20 FLORA OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 



Along the rivers where there is an abundance of light may be 

 found a strange assembly of plants. Many are washed down from 

 above and have rooted in the scanty soil. Those not adapted will 

 sooner or later die, while those like the alder and willow form thick- 

 ets and grow luxuriantly, thus giving protection to other plants. 

 In this way the river channel is often changed. Luina Tiyfoleuca, 

 a beautiful composite plant with glossy oval leaves, white under- 

 neath, is found on the old river channels at Longmire Springs and 

 much lower down. This grows on the perpendicular cliffs near the 

 glaciers. The plants themselves may be washed down and take 

 root when stranded, or seeds may be carried by the river and lodge 

 on the gravel bars and germinate, producing the species at a lower 

 altitude. Perhaps both methods are successful in the production 

 of these river bottom strangers, many of which compete success- 

 fully with those plants common to that region. Maples, cotton- 

 woods, alders, and willows are the arborescent plants usually found 

 here. These river-bar waifs are usually those which grow along 

 streams higher up or on perpendicular cliffs above the streams. 



There are several extensive areas swept by fire just below the 

 meadows. The "pearly everlasting" seems to have taken posses- 

 sion of some of these, while the fireweed and a combination of other 

 plants have a firm hold on other areas. These burnt areas are 

 strewn with fallen logs and old erect snags, which are tottering and 

 ready to fall. After every windstorm there is a new addition to the 

 prostrate forms. This is especially noticeable along the roads, 

 trails, and telephone lines. Some of these areas were burned 20 

 years ago. Still there is little progress toward reforestation. The 

 areas near the forest receive the seed and new trees start up, while 

 those more remote have made little headway and still present deso- 

 late scenes with their blighted crop of "ghost trees" and scattered 

 logs. The huckleberries, mountain ash, and the white rhododen- 

 dron usually grow in great profusion and ripen their fruit in excellent 

 condition. 



THE THIRD ZONE. 



The lower part of the third zone or the first meadows reached are 

 usually moist and covered with tall grasses and sedges. The sedges 

 are more abundant and can be recognized by their triangular stems 

 and coarse appearance. In the early part of the season these grassy 

 places are covered with a minute form of a swamp violet. This 

 grows so near the ground that it is often overlooked. 



The shooting star, Dodecatheon jeffreyi (fig. 15), is one of the most 

 conspicuous. It has a rosette of oblanceolate leaves and peculiar 

 shaped flowers, resembling those of the cyclamen, which is a near 

 relative. 



\\ 



