658 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
and a half long. It is most abundant about the mouth of 
White River, and very rare further up, where the genus Ho- 
molobus takes its place. Lewis and Clark, in their narrative, 
mention this plant as a sort of an esculent Cabbage ; and Pierre 
Durieu, their guide, related to me, that he himself partook 
of the meal they had prepared from the glaucous cabbage-like 
leaves, after which they all sickened, and violent vomiting 
with convulsions ensued. Astragalus racemosus, Pursh, a 
bushy erect species, two feet high, alternates with the Stan- 
leya, and bears large racemes of showy milk-white flowers. 
Other herbaceous plants, scattered over the lower slopes, are 
the superb Bartonia ornata, Cnicus undulatus, Penststemon 
grandiflorum, ceruleum, cristatum, Erigeron hirsutum and Cy- 
noglossum Nuttallii; finally, the Yucca, with its rich symme- 
trical silvery foliage and floribund scapes, completes the 
vegetation on the crest of the precipice. | 
The loamy slopes above are either naked or clothed with 
annuals, which latter are chiefly Helianthus tubeformis, Che- 
nopodium subspicatum, Kochia dioica, Euphorbia polygoni- 
folia, Hosackia Purshiana and Atriplex argentea. Towards. 
the grassy borders of the adjacent plains are seen groups of 
Seseli triternatum, Allium striatum, Psoralea cuspidata, with 
a few scattered plants of Viola Nuttallii, Schrankea uncinata, 
Erysimum asperum, or Penstemon. | (Enothera cespitosa alone 
thrives on the naked burning arid slopes of loose shale. — 
Loamy saline parts of the river are quite uniform. Trt- 
licum Missuricum forms meadows, enclosing small fields 
of Ceratochloa and Lepturus paniculatus. The only con- 
spicuous plants in such meadows are Solanum flavidum, 
Torrey and James, Donia squarrosa, Helianthus, and some 
plants of Opuntia Missurica. Saline watercourses abound 
with Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Apocynum hypericifolium and — 
Achillea Millefolium; Iva axillaris, Callisteia paradoxa and 
Senecio integerrimus, near rich grassy valleys ; and these agam 
are fringed with Shephardia argentea and Rosa parvifolia. as 
Shephardia argentea is the same shrubby tree which Lewis 
and Clark mention in their narrative as “ Buffalo-berry,” < 
