THE PLANT WORLD 111 



ern Oklahoma and adjacent Texas), Dr. G. C. Shumard, botanist under 

 command of Captain R. B. Marcy, in 1852 collected this now becoming 

 familiar plant. In his letter to Captain Marcy, Dr. Torrey says — 



Dear Sir : I have examined the collection of plants that you brought 

 from the headwaters of the Red River towards the Rocky Mountains. 

 The flora of this region greatly resembles that of the upper portion of the 

 Canadian. It is remarkable that there occur among your plants several 

 species that were first discovered by Dr. James, in Long's Expedition, 

 and have not been found since until now. Your collection is an inter- 

 esting addition to the geography of North American plants, and .serves 

 to mark more clearly the range of many western species." 



In the same year. Dr. Woodhouse collected the same species along the 

 North Fork of the Canadian River, on the Sitgreave expedition to the 

 Zuni and Colorado Rivers, as cited also by Dr. Torrey. 



In the ' ' Enumeration of the Plants " "of that portion of the Rocky 

 Mountain range, at the headwaters of South Clear Creek, and east of 

 Middle Park, " " collected in this district, in the summer months of 1861 ' ' 

 by C. C. Parry, M. D,, Professor Asa Gray cites, in 1862, — 



rponura leptophylla, Torr. Sandhills of the Platte ; a characteristic 

 plant of the plains." 



From 1862 to 1878 scattered collections brought in additional material 

 so that Dr. Gray in his " Synoptical Flora of North America, 1878," 

 was able to extend the geographic range of the bush morning-glory to 

 include " plains of Nebraska and Wyoming to Texas and New Mexico." 

 In the second edition (1886), in addition to the technical description, 

 he characterizes these plants as " a striking and showy species, first col- 

 lected, in Long's Expedition, by Dr. E. Ja?nes, who singularly mistook 

 it for an annual," with " root perennial, immense, weighing from 10 to 

 100 pounds." The group of species to which ours belongs is further 

 characterized as ' ' erect or diffuse, feebly if at all twining, never creep- 

 ing or even pro-strate. ' ' 



In Britton and Brown's "illustrated Flora," 1898, the maximum 

 weight attained by the roots is given as 25 pounds. This limit is quite too 

 low, and must have been recorded for a specimen which was thoroughly 

 dried, as the fresh roots contain a large amount of water. 



In his " Manual, 1901," Dr. N. L. Britton extends the range north- 

 ward into South Dakota. 



Professor L. H. Bailey, in his " Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, 

 1900," says— 



This species is adapted for very dry places because of its enormous 

 tuberous root-.stocks, which often weigh 100 lbs. and extend into the 

 subsoil for four ft. It sometimes thrives where no rain has fallen for 

 one to three years. The plant is beautiful when in flower." 



