﻿March, 
  1907 
  

  

  AMERICAN 
  HOMES 
  AND 
  GARDENS 
  

  

  "3 
  

  

  would 
  be 
  bleak 
  and 
  barren. 
  Most 
  common 
  among 
  these 
  is 
  

   the 
  great 
  mountain 
  anemone, 
  with 
  rigid 
  white 
  petals 
  and 
  

   lavender-tinted 
  heart. 
  Its 
  leaves 
  are 
  punctured 
  with 
  a 
  fern- 
  

   like 
  tracery, 
  and 
  so 
  early 
  does 
  it 
  come 
  that 
  it 
  touches 
  the 
  

   melting 
  snow 
  banks, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  is 
  completely 
  surrounded 
  

   by 
  the 
  cold, 
  white 
  blanket. 
  But 
  the 
  morrow's 
  sun 
  always 
  

   sees 
  the 
  folded 
  bud 
  opening 
  toward 
  the 
  sky. 
  Late 
  in 
  the 
  

   season 
  it 
  sends 
  forth 
  great 
  tufted 
  bunches 
  of 
  seeds 
  whose 
  

   tasseled 
  heads 
  wave 
  several 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  ground. 
  The 
  

   delight 
  of 
  gathering 
  such 
  flowers 
  in 
  a 
  world 
  apart, 
  in 
  a 
  soli- 
  

   tude 
  among 
  the 
  eternal 
  hills, 
  is 
  enhanced 
  when 
  one 
  remem- 
  

   bers 
  that 
  every 
  spot 
  in 
  these 
  towering 
  Rockies 
  has 
  its 
  char- 
  

   acteristic 
  plants, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  

   its 
  exposure 
  and 
  altitude, 
  and 
  that 
  many 
  choice 
  specimens 
  

   can 
  be 
  transplanted. 
  For 
  instance 
  on 
  the 
  trail 
  leading 
  from 
  

   the 
  chalet 
  at 
  Lake 
  Louise, 
  one 
  may 
  find 
  yellow 
  violets 
  and 
  

   fragrant 
  lady's 
  tresses 
  growing 
  on 
  the 
  low 
  shores 
  wet 
  from 
  

   the 
  cold 
  springs 
  underneath; 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  further 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  

   easy 
  trail 
  is 
  bordered 
  by 
  the 
  scrub 
  birch, 
  whose 
  long 
  black 
  

   catkins 
  can 
  be 
  seen 
  some 
  distance 
  away. 
  

  

  Many 
  an 
  unnamed 
  flower 
  can 
  the 
  botanist 
  find 
  in 
  these 
  

   secluded 
  trails, 
  either 
  on 
  flower-bedecked 
  meadow 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  

   winding 
  pathway 
  that 
  skirts 
  some 
  dark, 
  forbidding 
  canon. 
  

   Sometimes 
  the 
  bluebells 
  peep 
  from 
  banks 
  of 
  ferns, 
  and 
  in 
  

   other 
  spots 
  the 
  gentians 
  bloom 
  in 
  sheltered 
  nooks 
  or 
  around 
  

   some 
  mountain-girt 
  pool, 
  readv 
  to 
  be 
  plucked 
  by 
  the 
  intrepid 
  

   mountain 
  climber. 
  A 
  tangle 
  of 
  heather-like 
  plants 
  dot 
  the 
  

   mountain 
  sides, 
  but 
  so 
  far 
  no 
  Swiss 
  edelweiss 
  has 
  been 
  found, 
  

   though 
  conditions 
  are 
  much 
  as 
  in 
  Switzerland. 
  Instead 
  are 
  

   the 
  antennaria 
  and 
  bryanthus, 
  the 
  last 
  with 
  purple 
  blossoms, 
  

   which 
  grow 
  on 
  the 
  high 
  reaches 
  of 
  the 
  tallest 
  mountains. 
  By 
  

   the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  frequented 
  trails 
  and 
  wagon 
  roads 
  can 
  be 
  

   plucked 
  the 
  greenest 
  orchids 
  and 
  red-tinted 
  laurel, 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  

   retirement 
  of 
  the 
  leafy 
  forests 
  the 
  white-flowered 
  rhododen- 
  

   dron 
  grows 
  with 
  its 
  bell-shaped 
  flowers 
  which 
  cluster 
  in 
  huge 
  

   bunches 
  in 
  July. 
  No 
  matter 
  how 
  lonely 
  the 
  surroundings, 
  

   these 
  flowers 
  cheer 
  the 
  pathways 
  as 
  they 
  sway 
  in 
  the 
  breeze. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  rich 
  black 
  loam 
  of 
  these 
  secluded 
  trails 
  thrive 
  the 
  

