Читать книгу Hike the Parks: Rocky Mountain National Park - Brendan Leonard - Страница 22

Above 11,500 feet (3505 m), you won’t see tall trees, but the ground at that altitude is far from barren. Many hardy shrubs, grasses, and lichen thrive in the short growing season and harsh environment of the alpine tundra. Low-growing, wind-twisted fir and spruce trees can be several hundred to a thousand years old. These trees, called Krummholz (a German word meaning “wood that is crooked, twisted, or bent”) mark the upper limit of tree growth and the transition to alpine tundra, where a number of low-to-the-ground grasses and sedges carpet the mountain slopes.