THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 79 



morning glory, in a form known to botanists as supervolute, 

 but with modifications all its own. The corolla parts which 

 correspond to petals are first folded together, face to face, and 

 then the five rays thus formed are twisted to the left but with 

 their tips free, like the pinwheels of paper made to amuse 

 children. In addition, the very shallow sinuses of the corolla 

 are gathered up in the center of the flower and twisted in the 

 opposite direction, thus appearing like a tiny five-pointed star 

 at the entrance of the flower. Opening seems to be initiated 

 by the sinuses which in time cease to interlock, and soon the 

 whole flower unfolds with a visible movement. For some 

 minutes it continues to grow larger, like the wings of some 

 great moth, but the sinuses never Cjuite outgrow the pinching 

 they got in the bud and always appear in the flower as five 

 tiny points alternating with the larger and slenderer projec- 

 tions which are the tips of the petals. 



The desert trumpet flower is often regarded as being 

 native to California and Mexico, but whatever its original 

 home, it is now pretty widely spread over a good part of Utah, 

 Arizona and New Mexico. Like the common jimson weed, 

 it has medicinal c|ualities of some value, which fact is familiar 

 to the Indians. Quite likely some phases of its distribution 

 are due to their friendly aid. It is a familiar plant in the 

 desert in the vicinity of the pueblo Indian villages growing by 

 preference at the base of shelving rocks and opening countless 

 new blossoms daily. The first time we saw it in abundance 

 was on the morning of the snake dance at Walpi and the sight 

 of its blossoms always brings back the remembrance of those 

 snowy chalices clustering along the mesa and adding their 

 perfume, like a new sort of incense, to the religious ceremonies 

 of the Hopi. 



