104 Trees and Shrubs, &c, of [Sess. 



YY— TREES AND SHRUBS, &c, OF BRITISH 

 COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON. 



Br Mr F. R. S. BALFOUR and Mr W. BALFOUR GOURLAY. 



(Communicated, Jan. 31, 1914.) 



This lecture is the result of a trip to the Pacific coast, made 

 last autumn by my cousin Mr Balfour Gourlay, my wife, and 

 me. We spent some time at Lake Louise in the Eockies, at 

 Glacier in the Selkirks, and we made camping expeditions 

 into the Olympic Mountains of Washington, and to Paradise 

 Valley on the southern side of Mount Eainier, which is also 

 in Washington, and the highest peak in the United States. 



The flora of these several regions is rich and varied ; a great 

 many plants are found common to all these ranges, yet the 

 species characteristic of each are very different. 



The plants of the Eockies are suited to severe conditions of 

 drought and cold — i.e., thick-leaved, and with small leaf ex- 

 posure ; while in the Selkirks, and still more on the coast, the 

 plants are universally more moisture-loving, with luxuriant 

 growth of leaf and stem. In the western ranges we find 

 Alpine species at altitudes of two or three thousand feet 

 higher than the same species are found in the Eockies. The 

 rains of the Pacific are precipitated on these mountains before 

 reaching the great Continental backbone of the Eockies. 



The species are for the most part very different from those 

 of Europe, yet many of our genera are closely represented — 

 saxifrages, drabas, calthas, anemones, and many more ; while 

 a few species are identical with our own — e.g., Dryas octopetala, 

 Pinguicula vulgaris, Vaccinium vitis-idcva, Arctostaphylos uva- 

 ursi. 



Speaking generally, the Alpine plants of these regions more 

 closely resemble those of our European Alps than the flora of 

 the mountains of Eastern America. 



Many of their most striking plants we do not have at all : 

 the Castilleia family of many species and colours, well known 

 as the 'Indian Paint-Brush,' which we found from 8000 feet 



