318 University of California Publications in Zoology [ Vou. 24

Ktispiox VALLEY

The Kispiox River empties into the Skeena about ten miles north
of Hazelton. Our camp in Kispiox Valley was at Beirnes’ ranch,
twenty-three miles north of Hazelton. The whole valley at that point
is of much the same nature as the bottom lands near Hazelton; there
is no such extent of spruce forest as is seen in the burned-over areas
toward Rocher Déboulé. The forest is mainly of poplar, large sized
trees with the dense underbrush that accompanies this erowth.
Scattered spruces occur everywhere, sometimes little clumps of them,
but no extensive stands. Lodgepole pine also occurs in limited amount.
In the lower Kispiox Valley there are large areas occupied almost
solidly with this pine, small trees in dense groves. The region we
covered in Kispiox Valley, though all in the poplar-grown bottom
lands, offered a greater variety of conditions locally than is usually
the case in this environment. There are many clearings in the woods,
mostly pertaining to small ranches that have been abandoned. Along
the river are wide expanses of open fields and pastures, some of this
cleared land, some of it marshy stretches supporting no growths larger
than thickets of willow and spiraea. Many little streams intersect
forests and fields, some of these rivulets heading from small lakes
buried in the thick woods.

Along the Kispiox River are occasional groves of cottonwood, huge
trees, in stands covering large areas, with underbrush beneath that 1s
of a different nature from that in the more open poplar woods. The
sun seareely penetrates into the depths of the cottonwood groves and
the gloom of their shade is suggestive of the dark woods on the coast.
Rank grass, tall nettles, thimble-berry thickets, and devil’s-elub com-
bine to form a tangle that can be penetrated at but few places.

There is an abundance of berry-bearing shrubs throughout the
valley. Twin-berry (Lonicera involucratum), dogwood (Cornus
pubescens), kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos wva-ursi), and high bush
eranberry (Viburnum pauciflorum) are among the most conspicuous.
Thickets of hazel (Corylus rostrata) form a large percentage of the
underbrush.