1885. J PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 485 



nurus ciliatus already mentioned. Late in August I noted about here 

 the handsome Lantana Camara, which cattle seem to avoid, the sting- 

 ing Jatropha Texana, the purple-flowered Callirrhoe involucrata, aud 

 several pretty Leguminosse, viz., Hoffmanseggia caudata, Cassia procum- 

 bens, Zornia tetraphylla, Indigo/era leptosepala, Tephrosia Lindheimeri. 

 Other conspicuous plants were Reliotropium convolvulaceum, Comme- 

 Una Virginica, Palafoxia Hoolceriana, Gaillardia pulchella, Monarda 

 punctata, var. lasiodonta, a form with very narrow leaves. More homely 



and common herbs are, Croton , tall and branching, Garlowrightia 



parvifolia, Biodia teres, Lippia nodiflora, Acalypha .radians, Gonolobus 

 parviflorus. 



COAST. 



The vicinity of the sea does not appear to have any favorable influ- 

 ence on either the nature or vigor of the vegetation. From the mouth 

 of the Rio Grande to Corpus Christi the coast is low, mostly bare, and 

 unattractive. The trees or arborescent shrubs seen at the above town 

 are Mezquit, mostly shrubby, extending to the very edge of the bay, Hui- 

 sache and Retain a, both of large size and much cultivated, Ebony 

 (Acacia flexicaulis , Black Willow. Hackberry, Texas Persimmon. These 

 trees, or some of them, with the addition of the Green Ash, the Water 

 Elm (Ulmus crassifolia), Anaqua (Ehretia elliptica) and Nacahuite 

 (Cordia Boissieri) are seen in thin fringes on many of the drains, arroyos 

 and creeks opening into the sea. 



Of the trees or shrubs introduced at Corpus Christi, the Tamarisk, 2 

 feet in diameter, China Tree (Melia), Red Mulberry, Osage Orange and 

 Oleander are quite thrifty. 



The scrubby chaparral, extending from the shore inward for several 

 miles, consists mostly of Mezquit, Granjeno, Texas Persimmon, Junco, 

 Coyotillo (Karwinskia), Acacia amentacea and flexicaulis, Condalia obo- 

 vata, Castela Nicholsoni, Xanthoxylum Pterota, Lippia lycioides, Berberis 

 trifoliata, Lantana Camara, Aster Pahneri. 



The vines are Anredera scandens, Vitis incisa, Serjania brachycarpa, 

 Maximowiczia Lindheimeri. 



Of Grasses, the most common are Bermuda Grass (Cynodon Bactylon), 

 Aristida purpurea, Bouteloua Texana, Eragrostis reptans, and Eleusine 

 ^Egyptica. 



MOUNTAINS. 



The principal mountain ranges of Texas are the Guadalupe, Limpio, 

 Eagle, Chen ate, and Chisos, all lying beyond the Pecos, in the western 

 part of the State. They extend from the border of New Mexico south- 

 eastward into the Great Bend of the Rio Grande. Other elevations, 

 with an altitude of 1,200 feet or less, also called mountains, intervene 

 between these ranges and are also seen on the headwaters of the Brazos 



