48 BULLETIX 545, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
is the most highly relished as well as the most abundant of the 
various species on the high range lands of the Wallowa National 
Forest. 
Blue beardtongue is a perennial with conspicuous lateral running 
rootstocks which send out a number of shoots reaching a height 
of 4 to 12 inches. The whole plant is smooth and somewhat shiny; 
the lower leaves are long petioled, smaller than those arising from 
the middle of the stem; the upper leaves are small and without 
leaf stalks (Plate XL VI). Thee flowers, usually 5 in a cluster, are 
arranged in whorls. The bright blue corolla is lipped, the lower 
lip bearded within. As in all beardtongues, one of the five stamens 
is sterile, and in this species it is distinctly bearded also. 
This plant is conspicuous in the Hudsonian zone, though it grows 
in varying abundance at lower altitudes. Open parks and medium 
moist meadows of deep, loose, but well-drained soils are the favorite 
habitats. In moisture requirement it resembles wild celery (Ligus- 
ticum oreganum), with which it is commonly associated. In the 
characteristic soil type in which blue beardtongue grows, wilting 
beyond recovery does not occur until the soil-water content is 
reduced to from 10 to as low as 8 per cent. 
The flowers begin to open about July 10, and all are out by August 
15. About the time the last flowers expand the first matured seeds 
are found, though, of course, on different plants. The seed tested 
in 1909 showed a viability of 18.5 per cent. In previous years no 
germination studies were made. Under favorable conditions on 
protected ranges, however, reproduction is excellent, and it is appar- 
ent that this plant will increase in abundance under the deferred- 
grazing system. 
Blue beardtongue seems to be eaten by sheep with more eagerness 
than any of its allied species. Since its growth begins promptly in 
the spring, it furnishes a fair portion of the valuable early forage. 
The leaves, but not the stems, are eaten even after the seeds have 
matured, though they are not as palatable as earlier in the summer. 
The plant is of highest value for grazing between about July 15 and 
August 20. 
Besides the blue beardtongue three species of Pentstemon, P. deus- 
tus, P. fruticosus, and P. venustus, all grazed at certain times in the 
season, are common in the Wallowa Mountains. 
Mountain Elder. 
(Sambucus melanocarpa.) 
Mountain elder is a shrub with stems 3 to 6 feet high rising in 
profusion from a common crown; twigs of one year old growth 
smooth, shiny green-brown and slightly angled, the pith yellow- 
brown; bark of the older branches rather thick, rough, dark yellow- 
