48 ERYTHEA. 
tion my search was always fruitless. The exception which I have in 
mind is that of Ranunculus glaberrimus, which I found in 1883 abound- 
ing in the vicinity of buffalo wallows, eighteen miles west from 
Jamestown, North Dakota. How far north and south it may have 
extended, I am unable to say; but its range east and west seemed to be 
only some eight or nine miles. My herbarium specimens collected at 
that time and in that place, show a perfect identity with the plant of 
Idaho and Washington. 
Not only botanically, but also geographically, does Mr. Berthoud err. 
There is not the least evidence that the buffalo ever ranged into northern 
Td The character of the country would forbid such a thing. There 
is not sufficient grass in the region to sustain these animals; and the 
forests which cover almost the whole country are much too dense to 
admit of their carrying their trails through them. 
Very Respectfully Yours, 
NOTES ON WEST AMERICAN CONIFERAL.—1. 
By J. G. Lemmon. 
1. Pseuporsuea TaxiroLiA (Lambert) Britton, Trans. 
N. Y. Acad. viii. 14. 
Variety suberosa, var. noy. 
Small trees with whitish, thick, corky bark, thin foliage 
and small ovate cones 1-2 inches long, with convex, at length 
firm scales, comparatively short, slightly exserted, narrow 
bracts and small seeds. On high, exposed slopes, also in 
secluded ravines, 7,000-8,000 ft. alt. of the principal moun- 
tains of northern Arizona and New Mexico. I first detected 
this. cork-bark spruce in July, 1884, on the southern flank of 
Mt. Agassiz of the San Francisco Mountains. 
Its shining silvery white bark so soft that it could be 
readily cut with a pocket knife, attracted immediate attention, 
being so different from the dark, hard bark of the typical 
Douglas Spruce. 
The trees of the Zuni and Sandia Mountains bear cones 
