319 [ 174 ] 



the conspicuous podosperm passing along its side ; the beak pointing ob- 

 liquely upward. 



This is one of the numerous shrubby plants of the Chenopodiaceous 

 family., that constitute a large part of the vegetation in the saline soils of 

 the west. The precise locality of this plant we cannot indicate, as the label 

 was illegible ; but it was probably from the borders of the Great Salt lake. 

 It is allied to Grayia of Hooker and Arnott, a shrub of the same family, 

 which was found in several places on both sides of the Rocky mountains, 

 often in great abundance. 



Pinus moxophtllus. Torr. and Frem. {The nut pine.) 



Leaves solitary, or very rarely in pairs, with scarcely any sheaths, stout 

 and rigid, somewhat pungent ; cones ovoid, the scales with a thick obtusely 

 pyramidal and protuberant summit, unarmed ; seeds large, without a wing. 



A tree with verticillate branches and cylindrical-clavate buds, which are 

 about three-fourths of an inch in length. The leaves are from an inch to 

 two and a half inches long : often more or less curved, scattered, very stout, 

 terete, (except in the very rare case of their being in pairs, when they are 

 semi-cylindrical.) ending in a spiny tip. Cones about 2h inches long, and 

 11 inch broad in the widest part. The scales are of a light-brown color, 

 thick ; the summit obtusely pyramidal and somewhat recurved, but with- 

 out any point. The seeds are oblong, about half an inch long, without a 

 wing ; or rather the wing is indissolubly adherent to the scale. Th<* ker- 

 nel is of a very pleasant flavor, resembling that of Finns Pembra. 



This tree, which is remarkable among the true pines for its solitary 

 leaves, is extensively diffused over the mountains of Northern California, 

 from long. Ill to 120°, and through a considerable range of latitude. It 

 is alluded to repeatedly, in the course of the narrative, as the nut pine. 



The Coniferse of the collection were numerous, and suffered less than 

 most of the other plants. Some of them do not appear to have been hitherto 

 described. There was also an Ephedra, which does not differ essentially 

 from E. occidentals, found in great plenty on the sandy uplands of the 

 Mohahve river. 



Description of the plates. 



Plate 1. Arctomecok Californicum. Fig. 1, a stamen, magnified; 

 Jig. 2, an ovule, mag.; Jig. 3, capsule, nut. size; Jig. 3, (a,) stigma, mag.; 

 Jig. 4, the same cut horizontally, showing the sutures; j?§\ 5, a seed, mag.; 

 fig. 6, portion of a hair from the leaf, mag.; Jig. 7, bristle from the extrem- 

 ity of a leaf lobe, mag.; figs. S and 9, leaves, nat. size. 



Piate 2. Prosopis odorata. Fig. 1, a flower, niag.; Jig. 2, pistil, 

 mag.; Jig. 3, cluster of ripe legumes, nat. si:e. 



Piate 3. Fremontia vermicularis. Fig. 1, a very young fertile 

 flower, mag.; Jig. 2, an ovule, mug.; fig. 3, a fertile llower more advanced, 

 mqg.; Jig. 4, a fertile flower at maturity, showing the broad-winged border 

 of the calyx, mag.; Jig. 5, the same cut vertically; fig. 6, the same cut 

 horizontally j fig. 7. a seed, mug.: fig. s. embryo, mug. 



Plate 4. Pinus mokophyllus. Fig. 1. a bud, nat. size: Jigs. 2, 3, 4, 

 and 5, leaves, nat. size; jig. 2, (a.) section of a single leaf; fig. 5, (a,) sec- 

 tion ot a pair oi leaves -.Jig. 6, a cone, nat. size; fig. 7, a scale, as seen from 

 the outside ; fig. S, inside view of the same. 



