Great Basin: Nevada District. 573 
The Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada is a "sleek desert”, 
that is, it is barren of vegetation due to the excessive alkalinity of the soil. 
The first plants in the edge of the desert are iodine weed Spirostachys occiden- 
talıs, Suaeda (Dondia) depressa var. erecta, followed by Distichlis spicata, 
EERE, vermiculatus, Atriplex Torreyi Sa Mimulus Bigelwii'), 
Mesa Formation: On the mesas which are broad, flat, table-lands bounded 
at least on one side by a steep cliff rising from lower land, are scattering 
growths of shrubs such as: Arröplex confertifolia, Artemisia spinescens, Tetra- 
dymia spinosa, Kochia americana, Grayia polygaloides, Aplopappus viscidiflorus, 
Eurotia lanata. The mesa plants extend up the side of buttes for a conside- 
rable distance and Kochia, Grayia, Eurotia with Tetradymia canescens extend 
to the very top, where there are also found Zriogonum species, Gilia pungens, 
Galium multifleorum and Lygodesmia spinosa. On the sandy knolls of the 
mesas grows Oryzopsis cuspidata. 
Subalpine and Alpine Formations. 
The constituent plants of the subalpine formations in the higher 
Sierras of the Great Basin are”) the following: 
*Phleum alpinum. *Anemone multifida. Pedicularis een! 
*Carex rigida. Sedum debile. groenlandica. 
*Luzula (Juncoides) spicata. *Parnassia fimbriata. Aster er 
*Juncus Parryi | *Saxifraga nivalis. Erigeron asperugineus. 
*Salix gla |  *Potentilla fruticosa. > Breweri. 
*Polygonum BEER | en Page Microseris nutans. 
(= P. bistortoides). | ookerianus. Artemisia arbuscula. 
P. coarctatum *Viola Kia Arnica longifolia. 
= P. spergulariaeforme). a 
Epilobium obcordatum. 
*Eriogonum heracloides » alpinum, 
*Stellaria umbellata *Gayophytum racemosum. ir lugens 
= Alsine baicalensis). Ledum glandulosum. 5 liefen and 
Ranunculus digitatus. . Hydrophyllum capitatum. ke dioica. 
nivalis var. Veronica alpina 
= V. Wormskjoldii). 
The alpine region of the Nevada District is characterized by the presence 
of the following plants: 
*Agrostis canina. leporina. |  *Oxyria digyna. 
*Elymus sitanion affınis (= C. obtusata). *Silene acaulis. 
(= Sitanion elymoides). loyäie serotina. Arenaria arctica. 
*Trisetum subspicatum. *Salix reticulata. *Thalictrum alpinum. 
*Poa andina. *Polygonum viviparum. *Caltha leptosepala. 
* > alpina. Eriogonum umbellatum. *Draba nemorosa. 
*Carex atrata. >». microthecum. » stellata. 
1) GRIFFITHs, DAvip: hang conditions and Problems in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon. 
Bull. 38 Bur. Pl. Ind. ı 
Species marked = an asterisk are present in other parts of Pacific N. America in the same 
formations and region 
