16 BOTANICAL OBSERVATIONS IN WESTERN WYOMING. 
fusion and variety indicate a moister climate; and along the 
borders of innumerable springs and ice-cold brooks grow the 
ordinary forms before noticed, including species of Cardamine, 
Sazifraga, Mitella, Mimulus, Mertensia, Habenaria, etc., ete. 
The absence of any well-marked trails, and the annoying ob- 
struction of fallen timber, obliging frequent détours, are apt to 
confuse the sense of direction even in those most experienced in 
wood-craft, and frequent reference to the compass is necessary to 
maintain a direct course. It is therefore a great relief, both to~ 
man and animals, to emerge occasionally into open grassy valleys, 
which offer something else to engage the eye and thought more 
pleasantly than dodging the scraggy branches of overhanging pine 
trees, or devising the best way of escape from a perfect maze of 
fallen trees. To the botanist especially these little open parks 
afford the most satisfactory field for observation and collection, 
however seriously interfered with by the persistent annoyances of 
insect pests. The Graminez here brought to view comprise the 
ordinary northern forms, including Phleuwm alpinum L., Vilfa as- 
perifolia Nees and Meyen, Agrostis scabra Willd., Muhlenbergia 
Mexicana Trin., Calamagrostis Canadensis Beauv., Calamagrostis 
Lapponica Trin., Keleria cristata Pers., Melica bulbosa Geyer., 
Poa Andina Nutt., Festuca ovina L., Bromus breviaristatus Thur- 
ber, Triticum cegiopoides Turcz, etc., etc. The Cyperacee are 
represented by Eriophorum polystachyon L., Carex rigida Good., 
C. Jamesii Torr., C. Douglasii Boott, C. aquatilis Wahl., C. Ray- 
noldsii Dewey, C. leporina L. and C. tenuirostris Olney, ined. 
n reaching the shore of Yellowstone Lake the great variety of 
exposure bordering this magnificent body of water, at an eleva- 
tion of seven thousand four hundred feet above the sea level, 
added material attractions to the native flora. High bluff banks 
here alternate with stretches of sandy or gravelly beach, while 
numerous inland lagoons, frequently heated by boiling springs, 
maintain a local temperature often too high for the ordinary phe- 
nogamous plants. When, however, this source of internal heat is 
properly tempered, there is induced a profuse hot-bed growth. 
But the specific forms are not materially different from those else- 
where exhibited. Strikingly conspicuous among less showy plants 
were the profuse blossoms of Gentiana detonsa Fries, presenting 
flowers of unusual size, and streaked with the most delicate shades 
of azure blue. A peculiar form of Pentstemon secundifiorus Benth. 
(176) 
‘eae 
es 
e 
