BOTANY. 1 7 



which little or nothing else than clumps of Artemisia will grow. The third is formed by forests 

 of yellow pine, (P. ponderosa,) which apparently finds on these arid surfaces its most congenial 

 habitat. It sometimes happened to us that, during a whole day's ride, we were passing through 

 a continuous forest of these yellow pine trees, in which scarcely a dozen distinct species of plants 

 could be found. 



LOCAL BOTANY. 



BANKS OF PIT RIVER. 



After leaving the Sierra Nevada, the botany of no part of our route, before we reached the 

 Klamath lakes, requires especial notice. Most of the plants collected on the banks of Pit river 

 are identical with tbose before collected in the Sacramento valley. On the mountain range 

 which forms the upper canon of Pit river we first found a cedar, (J. occidentalis,) which fills 

 precisely the same place in the botany of the west that the red cedar of Virginia does in that of 

 the east. We here, too, for the first time, met with the "bunch grass," (Festuca scabrella,) 

 which is found in all parts of the region under consideration, and now constitutes by far its 

 most important vegetable production. This is an exceedingly nutritious grass, and was our 

 main dependance for the subsistance of our mules in all parts of our route, between the lower 

 canon of Pit river and the Columbia. It grows in bunches, as its name implies, and in that dry 

 climate, " curing " as it stands, forms a valuable fodder, and one highly relished by cattle and 

 horses, even when it has the appearance of being perfectly worthless. 



SHORES OF THE KLAMATH LAKES. 



About the Klamath lakes, and along the banks of Klamath river, a better supply of moisture 

 has produced a more vigorous and varied vegetation than in most parts of the surrounding 

 country. A large number of annual plants was there obtained, many of which are unknown 

 in the valleys of California and Oregon, as will be seen by reference to the catalogue of the 

 plants collected. The immediate borders of the lakes are covered with a growth of tule, (Bull- 

 rush and Cat-tail flag,) similar to that which borders the Sacramento. On drier ground, but 

 still in the vicinity of the water, are thickets composed of Pyrus rivularis, Prunus subcordata, 

 Bhamnus Purshianus, and wild cherry, (Cerasus emarginata,) all of which, at the time of our 

 visit, were loaded with fruit. On the hill sides are several species of Bibes, which, with the wild 

 plum and Amelanchier, form another series of thickets equally fruitful with those below, and 

 with them constitute the favorite feeding grounds of the bears. 



The number of trees in this vicinity is small. A few cotton-woods and willows are found in 

 the neighborhood of the water, while the hills are covered with yellow pine and the western 

 cedar. On the banks of Klamath river we found Pinus contorta, generally forming a dense 

 forest of trees of small size. The botany of Klamath marsh and the country about it is similar 

 in all respects to that just described, except that nearly half the surface of the marsh is covered 

 with the broad leaves of the yellow pond lilly, N. advena ? here exhibiting a vigor of growth 

 that I have never seen equalled in the eastern States. The capsules which contain the seeds 

 have somewhat the form, and are fully as large as hen's eggs, and are filled with seeds, which 

 form an important part of the subsistence of the Indians who reside in the vicinity. 

 3Z 



