Vol. VII. 



JUNE, 1890. 



No. 50. 



CHARLES CHRISTOPHER PARRY. 



In the spring of 1880, two life long friends visited San Diego, 

 California together, and attended a meeting of the San Diego 

 Society of Natural History, which had been called in honor of 

 their visit. These men were Dr. C. G Parry, of Davenport, 

 Iowa, and Dr. George Engelmann of St Louis, two men of the 

 highest individuality of character whose names are inseparably 

 connected with the history of West American botanical research. 

 It was my fortune to have the honor of guiding the venerable Dr. 

 Engelmann from our rooms to his hotel at the close of the meet- 

 ing, and the few words of instruction received in the privacy of his 

 room will always be remembered with pleasure. This personal 

 meeting was followed by valued correspondence, which ended 

 only with the life of that eminent botanist, who has left a lasting 

 memorial in his botanical works. 



Two years later, Dr. C. C. Parry again visited San Diego, 

 when he rediscovered the little fern, Ophioglossum nudicaule, 

 which he had first found in 1850, and which ever since had been 

 unseen. Finding the well-known botanical explorer, Charles G. 

 Pringle, of Charlotte, Vermont, an expedition into the then un- 

 explored territory of Lower California was proposed, and Dr. 

 Parry kindly invited me to join the party. On this trip, that 

 magnificent wild pea known to the mountaineers as the 'Pride 

 of California 1 (Kellogg's Lathyrus splendens) was rediscovered, 

 festooning the shrubs along several of the canyon roads, with its 

 brilliant masses of rose red or crimson blossoms. 



In the neighborhood of Todos Santos or 'All Saints' bay, were 

 discovered the new Ribes viburnifolium, Parry's Mexican rose 

 (Rosa minutifolia, Engelm.) and a dwarf horse chestnut (vfLscu- 

 lus Parryi) among other new plants. 



It is largely to the personal instructions in the field received at 

 this time from Dr. Parry and Mr. Pringle that the writer owes 



