248 Notes on Cnothera. _ [ZOE 
six of three and one of two. This practically closes the book for 
the year. It must be borne in mind, however, that the foregoing is 
_ given only to show the unusual size of the clutches and not as an 
actual representation of all the nests that came under my observa- 
tion. The mesas and desert lands of Arizona are better than the 
macadamized road of the Eastern States for good driving, and, as 
they are generally level and everywhere accessible to a team, a- 
large area of ground can be covered in one day. This fact par- 
tially accounts for the richness of the foregoing result for 1889. 
NOTES ON SOME SPECIES OF THE GENUS 
CENOTHERA. 
BY ALICE EASTWOOD. 
Cnothera biennis L. The flowers of this common species ex- 
pand about sunrise, not all at once as if they were opened by 
electricity, but one here, another there, and so on until all the fully 
developed buds are out. The style is shorter than the filaments, 
and fertilization takes place in the bud. Ona cloudy morning they 
remain bright and fresh, but when the sun beats down with intense 
and undimmed rays, the petals are wilted long before noon. The 
var. grandiflora Lindl. has much larger flowers and stems less 
leafy. The style is larger than the filaments and before the bud 
opens is protruded from the expanding corolla, so fertilization in 
the bud is impossible. I have not observed insects flying around 
_ the open flowers or crawling within the corollas. 
Gnothera pinnatifida Nutt. In the spring two classes of plants 
can be found; those that have evidently lived through the previous 
season and small plants that appear to be seedlings. The former 
soon become large with spreading habit, often forming a mat more 
_ thana foot in diameter. I have counted sixty-five large white blos- 
soms on a single plant. They die when the seed ripens, unless 
growing near where the supply of water is permanent, when they ap- 
pear to become perennial. They bloom in April and May, often © 
lingering on through June and even. occasionally into August. 
When there are rains in August, as there almost always are, a new 
crop of seedlings comes up which form simple-stemmed plants with 
a few flowers that remain until the frost. These plants are, in my 
opinion, the originals of the many stemmed plants of the next spring, — 
X 
