Part 4

Growing in small tufts, 4—10 inches high, pale, glaucous. Leaves stiff and very slender about half the length of the taller scapes, equalling the shorter ones. Spathe small purplish or green, often partly double and enclosing 3 or 4 small bright violet-blue flowers, less than half an inch broad, on erect pedicels.

Throughout the Rockies in open moist ground at the lower elevations; flowering in June.

ORCHIDACEÆ

_Orchid Family_

Perennial herbs, with corms, bulbs, or tuberous roots, sheathing entire leaves, sometimes reduced to scales, the flowers perfect, irregular, bracted, solitary, spiked or racemed. Perianth superior of 6 segments, the 3 outer (sepals) similar or nearly so, 2 of the inner ones (petals) lateral, alike; the third inner one (lip) dissimilar, often markedly so, usually larger and often spurred; stamens and style variously arranged. An extensive family with great diversity of flower form, and habit of growth. Most abundant in the tropics, represented in the region as follows:

Perfect anthers 2; lip large, sac-like. =Cypripedium.= Perfect anther 1. Plants saprophytic, without green herbage. =Corallorhiza.= Plants with ordinary green herbage. Flower and leaf solitary; root bulbous. =Cytherea.= Flowers several to many in racemes. Leaf only 1. Flowers white with purple spots. =Orchis.= Flowers greenish. =Lysiella.= Leaves only 2, cauline. =Ophrys.= Leaves more than 2. Stem leaves reduced to bracts. Basal leaves white veined. =Peramium.= Stem leaves not reduced to bracts. Flowers not spirally arranged. Glands surrounded by a thin membrane. =Cœloglossum.= Glands naked. =Limnorchis.= Flowers spirally arranged. =Ibidium.=

[Illustration: _a_ Cypripedium passerinum Rich. Small White Lady’s Slipper.]

[Illustration: _b_ Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb. Small Yellow Lady’s Slipper.

(⅔Nat.)]

[Sidenote: =Cypripedium passerinum= Rich. _Small White Lady’s Slipper._]

Stem 8—10 inches high from a decumbent base, leafy, hairy throughout. Leaves 4 or 5, lanceolate, acuminate, veiny, 3—4 inches long, yellowish-green, and clasping at the base. Flowers solitary, small; lip obovate, inflated half an inch long, white, spotted with purple inside, particularly near the base; sepals greenish, shorter than the lip, the upper forming a sort of hood; the lateral petals white, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, half an inch long, spreading.

In damp shaded situations, frequent in the Rockies; flowers in July.

[Sidenote: =Cypripedium parviflorum= Salisb. _Small Yellow Lady’s Slipper._]

Stem 1—2 feet high, slender, and leafy. Leaves elliptic or lanceolate, 2—6 inches long, 1—2¼ inches wide, yellowish-green, veiny, scatteringly hairy. Flowers usually solitary, bright yellow; lip inflated, curved, an inch or more long, spotted and blotched inside with purple; sepals and petals longer than the lip, laterals twisted, 1½—2 inches long, lanceolate with an attenuate tip, yellowish-green or sometimes purplish.

Not uncommon in the Rockies in moist ground, very abundant on the torrent fan among loose stones at the head of Emerald Lake; flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Corallorhiza Corallorhiza= (L.) Karst. _Early Coral-root._]

Stem smooth, greenish-yellow or purplish; 4—12 inches high from a mass of coral-like roots. Leaves absent but represented by 2—5 closely sheathing scales. Flowers 3—12 in a head 1—3 inches long; sepals and petals slender, ¼ of an inch long, yellowish or dull purplish; lip not quite as long as the petals, white or whitish, oblong, nearly entire or slightly notched at the apex, 2-toothed at the base, occasionally with purple spots.

[Illustration: Corallorhiza Corallorhiza (L.) Karst. (½ Nat.) Coral-Root.]

