A CONTRIBUTION TOWARD A KNOWLEDGE OF THE 



GENUS WASHINGTONIA 



r 



S. B. Parish 



r 



w 



(with twelve figures) 



"We followed the sandy bed of the Carriso nearly all day at a 

 snail's pace, and at length reached the * little pools/ where the grass 

 was luxuriant, but very salt* This valley is at no point more than 

 half a mile wide, and on each side are mountains of gray granite and 

 pure quartz. A few miles from the spring called ^Ojo Grande,' 

 at the head of the creek, several scattered objects were seen, projected 

 against the cliffs, hailed by the Florida campaigners, several of whom 

 were along, as old friends. They were cabbage trees, and marked 

 the locale of a spring, and a small patch of grass." 



In these words we have the record of the discovery of the Wash- 

 ington palm. The date was November 28, 1846, and the discoverers 

 were the party of the military reconnoissance under Major W. W. 

 Emory, now nearing the end of their long journey, through unex- 

 plored mountains and arid deserts, from the Missouri River to San 

 Diego* 



Seven years later a company of surveyors under W. P- Blake, 

 engaged in exploring a route for the projected Pacific Railroad, entered 

 the Colorado Desert through the San Gorgonio Pass, on their way 

 to Fort Yuma, the route now followed by the Southern Pacific 

 Railway. On November 15, 1853, they reached a little nook, nestled 

 under the shadow of rugged San Jacinto Mountain, which afterward 

 came to be known as Agua Caliente,and more recently as Palm Springs. 



i. growth of rushes," says the itinerary, "forms 

 green vegetation around the spring and its out 

 squite bushes grow there also, and I found a 



Willows and 



spreading its broad, fan-like leaves among them. The surrounding 

 desert and the palm tree gave the scene an oriental aspect." Hidden 



grov 



unaware 



presence. 



Botanical Gazette, vol, 44] 



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[408 



