20 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Western Nevada and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The West- 

 ern Desert-Steppe province includes: (a) the transition from 

 the Chaparral and Sonora province of the Central American 

 Xerophyte region to the Mohave and Gila deserts, (b) the Great 

 Basin zone and (c) the Inner California zone. 



A brief description of the flora of each of these regions is 

 given and here the numerous errors in regard to the distribution 

 of species are to be charged to the account of American botan- 

 ists, who are often exceedingly lax in their methods of stating 

 ranges, rather than to that of the author himself. In California 

 there has been so little done in the matter of working out the 

 exact ranges of particular species that we cannot be surprised if 

 foreign botanists are unable to get an accurate idea of the differ- 

 ent floral belts of the state. Exhibiting as it does the views of 

 one of the foremost authorities on this subject, the outline given 

 by Dr. Engler will probably serve as a basis for more elaborate 

 treatises on the phytogeography of North America. 



In the contribution submitted by Mr. McKenney we have a 

 more detailed account of a very limited region. The author, 

 who was at one time connected with the Santa Ana schools, 

 conflnes himself to a discussion of the plant formations of 

 .Orange County, of which seven are distinguished; the Mountain, 

 Foot-hill, Canyon, River Bed, Mesa, Bog and Strand formations. 

 The principal species occurring in each of these formations are 

 mentioned and the character of the vegetation described. As in 

 other parts of Southern California, the principal factor affect- 

 ing plant distribution in Orange County is found to be moisture, 

 the conditions of light and heat being relatively unimportant, 

 since they are quite uniform throughout the comity. Except 

 in the River Bed formation, soil moisture is of more importance 

 than surface moisture and the amount of available soil moisture 

 is dependant largely upon soil structure. The chemical nature 

 of the soil is a dominant factor on the alkali mesas and along 

 the strand. Among the five species of seaweeds given as be- 

 longing to the Strand formation algologists will be surprised to 

 find three which- have never before been reported from the 

 Pacific coast ! The figures accompanying the paper are too poor 

 to be of any value and the sketch-map is even worse. The 

 paper itself, however, gives one a very good idea of the flora of 

 this interesting region and is a welcome addition to our meager 

 literature. 



But by far the most important contribution to the phyto- 

 geography of Southern California is a recent paper by Mr. S. B. 

 Parish. Since this report represents the results of nearly thirty 

 years of field work by a botanist who has the ability both to 

 make careful observations and to draw trustworthy conclusions 

 therefrom, it deserves more than a passing notice^ After pre- 



