No. 543] 



NOTES AND LITERATURE 



179 



Atlantic states, but with a very heavy precipitation, so that it 

 supports an extremely dense forest of large coniferous trees, of 

 which the Tideland or Sitka Spruce (Picea Sitchensis) and the 

 Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana) are the predominant trees. There 

 is an impenetrable jungle of undershrubs and herbaceous plants 

 of almost tropical luxuriance. 



Further south the Sitka Spruce is largely replaced by the 

 Douglas Fir, the characteristic tree of the coast region about 

 Puget Sound and northern Oregon. This tree rivals the Cali- 

 fornia Redwoods in height though not in bulk. At the lower 

 levels of the coast in Washington and northern Oregon the 

 forest over large areas is composed almost exclusively of this 

 species, but back from the coast at the higher levels this is to 

 considerable extent replaced by Pines. Firs and Hemlocks. This 

 change in the forest is very clearly shown on the slopes oi Mt. 

 Rainier. 



The undergrowth of this northern forest is very much like 

 that in Alaska. Among the characteristic species are Bubus A ut- 

 kanus, Rttbus speciosus, several species of Elder, the Vine-leaved 

 Maple (Acer circinnatum) and the Devil Vclub (Echinopanax 

 horridum) . At the lower levels Alders and Poplars of large size 

 are common along the streams, and with these are found the Big- 

 leaved Maple {Acer macrophyllum) . Where the forest has been 

 destroyed, especially in burnt-over areas, the ground is covered 

 in mid-summer with a sheet of pink flowers of the Fire-weed 

 (EpUobium an g us ti folium), Bracken ferns of gigantic size and 

 the striking Aroid, Lysichiton Kamtchatcense, give a tropical 

 aspect to the dense undergrowth. Most of the herbaceous plants 

 are northern types, Linmea, Oxalis, Smilacina, Clintonia, Cornus 

 canadt ruts, etc. 



At an elevation of about five thousand feet there begins an 

 Alpine flora which is especially well developed on the higher 

 snow-capped mountains of the Cascades and the Canadian 

 Rockies. On Mt. Rainier, where the line of perpetual snow 

 descends to but little over six thousand feet, the close turf, le 

 uncovered for a couple of months after mid-summer, is cove re 

 with masses of brilliant flowers of great variety and beauty 

 Among the most striking of these are two heathlike p an s, 



