88 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



hill canons, which debouch at intervals upon the 

 plain from Palm Springs to the lower end of the 

 Salton Sink. Occasionally, as at Seven Palms, a 

 grove is found venturing a few miles out in the 

 desert, where some alkaline cienaga provides the 

 needful moisture. Mr. S. B. Parish 3 is of opinion 

 that the distribution of the California species of 

 Washingtonia has been determined by the bound- 

 aries of the great lake which at no very distant time, 

 geologically speaking, occupied the central depres- 

 sion of the Colorado Desert ; and that we may reason- 

 ably suppose the shore of the ancient lagoon to have 

 been graced with groves of these stately palms. It 

 is a pleasant picture, and it may refresh the weary 

 tourist to-day to conjure it up, as his train carries 

 him across the heated sands over which primeval 

 waters once rippled. 



3 "A Contribution toward a Knowledge of the Genus Washing- 

 tonia." Botanical Gazette, December, 1907. In this paper Mr. Par- 

 ish has straightened out the confused terminology of the genus, and 

 ascribes to the California tree the name Washingtonia filifera ro- 

 busta. 



