SWEETVETCH 



Hedysarum macken^ii Richardson 



In but one place that we visited in the Canadian Rockies did we 

 find sweetvetch growing in perfection. For several seasons we have 

 made "Wild Flower Camp" our headquarters for a short time. On the 

 trail passing from that place up the steep slopes to the divide above 

 the head of Johnson Creek, we came to a deep unnamed alpine lake, 

 along whose rocky shore the trail leads. On the slopes above the 

 trail, where the glaciers have plowed away the mountain side, leaving 

 stretches of upland meadows between the rocks, the disintegrating 

 limestone provides ideal soil conditions for leguminous plants. Here 

 sweetvetch grows in clumps, with stems stiff enough to support the 

 heavy blossoms, while the luxuriant growth of leaves forms a fine 

 background for the flowers. These are of various shades of crimson 

 and pink, or occasionally pure white, and their scent is as delightful as 

 that of freshly gathered sweet peas from the home garden. In other 

 localities the flower heads are so heavy that the stems lie prostrate on 

 the ground, making beautiful rosettes sometimes eighteen inches 

 across. Alexander Mackenzie, in his journey of discovery down the 

 Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean in 1793, used the roots of sweet- 

 vetch as an emergency food. 



This plant is restricted to the Canadian Rocky Mountain region, 

 from Alberta to Northwest Territory and Yukon. 



The unnamed lake is about ten miles northeast of Lake Louise Sta- 

 tion, Alberta, Canada, but by the circuitous trail one and a half days are 

 required. The altitude is about 8,000 feet. 



PLATE 97 



