VEGETATION OF BRAZOS CANYON 189 



The herbaceous vegetation is varied, including numerous 

 species, but the season was so far advanced that many of the 

 earlier plants had withered. Prominent among those in flower 

 or fruit in August and September were several species of Eri- 

 geron, Machaer anther a bigelovii, Aster laevis and A. commutatus, 

 Chrysopsis villosa, Orthocarpus luteus, Moldavica parviflora, 

 Gymnolomia multiflora, Agoseris purpurea, Villariova dissecta, 

 Achillea lanulosa, Gilia aggregata, Collomia linearis, Pentslemon 

 torreyi, Gnaphalium strictum and G. sulphur escens, Andropogon 

 furcatus, Yiciaamericana, Lathyrus'leucanthus, Anisolotus wrightii, 

 Rhinanthus crista-galli, Gayophytum intermedium, Polygonum 

 douglasii, Lithospermum multiflorum, Castilleja confusa, Solidago 

 trinervata, Arenaria confusa, Xanthoxalis stricta, Arabis hirsuta, 

 Pterospora andromedea, Galium boreale, Thalictrum fendleri, 

 Epilobium adenocladum, Lappula occidentalis , Oxytropis deflexus, 

 Urtica gracilis, Anemone cylindrica, Geranium richardsonii and 

 G. atropurpureum , Mentha penardi, and Silene hallii. Despite 

 the lateness of the season many plants of the wild strawberries, 

 Fragaria bracteata and F. ovalis, were still in flower. The vegeta- 

 tion of this zone in the Brazos region, as a whole, is very similar 

 to that of the corresponding tracts in the Santa Fe and Las 

 Vegas Mountains, most of the species being common to both 

 areas. The greater part of them, too, are found in the moun- 

 tains farther south in the State, such as the Sandia, White, and 

 Mogollon ranges. 



Lower Division of the Transition Zone 



As stated before, in addition to many species typical of the 

 Transition Zone, this area includes many plants common also, 

 in the Upper Sonoran. It is confined, in this region, to the 

 valley of the Brazos, from Tierra Amarilla to within about four 

 and a half miles of the mouth of the canyon, or the point where 

 the river leaves the hills and comes out into a broad, open valley, 

 to the lower slopes of the hills, and to the broad open valley of 

 the Chama. The pines here have mostly been cut away, only 

 the stumps remaining to show their original distribution. On 



