The Hudsonian zone is next, and is the highest one having forest vegetation. Around 3,500 feet elevation there is a mingling of Canadian and Hudsonian trees. Some trees of the Canadian zone are still found, but some different kinds are included in the forest composition. The characteristic Hudsonian zone trees are mountain hemlock, Pacific silver fir, alpine fir, and Alaska-cedar. The last-named has typical cedar foliage. Its branches and twigs droop as if they were wilted. Trees in this zone are much smaller than those at lower altitudes and become still smaller with every upward step. At the uppermost fringe of tree growth the winds hold them close to the ground as deformed growths. This is known as _krummholz_, a German word meaning “crooked wood.” The name is applied to stunted forest commonly found in alpine regions. Timberline in the Olympic Mountains is generally at about 5,000 feet, which coincides with the height of many of the ridgetops. The beginning of the Hudsonian zone is the beginning of the high country. The sky is bluer and in summer an alpine fragrance adds zest to the air. The forested slopes give way, in depressions, to meadows that are brilliant with wildflowers in summer. Basins carved by snow and ice hold numerous mountain lakes, with streams flowing into and out of them. [Illustration: THE CANADIAN AND HUDSONIAN LIFE ZONES ARE REPRESENTED IN THE RESPECTIVELY HIGHER FOREST BELTS THAT LIE ABOVE LUSH RAIN FORESTS.] The Hudsonian meadows, in depressions above 3,500 feet, are knee-deep in grass in July and August, and flowers form a medley of color. Aster, pedicularis, arnica, shootingstar, cinquefoil, and false-hellebore are among the conspicuous flowers there. Stream margins and marshy ground are preferred by such plants as marshmarigold and globeflower. [Illustration: MEADOWS AND CLUSTERS OF TREES OF THE HUDSONIAN ZONE.] Higher in the Hudsonian zone there are prairielike meadows where flowers bloom in profusion. Extending 60 miles across the north and east sides of the park there are thousands of acres of this meadowland on the ridges. Hurricane Ridge is in the midst of this and presents some of the finest flower displays. Some slopes in early summer are white with avalanche lilies, one of the most abundant and widespread of the mountain flowers. Near timberline they grow among the trees, as well as in the open. Other meadows are yellow with pure stands of glacier lily, one of the earliest of spring flowers. Impatient with winter, it pushes through the thinning snowbanks. Where soil is deep, subalpine lupine blooms profusely. Among the most common and conspicuous in rich meadows are larkspur, buttercup, cinquefoil, paintbrush, arnica, tiger lily, and mountain buckwheat.