490 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
leria dactyloides are abundant. The most conspicuous plants 
are Mammillaria simplex, Bartonia ornata, Lupinus pusillus, 
Sida coccinea, Gaura coccinea, Pentstemon albidum and grandi- 
florum, Astragalus hypoglottis, assurgens and caryocarpus, 
Echinacea angustifolia, Lygodesmia juncea, Psoralea escu- 
lenta, canescens and Glycyrrhiza, Evolvulus argenteus, Polygala 
alba, Œnothera serrulata, Diplopappus pinnatifidus, Hooker, 
Calymenia angustifolia, hirsuta and decumbens, Aster sericeus, 
Solidago nemoralis, Schrankia uncinata, Erysimum asperum, 
Linum multicaule, Kentrophyton, Phace, Oxytropides, &c. &c. 
The Mammillaria occurs in varieties with white, rose and 
purple flowers; Polygala alba, white, pale pink, and violet ; 
Echinacea, white and pale purple. Schrankia grows only on 
the slopes, prostrate, full of bright purple flowers, its leaves 
are irritable, like those of Mimosa pudica. 
Several of the above named plants may be seen also in 
the plains, which, however, are characterized by others more 
robust, amongst which Helianthus atrorubens and Echinacea 
purpurea are conspicuous, Heliopsis scabra, Columnaria pin- 
nata, Rudbeckia columnaris, with yellow and deep fuscous- 
purple rays. Allionia nyctaginea grows in stony places. On 
sunny slopes I observed Petulostemon candidum and viola- 
ceum, Coreopsis delphinifolia, Psoralea, Astragali, Phace, 
Keleria, Panicum Muhlenbergii and Polypogon glomeratus. 
Small sandy denuded places are occupied by the beautiful 
Petalostemon villosum and Œnothera albicaulis, and also 
by Crypsis, Cleome integrifolia, Opuntia Missourica and Arte- 
misia caudata. 
In these plains occur flats, or slightly depressed and some- 
what circular places, sometimes one mile in circumference, 
covered with a delicate carpet of the pretty Sesleria dacty- 
loides. Within them the Prairie Marmot (Arctomys Ludovi- 
cianus, Say,) burrows; so that the spots are often called 
prairie-dog villages by Anglo-American travellers. These 
creatures live together in great numbers, and feed, at least 
. generally, on this little grass. Their habitations probably — 
communicate, though each pair seems to have but one en- 