[Illustration: Lyschiton kamtschatcense (L.) Schott. (¼ Nat.) Western Skunk-Cabbage.]

Frequent in woods in the Rockies especially those of the “Jack Pine,” flowering in May and early June.

[Sidenote: =Corallorhiza multiflora= Nutt. _Large Coral-root._]

Stems 8—20 inches high, purplish, with several appressed scales. Flowers 10—30 in a head 2—8 inches long, brownish-purple ½—¾ of an inch long; sepals and petals linear-lanceolate, about ⅓ of an inch long; lip white, spotted and lined with purple, oval in outline, deeply 3-lobed, the middle lobe broadest; spur manifest and yellowish.

Not infrequent in the rich woods in the Selkirks; flowering in late summer.

[Sidenote: =Cytherea bulbosa= (L.) House. _Calypso._]

Stem 3—6 inches high, purplish, from a bulb nearly half an inch in diameter. Leaf solitary, dark, lustrous green, 1—1½ inches long, round, ovate, obtusely pointed at the apex, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, deeply veined. Flower solitary, nodding, an inch long, rosy purple variegated with pink and yellow; petals and sepals linear, erect or spreading, half an inch or more long with longitudinal purple lines; lip ¾ of an inch long, sac-like and spreading, divided into two below, with a prominent patch of yellow hairs near the point of division.

This charming little orchid, by far the most dainty of any found in the region, is frequent, growing in deep moss on the shaded slopes of the Rockies; very fragrant, flowering in early June.

[Sidenote: =Orchis rotundifolia= Pursh. _Round-leaved Orchid._]

Plant slender, 8—10 inches high with one leaf near the base, varying from nearly orbicular to oval, 1½—3 inches long, 1—2 inches wide, sheathing at the base. Spike 2—8 flowered; flowers half an inch or more long; lateral sepals spreading, somewhat longer than the petals, petals and sepals oval, rose-colour; lip white, purple-spotted, longer than the petals, three-lobed, the middle longest, dilated and two-lobed or notched at the tip; spur slender, shorter than the lip.

This beautiful little orchid is abundant throughout the Rockies in cool mossy spots and rich woods; flowering in June.

[Illustration: _a_ Cytherea bulbosa (L.) House. (¾ Nat.)

Calypso.

_b_ Orchis rotundifolia Pursh. Small Round-Leaved Orchid.]

[Sidenote: =Lysiella obtusata= (Pursh.) Rydb. _Small Northern Bog-orchid._]

Plant 6—8 inches high from a short thick rootstock; stem naked with a single obovate or oblong leaf at the base 1½—2½ inches long, ½—1½ inches wide, obtuse. Flowers few in a slender spike, yellowish-green; upper sepal round, ovate, erect, surrounding the broad column; lateral sepals reflexed and spreading; petals lanceolate, smaller; lip entire, linear-lanceolate, and deflexed; spur slightly curved especially at the tip, shorter than the ovary.

Frequent throughout the Rockies in the lower valleys, in cool shaded spots growing in moss, on the borders of streams, ponds, or lakes; flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Ophrys nephrophylla= Rydb. _Heart-shaped Twayblade._]

Stem slender and smooth, 3—8 inches high. Leaves sessile, cordate or broadly ovate, ½—1 inch long; head of flowers rather loose, ½—2 inches long, 4—20-flowered; flowers very minute, purplish or greenish; sepals ovate; petals oblong, about ¹/₁₆ of an inch long; lip two-cleft, twice as long as the petals, the segments linear or hair-like.

This diminutive orchid is one of the commonest species throughout the region in early summer, growing abundantly in mossy places in the moist woods, frequently not rising more than an inch or two above the surface of the ground; the flowers varying greatly in color from yellowish green to purple.

