a

dominate the floor is dwarf birch, Betula glandulosa,
height. Other less abundant plants
arf raspberry,

grass clumps that :
none of which exceeds 12 inches in
observed were Labrador tea, Ledum groenlandicum, dw
Rubus acaulis, and rosemary, Andromeda polifolia.

on some of these muskegs. An occasional
long their margins but,
d devoid of bird-life.

Sandhill cranes nest
marsh hawk and a few forest birds were seen a
for the most part, these open territories seeme

Puntchesakut Lake: (Fig- 3): 1 3/4 miles long, 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide.
The shores are chiefly hard clay, boulders and gravel except along the
soft margins of several sedge meadows; the bottom is hard, the water
clear and relatively cold. In May, 1944, the level was reported to be
12 inches higher than normal. Jordan Creek, the principal tributary,
originates in a small muskeg lake several miles to the northwest and
drains large muskegs on its course to the lake. It has a good flow in
early summer, and a gravel bottom, where Kamloops trout and suckers
spawn. The lake is drained by Puntchesakut Creek, a sluggish stream
that winds through a sedge meadow for a quarter mile or so, then turns
at right angles and flows through wooded country to empty into Baker
Creek. Puntchesakut Creek is also a spawning ground for the fishes
mentioned.

The surrounding forest is composed mainly of conifers mixed with
tall aspen on the west, and predominantly aspen-on the east approach.
On the greater part of the shore the beach is a narrow strip between
a rapidly shelving lake bottom and a fairly steep land slope, the base
of which is obscured by a riparian growth of alder, willow, and a few
black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa. Near the north end of the lake
a flat peninsula covered with aspen at its base, and with lodgepole
pine of the spreading type on the terminal portion, forms one shore
of a marshy bay (Fig. 4). Along this peninsula, and for a short dis-
tance on either side, is an open gravel beach, grass-covered above
high water mark and dotted with black twin-berry, Lonicera involucra-
ta, scopalallie, Shepherdia canadense, and other low growth.

Three large hay meadows adjoin the lake, one at the northeast,
one at the west and a third, the largest, extends in a southwesterly
direction from the south end of the lake for approximately three-
quarters of a mile to Tiltzarone Lake (Fig. 5). These, and several
smaller meadows, are similar in character, viz.; sovered with sedges
and grasses of numerous species, and by areas on which low willows
and dwarf birch are dominant. All were dry or nearly so in early May
and this seems to be the normal condition. Each extends to the lake,
and at the lake margin terminates in a narrow marsh of coarse-leafed
sedges, spike rush Eleocharis palustris, manna grass Glyceris
borealis, and other aquatics. Beyond are beds of yellow pond lily
Nuphar polysepala. Water moss is common in such places but there is
no round-stem bulrush. Along both sides of the largest meadow

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