SNOW WILLOW 



Salix nivalis Hooker 



When climbing in the higher altitudes of the Rocky Mountains, 

 just above timber line, one often finds large patches of the ground 

 covered with a low plant about an inch high, bearing spikes of tiny 

 red flowers surrounded by small, dark green leaves. It proves to be 

 the snow willow, one of the smallest of all the large group of wil- 

 lows. Later in the season the flowers are followed by tiny seeds 

 with feathery appendages, by means of which they are carried by 

 the wind to new locations far from the parent plants. The plant is 

 so low that it is not torn by the winds, however violent they may 

 become on the bleak mountain slopes. In winter, also, it is well 

 protected by even the thinnest blanket of snow. Thus has the tiny 

 willow become adapted to its environment. 



The species ranges from Montana to Washington, and northward 

 to Alberta and British Columbia. 



The specimen sketched was found near Bow Lake, twenty-five 

 miles by trail north of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, at an altitude 

 of 7,000 feet. 



plate 2.77 



