THE LICHENS OF MT. ROSE, NEVADA 
Atnent W. C. T, HERRE 
Mt. Rose, with an altitude of 10,800 ft., is the highest peak in 
the region about Lake Tahoe, and lies about 15 miles southwest of 
Reno, Nev. A forest of Pinus ponderosa extends from the base 
of the peak at an approximate elevation of 6000 ft. to perhaps 
8000 ft. The higher elevations on to the timber line, which is at 
an altitude of about 10,000 ft., are covered more or less by Tsuga 
mertensiana, Libocedrus decurrens, and Pinus monticola. During 
the Comstock boom this timber was greatly depleted, parts being 
deforested even up to the timber line. Along the water courses 
are scattered Salix sp., Amelanchier sp., and various smaller shrubs. 
Above 8000 ft. a large part of the mountain, in common with all 
the ranges about, is bare of trees and strewn with bowlders or 
plentifully sprinkled with dikes and outcrops of rock. 
The remarkably original and valuable observations of Dr. J. E. 
Cuurcu, of the University of Nevada, have furnished us with our 
knowledge of the climatology of Mt. Rose. For a number of years 
he has maintained on this isolated and well-nigh inaccessible peak 
a meteorological station unique in America. For a large part of 
the year snow lies upon the upper part of the peak, while at no time 
of the year is it entirely absent except where the winds keep the 
rock ledges swept bare. Snow may fall in quantity at any time 
of the year, though in late summer it nearly disappears, and when 
fresh-fallen lies but a short time. In the forested portion of the 
higher altitudes the snow forms great mounds which act as storage 
tanks, supplying water gradually to the lower levels. The summit 
temperatures are not excessively low, though of course cold weather 
prevails much of the time; —10° F. is the lowest recorded, but 
freezing weather occurs at any time of the year. 
The most noticeable features of the lichen flora of the mountain 
are, so far as my observations extend, the utter absence of bark- 
dwelling species or those of dead or decorticated wood, and the 
equally conspicuous absence of earth lichens. 
Botanical Gazette, vol. 55] [392 
