THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 43 



humid region west of the Cascades in Oregon. The plants 

 indigenous to the desert area east of the mountains, since 

 they are forced to adapt themselves to a more unfavorable 

 environment, seem more inclined to add to their means of 

 defense a repellent taste or odor. 



The following list includes only indigenous plants. A 

 number of our long list of immigrants possess ample qualifica- 

 tions for the "roll of honor", but, as they will be reported 

 from other sections, there seems no reason for duplicating 

 their names here. Taking' the native species in the accepted 

 order of families, our first undisputed candidate for honors is 

 the skunk-cabbage (Lysichiton kamtschatcensc), notable as 

 the sole representative of the Araceae on the Northwest Coast. 

 It is a larger and more showy plant than its Eastern name- 

 sake, and less actively odoriferous. Next comes the genus 

 Allium, with a reputation almost classical. Some twenty-five 

 species of the genus occur in the Northwest, most of them 

 confined to desert and mountain regions. Here in the Wil- 

 lamette Valley, A. acuminatum and A. ccrnuuni amply sustain 

 the reputation of the genus. 



Almost our only native representative of the Euphor- 

 biaceae, Piscaria setigera, sometimes known as turkey-mullein, 

 has a most unpleasant fetid smell when bruised. The plant, 

 according to Piper, was used "by the Indians to stupefy fish 

 by throwing quantities of it in the streams". If the odor is 

 any guarantee, it must have been very effective. 



Ribcs bracteosum, the "stink-currant", is a common shrub 

 along the rocky banks of mountain streams. Both fruit and 

 foliage emit a powerful heavy odor that is distinctly dis- 

 agreeable. 



Osmaronia ccrasifonnis, the "Indian plum", our earliest 

 shrub to flower in spring, possesses a very peculiar unpleasant 

 odor, both of leaves and flowers, early in the season, which 

 later almost wholly disappears. 



