THE WHITE-ASH PRAIRIES. 53 



Perhaps owing to the sandy and impervious nature of the soil, sphag- 

 num and peat swamps have formed in the low hollows on the plains, 

 a particularly remarkable feature at such a low altitude, and especi- 

 ally so as neither peat nor sphagnum are known to us as occuring 

 elsewhere in the Coast Ranges of northern California. The plants 

 most commonly met with in these swamps are: Ledum glandulosum 

 (the prevailing species), Lomaria spicant, Gaultheria shallon, Myrica 

 calif ornica, Veratrum fimbriatum, Viola sarmeniosa, Trientalis euro- 

 pcea latifolia, Sisyrinchium californicum, Lotus formosissimus, Cor- 

 nus canadensis, Hypericum anagalloides, Gentiana menziesii, Pote- 

 rium officinale, Phalaris cwrulescens, Droserarotundifolia, Campanula 

 linnmifolia, Calamagrostis cdeutica, C. bolanderi, C. crassiglumis, 

 Agrostis pringlei, Juncus bolanderi, J. falcatus paniculatus, J. supin- 

 iformis, several species of Carex, among which (according to Boott a ) 

 occur the following: C.pliyllomaniaca, C. mendocinensis, C.vallicola, 

 C. sterilis, C. salina mutica, C. livida, C. pohjmorpha, C. gynocly- 

 narnia, and C. luzulina. The grasses are remarkably few both in 

 species and individuals. 



According to the State Survey Botany, a the sphagnum moss appears 

 in the three species, Sphagnum cymbifolium, S. mendocinum, and S. 

 subsecundum longifolium. 



Other plant species occur on the plains and in the sphagnum 

 swamps, but are generally less abundant or less noticeable. An 

 analysis of the flora as above listed shows that its most character- 

 istic feature does not consist so much in the presence of endemic spe- 

 cies as in the commingling of the adjacent redwood and coast floras, 

 with the addition of species commonly found in thin soils at compara- 

 tiveby high altitudes, and of certain peculiar^ boreal species, rarely 

 if ever found at other points in the Coast Ranges, and when met with 

 elsewhere in the State, usually occurring at very much higher alti- 

 tudes. The phenomenal feature is, therefore, the occurrence of sev- 

 eral species belonging to high altitudes and latitudes, along a narrow 

 coast mesa not more than 200 feet above sea level, and between the 

 thirty-ninth and fortieth degrees of north latitude. (All the species 

 here listed with the exception of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi were col- 

 lected between the Navarro and Tenmile rivers). 



To make this point clearer we may classify them as follows: 



Plants met with on comparatively dry ridges at various altitudes in 

 the redwood belt: Cupressus goveniana, Quercus densiflora, Poly- 

 gala calif ornica, Castanopsis chrysophylla, Xerophyllum tenax, Gaul- 

 theria shallon, Vaccinium ovatum, Hypericum concinnum, Helian- 

 themum scoparium, Rhododendron californicum, Ceanothus spp., 

 Myrica californica, Arctostaphylos nummularia, and other species. 



Plants of moist, shady spots in the redwood belt : Viola sarmeniosa, 

 Trientalis europwa latifolia. 



:i Brewer, Watson, and Gray, Publications of the Geological Survey of Califor- 

 nia, Botany, 2 Vols., 1876 and 1880. 



