132 Muhlenbergia, Volume 5 



"When a band of sheep comes to a patch of this sunflower 



the leaders rapidly eat off all the flowers; those following them 

 pick out the young, tender leaves in the center of the plant, 

 while those in the rear bite off the old leaves, eat the stem and 

 then trample on the blade, leaving a very dejected-looking patch. 

 Mr. Van Bnren told us that during the month of August, when 

 forage is not so abundant and some of the ranges are being 

 grazed for the third or fourth time, sheep will eat a consider- 

 able quantity of the leaves. The herders also said that in the 

 autumn when feed is scarce the sheep eat the dead dry leaves." 



Wyethia commemorates the name of Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 

 an enthusiastic explorer who twice crossed the continent be- 

 tween 1832 and 1836, and made a determined effort to settle 

 Oregon, recognizing the vast possibilities of that rich country. 

 He himself did not accomplish his purpose, but blazed the way 

 for others. He built Fort Hall in southern Idaho while on his 

 second expedition, and during the outward journey was accom- 

 panied by Thomas Nuttall, who previously, in Journ. Acad. 

 Phila. 7: 38. 1834, described the genus Wyethia naming as the 

 type II '. helianthoides, which Wyeth had collected on his first 

 journey on "the Kamas plains, near Flat-Head River, towards 

 the sources of the- Columbia and in the plains near the Bine 

 Mountains of ( >regon." 



All told there are about fifteen species of Wyethia, nearly 

 all of them natives of the Pacific slope, and at least seven of 

 these confined to California. So far only two species have been 

 found in Nevada //'. mollis \w the western part, and II'. amplcx- 

 icaiilis from the middle part of the state eastward. One spe 

 cies, // '. lanceolata Howell, is apparently local in the Blue 

 mountains of Oregon. //'. arizonica and //'. scabra are found 

 in the southern Rocky mountains, while //'. arnplexicaulis and 

 //'. helianthoid.es are of the northern Rockv mountains and the 



il Basin. 



There is no reference to Wyethia in the National Standard 

 Dispensatory, so the plant is apparently not used medicinally, 

 but 'ria\ in the Synoptical Flora says the "thick routs and seek 

 were food of the I ndians." 



