** In the spring of 1810, during the course of an exten- 
sive journey into the north-western interior of the terri- 
tories of the United States, I first became acquainted with 
the very singular and interesting plant which forms the 
subject of the present memoir. The specimens which 
I then obtained on the alluvial soils of the Alleghany and 
on the borders of lake Erie, were finally lost. On arriving 
at St. Louis, near the confluence of the Missouri and Mis- 
sissipi rivers, I found that Mr. John Bradbury, a Botanist, 
had also detected this plant about the same time, on 
the banks of the Missouri and Mississipi; but I saw no 
specimen. In the spring of 1816, having undertaken a tour 
to the Western States, I determined, if possible, again to col- 
lect this neglected plant; but after a journey of more than 
a hundred miles, for scarcely any other purpose, I arrived 
at Pittsburgh disappointed of my object. On descending 
the Ohio, however, nearly to Galiopolis, I at last recog- 
nised it on the more open alluvions of the river, withered, 
and nearly past affording seed, accompanied by Hesperis 
pinnatifida, and the interesting Phalangium esculentum.. . 
....I have dedicated the genus to the name of Mr. Zac- 
cheus Collins, of Philadelphia, a gentleman whose talents 
as a Botanist and Mineralogist are deservedly acknow- 
ledged.” r3 
