700 The Smithsonian Institution 



afterward placed in Chenopodiaceae by Grisebach in his 

 " Flora of the British West Indian Islands" (1864), the genus 

 was still kept as the type of a distinct order by Bentham and 

 Hooker m their " Genera Plantarum," and also by Engler 

 and Prantl in " Die Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien," its natural 

 position being near Amarantaceae and Polygonaceae. 



In the second paper Torrey described the curious and 

 characteristic pitcher- plant, Darlingtonia Calif ornica, of 

 which the first sterile specimens had been collected in Cali- 

 fornia by W. D. Brackenridge, of the Wilkes Exploring 

 Expedition. Flowering specimens were collected afterward 

 by Doctor G. W. Hulse, and, with this material, Torrey was 

 able to recognize the plant as the representative of a new 

 genus of the curious order Sarraceniaceae. 



For many years the Institution had intended to publish for 

 the use of those engaged in the study of Western plants a 

 complete list, with synonyms, of all the species known in the 

 region west of the Mississippi, and in 1870 Doctor Sereno 

 Watson, who had acted as botanist of the Fortieth Parallel 

 Expedition, was engaged to prepare such a work. The 

 expense of preparation was to be borne by private subscrip- 

 tion, the Institution paying for the clerical labor and for the 

 publication. Work on the Index progressed until 1877, and 

 one hundred and eighty- four pages had been stereotyped 

 when Doctor Watson found his time much occupied with 

 other work, and it was decided to publish the portion then 

 finished, which included the orders of Polypetalae, as Part i. 

 This part appeared in 1878 under the title of "Bibliograph- 

 ical Index to North American Botany," as one of the " Smith- 

 sonian Miscellaneous Collections," forming an octavo volume 

 of four hundred and eighty-four pages. The " Index " was 

 very carefully and critically prepared, but, although of great 

 service to working botanists, the character of the work was 



