malvastrum coccineum, called Sida by 

 some of the early explorers. Many 

 species grow from the seed during the 

 summer, lie close to the ground during 

 the winter and put forth their flowers 

 the next spring. This seems to be the 

 rule here and there are comparatively 

 few strictly annual plants. 



Notwithstanding the great difference 

 in altitude and conditions of vegetation 

 niany species common to eastern lo- 

 calities are found. Among them Cori/- 

 dalis aurea, Campanula rotuitdifolio, 

 Valeriana ednli.'i and Potentilla fniii- 

 cosa. Hchillea Millefolium is found in 

 many places in the valley. It is said to 

 grow from Maine to Oregon and from 

 the sea-coast to the timber line. On the 

 Lagarita Hills 10,000 feet above the sea- 

 level I found Ardostophylos Uva-ursi 

 and Juniperus Communis growing side 

 by side ju5t as they do along the shores 

 of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago. 



If the beech owes much to its delicate 

 gray stem, even more beautiful in the 

 reddish crimson of the Scotch pines, in 

 such charming contrast with the rich 

 green of the foliage by which it is shown 

 oft' rather than hidden ; and, with the 

 green spires of the flrs, they keep the 

 woods warm in winter. — Lubbock. 



I? there any lover of birds in whose 

 mind certain birds and certain places 

 are not indissolubly joined ? Most of 

 us, I am sure, could go over the list 

 and name the exact spots where we 

 first saw this one, where we first heard 

 that one sing, and we found our first 

 nest of the other. — Torrey. 



The lover of Nature is he whose in- 

 ward and outward senses are still truly 

 adjusted to each other ; who has retain- 

 ed the spirit of infancy even into the 

 era of manhood. — Emerson. 



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