78 Muhlenbergia, Volume 5 



Nuttall's specimens should be represented in either the her- 

 barium of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, in 

 the Torrey herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, or in 

 the Gray herbarium. Some one of our eastern friends who has 

 access to the type material could do no better work than give 

 us a more complete description of 6". viridifiora (provided a bet- 

 ter one is necessary) accompanied by an illustration of Nuttall's 

 specimen and enlargements of the floral parts. 



THE WILD PHLOX 

 By A. A. Heller 



Phlox Stansburyi (Torr.) Heller, Bull. Torr. Club 24: 478. 

 1897. 



P. spzciosa var. (?) Stansburyi Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 145. 

 1859. 



P. longifolia var. Stansburyi Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. S: 

 255. 1870. 



The handsome little plant which furnishes the subject for 

 our illustration is common on gravelly hills about Reno, begin- 

 ning to bloom early in April, and from that time on until the 

 middle of May flecking the hills with vivid spots of pink. Oc- 

 casionally plants, or even whole colonies of plants bearing white 

 flowers are found. As shown in the illustration, hundreds of 

 blossoms are often found massed together. It is not true Phlox 

 Stansburyi] but apparently the plant known as /'. Stansburyi 

 var. brevifolia (Gray) E. Nelson, and differs considerably in ap- 

 pearance, notably in the shorter and broader leaves and .shorter 

 flowers. It is probably distinct. Typical Stansburyi belongs 

 to an entirely different floral region, having been collected many 

 years ago on "gravelly hills near the Organ Mountains, New 

 Mexi< <>." 



The name Phlox, although botanical, has come to be well 

 known in common every-day language. The ones best known 

 are those derived from the perennial fragrant ones, and the bright 

 and various colored annual Phlox Drummondii x the best known 

 of all the species, as it has been in cultivation for a long time 



