The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-30
DelIqhts of Mountain Flora.

q.
enjoyable experience. can; come than an
opportunity of seeing and studying, even.
slightly, the mountain. fora of the west.
It's richness, variety and novelty are a
surprise and delight. The forests are
beautiful and interesting In the aggre-
gate, as we'll as in the nearer view, and
the underbrush Is interesting in every as
pect-except that of penetrating it In the
absence Of trail. The brush Is largely
made up Of Towering specimens, many Of
which are Of uncommon beauty, such as
the white Towering rhododendron and
Labrador tea. One snowy plant is liter
ally a: thorn in the flesh to. all who tramp
through the bush. 1t is called the DEVILS
club and has large palmate leaves with
big fat umbels of white flowers re-
sembling wild parsley: The short; stout
prickles cause sores - The wild raspberries
have, large scattered leaves and conspicu-
Gus white flowers and the berry is rather
insipid. The blueberry and huckleberry
bushes and at least two varieties of cram
berry vines are numerous: '''F@ :
Some Characteristic Flowers. : :
An interesting characteristic about the
Towering plants is that they mass them
selves in patches that are. very effective
and not many varieties are found growing
together. On the moss in the lower alti-;
tudes will be found two beautiful white
y,
nodding clintonia hidden among the ferns
and delicate little Towering vines like
diminutive strawberry plant. Still lower
in the valleys the characteristic flowers
are a handsome yellow daisy with a simple
flower on each plant and the painted cup
in both brilliant scarlet and yellow: They
reach size and depth of color in the
mountains seen nowhere else. One of the
commonest and showiest plants of tho
" lower meadows and roadsides and the for
est edges is the tall firewood with it's
slender, sharp pointed, long spikes Of
magenta flowers. A low variety has
much larger and handsonler fowerets on
q short stock. =, This grows in the cold,
water soaked glacial mud, at the foot Of
the glaciers. =: s.> j.
The True Lovers Emblem.
The most beautiful glacial flower Is
the tall fragrant forget-me-not that re.
fleets the heavenly blue Of the skies and Is
tipped with the rose Of dawn. The bed
Of this lovers flower near the end Of Vic
toria glacier at Laggan is famous the
world over and it appears to be inexhaust-
ible. for no traveller departs with pluck
ing bit Oft. One of its neighbors at this
spot Is the butterwort, a. dainty low
blossom of the most exquisite purple with
acwhorl Of light green shiny radical leaves.
It is promptly and confidently spotted by
the uninitiated as violet, which It re-
sernbles specifically but all sentiment Is
taken out of 1t in spite Of Its dainty ap-
pearance by the discovery that its glossy
leaves are covered with grease to catch
and digest insects. The ferment Of the
leaves has the characteristic Of rennet
and will curdle milk and on the testimony
OF Professor Conway Mcmillan 1t Is. ac-
tually used in domestic cheesemakine in
Scandinavian countries. ;.%~.. r.
:, Probably all would agree that the most
elegant flower Of the bush and one pecul-
: aar to the high mountains is the yellow
columbine. There are several species, one
OF which Is q pure cream color and an
other tall one Is delicate pink on the
outside. = , -"
did not see or hear of any Of the beau
t1Su1 big ones found farther south In the
Rockies, growing wild III the Canadian
mountains, but they. are cultivated in the
mountain rock gardens = :.5....>s II
Brilliant. Alpine Meadows. +
Most interesting Of all are the flowers
OF the mountain meadows. In many Of
these the snow piles remain ins the hollows
nearly all summer and their moses and
grasses are kept saturated by trtckline
4 mountain streams. These are literally car
peted with the most brilliant-hued bios
soms, the bright colors being "a distin-
gushing trait of these Canadian alps.
They are all spring varieties, for in some
situation one Is always able. to find spring
vegetation all summer. One could reach
E under the edge Of q retreating snow or ice
pile and pull the buds Of the big white
mountain; anemone that is almost identical
4 with our downy blue basque flower, ex-
fept In color, and ten feet away the ful1
blown blossoms would be growing in pro-
fusion Dwarf buttercups, another small.
er and more slender anemone, tinged with
! blue, smooth yellow violets and ssprina
beauties are also snow flowers Another
flower that tfourishes in the dryer spots
Of the high mountain meadows Is the
white dryas, a relative Of the strawberry.
The saxifrages lend their bright color
notes and the characteristic plant Of the
forests near the tree line is the trailins
linnea borealis, with fragrant, noddine
bell shaped flowers One usually accurate
scientific observer declares that the Rocky
mountains produce no real heather. but