Grandfather Mountain is one of a group of mountains rising to a height of over 6000 feet, in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, and forming the topmost crest of the Alleghanies. The rocks are chiefly granitic, and the crags and peaks, naturally of a grayish cast, but rendered more sombre by innumerable blackish foliaceous lichens (Umbilicaria sps). At the bases of the summit crags the forest begins; black spruces and balsam firs, alternating with open meadow-like fields of the sand myrtle (Leiophyllum buxifolium), characterize the upper levels, and enormous hemlocks from 5000 feet down; but everywhere is a wealth of magnificent deciduous trees that can hardly be matched elsewhere on this continent.