V. planTjE "vvrightian^. 73 



May, June. — From Mr. Wright alone have I received specimens of this trimerous 

 Gaura, gathered in successive years. They all look like depauperate specimens of 

 the foregoing, with the fruit (being triquetrous) perhaps a little narrower and more 

 pointed, and its sides more distinctly corrugated. It agrees very well with the G. 

 tripetala of Mr. Webb's herbarium, both with indigenous specimens from Pavon, 

 and with cultivated ones by Desfontaines from the Jardin des Plantes. 



X G. viLLosA, Torr. ; Gray, PI. Fendl. p. 46. Coll. of 1851. Stems somewhat 

 woody at the base, from a thick and truly perennial root. 



206. G. cocciNEA, Nutt. ; var. caule villoso-pubescente, foliis subsericeis. — Valley 

 of the Limpia ; Aug. There is no ripe fruit. That of the ordinary G. coccinea is 

 canescent-puberulent, pyramidal above, acute, or when ripe quite obtuse, contracted 

 abruptly below into a narrow neck, which is shorter than that of G. Drummondii. 



207. G. COCCINEA, Nutt. ; Torr. 8f Gray, Fl. 1. p. 518, fere var. y. Prairies of 

 Zacate Creek, and near the valley of the Rio Grande, New Mexico. Also in the 

 coll. of 1851. — The ripe fruit is remarkably broad and obtuse, with a very short 

 narrowed base ; but it is much the same in specimens from Saskatchawan ; and the 

 younger fruit on the same individuals is acute. Similar forms in Fendler's collec- 

 tion were referred to G. epilobioides, H. B. K., and apparently with good reason, for 

 I see no available characters to distinguish the two species. 



208. G. COCCINEA, var. Same as the last, but with the stems hairy below. — Val- 

 leys between the Pecos and the Limpia; Aug. There are also some specimens 

 with very small and narrowly linear leaves. 



209. G. Drummondii, Spach ; Torr. ^ Gray, Fl. 1. p. 519. Prairies on the Sa- 

 binal, Texas ; June.* 



LOASACEJE. 



210. Mentzelia oligosperma, Nutt. ; Torr. Sf Gray, Fl. 1. ^). 533. M. aurea, 

 Nutt. Gen. 1. j)' 300. M. rhombifolia, Nutt. in Torr. and Gray, I. c. Dry hills and 

 plains from Turkey Creek to the San Pedro River. " Flowers opening in the 

 morning," as in other species with yellow blossoms. To this common and widely 

 diffused species we may safely join the M. rhombifolia of Nuttall. 



211. M. (Bartonia) Wrightii, Gray, PI. Fendl. p. 48. On sand-bars in the 

 Colorado at Austin, and opposite Bastrop, Texas. — Flowers smaller than those of 

 M. pumila, Nutt., and ochroleucous. 



212. M. (Bartonia) nuda, Torr. ^ Gray, Fl. 1. p. 535 ; Gray, PI. Fendl. p. 47, 

 ^ PI. Lindh, 2. p. 191. Gravelly banks of the Rio Seco, Western Texas; June. 

 A smaller-flowered state than usual ; the petals only three fourths of an inch long. 

 — No. 212% from the Guadalupe Mountains, is apparently a depauperate form of 

 the same species, and not M. pumila, Nutt, which has yellow, according to Geyer 

 " bright golden-yellow," flowers of lesser size.^l" 



* In 1848, Mr. Wright collected, on the Rio Grande, a Gaura with extremely silky-canescent ovate- 

 lanceolate leaves and pedicellate flowers; but without fruit it cannot properly be characterized. 



t Mentzelia (Bartonia) Isevicaulis, raised during the last season in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, from 

 Oregon seeds brought by Fremont, has bright, pure yellow blossoms, opening in the afternoon, at four or 

 five o'clock, in bright sunshine. (See notes in PI. Fendl. p. 47.) 



