OPEN LETTERS. 159 
there is a considerable growth of oak, buckeye, elder and 
poison oak. It was here that I found No. 1 of the collection 
lately sent! It grew in loose mould, and was fairly abundant. 
To the east of the peak are woods of oak and conifers; 
but I did not have time to explore these. 
The prospect from Mt. Gavilan is magnificent. I saw the 
sun go down and the moon rise. At my feet, spread like a 
picture around me, lay three mountain ranges and as many 
valleys, two rivers running into the sea, nine towns, and the 
grand sweep of Monterey Bay.—L. W. CusHman, Watson- 
ville, California, 3 April, 1893. 
Extended range of Quercus densiflora. 
Doubtless you will have received the specimens and postal- 
card which I sent you nearly two weeks ago, and I will now 
proceed to relate the circumstances of the discovery. I had 
then just returned from a holiday visit to friends living in 
the Tajeques Cation, thirty miles west of Santa Barbara, and 
ten miles east of the Gaviota Pass, as the road runs. Back 
of this cafion is a marked depression in the summit of the 
Santa Ynez Range, extending some three or four miles east 
and west, with an elevation varying from about 2,000 to 
2.300 feet, as measured by my aneroid barometer. This 
summit, like the San Marcos Pass of similar altitude nearer 
Santa Barbara, although generally covered with brushwood, 
is dotted with grassy openings, many of which embrace 
small groves, and also scattered trees, of live-oak and 
madrona. On a tramp to this part of the mountains, on the 
30th of May, just over the summit, on the northerly declivity, 
I was surprised to find numerous specimens, both large and 
small, growing singly and in groves, of a tree which I readily 
identified in your delightful book on “West American Oaks,” 
as Quercus densiflora; and I sent you the specimen, think- 
ing you might be interested to know that the tree grows at 
least a hundred and fifty miles further south than the Santa 
1TSOPYRUM OCCIDENTALE COLORATUM, published at page 125 preceding. 
