PLAXT^ WRIGHTIAX.E, 



"l<' 



11 



Mexican coUection from Zimapan, and other New Mcxiran speeimens from Dr. 

 Gregg. But Dr. Engelmann has remarked the sainc thing in somc of Lindhcimer^s 

 Texan specimcns of P. trachysperma, which, as alrcady remarkcd, can hardly be 



AT^ 



.11.) 



more than a Northern, smallcr-flowcred form of P. uniglandulosa. 



20. WisLizENiA REFRACTA, Engelm. in WisUz. Mem. N. Mcv., p. 15. 

 Along the Kio Grande, five miles below El Paso ; Sept., in flow er and ^rith abun- 

 dant ripe fruit. ■ — This vcry rcmarkable and quite handsome Capparidaccous plant, 

 abundantly gathered by Mr. Wright in the rcgion where it was discoTcrcd by thc 

 entcrprising scicntific travcUcr whose name it bcars, is so wcU charnctcrized by 



Dr. Engclmann, as to leave nothing of any importance to add, except to 



give a 

 From 



iigure, with analyses, made by Mr. Sprague from his own disscctions. 

 Oxystylis, Torr. 8f Frem., which I have barely scen in Dr. Torrcy's hcrbarium, it 

 seems to be well distinguished by the characters adduccd by Dr. Engclmann, by the 

 iiliform (not gladiate and spinous) style, and by a marked difference iii habit. 

 The subjoined note on the species of the allied genus CleotnfJla^ drawn up some 

 time since, has been rcccntly communicated by Professor Torrcy.* 



Notes 071 CLEOMELLA ; by John ToRREy. 



This genus was founded by Dc CandoUe, on an unpublishcd drawing of a Mcxican plant, of whlcli 

 specimens seem to be almost unknown in European herbaria. The description of De CandoUe is brief 

 and unsalisfactory. It was with doubt that I referred to his Cleomclla Mexicana a plant found in Westcrn 

 Arkansas by Dr. James, in Long's first expedition. The latter plant w^as afierwards detccted by Mr. 

 Drummond, in Texas, and by Mr- Beyrich, on the Upper Platte. It was descrlbcd and figured by Slr 

 William Hooker, in the first volume of his Jcones^ as C, Mexicana, and described under the same name 

 iii the Flora of Norlh America^ as well as in the recent Genera Illustrata of Dr. Gray, Another 

 species of the genus was discovered by Colonel Fremont, in Catifornia, and published in his second re- 

 port, About three years ago I received from Dr. Halsted excellent specimens of a Cleomella, which he 

 coUected on the march of our army from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. This is probably the orig- 

 inal species of De Candolle, as It seems to be exclusively Mexican, while the Cleomclla of Texas and 

 Arkansas has not been found beyond those States, except in their immediate borders. I have, therefore, 

 changed the name of the lalter plant. A fourth species of the genus was discovcred by Dr. Gregg in 

 Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi, in 1847 and 1848. The following synopsis will exhibit thc leading char- 

 acters of all the specles. 



1. Cleomella. Mexicana (DC.) : foliolis spathulato-obovatis obtusis vel rctusis glabris ; bracteis ple- 

 rumque trifoUolatls ; ovario stylum brevissimum multoties superante stipitem subaequante; capsula retusa 

 subbicorni stipitem superante ; seminibus Isevibus. — C. Mexicana, DC Prodr. L p. 237 ; J7. Don, in 

 Edinh. New PhiL Joiir.^ Jan, 1831. — Hah. Mexico, Mogino 8f Sesse., ex De Candolle. Between Vera 

 Gruz and the city of Mexico, Dr, Halsted. — This species is about a foot high, much branched, and ap- 

 parently diffuse. The leaflets are about one third of an inch long, quite glabrous, somewhat fleshy, and 

 mucronate with a short bristle. The petiole is about as long as the leaflets. Stipules minute, subulate and 



entlre. The golden-yellow flowers are in terminal 



, which are finally much elongated. Petals 



about three titnes the length of the sepals.. Pod 6 - 8-seeded, almost two-horned by the projecting upper 



angles of the valves, the breadth (about 3J- lines) nearly twlce as great as the length. Fructiferous pedi- 



cels 4-5 lines long. 



2. C. LOKGiPES (sp, nov.) : foliolis spathulato-obovatls obtusis vel retusis integerrimis vel marglne ser- 



rulato-scabris ; bracteis superioribus simplicibus ; ovario stylum bis superante stipite plurics breviore ; cap- 



sula retusa subbicorni stiplte subduplo brevlore. — Hah. Valley near San Pablo, Chihuahua, and near 



San Francisco, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Dr. Grcgg. Collected in flower only, April 29th, and in both 



flower and fruit, Dec 28th. — Differs from the prcceding in the conslderably larger and less conspicuously 



r 

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