Ai^cJemberi897m }     Vegetation  of  Yellowstone  Hot  Springs.  625 
17  THE  VEGETATION  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE  HOT 
SPRINGS. 
By  John  W.  Harshberger,  Ph.D. 
The  actual  discovery  of  the  Yellowstone  Wonderland,  by  which 
is  meant  its  full  and  final  disclosure  to  the  world,  was  the  work  of 
three  parties,  who  visited  and  explored  it  in  the  years  1869,  1870 
and  1 87 1.  Although,  since  the  last  date,  much  has  been  written 
concerning  the  geological  and  physiographical  features  of  the  park 
set  aside  by  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1872,  little  has  been  writ- 
ten concerning  the  flora  of  the  region,  and  what  has  been  published 
deals  almost  entirely  with  the  plants  from  a  systematic  standpoint. 
Situated  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  Wyoming,  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  at  an  elevation  ranging  from  6,000  to  12,000  feet,  the 
region  is  one  of  high  and  lofty  mountains,  of  deep  canons  walled  in 
by  precipitous  sides,  and  of  beautiful  upland  valleys,  the  natural 
haunts  of  the  timid  herbivora  that  seek  the  mountain  meadows  for 
the  tender  and  nutritious  grasses  which  grow  there  luxuriantly. 
The  pasturage  in  many  of  the  meadows  and  valleys  is  excellent, 
being  formed  by  the  growth  of  such  grasses  as  alpine  timothy, 
Fhleum  alpinum,  blue  joint,  Calamagrostis  Canadensis,  sheep's  fescue, 
Festuca  ovina,  Kceleria,  Kceleria  cristata.  The  herbaceous  vegetation 
is  not  so  striking  as  in  many  other  regions,  but  still  the  distribution 
of  such  species  as  do  occur  is  interesting.  In  the  lakes  and  rivers 
we  find  the  aquatic  vegetation  to  consist  of  Ranunculus  aquatilis, 
Nuphar  advena,  Nuphar  polycephalum,  Utricularia  vulgaris,  Lemna 
trisidca,  Typha  latifolia,  Sparganium  simplex,  etc.  Near  the  head 
of  Yellowstone  Lake  is  found  Subidaria  aquatica,  a  plant  of  quite  a 
remarkable  distribution,  found  nowhere  else  in  America  except  in 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  Gentiana  detonsa,  Spraguea  umbellata 
are  striking  plants.  The  meadows  and  hillsides  are  spangled  with 
bright-colored  flowers,  among  which  may  be  noted  the  bee  larkspur, 
Delphinium  Menziesii,  the  columbine,  Aquilegia  flavescens,  the  hare- 
bell, Campanula,  the  aconite,  Aconitum  Columbianum,  the  lupine,  Lu- 
pinus,  the  evening  primrose,  CEnothera,  the  aster,  the  painted  cup,  Cas- 
tilleia.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  scarcely  a  night  passes  through- 
out the  summer  without  frost,  so  that  the  herbaceous  plants  grow 
and  bloom  under  somewhat  unusual  conditions.  The  fringed  gen- 
tian, Gentiana  detonsa,  closes  its  flowers  as  night  approaches,  to 
open  them  again  in  the  morning,  and  many  other  plants  provided 
