Routt National Forest

FLORA OF THE ROUTT

Myriads of colorful wild flowers turn the high mountain meadows into beautifully blended carpets after the heavy winter snows have receded before the summer sun. They include a great many species. Among the more common are daisies, paintbrushes, buttercups, violets, asters, lupines, larkspurs, bluebells, columbines, geraniums, and sunflowers. Space does not permit of descriptions for the flowers in this publication. For those interested, there are many good books which describe and illustrate the flowers of the Rocky Mountains.

Conifers.

Most of the trees on the Routt are conifers. They are known to many people simply as "pines," but really include pines, spruces, firs, and junipers.

PINES.—The pines have their needles gathered together at the base in bundles of from two to five. The cones are woody and pendent.

LIMBER PINE (Pinus flexilis).—Needles are fine, almost silky, dark green, 1-1/2, to 3 inches long, always in bundles of five. Cones are 3 to 10 inches long, with seeds one-third inch long; scales smooth. Bark is light gray or silvery white, except on old trunks, which are blackish brown, and furrowed.

PONDEROSA PINE (Pinus ponderosa).—Needles are 4 to 7 inches long, deep green; usually grow three in a bundle but sometimes two, and in tufts at the ends of the branches. Cones are 3 to 6 inches long and scales are armed with spines. When young, the bark is dark and the tree is, often called "blackjack" or "bull" pine. When older, the bark is yellowish in thick scales.

LODGEPOLE PINE (Pinus contorla).—Needles are 2 to 3 inches long, yellow green, growing in bundles of two; bark thin; cones one-sided, 1-1/2 to 2 inches long, and cling to the branches for years without opening or dropping their seeds. Cone scales are armed with short spines. This species is used mostly for railroad ties, mine props, and telephone poles.

SPRUCES.—Needles are scattered over the twigs singly; sharp-pointed, four-sided, leaving twigs rough like a grater when they fall off. Cones are pendent, with parchmentlike scales, falling off the tree whole.

ENGELMANN SPRUCE (Picea engelmannii).—The new-growth twigs are covered with soft, short hair. Needles are less rigid and less sharply pointed than those of blue spruce, green, dark blue, or pale, steel blue. Cones are 1 to 2 inches long. Bark is dark, reddish brown, and separates in the form of small rounded scales. Main trunk, in contrast to blue spruce, is smooth and clean.

BLUE SPRUCE (Picea pungens).—The new-growth twigs are always smooth. Needles are stiff, with sharp points, varying in color from silvery blue to green. Cones are from 2-1/2 to 5 inches long, averaging twice the length of Engelmann spruce cones. Bark of mature trunks is gray and deeply furrowed. The main trunk always has numerous short twigs pushing out between branches.

ALPINE FIR (Abies lasiocarpa).—Blunt, flat leaves, about 1 to 1-3/4 inches long, without any stem where they join branches. Soft to the touch and fragrant. Needles tend to turn upward. Cones 2-1/2 to 4 inches long, dark purple, and unlike those of other species, stand erect. In autumn the cones fall to pieces and leave only the central stalk on the branch. Bark smooth, grayish white, becoming furrowed in mature trees. Blisters containing liquid pitch or balsam found on smoother bark. Tree has a sharp spirelike crown. Usually found mixed with Engelmann spruce at the higher altitudes.

DOUGLAS-FIR (Pseudotsuga taxifolia).—Although similar in name, this species has no direct relationship to the true fir. Its leaves are flat, 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches long, with short stems that join them to the branches. Cones are pendent, with three-pronged bracts protruding from the cone scales; they are persistent and fall off the tree whole. Buds are sharp-pointed, shiny, smooth, red brown.

JUNIPERS.—The fruit is berrylike, bluish in color. The needles are merely small, green scales, attached closely to the twigs, though sometimes spreading and about one-half inch long, making twigs very prickly to the touch. The trees are usually found with pinon and oak.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN JUNIPER (Juniperus scopulorum).—The berries are about the size of peas, the bark is scaly, the twigs are slender and graceful, and the heartwood is red. The berry usually has two seeds and is bluish or black. The berries mature in 2 years.

UTAH JUNIPER (Junperus utahensis).—Berries one-fourth to one-third inch long. Bark ashy gray, about one-fourth inch thick, broken into long thin scales. Wood light brown, with nearly white sapwood. Berries are reddish brown, have one or rarely two seeds, and mature in 2 years. A small bushy tree, rarely over 20 feet high.

A BEAUTIFUL GROVE OF ASPEN ON THE ROUTT F—405398

DOME PEAK, WITHIN THE PRIMITIVE AREA F—405390

Broadleaf trees and shrubs.

ASPEN (Populus tremuloides).—The flat, nearly heart-shaped leaves are about 2 inches across; they tremble characteristically in a breeze. The bark is whitish, or very pale green, smooth, with black scars where branches have dropped off. They rarely grow more than 60 feet high.

NARROWLEAF COTTONWOOD (Populus angustifolia).—This is usually a tall tree, 40 to 60 feet high. The bark is dark gray, heavily ridged half or two-thirds of the way up the tree; above that, smooth, pale green. The leaves are one-half to 1 inch wide, by 2 or 3 inches long, very similar to willow leaves. The species is usually found along streams at lower elevations.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAPLE (Acer glabrum).—Usually a shrub, but frequently 20 to 30 feet high. This species has paired, opposite buds, sharply lobed leaves, light-gray bark, and paired, winged seed. Its leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, opposite each other.

SCRUB OAK (Quercus sp.).—Usually a shrub, rarely more than 15 feet high. Leaves are alternate, smaller at the base than at the ends, with deep lobes; frequently drying on the tree and remaining over winter. The fruit is a short, pointed acorn. The species forms dense thickets at lower elevations. Often valuable for fence posts.

THINLEAF ALDER (Alnus tenuifolia).—The alder grows along and over hanging streams, usually in clumps, several trees from the same root, frequently 4 to 6 inches in diameter and 15 to 25 feet high. Its leaves are large and sharply double-toothed. The mature, seed-bearing fruit is cone-like and quite noticeable in winter.

WILLOWS (Salix sp.).—This is the common shrub of creek bottoms. Its leaves are usually narrow, sharp-pointed. Some willows attain a diameter of 4 inches and a height of 15 to 25 feet. The buds are covered by a single scale.

WESTERN CHOKE CHERRY (Prunus demissa).—This is a shrub 3 to 15 feet high. Flowers and fruit are clustered. Alternate leaves are sharply pointed. Bark, seed, and leaves are bitter to the taste. Fruit is black.

PACIFIC SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier florida).—Leaves silvery, sharply toothed above the middle and alternate on branches. Trees, or more often shrubs, 6 to 15 feet high. Flowers white and in clusters. Five hard seeds in each berry. Berries edible, nearly black when ripe.