GENERAL FLORA OF NEBRASKA. 81 



in the eastern counties. They increase rapidly westward, until the 

 mountains are reached, where they have their greatest develop- 

 ment. Among the most beautiful are P. grandiflora and P. ccru- 

 leus. P. albidus is only found along our western border. More 

 of these beautiful species deserve a place in the garden than have 

 yet been admitted there. The scarlet Castilleias, in western Ne- 

 braska, are not less beautiful than the last. The rose-purple 

 Gerardia also abounds in places. It is curious that a homely mem- 

 ber of this tribe, the common mullein of the East, though not 

 native, has, since its accidental introduction, spread rapidly over 

 eastern Nebraska. 



The Verbenas are among the most generally spread species of 

 the State. Some of the native nine species of the State are found 

 in every county. Verbena hastata is most abundant. V. bracie- 

 asa is at home in every county. I have seen it grow at the very 

 edge of the Bad Lands, and at the foot of the Sand Hills. 



Of the forty-eight species of the Mint Family, perhaps the most 

 attractive is Salvia azurea, which grows here from four to five 

 feet high, with showy, azure blue flowers, in a spike-like raceme. 



The Polemonium Family receives here a wonderful develop- 

 ment in the number of individuals. Phlox is the most abundant. 

 In June, in many places, the prairies are made scarlet by their 

 numbers. Some of the counties along the Elkhorn and its tribu- 

 taries are particularly remarkable for their numbers. The Logan 

 bottoms, in Wayne County, in former years, had a most extra- 

 ordinary profusion of these flowers. The Gilias are most abundant 

 towards our western limits. One form, however, (G. tricolor), 

 first described from California, is frequently seen in eastern Ne- 

 braska. 



Of the Convolvulus Family, the most interesting form is the 

 Bush Morning Glory (Ifiomcza leptophylla). Its purple, funnel-form 

 flower, three inches long, is a most attractive object in southwestern 

 Nebraska. The dodder, also, unfortunately, abounds in our woods. 



The Night-Shade Family is represented, among many others, 

 by the Potato-Beetle weed {Solarium rostratuni). It was intro- 

 duced from the mountains by freighters across the plains. It is the 

 original plant on which the potato beetle fed, before the more 

 luscious potato came in its way. 



The Gentian Family is most fully represented by the type genus 

 Gentiana. Of the fourteen species that here belong to this order, 

 6 



