The American Botanist 



VOL. XXVII. MAY, 1921. No. 2. 



And all the mead Was wide unrolled. 



With green and silver, green and gold, t n^ 



Where buttercups and daisies spun •^t\^' 



Their shining tissues in the sun. iti)T^^^ 



— Julia C. Dorr. ilj^.. 



MIDSUMMER FLORA OF TUBA OASIS 



By WiIvLard N. Clute 



T N the February number of this magazine I published a short 

 ■■■ account of the Painted Desert in Arizona and its most im- 

 portant oasis, Tuba. I have twice visited Tuba in quest of 

 plants and upon my second trip, in the summer of 1920, I made 

 a collection of all the visible plants of that interesting region. 

 Since practically nothing has been written about the flora, it 

 seems desirable to set down here a more circumstantial account 

 of the plants observed, in the expectation that it may serve as 

 the basis for further explorations. 



Although my collection was made in July, it is probably 



more nearly complete than such a collection would be if made 



in a different climatic region or made at a different time in 



this one. The spring months are nearly rainless and many 



plants do not renew their growth or bloom until late in June 



or early July when the rainy season begins. There is, to. be 



sure, an earlier burst of bloom at the end of the winter season, 



CM but if the flora of this earlier time contains annuals or herba- 



"^ ceous perennials that are not represented in summer, their dis- 



'^ appearance is so complete as to leave no sign. The true des- 



