1885.] PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 467 



COMANCHE CREEK. 



Comanche Creek springs from the foot of the limestone bank on 

 which stands Fort Stockton. It is a large, clear, rapid stream, strongly- 

 impregnated with alkaline salts ', it runs 3 or 4 miles and then sinks. 

 The country roundabout, a vast expanse of gravelly sand, is dreary in 

 the extreme. There is not even a bush on the banks of the creek. Near 

 the water's edge I noticed a handsome form o£ Aspicarpa hyssopifoUa; 

 also Ludtcigia palustriSi Ipomoea sagittata, Samolus ehracteatus, and such 

 sea-shore plants as Statice Limonium and Brizopyrum spicatum. 



On the gravelly mesa around the post are some of the usual herbs of 

 the region — Verbena hipinnatijida, Baileya multiradiata, Eiddellia ta- 

 getina, Reliotropkmi Greggii, Melampodium cinereuni. 



MOUNTAIN STREAMS. 



The water-courses which drain the mountains are generally well tim- 

 bered. On the Limpio, the most important stream between the Pecos 

 and El Paso, stand groves of Cottonwood, scattered clumps of Red 

 Oak and Emory's Oak, Hackberry, and Willow. Near its heads are 

 forests of Pine. In the picturesque Wild Eose Pass the Eosa Arkan- 

 Sana is common ; still more so are the feathery Fallugia paradoxa and 

 the economic Caiiagre. 



The Cibolo, running on the east side of the Cheuate Mountains, is 

 densely wooded. Cottonwood (Populus Fremonti) 4 and 5 feet in di- 

 ameter, and Texas Green Ash, 4(^ and 50 feet high with trunk 1 to 2 

 feet in diameter, are characteristically prominent. The other trees are 

 Hackberry, Soapberry, Nogal {Juglans rupestris), Wild Mulberry {Morus 

 microphylla), and Willows [Salix longifolia and nigra). Over these trees 

 the Arroyo Grape ( Vitis riparia) climbs luxuriantly, forming dense walls 

 and bowers which yield, in the fall, small but very palatable bunches 

 of fruit. South of the mountains and long before reaching the Eio 

 Grande, the Cibolo is dry and timberless. 



West of the Chenate Mountains runs Capote Creek, a small stream 

 shaded from the fall to its mouth with Cottonwood, Texas Green Ash, and 

 Willows. The neighboring bluffs are covered with excellent grass, prin- 

 cipally Bouteloua and Cathestechum. I collected, at the fall, a new shrub, 

 Sageretia Wrightii, Watson; and, thereabout, the following rare and in- 

 teresting plants: Elytraria tridendata, Sedum Wrightii, Desmodium spi- 

 rale, Hibiscus Coulteri, Boerhaavia scandens, Pentstemon acuminatus, Aris- 

 talochia brevipes. 



The Chisos Mountains are drained by the Tornillo on the east and 

 the Tarlinga on the west. The former, mostly dry, bears on its upper 

 part a few small scattered Cottonwood, stunted Hackberry, Willows, 

 and copses of shrubby Tornillo or Screw Bean {Prosopis pubescens). Its 

 lower part is entirely naked. The Tarlinga contains more water and 

 better timber ; clumps of Cottonwood, beginning at Agua Fria, dot its 



