APPENDIX SS. 1841 



Section II. — Notes of Mr. Bkandegee. 



Letter of transmittal. 



Engineer Corps, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 

 Pleasant Valley, Grand Canon Arkansas Hirer, Colorado, July 1, 1878. 



Dear Sir : I send you inclosed a few notes from personal observations on the botany 

 of the portion of Colorado commonly known as the San Juan region. 



Being at present in the field, where I have been for some time, they represent only 

 what my memory can recall; they are, therefore, somewhat meager, and due allowances 

 should in consequence be made. 

 I am, yours, very truly, 



T. S. Bbandegee. 

 Lieutenant McCaueey, Third Artillery, 



In charge San Juan Reconnaissance, Fort Lea rcmvorth, Kans. 



NOTES UPON THE BOTANY OF THE SAN JUAN REGION OF COLORADO. 



By T. S. Brandegee, Civil Engineer, of Canon City, Colorado. 



The alpine flora, or the flora above timber-line, is nearly the same as that of the alpine 

 ranges and peaks of Northern Colorado. None of the predominating Colorado alpine 

 flowers are missing, and the few which have been found only among the San Juan 

 peaks are not abundant enough to change its general appearance. Silene acaulis, L., 

 Arenaiia artica, Stev., and Phlox ccespitosa, Nutt., so well known in the Northern Colo- 

 rado Mountains as " flowering moss," grow in large clumps, and their abundant, pretty 

 flowers assist in transforming the snow-clad summits of winter into the flower-gardens 

 of July. The little brooks, the sources of the San Juan and Rio Grande Rivers, are 

 almost hidden by Mertensias and Senecios, while Castilleia, Pedicularis, Trollius, Acti- 

 nella, Erigeron, Caltha, &c, are as showy and common as in the better known regions 

 of Northern and Central Colorado. 



Altitudes between 12,000 and 8,000 feet are the habitats of most of the species of 

 Coniferod which cover the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. This region in the San Juan 

 country is generally covered by large forests of the different species of spruce and 

 pine, often intermingled with large aspens. 



Especially upon the western slope grow magnificent forests of grand trees, mainly 

 Abies Engelmanni, with some very large representatives of A. subalpina, Eng. Pinus 

 ponderosa, Doug., the pine which furnishes most of Colorado lumber, is abundant, and 

 upon the western slopes forms large forests of fine trees. Abies concolor is not abun- 

 dant, as in the Sierra Sangre de Cristo and southward. 



Throughout this timber belt, upon the eastern slope, Aquilegia Canadensis, L., seems 

 to almost entirely take the place of A. ccrrulea, Torr., and Calypso borealis, Salisb., 

 with Eryihronium grandiflorum, Pursh, are strikingly abundant. Arena ria saxosa, Gray, 

 which, however, comes over into the Arkansas Valley, and Berberis Fendleri, Gray, are 

 the only plants common and showy enough to remind one of the southern latitude. 

 Upon the western slope, Corydalis Caseana, Gray, growing among the forests of Abies 

 Engelmanni, is the first plant of a more western flora that strikes the attention. Oilia 

 aggregata, Spreng., and Pentstcmon glaber, Pursh, grow upon the parks with Lupinus 

 argenteus, Pursh, and Actinella Richardsonii, Nutt.; Calochortus Gunnisoni, Watson, 

 Rudbeclia laciniata, L., Helenium Hoopcsii, Gray, Veratrum album, L;, and other showy 

 plants of Colorado, are common. Upon the western slope, Pyrus sambucifolia, Cham. 

 & Schlecht., Prosartes trachycarpa, Watson, and Rubus Nutkanus, Moc., grow in great 

 profusion. 



Below 8,000 feet altitude, especially upon the sandstone formations, there is a great 

 difference between the floras of the eastern and western slopes. That of the eastern 

 differs little from the flora of the Arkansas Valley. A few plants from the south come 

 up to the Rio Grande Valley, but the main flora is the same, and quite different from 

 that of the Platte A'alley and Northern Colorado. 



The stream-banks of the eastern slope of the San Juan region are bordered with 

 groves of eottonwood, thickets of Salix longifolia, Muhl., var., Rosa blanda, Ait., Clematis 

 ligusticifolia, Nutt., Bigelovia, and at lower altitudes with quantities of Baccharis mlicina, 

 T. & G. 



Upon the western, with these are Rhannms Calif orni&M, Eseh., an abundance of 

 Crataegus coccinea, L., Shepherdia argentea, Nutt., and at lower altitudes Foreetiera Xeo- 

 Mcxicana, Gray, makes its appearance. The " plum patches " of Prunus Chicasa, Mx. :\ 

 so common in the Arkansas Valley, are not found in the western San J nan region. 

 The alkaline flats and low parks of both slopes produce Sarcobatus rermiculatus, Torr., 



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