40 Botanical Excursion to the Mountains of North Carolina. 



number of genera which are either divided between North Amer- 

 ica, Japan, and the mountain-region of central Asia, or have 

 nearly allied species in these countries or in the two former, is 

 very considerable : in other cases a North American genus is re- 

 placed by a nearly allied one in Japan, &c., as Decumaria by 

 Schizophragma, iSchizandra by SpJicBrostemma, Hamamelis 

 by Corylopsis, fee. I have elsewhere alluded to this subject, 

 and shall probably consider it more particularly on some future 

 occasion. 



Our next day's journey was from Cranberry Forge to Crab 

 Orchard on Doe River, in Tennessee, and up Liitle Doe River to 

 'Squire Hampton's, where we took a guide and ascended the 

 Roan. While ascending the Little Doe River, about three miles 

 from its junction with the larger stream of that name, at one of 

 the numerous places where the road crosses this rivulet, we 

 again met with Carex Fraseriana. The plant did not appear 

 to be so abundant in this Tennessee locality as at the Grandfa- 

 ther, but it is doubtless plentiful on the mountain side just above. 

 We ascended the north side of the Roan, through the heavy 

 timbered woods and rank herbage with which it is covered ; but 

 found nothing new to us, excepting Strepiopus lanuginosus, 

 in fruit ; and among the groves of Rhododendron maximum 

 towards the summit, we also collected Diphyscimn foliosum, a 

 moss which we had not before seen in a living state. In more 

 open moist places near the summit, we found the Hedyotis 

 {.Hoiistonia) serpyllifolia, still beautifully in flower, and the 

 Geum gejiiculatum, which we have already noticed. It was 

 just sunset when we reached the bald and grassy summit of this 

 noble mountain, and after enjoying for a moment the magnificent 

 view it affords, had barely time to prepare our encampment be- 

 tween two dense clumps of Rhododendron Catatvbiense, to col- 

 lect fuel, and make ready our supper. The night was so fine 

 that our slight shelter of Balsam boughs proved amply sufficient ; 

 the thermometer, at this elevation of about six thousand feet 

 above the level of the sea, being 64° Pahr. at midnight, and 60° 

 at sunrise. The temperature of a spring just under the brow of 

 the mountain below our encampment we found to be 47° Fahr. 

 The Roan is well characterized by JProf. Mitchell, as the easiest 

 of access and the most beautiful of all the high mountains of that' 

 region. " With the exception of a body of [granitic] rocks, look- 



