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Show [ 174 J 314 long. Leu vcs smoo.th; the COll1ll~On petiole 1-. Q inches l?ng, auu terminated by a spiuescent pomt; le~ilets iro111 ha~f an mch to a1~ 1neh Jon~, and 1-2 lines broad, sonww I mt concuceo us, spanugl y but 1~rommeu tly vewcllundr.r. neath. , pikes 2-4 inches loug, aud about.one-tl11rcl of au i!lcll in diameter. Flowers yellow, vrry J'ragr:lnl, tl!'arly sess1le ou the rachts. Calyx cam. panulato, somewhat ectuall~ 5-toothed, smooth. Petals ovate-ob~ong,hairy inside. Stamcu 10, Ollc-tlurd lougcr tllan the corolla. Au tiler::; ttppcd with a slightly stipitate gla11d. Ovary li~war-olJlong, villous; style s~ootl!; stirtma capitate, e;otlcavc at tlto extreu11ty. .L~gumcs .clustered, ~ptrally twi~teu into a very close rigid cyliuder, wlltcll L' from an HH.:h to au 111clt at•td a half loner and abont two litiCS in dianH·ter, forrui11g from le11 to tllirtcenturns n1a~~ st'ctlcd. Sarcocarp pu I py; tltL! two oppo.--ite sides of' the firm endo~ carp arc compressed togctltor between the seeds, formitt(r a longituuinn.l kind of sept tun, which di v iues tltc pulp ittlo two parts. Seeds ovate, kidney-form, con1 prcs~ed, very smooth and hard. EtulJryo yo llo w jsh, surronnJcd with a thin albmn<'ll. A clw.raclvri~tic tree in the lllOUlltn.illOllS part or Northern ('ali[ornia,particularly along tile lVIohallve and Virgen rivers, Jlowuring t11C latter part of April. Tllis species lJeJongs to the scctio11 sl?'Otnbocarpa of JV[r. Bentham," which includes tile .Jlcacia sl'rombutijera of \Vildenow. Iu the structnre of the pou it is so remarkable that we at o11c tinlC regarded it a!:l a uisti11ct genus, to which we gave the nan1e oC Spirolobium. There arc tmmerons other Legnmittos~u i11 the collection, inclnuiug, as might be expected, mauy spcril's oC Lupinus, i\stragalns, Oxytropis, nnd Phaca, some of which arc new; also, Thcnnopsi rhomi..Jifo liu aud mou. tana, and a beautiful sltrubby P~oralca (or some allied genus) covered with bright violet Jlowers. Cow ANT .A PLICA'l'A. D. Don. (?) Specimen· of this plant, without a ticket, were in the collection; doubtless obtained in Califoruia. It may prove to be a distinct species from the Mexican plant, for the lca.vcs arc more divided than they arc described by Don, aud the flowers arc smaller. Tlw ~enns Cowania is very nearly al· lied to Ccrcocarpus and Purshia, notwithstauding its numerous ovaries. The lobe~ of the calyx arc imbricated, as in those genera, and not valvatc, as in Eudr,yadetrJ, to which sectjou it is referred by Endiichcr. Purshia tridentata formed a con~picuous object iu several parts of the route, not only east of the 1nouutains, but in Oregon and Califomia. lt is covered with a profusion of yellow flowers, ancl is qnitc ornanwntal. ."ometimcs it attains the height of twelve feet. Spirma a.ricefolia, var. discolo1·, was found on the npper waters of the Platte, holding its characters so well that it should perhaps be regarded as a distinct species. · <ENOTIIERA CLAVJEFORMrs. Tm·r. and F·rem. Leaves ovate or oblong, denticulate or toothed, pitmatificd at the uasc, with a long naked petiole; seape with several smalll<~avcs, 8-12-fl?we~·ed; segments ?f the calyx lougcr than the tube; capsules clavatc-cyltn~ncal, nearly twlCe as lo11g a~ tile pcuicel. Flowers about as large as Ill (E. pu· 1nila. Grows with the preceding. In Hooker's Joumul of Dotany, iv, p. 351. 