OBSERVATIONS IN THE COLORADO DESERT 



81 



The springs themselves consist of some seepages of fair water 

 which moisten a small tract, gratefully green with a sod of 

 Disiichlis spicala, Juncus balticus and Scirpus americanus. A 

 ditch has been cut, through which the seepage is conducted 

 to a small tank, and both ditch and tank were full of Xannichellia 

 palusiris, in which Lemna and Chara were entangled. The 

 borders were enlivened by the yellow buttons of Cotula coronopi- 

 folia, a common introduced plant of the cismontane region, 

 but not seen elsewhere in the desert. A group of mesquites 



Fig. 2. A characteristic specimen of Atriplex lentiformis, growing in strong 

 and moist alkaline soil. Others in the background. 



afforded a grateful shade. They were here in full leaf and 

 flower. 



There is another and better-known "Palm Springs" at the 

 base of San Jacinto mountain, which should not be confused 

 with this one. This is the spring mentioned in the report of 

 Emory's Reconnaissance, where, on November 28, 1846, the 

 weary explorers were cheered by the sight of " cabbage trees," 

 and recorded the first mention of the Washington palm to be 

 found in print. Long ago vandals cut down the few trees which 

 grew here, but people remember seeing the stumps, for which 

 we searched in vain among the dense thickets of Atriplex which 

 occupy the alkaline soil surrounding the spring borders. 