[Sidenote: =Ophrys convallarioides= (Sw.) Wight. _Broad-lipped Twayblade._]

Stem rather stout, 4—10 inches high, glandular-hairy above the leaves. Leaves smooth, round, oval or ovate, obtuse, 3—9 nerved, 1—2½ inches long, ½—1½ inches wide. Flowers 3—12 in a loose head, yellowish-green, ½ an inch long; bracts nearly ¼ of an inch long; sepals and petals narrow and strongly reflexed in flower, much shorter than the lip; lip nearly half an inch long, broadly wedge-shaped with two obtuse lobes at the apex and with a tooth at each side of the narrow base; column elongated but shorter than the lip, and incurved with two short projecting wings above the anther.

In hemlock woods throughout the Selkirks; flowering in July.

[Sidenote: =Ophrys borealis= (Morong). _Northern Twayblade._]

Stems 3—5 inches high, smooth below, glandular and with long silky scattered hairs among the flowers. Leaves oval, slightly sheathing, obtuse, an inch or more long, half as broad, generally smooth. Flowers few in a raceme; sepals and petals nearly equal, linear, obtuse, about ¼ of an inch long; lip half an inch long, obtuse at the apex with very obtuse lobes. Yellowish-green with a purplish middle and purple nerves radiating into the apical lobes, column slightly incurved, ⅛ of an inch long.

Generally distributed throughout the Rockies but never abundant, seldom more than 3 or 4 plants being found together; flowering in July.

[Sidenote: =Peramium Menziesi= (Lindl.) Morong. _Rattlesnake Plantain._]

Plant 8—15 inches high from a hairy, creeping rootstock. Leaves basal, 1½—2½ inches long and a third as broad, tapering to both ends, dark green and veiny, sometimes blotched with white. Flowers ¼ to nearly ½ an inch long, yellowish- or greenish-white, in a slender spike; sepals and petals lanceolate, erect or nearly so about half the length of the lip, lip swollen at the base and with a long narrow recurved tip.

Frequent in rich woods throughout the region, growing in moss, the evergreen leaves forming a rosette at the base of the stalk of flowers, which blossom in August.

[Illustration: Limnorchis dilatatiformis Rydb. (⅙ Nat.)

Purplish-Green Bog-Orchid.]

[Illustration: Peramium Menziesii (Lindl.) Morong. (⅔ Nat.)

Menzies’ Rattlesnake Plantain.]

[Sidenote: =Peramium repens= (L.) Salisb. _Northern Rattlesnake Plantain._]

Plant 6—10 inches high, glandular-hairy in the upper part of the stem. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, an inch or more long and a third as wide, tapering to both ends, green and usually blotched with white along the veins. Flowers small in a one-sided spike, greenish-white, about ¼ of an inch long, densely glandular-hairy on the outer surface; sepals and petals erect, ovate; lip sac-like with a narrow recurved tip.

Frequent in the woods throughout the Rockies, flowering in July.

[Sidenote: =Cœloglossum bracteatum= (Willd.) Parl. _Long-bracted Orchid._]

Stem stout and leafy, 6—18 inches high, from a root of numerous fusiform tubers. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2—4 inches long. Flowers in a loose spike 2—3 inches long with bracts an inch long; flowers yellowish-green, sepals ovate-lanceolate, dilated at the base, ¼ of an inch long; petals very narrow or sometimes thread-like; lip nearly half an inch long, oblong-spatulate, 2—3-toothed or lobed at the tip, more than twice as long as the white sac-like spur.

Frequent in open grassy woods and meadows throughout the Rockies; flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Limnorchis dilatatiformis= Rydb. _Purplish-Green Bog-orchid._]

Stem 1, 2, or 3 feet tall, from a root of 2 or 3 fusiform, hairy tubers; leafy. Lowest leaves oblanceolate, obtuse, 2—5 inches long, upper ones lanceolate, acute, much longer. Spike of flowers 4—12 inches long, loosely flowered, the bracts linear-lanceolate, the lowest much longer than the flowers, 1—1½ inches long. Flowers about ½ an inch long; sepals yellowish-green and thin, the upper one ovate, erect, about ⅛ of an inch long, the lateral ones obtuse and spreading, ¼ of an inch long, petals lanceolate, acute, greenish-purple or green; lip purple or greenish, linear, obtuse, thick, over ¼ of an inch long; spur about ½ as long as the lip, sack-like.