   scarlet 
  painted-cup 
  and 
  the 
  magenta-hued 
  epilobium. 
  So 
  

   plentiful 
  is 
  this 
  last 
  that 
  it 
  makes 
  a 
  riot 
  of 
  color 
  especially 
  

   welcome 
  on 
  the 
  burnt-over 
  timber 
  lands 
  where 
  it 
  grows 
  many 
  

   feet 
  high, 
  adding 
  another 
  touch 
  of 
  beauty 
  to 
  the 
  mountains 
  

   whose 
  color 
  transformations 
  are 
  exquisite. 
  But 
  the 
  most 
  

   charming 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  flowers 
  of 
  the 
  Canadian 
  Rockies 
  to 
  

   botanist 
  and 
  layman, 
  to 
  the 
  Alpine 
  climber 
  and 
  amateur 
  trail 
  

   lover, 
  is 
  the 
  yellow 
  erythranium 
  grandifloreum. 
  When 
  the 
  

   insects 
  and 
  butterflies 
  hover 
  over 
  it, 
  it 
  forms 
  a 
  picture 
  that 
  is 
  

   never 
  forgotten, 
  not 
  alone 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  beauty, 
  but 
  because 
  

  

  A 
  Trail 
  Acquaintance 
  

  

  Indians 
  on 
  the 
  Kootenay 
  Trail 
  

  

  in 
  its 
  efforts 
  to 
  reach 
  the 
  light 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  pierce 
  

   solid 
  ice 
  four 
  and 
  five 
  inches 
  thick. 
  There 
  are 
  few 
  sensations 
  

   more 
  delightful 
  than 
  to 
  climb 
  an 
  Alpine 
  trail 
  to 
  the 
  brink 
  

   of 
  some 
  icy 
  glacier, 
  and 
  see, 
  struggling 
  to 
  peep 
  forth, 
  these 
  

   beautiful 
  yellow 
  flowers, 
  which 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  may 
  rise 
  trium- 
  

   phant 
  from 
  their 
  crystal 
  bed. 
  These 
  flowers 
  may 
  be 
  picked 
  

   near 
  the 
  Illecillewaet 
  glacier, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  worth 
  a 
  much 
  longer 
  

   climb 
  to 
  gather 
  them. 
  

  

  One 
  charm 
  about 
  these 
  mountain 
  trails 
  is 
  that 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  

   the 
  valleys 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  searched 
  for 
  specimens, 
  though 
  bot- 
  

   anists 
  are 
  at 
  last 
  becoming 
  aware 
  of 
  this 
  new 
  field 
  and 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  plants 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  to 
  Swiss 
  and 
  German 
  gardens. 
  

   Far 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  trails 
  what 
  possibilities 
  await 
  the 
  explorer, 
  

   for 
  every 
  new 
  valley 
  that 
  is 
  opened 
  abounds 
  in 
  specimens? 
  

   Besides 
  the 
  floral 
  possibilities 
  the 
  Nature 
  lover 
  soon 
  learns 
  

   to 
  know 
  the 
  trees. 
  He 
  may 
  select 
  the 
  springy 
  balsam 
  boughs 
  

   for 
  his 
  couch, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  has 
  counted 
  the 
  rings 
  on 
  the 
  white 
  

  

  spruce, 
  which 
  often 
  

   attain 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  six 
  

   hundred 
  years, 
  he 
  

   feels 
  he 
  has 
  indeed 
  

   discovered 
  an 
  anti- 
  

   quarian. 
  He 
  may 
  

   pluck 
  the 
  greenish- 
  

   red 
  flowers 
  of 
  the 
  

   Douglas 
  fir, 
  which 
  

   often 
  in 
  British 
  Col- 
  

   umbia 
  makes 
  a 
  for- 
  

   est 
  a 
  thousand 
  miles 
  

   in 
  extent, 
  and 
  may 
  

   make 
  his 
  camp 
  fire 
  

   of 
  aspen 
  poplars. 
  If 
  

   he 
  selects 
  June 
  for 
  

   his 
  climb 
  he 
  may 
  see 
  

   the 
  most 
  interesting 
  

   of 
  all 
  the 
  trees 
  of 
  

   the 
  high 
  Rockies, 
  

   the 
  Lyall's 
  larch, 
  

  

  (Cmdudid 
  on 
  Past 
  119) 
  

  

  Photographed 
  on 
  the 
  Trail 
  

  

  