35^ ^ Trip through Southeastern Utah. [zoe 



that are called cloud-bursts, where the water descends in sheets and 

 in a short time starts waterfalls that leap a hundred feet in places 

 over precipices, to the slope below, and then rush to the river. Before 

 the storm, however, we secured a Hofifmanseggia that seems to be 

 new, a peculiar form of Liniim rigidum, Eriogomim Thomasii, 

 Coldenia hispidissima, Poliomiiitha incana, Glypiopleura margmata, 

 Euphorbia Ji age llaris, Encelia frutescens, and fine fruiting speci- 

 mens of Coloptera Newberry i. This had before been collected in 

 flower; but it was only now that its puzzling character began to ap- 

 pear. No two seeds were to be seen that looked alike. It was try- 

 ing to be a Cymopterus and a Leptotaenia at the same time, and 

 even its leaves showed the struggles which it was experiencing. 

 Along the river banks were willows, and the common Baccharis 

 salicina. Berberis Fremonti grew at the foot of the canon among 

 the rocks, under which we were perfectly sheltered from the storm. 

 Stepha)wmeria exigua, beautiful with its numerous sjjreading pink 

 blossoms in the early morning, was a bedraggled object after the 

 rain; Erigeron Utaheusis, just coming into bloom, seemed to be 

 rare; Brickellia li?ii/oIia in flower along the slopes, and the young 

 shoots of B. microphylla, which is a fall-bloomer, were also ob- 

 served; Aplopappus NuttaHii, Phacelia erenulata and Amsonia 

 brevifolia were there at home too. 



Moab is an oasis in a desert, and its poplars might be compared 

 to the palms that m.ide Palmyra so famous for beauty long ago. It 

 is as renowned, too, among the pilgrims through this land, and we 

 had heard of its beauty, its fruits, and its hospitable people before 

 we started. Its green fields, lovely orchards, and extensive vine- 

 yards were such a sudden change from the dry country around that, 

 undoubtedly, the impression of its loveliness was made more vivid 

 from the surroundings. 



The next day was spent on a barren highway, where whatever 

 green thing could survive the drought fell a prey to the cattle that 

 were driven over that road. The ground was tramped down and 

 marked with the impressions of innumerable hoofs. Towards even- 

 ing we entered one of the basin-like canons, called "washes," pecul- 

 iar to that region. Here was found a Gilia worth thirty-five miles 

 through the dust and heat. It is one of the most beautiful of the 

 genus, and well deserves the name superba, which has l^een bestowed 

 upon it. 



