Contributions to West American Botany. 137 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO WEST AMERICAN BOT- 

 ANY— II 



LENNOACE^E. 



Pholisma arenarium, Nutt., Hook Ic. PL t. 626; Watson 

 Bot. Calif., i., 464. A purplish-brown fleshy herb, parasitic on 

 the roots of various shrubs, most commonly growing in sandy soil. 

 The usually simple stems puberulent, an inch or more thick, 

 clothed with small erect scales, three to six inches in height above 

 ground and penetrating the earth or sand to a depth of three to 

 twelve inches where connection is made with the foster root. 

 Spike more or less capitate, dense, the purplish sessile flowers 

 about four lines in length. 



No doubt this plant like the Ammobroma, was utilized by the 

 Indians for food, but the scarcity of Indians has prevented my 

 verifying this supposition. It extends from near Montery (Doug- 

 las), southward to San Diego (Nuttall and others) into Lower 

 California. C G. Pringle collected it in 1882 on the roots of a 

 species of Bigelovia in the Mojave Desert, San Bernardino county. 

 I have found it in the vicinity of San Quintin bay, Lower California; 

 in proximity to Ouercus Dunnii, KelL.in the mountains; and in 

 other parts of the peninsular. It is found abundant near San 

 Diego on the roots of Eriodictyon tomentosum, Benth. . flowering 

 in May, and I found it very plentiful on the Colorado Desert in 

 April of this year (1889) and at intermediate points in the moun- 

 tains. 



Ammobroma Sonorae, Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y., viii.,'51, t. iJ 

 Watson, 1. c. Dr. Edward Palmer re-collected this interesting 

 plant this year at the head of the Gulf of California. It is a plant 

 much resembling Pholisma in size and character, growing from 

 twelve to eighteen inches deep in very sandy soil, and parasitic 

 on the roots of several species of plants. The plant is watery and 

 eaten raw by the Cocopa, Yuma and Diegeno Indians. Dr. Palmer 

 describes the taste as resembling that of the heart of a cabbage. 

 The original discoverer, Col. A. B. Gray, described the fresh 

 cooked plant as "luscious, resembling the sweet potatoe in taste, 

 only more delicate." It is also eaten by the Papago Indians, of 

 Sonora, after roasting or drying in the sun. The Indians call it 

 "sand-food" in their language, and in that arid region seek it on 

 account of its juicyness. C R. Orcutt. 



BRIEFER ARTICLES. 



(From Demorest's Monthly Magazine.) 



Maria Mitchell. — The noted astronomer Maria Mitchell 

 died at Lynn, Massachusetts, on June 28, of a brain disease 

 from which she had been suffering- from some time. The career 

 of this talented woman began early in life and lasted an except- 

 ionally long time. Miss Mitchell was born on the island of Nan- 



