314 
one of transcendant floral wealth. The conifers towered up some- 
times more than a hundred feet, but the oaks were seldom over 25 
feet high, but branched out vigorously. The herbaceous vegetation 
was luxuriant beyond anything else seen in Arizona, and here only 
was the striking Sisyrinchium Arizonicum found. Frasera speciosa, 
Onosmodium Thurber’, and acres of Aquilegia chrysantha \uxuriated © 
on the hill-sides ; whilst in the cold spring water Claytonia Chamis- 
sonts, Ranunculus hydrocharoides, and Habenaria leucostachys were 
growing abundantly. 
South of the Mogollon Mesa we begin the descent to the 
parched, superheated valley of the Gila River. Here hardness of 
texture and contraction of form are characteristic of the flora. The 
giant Cereus occupies the hill-sides which have a southern and 
southeastern exposure, towering up to height of from 30 to 50 feet. 
fouquiera with its leafless, wand-like trunk, and its tip of scarlet 
flowers; Agave Palmert and A. Parryt; and various species of _ 
Dasylirion, dry rigid skeletons of plants without the living green; 
- Canotia, a tree 20 feet high, a foot in diameter, with green branches 
provided with stomata, but no leaves, all go to complete this deso- 
late floral landscape. : 
A curious omission in the Catalogue is that of Cereus giganteus, 
a grove of which forms the striking frontispiece of the volume. 
We notice that Dr. Oscar Loew, a member of the Torrey Club, . 
was a very efficient member of the expedition. 5 
2. Catalogue of the Davenport Herbarium of North American 
Ferns, Boston, Massachusetts, Georce E. Davenport, December, 
1878. Price 50 cents. With names of donors and collectors, 
localities, geographical range, critical notes, and an appendix 
containing a list of all doubtful species, and those heretofore 
erroneously credited to this region. We presume that all the many 
amateurs and collectors of American Ferns have already possession 
of this incomparable catalogue. If not, we can assure them that 
they are much behindhand. _ For, while the special object in pub- 
lishing it was to make the claims of the Davenport Herbarium upon 
the consideration of collectors more widely known, in order that 
the collection may be made still more complete, the critical notes 
are so important as to be indispensable to those who would dis- 
criminate wisely between the’ many variations of fern forms. In 
1875, Mr. Davenport transferred his valuable collection of North 
American Ferns to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and 
has since been unwearied in perfecting it. Yet some of the rarer 
species are still imperfectly represented, and lack those essentials of 
good herbarium specimens, caudex and roots. These he is anxious 
to improve, and also to complete the collection as originally planned, 
by the addition of copious suites of specimens with caudex and 
roots, from widely different localities, so as to exhibit the plants in | 
all stages of their development ; as it is only by a careful study and 
comparison of the specimens in such a collection that a correct 
knowledge of the different species can be obtained. Fuller suites 
of the Ferns of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, and also of the 
rarer species from California and Florida, are particularly desired 
