^2 Muhlenbergia, Volume 6 



are shorter than the ovary and linear or subulate. The ovary', 

 also, is said to be glabrous. 



We have not seen the base of the stem; the leaf only ac- 

 companying the spike, as exhibited in the figure." 



The above is the original description by Kellogg, and the 

 synonymy gives a partial history of the plant. Watson, in Proc. 

 Am. Acad. 8: 608. 1873, l' sts ^ as a synonym of Oenothera 

 gauracflora, but evidently had seen no material of it, for n<>: e 

 of the collectors cited by him had obtained plants in western 

 Nevada. To Watson, then, apparently >h u'd be given the 

 credit of reducing the species to synonymy without miTc out 

 evidence. So the matter rested until 1S85, when Mis. Cm ran, 

 Ball. Cal. Acad. 1: 137, has this to say about it: 



"Oe. NEVADENSIS, Kellogg, 1. c. ii. 227. fig. 70. The large 

 leaf accompanying the figure does not belong to it. 



Re-collected last year on rocky hills near Reno, Nevada. 

 Qaite distinct from Oe. gauracflora to which it has been re- 

 ferred." 



This is the second recorded collection of the species, for 

 Watson does not mention it in the bt tany of the King Report. 

 In 1904 it was published as SpJiaerostigma loriuosa by Nelson, 

 llu- type collected by Kennedy at Truckee Pass. In 1908, Joner, 

 overlooking Mrs. Cur au\s rote, and Nelson's recent publica- 

 tion, described it as O.uotJicra gauracflora var. vermiculata, 

 and his term "prostrate," exactly describes its habit. Of the 

 three who have given names to the plant, he is the only one 

 that saw it growing. K.l'.ogir inu-.t have had some information 

 from the collector about its habit, for he says it is "sub-decum- 

 bent." His specimen was fragmentary, not tven .-bowing the 

 root. Furthermore, the large detached leaf shown in the origi- 

 nal figure differs so much from the others, that it very evident'y 

 belongs to some other plant, and the part of the description 

 referring to it should be discarded. 



Our cover illustration, taken from a plant collected on Uni- 

 versity Heights, Reno, early in June, 1909, shows exactly tl e 

 habit of the plant, the branches lying flat upon the ground, tl e 

 ends only slightly ascending. 



