4 pi.am;e fkehontian.e. i. 



Very large collections were also made in his Third Expedition in 1845 and the 

 two following years ; bnt again, notwithstanding every precaution, some valuable 

 packages were destroyed by the numerous and unavoidable mishaps of such a 

 hazardous journey. Very few of the new genera and species that were saved 

 have as yet been published, excepting several of the Compositfe, by Dr. Gray, 

 in order that the priority of their discovery might be secured for Colonel 

 Fremont. There w"as still another journey to California made by that zealous 

 traveller; the disastrous one commenced late in the year 1848. Even in this 

 he gleaned a few plants, which, with all his other botanical collections, he 

 kindly placed at my disposal. I had hoped that arrangements would have been 

 made by tlie Government for the publication of a general account of the Botany 

 of California ; but as there is no immediate prospect of such a work being under- 

 taken, I have prepared this memoir on some of the more interesting new genera 

 discovered by Colonel Fremont. The drawings of the accompanying plates were 

 made by Mr. Isaac Sprague, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who ranks among the 

 most eminent botanical draughtsmen of our day. 



SPRAGUE A. Nov. Gen. 



Calyx disepalus, persistens ; sepalis suborbiculatis, basi cordatis, emarginatis, 

 membranaccis, patentibus. CoroUae petala 4, sestivatio imbricata, libera, duobus 

 exterioribus sepalis alternantibus, interioribus sepalis oppositis. Stamina 3, 

 petalis opposita. Ovarium uniloculare. Ovula 8-10, basilaria. Stylus filiformis, 

 apice trifidus ; lobis intus stigmatosis. Capsula membranacea, compressa, 

 unilocularis, bivalvis. Semina 2-5, lenticulari-compressa, nigra, nitida, estro- 

 phiolata. — Herba Cahfornica, perennis, glabra ; caulibus 1-5, scapiformibus, e 

 caudice brevi ortis, remote squamosis ; floribus confertis scorpioideo-spicatis ; 

 spicis pluribus, aphyUis, umbellatis, terminalibus. 



SPRAGUE A UMBELLATA. Tab. I. 



Hab. — Forks of the Nozah river, in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada of 

 Northern California. In flower and fruit. May 22. Other specimens, not ticketed, 

 were in the collection, perhaps obtained on the same ground a little earlier in the 

 season. 



The root of this remarkable plant is short and tapering, soon dividing into a tuft 

 of thick fleshy fibres. The caudex is short and thick, throwing up from its summit 

 from one to five or six simple scape-like branches, which are from three inches to 

 a span high, and somewhat diverging. All the proper leaves are situated at the 

 crown of the caudex, forming a dense rosulate cluster. They are from an inch to 

 nearly two inches in length, of a fleshy consistence, obovate-spatulate, with a long 

 tapering base, obtuse, and perfectly entire. The scapes are furnished with several 