315 [ 174 J This new species belongs to the section C!tylismia of N ntt. (Ton., and Gr. Fl. N. .llm. l,p. 506.) CENOTHERA DELTOIDEs. Ton .. and Frem. .Annual; ca~wscently strigosc; sten1 low aud stout; leaves rhotubicovate, repandly dcuttcnlate, acute; flowers (b .. rge) clustered at the summit of the short st:-m; tube ~f the cal~x ~lCarly t:vJcc the l~ngtiJ of the seguiCnts; petals entue, one-tlurd .Jongct tlt,lu the sl.lglHly dcclmcd st~mcn~; a11 thcrs very long, ?xed by the mtd~~c ~ style c xscrftcd; capsules pn~mat1c.cylinurical. Alhe~ to q;:. Jamcsu, TOJ''l'. (f?ld c')_.., and belongs, llkc that S[>ccies, to the sectiOn EumNOTIIERA and sub-scctwn Unagnt. CENOTHERA CANJ<~S<'ENS. To'rr. and Fri-m. St.rigosct y cancscet~ t; lea vc~ uarro w I y lanceolatc, rat he o btnRc, remote I y dcntJCnlatc; fJowers m a leafy rac<'nw; r nbc of the calyx rather sle11der three times a::; long as tbc ovary, and one-third longer tl1a11 the scgmeuts ~ petals broadly ovate, entire. ' This species was collected (we believe) on the upper waters of the Platte. It belongs to the section ;Eumnot~1cra, au~l to a sub.scction which may be called CAuuoPsrs, and ctmracrenzed as follows: Perennial difi'use lterbs. tube of .tile caly_x lin?ar; caJ:sulc ob.ovatc, sessile, with 4-winged angle~ and no Hltermedtatc nbs, tardd y opcumg; seeds numerous, horizontal; the testa membranaceou..,; lea vos OJHHJ ne. Besides these new species, many otl ter ilinothcrm were collected· amon()' which may be mentioned (Jf}. olbicrndis) alyssoides, montana aJ'td JJJi~~ ~ou1·iensis. Also~ Gayophytum rh:ffusurn, (from the Snake cou~1lry, growmg about 2 feet h1gh:) Stenosiplwn virgaturn, and Gaura coccinca. C 01\'fPOS I'l'll~. '~he plants of this family were placed in the hands of Dr. Gray for exatl1l~ atwn; aud he has de. cnhctl some of them (including four new O'Cne. ra)m the ll? ton Journal of Natural History for January, 1845. IIe5 has .mce asc~rta1~cd. another new gc11 us among the specimens; and we fully concur ~vlth hun m the propri<~ty of' dedicating it to the late distingui. hcd 1. ~.Nicollet, ~s~., .w h.o spent severnl years in exploring the country water~ d by. the Mtssisstppl anc~ Missouri rivers, and who was employed by the l Umt~d States Goyernment 1~1 a survey of the region lyiug between the sources of those nvers. Tlus gentleman exerted himself to make known the. botany. of the conn try w1Jicl1 he explored, and brought home with him ~n mtercstlll~ collection of plants, made under his direction, by Mr. Charles . ey~r, of wluch an account is given in the report of l\1r. N. The followlll< t IS the description of this gcuu by Dr. Gray: NrcoLJ,ETIA. G1·ay. ul "Heads .he.tcrogamous, with few rays, many flowered. Invo 1 ncrc campanb are,conststmg of about 8 oval membranaceous scales in a single series; the 1 ase calyculate, with one or two sn1allcr scales. Receptacle convex, alveotte .. Corolla of the di5k flowers equally 5-toothed. Branches of the style c~~~ltHtted by a subulatc hispcd appendage. Achcnia elongated, slender, the esccn~ly pubescent. Pappus double, scarcely shorter than tile corrolla; exterwr of nnmerons scabrous, unequal bristles; the inner of 5 linear- • I |