Frequent through the region in open swamps, wet meadows and sloughs, varying greatly in size; flowering during June and early July.

[Illustration: _a_ Ophrys borealis (Morong). Northern Twayblade.

_b_ Cœloglossum bracteatum (Willo) Parl. Long-Bracted Orchid.

_c_ Limnorchis fragrans Rydb. Fragrant White Bog-Orchid.

_d_ Lysiella obtusata (Pursh) Rydb. Small Northern Bog-Orchid.

_e_ Ophrys nephrophylla Rydb. Heart-Shaped Twayblade.

(⅔ Nat.)]

[Sidenote: =Limnorchis viridiflora= (Cham.) Rydb. _Small Green Bog-orchid._]

Stem 8—18 inches high, strict and leafy. Lower leaves oblanceolate, obtuse, 2—4 inches long, upper lanceolate and acute; spike of flowers short and dense, the bracts linear-lanceolate, the lower slightly exceeding the flowers. Flowers ½ an inch long or less, yellowish-green; upper sepals broadly ovate, erect; lateral ones ¼ of an inch long, acute, spreading; petals erect, lanceolate, acute; lip lanceolate, obtuse, less than ¼ of an inch long; spur club-shaped, curved, about as long as the lip. Differs from the last species in the bright green colour, slightly smaller flowers with broader based lip and the longer, club-shaped curved spur.

In bogs throughout the region; flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Limnorchis borealis= (Cham.) Rydb. _Small White Bog-orchid._]

Stem 18 inches to 2 feet high, slender and leafy. Leaves, the lower oblanceolate and obtuse, the upper lanceolate, acute. Spike of flowers often rather dense, 4—8 inches long; bracts lanceolate, the lower often much exceeding the flowers; flowers ½ an inch or more long, white or sometimes yellowish or greenish-white; upper sepals ovate, obtuse, ¼ of an inch long, lateral ones oblong-lanceolate, spreading; petals lanceolate, slightly shorter than the sepals; lip rhombic-lanceolate, obtuse, about ¼ of an inch long; spur club-shaped about the length of or shorter than the lip.

Throughout the region in open boggy places and wet meadows; flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Limnorchis fragrans= Rydb. _Fragrant Orchid._]

Stem slender, 8—12 inches high, from a narrow fusiform tuberous root. Leaves linear, acute, 2—4 inches long, about ½ an inch wide. Spike of flowers slender, lax; bracts, lanceolate, acuminate, the lower slightly longer than the flowers; flowers pure white with a spicy fragrance; upper sepal ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, the lateral ones linear-lanceolate, acute, and strongly veined; petals narrowly linear-lanceolate equalling the sepals; lip lanceolate with an ovate rhomboid base about ¼ of an inch long; spur slender and curved, slightly exceeding the lip.

In more or less shaded bogs through the Rockies, flowering during July.

[Sidenote: =Ibidium romanzoffianum= (Cham.) House. _Lady’s Tresses._]

Stem smooth, 6—18 inches high, leafy below, bracted above; the lower leaves 3—8 inches long, linear or linear-oblanceolate. Head of flowers more or less glandular, hairy, 2—4 inches long, half an inch or more thick, bracts shorter than the flowers; flowers waxy white or greenish, nearly half an inch long with an open mouth, spreading horizontally and very fragrant; upper sepals broad and obtuse; lip oblong, broad at the base, and contracted below to the crisped apex, thin, transparent, and veined, callosities merely thickenings of the basal margins of the lip.

Throughout the region in springy places and wet alpine meadows; flowering toward the end of July.

