VOLUME LXIV NUMBER 5 
14k 
BOTANICAL GAZETTE 
NOVEMBER 1917 
FOOTHILLS VEGETATION IN THE COLORADO 
FRONT RANGE 
CONTRIBUTION FROM THE HULL BOTANICAL LABORATORY 237 
ARTHUR G. VESTAL 
(WITH EIGHT FIGURES) 
The coniferous forests of the Rocky Mountains are fairly well 
known; the other plant associations have been little studied. In 
the present account descriptions are given of typical representations 
of the plant communities of the foothills zone. The area is confined 
to the eastern slope of the Rockies in Colorado. By the foothills 
zone is meant the lower elevations, from the plains at 5000-6000 ft. 
to the middle slopes at 7500-8000 ft. The vegetation zones of the 
Colorado mountains have been characterized by RAMALEY (10). 
A large part of the field study has.been made in the area just west of 
Boulder, during three years’ residence at the University of Colorado; 
the other parts of the region have been studied on numerous visits, 
chiefly to stations at or near the mountain-front, from the Big 
Thompson River as far south as Raton, New Mexico. This 
article is the second of a series dealing with the vegetation and plant 
geography of the eastern mountain-front in Colorado. The first 
account (24) is of the plains and prairie associations of the region. 
The writer is indebted to Professor FRANCIS RAMALEY for many 
kindnesses and for help in different ways. 
Grassland in the Rocky Mountains has a much more important 
réle than is usually accredited to it, particularly in the lower slopes. 
353 
