An Ottawa Naturalist's Journey Westward, i 17 



I append a short account of some of the plants observed 

 between Ottawa and Victoria. The names of these and 

 indeed any information about them haze- been furnished me 

 by Mr. James Macoun ; and have to add that they are simply 

 some of the more common kinds which were readily seen during 

 the journey. 



The showy Philadelphia lily {Lilinm pliiladelpkiaiui) was 

 the first flower to attract Vi\y attention. It, with Cypi'^'pcdinin" 

 spectabile, was very abundant between Bell's Corners and Stitts- 

 ville within the fences that bound the railway track. Between 

 Dog- Lake, which was crossed at Missinabie station, and Winni- 

 peg the plants observed were mostly those peculiar to swamps 

 and boggy woods— the most conspicuous being Ledum latifo- 

 liuni, Ait., and Kalniia glauca, Ait. CaltJia palustris, L., was 

 common in ditches ; and near Port Arthur the beautiful large 

 white-flowered Rubiis nutkanus, Moc, was first seen, but was 

 most abundant in thickets along the railway embankment in 

 the interior of British Columbia. Upon entering the prairie, a 

 marked change was observable in the floral species. Two species 

 of Astragalus are very common — A. Itypoglottis, L., and A. pec- 

 tinatus. Dough.- The predominating colour among the flowers 

 of the prairie is yellow. This, however, is owing to the con- 

 picuous character of that colour, and not indicative of the 

 species of plants, as was evident whenever there was an oppor- 

 tunity to step off the cars and look about. One such conspicuous 

 flower is Thermopsis rhonibifolia, whilst the genera Arnica, 

 Senecio, and Potentilla are well represented. Some of the most 

 beautiful of the flowers plucked on the prairie were Liniim 

 perenne, L. ; Oxytropis Lamberti, Pursh ; CastilUia miniata, 

 Dougl. ; Malvastruni coccineuin, Gray ; and Coinpanula rohindi- 

 folia, L. 



" At the Glacier hotel a large bunch oi ErytJironhini grandi- 

 floruni graced the centre of each table. This species is very 



