590 Part IV. Chapter 4. 
and ?. tremuloides’). Chamaecyparis nootkatensis is scattered through this forest 
at elevations of about 1,000 feet, although it descends to the waters edge. 
Where the mountain streams reach the sea are flats and beaches where the forest is 
bordered by Alnus sinuata, A. oregana, Salix sitchensis while Populus trichocarpa and P, balsami- 
fera with Acer glabrum form groves in similar situations (with at the mouths of rivers and on 
rocky coasts) R. prostratum, Juniperus communis var. nana, Amelanchier botryapium var. oblon- 
gifolia, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Empetrum nigrum, Loiseleuria procumbens, Polypodium vulgare, 
Cryptogramme acrostichoides, C. Stelleri, Nephrodium spinulosum, Aspidium lonchitis, Woodsia 
scopulina, Lycopodium selago, L. annotinum, L. sitchense, L. clavatum, L. complanatum, Sela- 
i i ia, Poa arctica var. elongata, Trisetum subspicatum, 
The following shrubs relieve the monotony of the coniferous forest along the banks of 
streams: Viburnum pauciflorum, Sorbus (Pyrus) sambucifolia, with such herbs as Thalietrum 
dioicum, Epilobium laetiflorum, Heracleum lanatum var. vestitum. 
On Baranof Island, near Sitka, the mountain hemlock 7'suga Pattoniana 
(= T. Mertensiana) found at high altitudes in the coast mountains descends 
nearly to sea level. — The forests at the head of Lynn Canal, a deep fiord 
of the coast (see plate XIV at page 587) differ somewhat from that nearer 
the coast. Pinus contorta of the coast passes on the interior plateau into the 
closely related species, the lodge pole pine Pinus Murrayana of the northern 
Rocky Mountains. Betula kenaica is very common at low elevations, and 
growing with it is Acer gladrum. Passing from the humid coast region fo 
the dry interior an entirely different forest is entered. The coast hemlock, 
Tsuga Mertensiana (= T. heterophylla) and Picea sitchensis have disappeared 
and the largest tree in scattered groves about Lake Bennett and Lake Linde- 
man is Adies subalpina (= A. lasiocarpa) mingled with Populus balsamifera 
and Picea alba (= P. canadensis). 
Oecasionally the lowland forest extends up over the morainecovered bluff of ice and ie 
thence inland on the surface of the glaciers about Mt. St. Elias a distance of 4 or 5 miles. I 
face of the bluff is so completely covered with boulders, earth and vegetation, that it is seldon 
one has so much as a glimpse of the ice beneath2).. Alders form the principally growth, reae 
a height of 20 or 30 feet, but on the outer or older portion of the moraine (see plate av, 
there are dense groves of Picea sitchensis, some trees three feet in diameter, with & : 
undergrowth of Fatsia (Echinopanax) horrida, salmonberry bushes, huckleberries and a species 
Asplenium. 
The vegetation of this region noted for its luxuriance is probably nowhere | 
rc highly developed than in the Queen Charlotte Islands’). Sn 
species of coniferous trees are found, namely, Picea sitchensis (dominant), Ey a 
; | 
1) OsGoop, WILFRED H.: Natural History of the Cook Inlet Region Alaska, North = 
Fauna 21 (1901): 53, geil = 
2) TARR, RaLrH S.: The National Geographie Magazine XXI: 1—54. Jan Ba : 
the pictures which show the forest in relation to glaciers. bin 
3) maoon, WILFRED H.: Natural History of Queen Charlotte Islands, British a 
North American Fauna 21 (1901): rı. 
