30 
FLORA OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 
creamy yellow flowers and ovate to lanceolate opposite leaves on a 
rather tall stem. 
The mountain dock, Polygonum bislortoides (fig. 27), may be known 
by its lanceolate radical leaves and rather long, slender stem, bearing 
an oblong spike of small white flowers. This plant is very abundant 
Fig. 23 .—Mertensia laevigata. 
Color of flower, blue to pinkish blue; height of plant, 2 feet; blooms July and August. 
Photograph by A. H. Barnes. 
and is easily swayed about by the wind, thus trying the patience of 
the flower photographer. It is nearly always associated with the 
valerian and the asters. There are several plants of the parsley 
family which may be recognized by their umbels of white or purplish- 
white flowers. The ‘ ‘wild parsnip,” Ligusticum purpureum, has finely 
dissected leaves and small whitish purple flowers. The mountain ash, 
