256 PLANT DISTRIBUTION OF MT. WASHINGTON 



few storm-beaten specimens, hardly a foot in height, were occasionally 

 seen. One plant, about fifteen inches in height, was noted in a shel- 

 tered spot near the Crawford bridle-path, at an altitude of 6000 feet. 

 Near the Lake of the Clouds, at about 5000 feet, clumps of the black 

 spruce were found with stems three or four inches in diameter, but 

 with the branches pressed flat against the ground. As a rule, however, 

 the balsam was the first to be noted as we descended from the summit. 



Various trips were made to the Great gulf or Gulf of Mexico, 

 Oakes' gulf, Tuckerman's Ravine, the Lake of the Clouds, Bigelow's 

 lawn, and the alpine garden. The plant altitudes were carefully 

 noted on each descent, and the succession of flowers was almost 

 invariably the same. On the very summit, 6300 feet, a thrifty speci- 

 men of that hardy traveler, the dandelion, was in full bloom and 

 apparently as much at home as on the roadsides several thousand 

 feet below. Among the rightful owners of the rocky soil the follow- 

 ing always headed the lists: the Greenland sandwort {Arenaria 

 grcenlandica (Retz) Spreng), the mountain cranberry {Vaccinium 

 Vitis-Idcea L., var. minus Lodd) , and Potentilla tridentata Ait. Grow- 

 ing with these on some parts of the summit were the alpine goldenrod 

 {Solidago Cutleri Fernald) and Diapensia lapponica L. The con- 

 vex clumps of the latter were plentiful in some places, but it was al- 

 ready in fruit, and only after much searching were one or two belated 

 blossoms found. Within a radius of a few hundred feet from the 

 summit were noted the yellow mountain avens (Geum Peckii Pursh.), 

 common in the grassy places, the two bilberries {Vaccinium ccespitosum 

 Michx. and Vaccinium uliginosum L.), Silene acaulis L., the alpine 

 azalea {Lois eleuria pro cumbens (L.) Desv.), and the Lapland rose bay 

 {Rhododendron lapponicum (L.) Wahlenb.), the latter in fruit only. 

 Although it was late for them, we were fortunate in discovering two 

 or three patches of the mountain heath {Phyllodoce ccerulea (L.) Bab.), 

 still covered with the purple bells and clinging to the ledges. Cassiope 

 hypnoides (L.) Don. was also found in bloom in a few places. On 

 or very near the summit we also collected the sedges, Carex capitata 

 L., Carex rigida Good, var. Bigelowii (Torr.) Tuck., Carex capillaris 

 L., and the wood-rush {Luzula spicata (L.) DC). 



All the plants above mentioned were found growing in dry places 

 among the rocks of the cone, while the following were collected in or 

 along the brooklets which run down the sides of the Great gulf> 



