Among the last seeds sent from California by Mr. Douglas, 
were some of this plant, which forms an interesting addition 
to the genus Hosackia. It is much larger than any other 
known species, forming a stout bush about three feet high, 
and multiplying itself readily by its creeping roots. Although 
its flowers are unattractive, it forms a good shrubbery plant, 
where it is desirable to form the appearance of under- 
growth quickly—for it resembles a shrub during the sum- 
mer, and it spreads so fast as soon to extend far beyond its 
original station. It flowers in June, and produces an abun- 
dance of its seeds in August. 
It is nearly allied to H. crassifolia, which is distinguished 
by its scarious stipules, 4- or 5-paired leaves, with more ob- 
tuse leaflets, and few-flowered umbels. 
I remarked among the seeds I examined, two whose 
embryos had three cotyledons, an unusual occurrence, the 
more interesting as taking place in the embryo of a species 
whose leaves are unequally pinnated, and indicating a kind 
of foreshadowing in the rudimentary plant of the plan of 
organization in the perfect plant. 
