Above the Subalpine zone, whose upper limit is treeline, lies the
Alpine, or Arctic-Alpine, zone. This is the distinctive "Land of
Lilliput" of the plant kingdom, the alpine tundra, where nearly all
existing plant species are in dwarf form. Some of the zone is barren
rock, with only algae and lichen growth. Vast expanses of it, however,
are covered with a cold, wet soil mantle which, during the brief
summertime, presents a myriad of low, cushionlike flower clumps.
Sometimes--usually through July--the effect is that of a vast carpet of
flowers. The list of plant species is great. Showiest of the alpine
flowers are ALPINE BUTTERCUP, with large, yellow, poppylike flowers,
often blooming at the very edges of snowbanks; ALPINE FORGET-ME-NOT,
which grows in dense, low clumps and presents thick patches of
bright-blue flowers; MOSS SILENE ("moss campion"), a mosslike cushion
plant with pink flowers (also found in Greenland and Alaska); GRAYLOCKS
ACTINEA, sometimes called "Old Man of the Mountain," with bright-yellow
flower heads, usually wind-blown and ragged, almost as broad as the
plant is tall; TUFTED PHLOX, better known here as "alpine phlox," the
cushion of which is sometimes entirely covered with pale-blue or white
flowers; AMERICAN BISTORT, with dense spikes of tiny flowers standing
like miniature bottle brushes above the tundra grasses; KINGS CROWN, a
fleshy plant with dark-red blossoms, the whole plant often turning
completely red in late summer; and MT. WASHINGTON DRYAD, with its
curious 8-petaled, cream-colored flowers.
[Illustration: Limber pine at treeline.]
Tundra is characteristically composed of grasses, sedges, herbs, and a
few dwarfed shrubs. Many lichens and mosses also grow in tundra. The
plants are typically small, low-growing, and compact, and often have
showy flowers. There seems to be an abundance of blossoms in proportion
to the size and amount of foliage of the plants. Their small leaves are
protected from excessive water loss by masses of hairs or waxy
substances, and they frequently contain high amounts of red pigment.
Most of these plants are exceedingly slow-growing; some of those you see
may be a hundred to several thousand years old.
The story of the park's trees and flowers is intensely interesting, but
can best be understood by more careful study than is possible in this
booklet. Several excellent botanical bulletins are available, and we
urge you to invest in one of them.