ACADIA An Old Account of Mt. Washington A Word Upon its Insect Life A Word on Mt. Katahdin Sieur de Monts Publications XVIII

THE VEGETATION OF THE WHITE HILLS
JACOB BIGELOW, 1816

The vegetation of the White Hills has been divided with propriety, into three zones. That of the common forest trees; that of dwarf evergreens; and that of alpine plants.

The woods, which extend from the base up the sides to the height of about 4,000 feet from the sea, consist of the Rock-maple (Acer saccharinum), which is the most abundant tree, the Red maple (Acer rubrum), the Silver-fir (Pinus balsamea), the Hemlock (Pinus Canadensis), the Black and White-spruce (Picea nigra and alba), the White-pine (Pinus strobus), the Beech (Fagus ferruginea), the Black, Yellow and White-birch (Betula lenta, lutea, and papyracea). The undergrowth was composed principally of the Viburnum lantanoides, the Acer montanum and striatum, and Sorbus Americana. Under our feet was the Oxalis acetosella beyond every other species of plant; Dracena borealis; Cornus Canadensis; Gaultheria hispidula, etc.

HERMIT LAKE AND TUCKERMAN'S RAVINE

Where the common forest trees terminate, the second zone of the mountain immediately commences, the line between them being very distinctly drawn. This region consists of a belt of the Black-spruce and Silver-fir, rising to the height of seven or eight feet and putting out long, firm, horizontal or depending branches, so that each tree covers a considerable extent of ground. This mode of growths may be ascribed to two causes: 1st, The great length of time that the snow rests upon them, weighing down their branches, and confining them in an horizontal direction. 2nd, The extreme cold which probably prevails here in winter, and which is destructive to all vegetation that is not secured by being buried under the snow. Upon the ground under these evergreen trees, there were but few other vegetables. The only plants which I recollect in flower were the Houstonia coerulea, uncommonly large, and Cornus Canadensis.

Above the zone of firs, which terminates as abruptly as it begins, is a third or bald region wholly destitute of any growth of wood. The predominance of rocks on this portion leaves but a scanty surface covered with soil capable of giving root to vegetation; yet to the botanist this is by far the most interesting part of the mountain. Many of the plants of this region are rare, and not to be found in the region below. They are for the most part natives of cold climates and situations, such as are found in high latitudes, or at great elevations. Among them are natives of Siberia, of Lapland, of Greenland and Labrador. Vegetables of this race, usually known by the name of Alpine plants, have always been found difficult of cultivation. They are impatient of drought, and of both the extremes of heat and cold. During the severity of the winter in their native situations they are preserved from injury by the great depth of snow under which they are covered, which secures them from the inclemency of the air, while they partake the temperature of the earth below them. When the snow leaves them, which frequently does not happen till the middle of summer, they instantly shoot up with a vigor proportionate to the length of time they have been dormant, rapidly unfold their flowers and mature their fruits; and, having run through the whole course of their vegetation in a few weeks, are again ready to be entombed for the rest of the year under their accustomed covering of snow. These plants, notwithstanding the high and barren elevations at which they frequently grow, do not suffer for want of moisture, being constantly irrigated by the clouds which embrace them, and by the trickling of water over their roots from the eminences above.

The vegetation, in spots, extended quite to the top of the mountain. Diapensia Lapponica and Lycopodium lucidulum, the former in full flower, were growing within six feet of the summit. All the rocks were incrusted with Lichens, among which L. velleus is the one which predominates, and contributes essentially to the dark grey appearance of the mountain.

ANIMALS

The unsettled state of the country for some distance around these mountains and the many recesses and solitudes which they possess that are rarely visited by man render them still a resort for many of the original animals of the continent whose species have nearly disappeared from the more inhabited parts. The moose (cervus alces) still resides here, and we were told that upon the Pliny mountains, about twenty miles to the northwest, some of these animals are killed in the course of every winter. The bear (ursus Americanus) inhabits the woods about the base and sides of the mountain, where he is not unfrequently met with. The wolves (canis lupus), being gregarious, move in troops and are said to visit this part of the country once in three or four years. Several of them were killed last winter in Eaton, a town adjoining the mountains. The wolverene (ursus luscus), racoon (ursus lotor), porcupine (hystrix dorsata), and sable, the two latter in considerable numbers — are found in various parts of the forests; the wild-cat (felis montana) is occasionally killed here; the catamount (felis concolor, s. couguar), is at the present day seldom heard of.

Of birds, we saw but few. Most of our migratory land birds, choosing to share with man the fruits of his cultivation, are more frequently found about the abodes of civilization than in the solitude of the forest. In Bretton woods several wood-peckers were shot by our party, all of them very beautiful species, and among the rest picus tridactylus, remarkably distinguished from the rest of his family by the number of his toes. The partridge (tetrao umbellus), we frequently scared. This bird, as well as a species of plover or tringa, have been seen in the upper or bald part of the mountain.

The insects which we observed at the top of the mountain were as numerous and various as in any place below. Among them were species of Phaloena, Cerambyx, Coccinella, Buprestis, Cimex and Tenthredo. The most splendid of our native butterflies, Papilio Turnus, was fluttering near us while we remained on the summit.