SALICACEÆ

_Willow Family_

Trees or shrubs with light wood, brittle twigs, and simple alternate leaves; flowers borne in catkins; the staminate and pistillate on separate plants, the seed provided with a covering of long, white, silky, hairs.

[Sidenote: =Populus balsamifera= L. _Balsam Poplar._]

A large tree with nearly smooth gray bark, reaching a maximum height of 80 feet; branches stout, ascending, the larger buds very resinous. Leaves smooth, broadly ovate or ovate-lanceolate, entire, dark green and shining above, pale beneath, acute or acuminate at the apex, rounded or acute at the base, petioles round. Flowers in slender catkins, the staminate and pistillate on separate trees.

Throughout the region in the river valleys and on the surrounding slopes, usually a tree not over 20—30 feet high but sometimes attaining an immense size.

[Sidenote: =Populus tremuloides= Michx. _American Aspen._]

A slender tree with smooth, light green bark, seldom more than 40—50 feet high, and less than half that in our region. Leaves smooth when young except on the margins, ovate, short-acuminate at the apex, rounded at the base, finely crenulate all around; petioles flattened laterally, very slender, causing the leaves to quiver with the slightest breeze. Flowers in rather stout catkins.

Frequent in the low valleys and slopes through the Rockies, forming groves, or singly.

The willows which are very largely represented throughout the region, in the low or moist ground and banks of streams, as shrubs or small trees; or on the drier slopes, and in alpine meadows and summits, frequently as very diminutive shrubs with stems less than an inch high, have been omitted entirely, owing to the extreme difficulty of distinguishing between them in a work of this kind.

BETULACEÆ

_Birch Family_

Trees or shrubs with alternate simple leaves; staminate and pistillate flowers borne in separate catkins on the same plant; the staminate usually long, slender, and drooping; the pistillate short and erect; fruit cone-like.

[Sidenote: =Betula papyrifera= Marsh. _Paper Birch, Canoe Birch._]

Becoming a large forest tree; bark chalky white, peeling in thin layers. Leaves ovate, acute, or acuminate, dentate and denticulate, smooth above, glandular and hairy on the veins beneath, slender-petioled 1½—4 inches long. Staminate catkins 2—4 inches long; pistillate catkins ¾ of an inch or more long.

Sparingly on the slopes in the vicinity of Field, British Columbia; not a common tree.

[Sidenote: =Betula occidentalis= Hook. _Western Red Birch._]

A tree sometimes 100 feet high but much smaller in our region; the bark smooth dark bronze; twigs gray-brown, warty. Leaves broadly ovate or nearly orbicular, sharply serrate, short-petioled, smooth on both sides or sparingly hairy beneath ¾—2 inches long.

On river shores throughout the region, sparingly from Field west.

[Sidenote: =Betula glandulosa= Michx. _Glandular Birch, Scrub Birch._]

A shrub 1—8 feet with brown, glandular, warty twigs. Leaves orbicular, oval or ovate, smooth, rounded at the apex, crenate-dentate, bright green above, pale and sticky, glandular-dotted beneath, short petioled, ¼—1 inch long. Staminate catkins, commonly solitary, about ½ an inch long; cones when ripe ½—1 inch long.

In moist ground and thickets in the lower valleys through the Rockies, frequent.

[Sidenote: =Alnus tenuifolia= Nutt. _Slender-leaved Alder._]

A shrub 4—20 feet high with brown bark. Leaves more or less broadly ovate, 2—3 inches long, acute, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, acutely doubly toothed, light green and smooth on both sides or slightly hairy. Staminate catkins slender, drooping, 1—2 inches long; fruiting cones erect, ½ an inch or less long.

In moist places and thickets and stream banks at the higher elevations throughout the region, very abundant in the Selkirks.

