1 34 The West American Scientist. 



notable shrubs. The floris de asusana of the Mexicans, our own 

 magnificent Romneya, is also abundant on these hills. 



Among the cacti are to be found a species of Echino cactus, a 

 wild tuna and a cholla, and the beautiful Cereus Engelmanni. 

 The wild date (Yucca baccata) and the coyote plant (Y. whipplei) 

 with Nolina Palmeri, the latter the sotote of the Mexicans, or 

 -vegetable Soap, are all abundant. 



Lovely beds of verbenas were abundant through Mexican 

 Gulch, as beautiful as if they were cultivated in a hothouse. 



Live oaks were not rare near the trail in places, and two 

 varieties of scrub oaks were abundant, the Quercus pungens and 

 Q. palmeri of botanists. The low bunches of Quercus pungens 

 were frequently covered with small round galls of most beautiful 

 and delicate coloring, red, white and green in different tints. 

 The whole bush was frequently covered with these, which some 

 very naturally mistake for the fruit of the shrub. 



Juniper is perhaps the most abundant shrub near the mines 

 and furnishes the main supply of wood at Alamo. It forms a low 

 bushy tree, with dark green foliage, easily distinguished from the 

 other brush at a distance. It would seem to be well adapted for 

 cultivation as an ornamental shrub but may not prove desirable. 

 :■> The color of the rocks in a landscape is often one of the 

 characteristics of a country, and a no small factor in producing 

 the pleasing effect upon the eye in the scenery of California is the 

 great variety of rock lichens everywhere prevalent. Red, yellow, 

 grey and white are the prevailing colors observable here, and the 

 whole side of a cliff is often covered by lichens of the same tint. 

 -How many valuable mines may be hid from the prospector's keen 

 eye by these deceptive colorings? Quartz, however, is not a fav- 

 orite rock with the lichens and consequently is seldom concealed, 

 while the lichens also frequently imitate in coloring the natural 

 color of the rocks on which they are found. 



C. R. Orcutt. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS A LIST OF THE 

 FAUNA AND FLORA OF WE7 MOUN- 

 TAIN VALLEY, COLORADO. II 



(Compiled for the Colorado Biological Association.) 

 III. — MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



This list will be greatly augmented when the various species of 

 grasses and sedges collected have been identified. For the Lili- 

 aceae and Orchidaceae it is probably fairly complete. For identi- 

 fications we are indebted to the kindness of Dr. Geo. Vasey, Dr- 

 J. M. Coulter, and Miss A. Eastwood. 



r. Calypso bulbosa, L. Porter and Coulter, "Fl. Colorado." 

 This is C. borealis, Salisb. 



2. Corallorhiza multiflora, Nutt. Collected by Mrs. M. How- 

 ard of Ula. -' . .,- - 



