l8 9 J 1 Briefer Articles. 



1 1.3 



says of T. patens, "It keeps fresh in spite of heat and drouth, 

 and will grow vigorously on unshaded rocks/' 1 



Not uncommon on the rocks were specimens of Houstonia 

 purpurea L. var. langifotia Gray. The characteristics were 

 intermediate, allying it more closely to the type than ordinary 

 examples of the variety; the leaves being sometimes th 



ribbed and somewhat tufted or rosulate near the root. Several 

 stems usually grow from the same root. The only plants be- 

 sides calling for notice are, Oxybaphus nyctagineus, seen 



occasionally on the rocky banks, and Gentiana alba in springy 

 ground. 



[Concluded next month.) 



hnglcivood, Chicago. 



BRIEFER ARTICLES. 



m 



A new Aster from California (with plate XI).— Aster Oreuttii Vasey & 



Rose, n. sp. — Stems suffruticose, somewhat branching, pearly white, 

 glabrous: lower leaves obovate, i to 2 in. long, with cuneate base; upper 

 ones often oblong, with broad sessile or somewhat clasping base, 

 obtuse at tip. spinulose-toothed, glabrous: heads solitary and terminal 

 on leafy branches, sessile or nearly so, very large, an inch or more in 

 diameter: bracts of the involucre closely imbricated in 3 or 4 series, 

 oblong with tapering green tips ciliate on the margins: rays an inch 

 long, " lavender to delicate mauve color ": disk-flowers 4 lines long, 

 tapering toward the base: style branches broad: achenes densely long 

 white villous: pappus coarse and scabrous.— Collected at " Cariso 

 Creek \\ ash," Colorado Desert, California (where it is very abundant), 

 April and November, by C. R. OrcutL— This handsome flowered 

 species, although it resembles in habit and leaf some species of Aplo- 

 pappus, evidently belongs to Gray's section Megai.astrum under 

 Aster, and near A. tortifohus. It differs from that species in its almost 

 sessile head, different involucral bracts, obtuse leaves, and larger disk- 

 flowers. Mr. Orcutt obtained seeds of it and considers it worthy of 

 cultivation.— J. N. Rose, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C 



A new Fomes from northern Montana. (With plate XII),— FomM 

 Ellteianus Anders., n. sp.:— ( )n the living trunks and larger branches of 

 Shepherdia argentea, valley of the Teton, opposite the "Three 

 Knees/' buttes of the Maria- river, northern Montana, July 1889. An- 



derson, no. jj? 



1 Les Pleura de pleine Terre, p. 1 124. 



