Where it occurs
at all, it usually covers all the ground with a close, impenetrable
growth, scarcely broken for miles.
Up through the forest region, to a height of about 9000 feet above
sea-level, there are ragged patches of manzanita, and five or six
species of ceanothus, called deer-brush or California lilac. These are
the most important of all the honey-bearing bushes of the Sierra.
_Chamaebatia foliolosa_, a little shrub about a foot high, with flowers
like the strawberry, makes handsome carpets beneath the pines, and seems
to be a favorite with the bees; while pines themselves furnish unlimited
quantities of pollen and honey-dew. The product of a single tree,
ripening its pollen at the right time of year, would be sufficient for
the wants of a whole hive. Along the streams there is a rich growth of
lilies, larkspurs, pedicularis, castilleias, and clover. The alpine
region contains the flowery glacier meadows, and countless small gardens
in all sorts of places full of potentilla of several species, spraguea,
ivesia, epilobium, and goldenrod, with beds of bryanthus and the
charming cassiope covered with sweet bells. Even the tops of the
mountains are blessed with flowers,--dwarf phlox, polemonium, ribes,
hulsea, etc.
Pages:
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401