1826, OCTOBER. OBSERVATIONS ON PLANTS '219 



very large but without cones. P. taxifolia,^ P. balsamea,^ abound on the lower 

 parts ; P. resinosa on the more elevated, all of extremely large dimensions, 

 some 200 to 250 feet high, 30 to 55 feet in circumference. Measured to-day 

 what I have noted as Arbutus laurifolia,^3 feet in diameter, but seldom carry- 

 ing a trunk of these dimensions more than 15 or 20 feet high. I find such 

 trees are only to be seen on dry elevated spots where the soil is a deep rich 

 light loam on a gravelly bottom, and are rarely to be seen in fruit. In open 

 rocky situations where the trees are low and scrubby, abundance of fruit 

 is to be seen, but only on parts where bears are unable to reach the fruit, 

 now half ripe. Observed a few low bushes of Arbutus Menziesii, and the 

 fruit of it also destroyed by the same animal. The low herbage on the top 

 of the hill is Spiraea cafitata * ; Gaultheria Shallon ; Berberis nervosa ; one 

 species of Salix with ovate, tomentose leaves ; Corylus rostrata ; Vaccinium 

 with red berries, the same one so abundant on the banks of the Columbia ; 

 Efildbium angustifolium ; and one species of Carex near springs or on moist 

 ground. One plant I have been in search of every day during my walks 

 {Ilex Dahoon), and am still unable to find it. I hope ere long to see it, if on 

 the range of my present journey. The plant I found yesterday, which I 

 took to be a species of Glethra, I now see in perfection on the summit of the 

 hill. I find it will prove a third species diiierent from that so common in 

 the open woods on the higher parts of the Columbia and its branches, 

 and equally different from the deciduous one on the coast. Being so late 

 in the season I could not collect so much seed as I should have wished of 

 this fine plant. Perhaps in the course of my walks I may increase my 

 store ; seeds of Arbutus laurifolia * I must collect on my return. Found two 

 species of Capri folium,^ one resembling C. ciliosum ' of Pursh but distinct, 

 with abundance of fine ripe seeds ; a second with small ovate, hirsute 

 leaves, which, if I recollect right, I found in an imperfect state last year on 

 the rocky banks of the Columbia near Oak Point ; of this interesting little 

 plant I could only find six perfect berries. A very slender delicate plant, 

 not more than 3 or 4 feet long, twining itself round low brushwood. 

 The former a strong one and will at least prove a good variety, if not a 

 species, to this handsome tribe of plants. Laid in specimens of all of them. 

 Heavy rain in the afternoon and throughout the night. Marched eleven 

 miles. As I walked all the way and my course was much more circuitous 

 than the brigade, I felt no little embarrassment in making my way through 

 the thicket ; and in addition to what I have mentioned Pteris aquilina,^ 

 8 to 10 feet high and strongly bound together by Rubus suberectus,9 

 and several species of decayed Vicia, rendered it so fatiguing that 

 every three hundred or four hundred yards called for a rest. 



1 Psevdotsuga Douglasii, Mast, in Jovtm. R. Hort. Soo. xiv. p. 245. 



' Abies balsamea, Mast. loc. cit. p. 189. 



" A. Gray, Syn. PI. N. Am. ii. I. p. 27, says may be Prunus caroUniana, but ia 

 indeterminable . 



* NeilUa opidifolia var. mollis, S. Wats. Bibl. Ind. N. Am. Bot. p. 290. 



' May be Prunus caroUniana, but is indeterminable, A. Gray, Syn. PI. N. Am. 

 ii. I. p. 27. 



' Lonicera, Benth. and Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. p. 5. 



' Lonicera ciliosa, A. Gray, Syn. PL N. Am. i. n. p. 16. 



' Pteridium aquilinum, Christensen, Ind. Pil. p. 591. 



» Riibus villosus var. frondosus, S. Wats, Bibl. Ind. N. Am. Bot. p. 319. 



