156 A SKETCH OF THE BOTANY OF THE BASIN OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE OF UTAH. 
The vegetable growth of the saline flats bordering the Lake, is limited to about one 
dozen species of hardy and mostly shrubby plants of a mournful glaucous foliage, little 
calculated to enliven the surrounding scenery. The most prominent of these plants are 
the sarcobatus vermiculatus, (the Pulpy Thorn of Lewis and Clarke,) the Grayia polygo- 
noides, (Grease Wood,) and other species of the order Chenopodiacee; perhaps several 
species of Artemisia, (the sage of the Western travellers,) and the famous Bunch Grass, a 
large grass, yielding a good pasture, the botanical character of which has not yet, I think, 
been determined. 
The vegetation of the valleys, of the mountain-tops, and of the small meadows at their 
base, do not differ in any particular from that of the surrounding regions lying out of 
the reach of the saline emanations of the Lake. In the lower and swampy grounds, are 
willows and rose bushes, horse-tails and grasses, interspersed with violets and anemones, 
some species of the order Liliacee and other meadow flowers; the valleys above sparkle 
with more brilliant blossoms of Leguminose, Rosacew, Onagracee, Composite, Borraginacea, 
Polemomacie, &c.; whilst, on the more elevated zones, are found clusters of various 
dwarfish and acerose species of Phlox, the purple Hriogonwm and a few other mountain 
species growing under the shade or by the side of stunted trees of the coniferous tribe. 
If, comparatively to other Oregon sections of equal extent, the Flora of the Great Salt 
Lake Basin should prove to be really as limited in the number of its species as it appears 
to be, judging from the examination of the four collections referred to, it is proper to in- 
quire into the causes of this apparent scantiness of distinct species in the vegetation of 
that strange country. 
First of all, the whole circumference of the Lake consists of extensive low plains which 
have evidently, at a remote period, formed part of it, and are so little elevated above the 
surface of the water, that a rise of a few feet above its present level, would inevitably 
flood their entire superficies to a great distance north and south. All these flats are com- 
posed of the same soil, a mixture of sand and clay, highly saturated with chloride of so- 
dium, and affording no other vegetation but occasional patches of saline plants. In rainy 
weather, these plains are covered with a thick mire, almost impassible to the traveller, 
which dries rapidly under the rays of the sun, when it becomes covered with a light crys- 
talline efflorescence, resembling white-frost; the reflection of which is highly injurious to 
the sight, and, I should think, easily dispersed by the winds. The whole of the western 
shores is bounded by ridges of barren hills, beyond which stretches the Great Desert of Utah. 
Very different, however, is the aspect of the great valley of the Wahsatch Mountains, 
east of the Mormon City. Here the declivities are generally covered with verdure; nu- 
merous small streams of fresh water descending from the summits, carry down with them 
the disintegrated particles of the feldspathic rocks above, which they deposit along the 
