The West- American bcientist. 



Vol. I. 



San Diego, California, April, 1S85. 



No. 5. 



AP r\^ r Sc a ^a r l COrd 5 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY C. R. OrCITTT .{ *£*£&« S'ptfoSK 



SOTES ON CHORIZANTHE LASTAR- 

 RIJJA, PARRY, 



BV C. G, PARRf. 



In a recent examination of the 

 early collections of Cliorizantlie 

 etc., in the old world herbaria, 

 some facts of general botanical 

 interest were brought to view; 

 most important of all being the 

 types of Bentham's original de- 

 scriptions in establishing the sub- 

 order Eriogoneaa. Among these 

 I was particularly interested in 

 tracing up the botanical history 

 of ChorizanthenOjLastarriaea, Par- 

 ry (Lasiarriaea Chilensis, Gay). 

 Owing to the inconspicuous char- 

 acters of this otherwise well mark- 

 ed species, in the older herbarium 

 specimens, it was frequently in- 

 advertently mixed with other 

 species, and when properly separ- 

 ated had received several unpub- 

 lished generic names, being vari- 

 ously referred to Paronychiaceaa, 

 Ilecebracea3, or Eriogonese. 



It was, however, fairly repre- 

 sented by authentic specimens in 

 all the early collections from 

 Chili, South America, as far back 

 as 1830, and by both Coulter and 

 Nuttall, from Southern Califor- 

 nia, 1832-36. 



By Nuttall, whose complete 

 specimens were collected at Santa 

 Barbara in 1836, its diagnostic 

 botanical characters were clearly 

 determined, though not referred 



to any natural order. In his 

 specimens at the British Museum, 

 the accompanying label marked 

 with his usual * indicating a new 

 genus, the following brief descrip- 

 tion is given, (the original con- 

 tracted Latin being translated), 

 viz: 



"* Ancistrophyllum Californi- 

 cum. Annual; leaves 5, verticel- 

 late;stem jointed, fragile; flowers 

 sessile, dichotomous, calyx pris- 

 matic, 5 cleft, uncinate, corolla 

 none; stamens 2 - 3 ? ovary slen- 

 der 3 angled, stigmata none. San- 

 ta Barbara, Upper California." 



With still another Nuttallian 

 specimen (probably on cursory 

 examination) is the following 

 label, viz: 



« * Corrispermum spinulosum." 



In other fragmentary Nuttallian 

 specimens in the Kew Herbarium, 

 this species is mixed on the same 

 sheet with Chorizanthe uncinata 

 Nutl, and so referred in Ben- 

 tham's hand writing, followed also 

 by Prof. Gray on another mixed 

 sheet. In South American speci- 

 mens in the Kew Herbarium, 

 there is a similar confusion in the 

 older collections, the following- 

 label accompanying one of the 

 oldest, viz: 



" 50 Poppig, PI. Chil. 



Ham aria Poppigii, Ky. (ined). 



Synop. PL Am. Aust. Slisc. Nov. 

 gen. e farnilia Paronychiaceee ? in 

 arenosis Montes, Aug. floreus." 



On still another Chilian speci- 



