ON THE GENUS ERIOGONUM. 35 



the annual vestiges of the leaves upon the elongated cau- 

 dex, some very old plants might be of from ten to fifteen 

 years duration. 



Habitat, On arid denudated argillaceous hills and 

 broken soils; from the Arikare village to the northern 

 Andes? or the mountainous sources of the Missouri, 



Medicinal virtues. Probably very similar to those of 

 rhubarb, in common with the Eriogonum tomentosum. 

 Root to the taste sensibly bitter and astringent, 



3, Parviflorwn^ E. caule sufFruticosa subcaespitosa 

 humifusa; scapo umbellato plerumque nudo; involu(jellis 

 subcylindraceis, angulatis, sessilibus, floribus nudis sse- 

 pius intermixtis, omnibus parvulis, extus puberulis; foliis 

 spathulato-obovatis, basi promisse attenuatis utrinque sub- 

 tomentosis csfftescentibus; involucellis receptaculi setige- 

 ris, setis nudis. ' 



E. paucijlorum, Pursh. Flor. Am. Sept. in Supple- 

 mentum, vol. ii. p. 735. 



Description, Root somewhat fusiform, ligneous, branch- 

 ing below and without fibres. Stem prostrate;, proliferous, 

 suffruticose, considerably divided, roundish, covered with 

 a dow^ny white tomentum almost equally spread upon 

 every part of the plant, furnished at the base of the branches 

 with autumnal gemmaceous scales, or the vestigiae of 

 abortive leaves. Leaves alternate! narrow, spathulate-obo- 

 vate attenuated three fourths of their length, entire, two 

 to three inches long, and scarcely a quarter of an inch 

 wide. Scape umbellate, round, rather short (four to six 

 inches long;) involucrum, generallv none, or of one or two 

 short setaceous leaves. Involucelliim sessile, many flowered, 

 subcylindric-cyathiform, angular, with a border of five or 



