378 Part IV. Chapter 2. 
cliffs are reached (1000 feet above the stream) the coniferous forest appears. 
This also clothes the highest summits of Mt. Mansfield and the Green Moun- 
tains. The Coniferous Forest Formation owes its character to Adzes 
balsamea, Picea nigra, while Betula lenta, B. lutea, B. papyrıfera, Sorbus 
americana are intermixed, but never dominant. On the rocky cliffs and out- 
crops these trees assume a more, or less, dwarfed aspect. Prunus pennsyl- 
vanica also occurs as an element of this forest. Bogs are interspersed .and in 
these bogs sphagnum forms the substratum out of which Zedum groenlandicum 
and Chiogenes hispidula grow. (Bog Formation). On the highest levels 
of Mt. Mansfield there is found in a depression between the exposed rocks of 
the summit an area, two or three acres in extent, occupied by an alpine 
bog. The substratum of this bog is a brown peat two feet thick, the surface 
being covered with sphagnum out of which grow principally, sometimes 
mixed, sometimes in pure association, the following plants: Vaccınium vitis- 
zdaea, V. ulıginosum, V. ER TE var. angustifolium, V. oxycoccus, 
Cassandra calyculata, Ledum latifolium, Empetrum nigrum, while in wetter 
bogs on the mountain top is found Veratrum viride. Occasionally dwarf creep- 
ing balsam, Adies balsamea encroaches on the alpine bogs. Ledum is per- 
haps the most abundant woody perennial of the top of Mt. Mansfield and 
Vaceinium ulginosum stands second. 
Alpine Cliff Formation. The cliffs in Smugglers Notch are precipitous and show a 
varied flora. Among the cliff a noted by me, and described by Mrs. StrAw were Saxifraga 
aizoon, S. ER S. aizoides. On the wet cliffs Pinguicula vulgaris grows together with 
Woodsia glabella. The drier elf are Ar by Woodsia ilvensis, Draba incana, Woodsia 
hyperborea, Asplenium viride, Pellaea gracilis, Aspidium fragrans, Arenaria verna var. hirta, and 
Aspidium aculeatum var. Braunii. 
The rocks of the highest summits are carpeted with Arenaria groenlandica, Vaceinium uligi- 
nosum, V. vitis-idaea, V. pennsylvanicum var. angustifolium, Carex Bigelovii, C. debilis var. Rudgei, 
also Arenaria verna var. hirta, Gentiana amarella var. acuta (= G. acuta), Luzula spicata, Festuca 
ovina var. brevfolia, Carex atrata var. ovata.?). 
b) New England Area. 
The flora of this area is characterized by the absence of Piea alba, 
Pinus Banksiana and by the presence of Pinus strobus and other trees found 
in the New Brunswick area, but its chief characterization depends on the presence 
of such trees as Ouercus albe O. Prinoides, O. coccinea, Funiperus virginiana 
and Castanea dentata (= C. americana in the southern part), which here re- 
ached their northern limit, so that it may be looked on as a transition territory 
between the Canadian white-pine forests and the broad-leaved forests further 
south. It comprises littoral and mountain territories. 
1) For details consult EGGLeston, W. W.: The Flora of Mt. Mansfield: Botanical Gazette XX: 
72—75; BIGELOW, CARRIE E.: A Trip to Mt. Mansfield in June. Plant World II: 105—107; 
FARLow, W. G:: Notes of here from the higher mountains of New England. Proceedings 
Boston Society Natural History XXV: 387; PRINGLE, C. G.: Notes on alpine and subalpine Plants 
in Vermont. American Naturalist X: 741; STRAW, CaRRIE, E.: The ferns of Smugglers and 
Nebraska Notches. Plant World VI: 180-181. 