LORANTHACEÆ

_Mistletoe Family_

Parasitic herbs growing on woody plants and absorbing their food from the host plant through specialised roots; leaves opposite, frequently reduced to scales; flowers diœcious or monœcious, regular; in terminal or axillary clusters.

[Sidenote: =Razoumofskya americana= (Nutt.) Kuntze. _Dwarf Mistletoe._]

Greenish-yellow or brownish, smooth, fleshy; stems rather slender, numerous, and tufted, forked or branched into 4-angled jointed branches. Leaves reduced to opposite scales at the joints. Flowers very small, the staminate and pistillate on separate plants; staminate plants 2—4 inches long, with the flowers on terminal peduncle-like joints; pistillate plants much smaller and darker coloured; berries ovate, purplish-brown, ⅙ of an inch long.

Throughout the Rockies, parasitic on Pinus Murrayana; locally abundant, appearing in midsummer.

SANTALACEÆ

_Sandalwood Family_

Low herbs parasitic on the roots of other plants, with entire leaves and perfect, greenish flowers, either terminal or axillary; calyx 3—6-lobed; petals wanting; stamens as many as the calyx lobes and inserted near their bases or opposite them upon the disc; fruit in the only genus represented in the region, drupe-like, crowned by the persistent style.

[Sidenote: =Comandra pallida= DC. _Pale Comandra._]

Stem slender and leafy, 6—12 inches tall, pale and glaucous. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or the lowest of those of the stem, oblong-elliptic. Flowers small, less than ¼ of an inch high with short pedicels, clustered at the summit of the stems, calyx purplish or sometimes nearly white; fruit ovoid-oblong, nearly half an inch high and crowned by the very short upper portion of the calyx tube.

On dry hillsides throughout the Rockies; flowering during June.

[Illustration: Comandra pallida DC. (⅔ Nat.) White Comandra.]

[Illustration: Eriogonum subalpinum Greene. (½ Nat.) Tall Eriogonum.]

[Sidenote: =Comandra livida= Rich. _Northern Comandra._]

Stem slender, usually quite simple, 4—12 inches high. Leaves thin, oval, obtuse or rounded at the apex, narrowed at the base, short-petioled ½—1½ inches long, nearly half as broad, yellowish or purplish-green when young, becoming bright green or often variegated with age. Flowers small, less than ¼ of an inch broad; purplish-green, in axillary clusters of 1—5 flowers; drupe globose-oblong, ¼ of an inch in diameter, bright red when ripe.

Throughout the Rockies in moist ground and shaded mossy places and borders of woods, flowering in June. While inconspicuous early in the season, in midsummer it is apt to be quite showy on account of the striking, golden yellow veining of the otherwise green leaves; this condition is due to a fungoid or other disease of the plant.

POLYGONACEÆ

_Buckwheat Family_

Herbs and twining vines with alternate or sometimes opposite or whorled leaves, jointed stems and usually sheathing united stipules; flowers small, regular, perfect, monœcious, diœcious or polygamous; petals none, calyx 2—6-parted, the segments more or less folded over each other, sometimes petal-like; stamens 2—9 dilated at the base and distinct or united into a ring; ovary superior, one-celled with a solitary ovule.

Flowers not involucrate; stipules sheathing. Leaves reniform, sepals 4. =Oxyria.= Leaves not reniform; sepals 6. Sepals unequal; stigmas tufted. =Rumex.= Sepals equal; stigmas capitate. =Polygonum.= Flowers involucrate, many; stipules wanting. =Eriogonum.=

[Sidenote: =Oxyria digyna= (L.) Hill. _Mountain Sorrel._]

Stems 2 inches to a foot high, scape-like and leafless, from a large chaffy rootstock. Leaves basal on long petioles, reniform or orbicular ½—2 inches wide with a wavy margin, sometimes notched at the apex. Racemes 2—3 inches or more long, of many small flowers on slender pedicels; crimson or pinkish and showy in fruit.

