81 
From one of the joints of my plants there has exuded a straw- 
colored gum. The gum found on Opmitice is edible like that secreted 
by Acacia vera and Prunus cerasus. 
New York, July i8th. * Richard E. Kunzk. 
Among the Palms and the Pines.— On the 28th of May, 1883, 
my father, H. C. Orcutt, and myself left San Diego City, Cal, on 
what proved a short trip into Lower California.. 
The first day rewarded us with two beautiful Abutilons with 
orange-colored blossoms and velvety leaves {A. Berlaiidieri^ Gray, 
var., and another) and a new species of Cordylanthus found at the 
head of Tia Juana Valley near the boundary, 
A little beyond, among the hills, was Lupinus gracilis among the 
rocks in company Avith Phacelia Parryi, both struggling for existence 
in so '' dry a year," while further along we found Acanthominiha ilici- 
folia^ the beautiful Chorizanthe prociimbens^ Breiveria minima^ and 
others, thriving on the adobe hills (the whole surface of the latter 
cracked like the bottom of a dry mud-puddle), and, on similar ground, 
acres were covered with the red-flowered Chorizimthe Jimbriata, form- 
ing a beautiful feature in the landscape as we entered Valle de los 
Palmas where we made our next camp among the mesquite, screw- 
bean and other trees — but no palms ! . ^ 
The next morning we proceeded through the valley till we noticed 
at our right, in a large canon, two novel trees which proved to be 
palms, Washingt07iia filifera, and on further exploration we found 
twenty still standing, but over fifty lying dead— cut down by the 
enterprising ex-governor that he might covei his house with their 
leaves ! 
Beneath the few remaining palms flowed a cool stream of water, 
enabling Epipactis gigatitea and /uncus xiphioides to exist, ^vhile near 
by we found the last flower of Lathyrus splendens, Lupinus albicaulis 
as a small shrub, Boerhavia viscosa, Galium pubens, Gray, and others. 
Mentzelia micra?itha, Torr. & Gray, with Physalis crassifolia were 
growing on the side of the canon, the Mentzelia covering my clothes 
with its very tenacious brittle leaves which it was impossible to 
wholly remove. 
May 31st found us in the evening at rancho Guadaloupe, 75 miles 
from San Diego by road, where we made our headquarters for a day, 
till our return. Here, in the evening, we found a new (?) Phacelia 
with white flowers and yellow centre which had strayed to the dry 
bed of the San Antonio Creek, where in the morning I also found an 
abundance of Astragalus Sonorce, Gray, in fruit, and Lupinus gracilis. 
Late in the morning of June ist we left the camp and proceeded 
up the valley till we came to a canon which led to Guadaloupe 
Mountains, credited with an altitude of 4,000 feet. Here we found 
n^any interesting plants at different altitudes. Among them were 
Trichostema Parishii, Vasey, Mimulus Palmeri{l), Helianthus gract- 
lentus. Gray, Actinolepis Wallacei, Gray, at a low altitude, Calochortus 
Weedii^ a venustus above it, and, higher still, C. Palmeri, an Allium, 
^endroniecon rigidum, and many species of Gilia, one (a new species) 
Deing particularly conspicuous for its delicate, variegated blossoms. 
