20 FLORA OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 
Along the rivers where there is an abundance of light may be 
found a strange assembly of plants. Many are washed down from 
above and have rooted in the scanty soil. Those not adapted will 
sooner or later die, while those like the alder and willow form thick¬ 
ets and grow luxuriantly, thus giving protection to other plants. 
In this way the river channel is often changed. Luina hypoleuca, 
a beautiful composite plant with glossy oval leaves, white under¬ 
neath, is found on the old river channels at Longmire Springs and 
much lower down. This grows on the perpendicular cliffs near the 
glaciers. The plants themselves may be washed down and take 
root when stranded, or seeds may be carried by the river and lodge 
on the gravel bars and germinate, producing the species at a lower 
altitude. Perhaps both methods are successful in the production 
of these river bottom strangers, many of which compete success¬ 
fully with those plants common to that region. Maples, cotton¬ 
woods, alders, and willows are the arborescent plants usually found 
here. These river-bar waifs are usually those which grow along 
streams higher up or on perpendicular cliffs above the streams. 
There are several extensive areas swept by fire just below the 
meadows. The “pearly everlasting” seems to have taken posses¬ 
sion of some of these, while the fireweed and a combination of other 
plants have a firm hold on other areas. These burnt areas are 
strewn with fallen logs and old erect snags, which are tottering and 
ready to fall. After every windstorm there is a new addition to the 
prostrate forms. This is especially noticeable along the roads, 
trails, and telephone lines. Some of these areas were burned 20 
years ago. Still there is little progress toward reforestation. The 
areas near the forest receive the seed and new trees start up, while 
those more remote have made little headway and still present deso¬ 
late scenes with their blighted crop of “ghost trees” and scattered 
logs. The huckleberries, mountain ash, and the white rhododen¬ 
dron usually grow in great profusion and ripen their fruit in excellent 
condition. 
THE THIRD ZONE. 
The lower part of the third zone or the first meadows reached are 
usually moist and covered with tall grasses and sedges. The sedges 
are more abundant and can he recognized by their triangular stems 
and coarse appearance. In the early part of the season these grassy 
places are covered with a minute form of a swamp violet. This 
grows so near the ground that it is often overlooked. 
The shooting star, Dodecatheon jeffreyi (fig. 15), is one of the most 
conspicuous. It has a rosette of oblanceolate leaves and peculiar 
shaped flowers, resembling those of the cyclamen, which is a near 
relative. 