Frequent at the higher altitudes throughout the region in moist grounds and beside streams, flowering in June.

[Sidenote: =Rumex acetosa= _Sour._]

Stems a foot or more high, smooth. Leaves oblong, hastate or ovate-sagittate, 1—4 inches long, acute, the basal few and long petioled, stem leaves sessile, the acute auricles entire. Flowers, diœcious, minute, crowded in a slender head 3—6 inches long, yellowish-green tinged with red.

In moist open ground at the higher elevations, more or less frequent throughout the Rockies, flowering in midsummer.

[Sidenote: =Rumex salicifiolus= Weinm. _Pale-leaved Dock._]

Smooth, pale green, erect, and spreading, 1—3 feet high. Leaves lanceolate, acute or acuminate at both ends, petioled. Flowers small greenish-white in erect or reflexed racemes, dense in fruit, interrupted below; wings of the fruit triangular-ovate, with a large ovoid tubercle.

Frequent throughout the Rockies at the lower altitudes; flowering in summer.

[Sidenote: =Polygonum viviparum= L. _Alpine Bistort._]

Smooth, with a corm-like rootstock; stems solitary or clustered, 2—10 inches high. Basal leaves lanceolate or oblong. 1—8 inches long, rather acute, cordate at the base on long petioles; stem leaves narrowly lanceolate or linear, upper sessile with revolute margins. Flowers in a dense terminal raceme several inches long; rose-coloured or white; stamens exserted; small bulblets frequently developed among the flowers, which later produce leaves and young plants.

Frequent in moist sandy soil and river banks throughout the Rockies, flowering in June and July.

Several small weedy species of the genus are also found through the region but are not sufficiently striking to be here described.

[Sidenote: =Eriogonum subalpinum= Greene. _Tall White Eriogonum._]

Stems depressed, much branched, prostrate and matted at the base. Leaves oblong to ovate-spatulate, 1—2 inches long, on slender petioles, smooth and green above, white-woolly beneath. Scape-like peduncles, erect, 8—14 inches high, with a simple, large umbel of 8—12 rays subtended by a whorl of leaves. Flowers ⅛—¼ of an inch high, cream-coloured or nearly pure white, and tinged with rosy pink especially in age.

A striking plant growing in stony places and on rocky slopes, throughout the Rockies, flowering in June and July.

[Sidenote: =Eriogonum ochroleucum= Small. _Yellowish-white Eriogonum._]

Tufted from a large rootstock. Leaves white and woolly throughout, densely crowded on the very short stems, elliptic to obovate-spatulate, half an inch or more long, narrowed at the base into slender, frequently spirally-twisted petioles; scapes slender, several, six inches or more high bearing a globular head of pale yellowish-white flowers ³/₁₆ of an inch high.

On a moist rocky slope at an elevation of 4500 feet near Glacier, abundant, the plant may occur elsewhere in the region but has not been observed; flowers in June.

PORTULACACEÆ

_Purslane Family_

Fleshy herbaceous plants, with regular perfect, unsymmetrical flowers; sepals commonly 2; petals 4 or 5, folded together, stamens equal in number to the petals or fewer.

[Sidenote: =Claytonia lanceolata= Pursh. _Spring Beauty._]

Stem 3—8 inches high from a round corm. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, ½—1½ inches long. Flowers nearly half an inch broad, few to several in a loose head, on slender pedicels; petals notched at the end or almost obcordate, white with pink veins.

One of the first plants to appear in spring on the edges of the snow banks, throughout the region, from the lower altitudes up to the alpine summits, flowering throughout the summer according to elevation and condition of the snow.

[Illustration: Claytonia lanceolata Pursh. (½ Nat.) Spring Beauty.]

[Illustration: Claytonia parvifolia Moc. (½ Nat.) Small-Leaved Spring Beauty.]

[Sidenote: =Claytonia parvifolia= Moc. _Small-leaved Spring Beauty._]