1886.] BOTANICAL GAZETTE. a7 
and south, and separates two regions of extensive prairies. As 
the season was very backward few plants were in bloom, and I 
will only mention the Astragalus distortus. After that we reached 
some cretaceous hills bordering a vast prairie, and here for the 
first time a botanist traveling from the east will find Actinella 
scaposa, Scutellaria Wrightii, and Quercus virens, all three very 
common through the west. Along the streams he would notice 
Vitis rupestris. 
After crossing some extensive prairies we come in sight of 
the valley of the Brazos. There are limestone bluffs intermixed 
with sandy patches of post-oaks, some fine prairies, and beautiful 
clear streams. There we collected Psoralea esculenta, Townsendia 
sericea, Vesicaria recurvata and densiflora, and Berberis trifoliata. 
The mountain cedar (Juniperus occidentalis, var. conjungens) 
also appears for the first time. 
e crossed the Brazos near Comanche’s peak, and reached the 
Paluey’s valley the next day, through a sandy forest interspersed 
with rocky prairies. Along streams we collected Ranunculus 
macranthus. We find nothing new in this valley, nor in the re- 
gions south of it for about twenty miles, consisting of woods, 
prairies, and hillocks. 
: n the 17th we crossed the Bosque river, and found ourselves 
in an extensive prairie, where was discovered a rare plant, Am- 
sonia longiflora. We also admired the numerous shades of Cas- 
tilleia purpurea, whose flowers vary from dark red to white, and 
from orange to light straw color. 
About Cowhouse creek and Lamposas river we were detained 
over a week by nearly continual showers. On the prairies we 
noticed Gaura coccinea, CEnothera Greggii, and Melampodium 
cinereum ; along the streams, Clematis coccinea and Nemophila 
Phacelioides ; while the characteristic species of the limestone 
bluffs are Astragalus Reverchoni, Psoralea hypogza, Erodium 
Texanum, Vesicaria Engelmanni, and a Sisyrinchium that I ex- 
pect has no name yet. IL also found a little patch of Dodeeatheon 
Meadia. On some rocky hills were the following: Morus par- 
vifolia, Mimosa fragrans, Arenaria Benthami, Galium Texense, 
Acalypha Lindheimeri, Erysimum asperum, and Hedeoma acin- 
vides ; in clefts of the rocks the two ferns Notholena dealbata 
and Cheilanthes lanuginosa. : 
April 25th we reached Lamposas, a town celebrated for its 
beautiful sulphur springs, which attract many people. Near this 
place I noticed for the first time Thamnosma Texanum, Astra- 
galus Wrightii, and Menodora heterophylla. 
At Lamposas we took the San Saba road, due west through a 
