232 Dr James Hector on the Physical Features of the 
valuable trees of the eastern forest. Some of these were 
however seen by Richardson in the wooded country as far 
north as Lat. 54°. A few trees of Populus grandidentata were 
seen in the valley of the South Saskatchewan at its elbow, 
although that tree does not extend into the lower part of the 
valley of Red River from the Mississippi, where it grows in 
abundance. 
Within the “ fertile belt” of cleared land we have the vege- 
tation on the alluvial flats of the river valleys, consisting of 
Populus balsamifera, which is the largest tree in that part 
of the country, sometimes reaching three feet in diameter, 
with a dense thicket of Salix longifolia, S. rostrata, Vibur- 
num edule, Crategus coccinea, Amelanchier canadensis, the 
wood of which is used for making bows, and the luscious fruit 
for mixing with pemican; Cornus stolonifera, or “red wil- 
low,” the bark of which the Indians smoke along with tobacco. 
Shepherdia argentea sometimes forms the greater mass of the 
thicket, and its red juicy berries are the favourite food of 
grisly bears. 
On the prairies of this district, besides the groves of the 
Populus tremuloides, or aspen, there are dense willow thickets 
surrounding the swampy ground. In such spots there is an 
immense variety of carices; and when, as is often the case, 
the water is saline, saliferous plants abound, and, as usual, 
generally of species having a wide range. On the sides of 
rising grounds the Eleagnus argentea forms a low silvery 
copse, affording food to large coveys of prairie grouse. If the 
ground is high, or has a light sandy soil, it is then covered with | 
a close matting of the Kin-i-kin-ic, or smoking weed, which 
is the Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi of the Scotch hills; or by 
the long flabelliform branches of Juniperus virginiana var. 
prostrata. Towards the mountains, large expanses of plain 
are covered with a low birch or alder (Betula glandulosa ), 
six to eight inches high, which in winter give the appearance 
of a heather-covered moorland to these prairies. 
In June and July, in some localities, the prairies are covered 
with brightly-coloured flowers of the genera Astragalus, 
Hedysarum, Geranium, Lilium, and others, or are completely 
clothed with a dense low copse of rose bushes. As the country 
