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CATALOGUE OF SPECIES. 89 



of which nearly all have a largo leaf surface adapted to moist climates, this one, 

 departing from the typical form, has developed thickened epidermal structures and 

 small, early deciduous leaflets, characters common in desert shrubs. 



Cercis occiclentalis Gray, PI, Lindh. ji. 177 (1850) — Torr. MS. Typo locality 

 not given, hut reference is made to the Californian plants of Fremont and Hartwog. 



Specimens were collected on the South Fork of Kern River (No. 1027), and others 

 were observed in the valley of the Kaweah Pivcr both above and below Kane Flat. 

 The species has been supposed to he confined to that part of California west of the 

 Sierra Nevada, but il lias now been col lee led (No. lf<83) in the Charleston Mountains, 

 Nevada; and in 188!) it was collected by Mr. F. H. Knowlton in Arizona, on the 

 Grand Canon of the Colorado, at a point nearly north of San Francisco Mountain. 



Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) Fl. Ind. Occ. ii. 986 (1800), under Mimosa; DC. Prodr. 

 ii. 447 { 182")). Type locality, "in siccissimis campis Jamaicae." This may have been 

 published earlier in Swartz's Prodromus. The specific name used by Swartz is 

 pilijlora, which is, on the authority of Bentham, a typographical error for juliflora. 



The mesquite tree, characteristic of desert areas with moist subsoil, was widely 

 scattered over the region traversed by the expedition. The numerous stations occur 

 in the following localities: along the west side of Death Valley, several miles both 

 north and south of Bennett Wells; in Furnace Creek Canon and on the edges of the 

 broad mesa at its mouth ; at a few points between Salt Wells and Saratoga Springs ; 

 along the Amargosa near the latter place; scattered over large areas in Resting 

 Springs Valley, Pahrump Valley, Vegas Vallej', Vegas Wash, Ash Meadows, Pana- 

 mint Valley, and in several canons of the Funeral and Panamint mountains. The 

 highest point at which it grew was in Johnson Canon, at Pete's garden, at the alti- 

 tude of about 1,725 meters, a short distance above the upper limit of Larrea. Along 

 the Mohave River, and in Owens Valley, the southern and western parts of the 

 desert region traversed, it did not occur. Specimens were collected near Mesquite 

 Well in Death Valley (Xo. 192). The largest specimen seen was in Death Valley 

 between Mesquite and Bennett wells. It was about 10 meters high, with a spread of 

 branches 25 by 30 meters, and its trunk measured 1.82 meters in circumference. The 

 tree is of great importance to travelers, since its hard mahogany-like wood furnishes 

 excellent fuel. Growing in moist soil, frequently in the vicinity of springs, it is 

 therefore often conveniently situated near camping places. The ranchers at Ash 

 Meadows, Resting Springs, and Furnace Creek used it almost exclusively for fuel, 

 and the Eagle Borax Works in Death Valley employed it for the same purpose so 

 extensively as to exhaust the whole supply in the vicinity. 



A curious appearance is sometimes presented from the drifting of sand about the 

 trees. Their low branches otfer an excellent windbreak, and the dry sand blown 

 along by the wind is deposited beneath them. Frequently after the lapse of many 

 years a sand-hill 3 to 5 meters high is accumulated, from the surface of which the 

 branches of the mesquite project in all directions like so many small shrubs. If the 

 trees stand close together in rows or in groups, sand-hills of corresponding shape are 

 formed, while single trees are often imbedded in rounded dome-like mounds of regular 

 form. In Death Valley, between Mesquite and Salt wells, these sand-hills are espe- 

 cially well developed. 



In the higher parts of Resting Springs Valley the mesquite is often reduced to the 

 form of a procumbent shrub whose branches rise not more than a meter from the 

 ground. 



Prosopis pubescens Benth. Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 82 (1846.) Type locality, 

 "California between San Miguel and Monterey. " The original specimens were col- 

 lected by Thomas Coulter. The plant docs not occur in that part of California to 

 which reference is made, but Coulter's specimens probably came from some point in 

 Mexico associated with towns of the same name as those cited by Bcnlhain. 



