FLORA OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 
41 
in this zone all around the mountain. They are never seen in great 
abundance anywhere. The dog violet has bluish-violet flowers and 
ovate leaves while the other is yellow with round cordate leaves. The 
former is more abundant than the latter. The pink family has 
several representatives such as Suksdorf’s silene (fig. 34), two or 
three arenarias, or sandworts. These plants, like the violets, give 
variety by their somewhat equal distribution over the grassy slopes. 
Fig. 33.—Yellow heather (Phyllodoce glanduliflora ). 
Color of flower, yellowish white; height of plant, 6 to 10 inches; blooms July and August. 
Photograph by A. H. Barnes. 
The saxifrage family in this zone takes to the rocks to avoid com¬ 
petition. Many of these grow in large mats, and cover the bare rocks 
and soil with a beautiful carpet of small white flowers. Saxifraga tol- 
miei (fig. 35) is the most noted and the most common on the rocky 
areas below timber line. Many tourists stop and pay homage to this 
little plant, not only on account of its beauty but also because of its 
apparently inhospitable environment. Saxifraga caespitosa grows 
more on moist crags and in still denser and more globular masses than 
the former. It is also a larger and coarser plant. Saxifraga bron- 
chialis (fig. 36) has a larger flower stalk and grows in drier places, 
