288 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 



American travellers. In these meadows, figures conspi- 

 cuously the large-flowered Phlox 375 ; a suffrutex of about 

 1^ foot high, forming a globular mass of bright rose-coloured 

 flowers, accompanied by Delphinium 600, Composite 309 

 and 297, Myrrhis? 610; together again with the above 

 Fritillaria, Erythronium, Saoeifragee, Ferula 314 and others, 

 which fill every space, and one beholds with wonder the 

 multitude of flowers called forth by two or three sunny 

 weeks of April or May. A strawberry gathered here also 

 (612) attracted my attention, as most specimens exhibited 

 an appendicule on the petiole. In fruit also it seems to 

 differ from those on the east side, which has, by cutting it 

 lengthwise, a cordate outline ; the seeds of the few berries I 

 met with, were more superficial and fruit larger, of a deep 

 red colour. I found it again on the foot of the snowy 

 ridges on the high plains of the Saptonas, where it had the 

 same characters. 



Arriving at the basaltic wall of the mountain, we meet 

 again with Mahonia aquifolia, Pentstemon and Peucedanum 

 mentioned before. The rock above is adorned with Heuchera 

 388 and Sedum stenopetalum, sometimes a shrub of Amelan- 

 chier Canadensis, /3, ovalifolium, or a cherry shrub grows out 



about the time when the seeds are ripe ; hence they will burn up, as well 

 as the borders of the tufts and their dry centres, separating one tuft into 

 several. Seedlings which escape the fire, must either lodge in the tuft, 

 or they will be destroyed by rot under the deep snow, or the wet and 

 bare frosts in the beginning of spring. Sir Wm. Stuart, who, during his 

 travels, became acquainted with these grasses, has raised already a great 

 many from seeds, which he gathered himself many years ago. Even there 

 (Scotland) they preserve a great deal of their primitive character, and 

 will, no doubt, surpass expectations. Here I must remark, that I some- 

 what doubt the identity of the Triticum on the Missouri and that of 

 Oregon. The former is the same Sir Wm. Stuart cultivates, the same 

 which agrees perfectly with the description of Triticum Missurictim, 

 Sprengel, (See Spr. Syst. Veget. Appx.). Drs. Torrey and Gray recog- 

 nized it as T. caninum, and Prince Neuwied calls it a variety of Triticum 

 repens In my estimation it differs from the latter even in its creeping, 

 but short, thick, and ramose root. 



