REPORT OF THE STATE TIOTANIST, 1 898 657 



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PLANTS OF THE SUMMIT OF MT MARCY 



Mt Marcy is the highest mountain in the state, with an aUitude of 

 5344 ft above the sea, and is in the center of a very rugged, mountainous 

 region, where high peaks separated by deep and narrow valleys rise on 

 all sides. From its summit an observer may look on mountain scenery 

 in every direction, and obtain views unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. 

 A visit to this lofty station necessitates a tiresome walk of six or seven 

 miles through the woods over a rough trail and up some steep acclivities. 

 But the attractions of the place, the magnificent views it affords and the 

 richness of its flora bring many visitors, and few return without feeling 

 well rewarded for the labor and expense incurred. The open summit, the 

 part above the timber line, may be compared to an ellipse whose long 

 axis lies in a northeast and southwest direction, but whose circumference 

 is quite irregular. It may be called treeless, but a few species of trees are 

 found within its limits. They do not however attain the size nor even the 

 shape of trees of the same species below the timber line. They have a 

 mere shrub-like development, with small leaves, wide-spreading crooked 

 branches and a starved and straggling appearance. The timber line is well 

 marked in some places by abrupt precipices, at the base of which the 

 forest suddenly terminates. In other places the declivity is less abrupt 

 and no definite line marks the tree limit. The trees gradually become 

 smaller as the altitude increases, till they are mere shrubs in size or cease 

 entirely. On the eastern slope there are radiating ridges with interven- 

 ing depressions in which the small balsam firs ascend almost to the sum- 

 mit. As might be expected, the northern and western slopes present 

 the greatest expanse of open surface. But even here are limited patches 

 of small balsam firs in depressions or where some sheltering ledge gives 

 partial protection from fierce winds. 



Two small, marshy areas, worthy of special notice, form a part of the 

 open summit. One is a decided depression in the northeast slope. A 

 rugged clifi'lies on one side of it and a rocky knob on the other. Pos- 

 sibly a trap dike may have afi"orded the necessary conditions for its 

 existence. The trail from the top of the mountain to Adirondack lodge 

 passes through it. Its surface is level, soft and marshy. Several 

 species of marsh plants grow here, including three or four sedges not 

 found elsewhere on the open summit. The small cranberry and peat 

 mosses are here, and here the thirsty tourist can find water to drink. 



