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THE West American ScleNtIs. 
VoL. VI. : MAY, 1889. No. 43 
THE’ DESERT! IN JUNE. 
At this season of the year, that desolate, barren waste, gener- 
ally called the Colorado Desert, is not a very inviting field for the 
botanist. During the months of June and July, 1888, the editor 
improved an opportunity for traversing a portion of this region, 
and a few notes on the very limited, but necessarily character- 
istic vegetation at this season, will perhaps best illustrate the bo- 
tonical aspects of the region visited. 
From San Diego city we proceeded to Warner’s ranch, hance 
to the Colorado Desert through a branch of the San Felipe 
canyon, where we began to take notes of the vegetation, and 
then across the big basin—the desert proper—into the Chucka- 
walla mountains, in the northeastern portion of San Diego 
county. 
We will divide the route traversed into ten sections, treating 
each independently so as to speak more accurately of the distri- 
bution of plants that are characteristic of the region. 
I.—SAN FELIPE CANVON. 
Upon reaching the divide near Warner’s ranch, where the 
waters flow towards the Desert and the Pacific Ocean respect- 
ively, we commenced a descent into what we called Grapevine 
canyon, a branch opening into the San Felipe canyon that in 
turn opens out upon the plains of the desert proper. -Cotton- 
wood or Grapevine springs, receiving these respective names 
from the presence of two fine cottonwood trees and a luxuriant 
growth of vitis californica, Benth., are situated at the head of 
this canyon where we first entered it, Around these springs 
were naturally observed many plants that are found west of the 
mountains, but the greater portion were characteristic of the des- 
ert flora. The following is a list of the species noted in this 
canyon. Those in italics we may consider as belonging to the 
desert flora; those marked with an asterisk, as growing around 
_the spring: 
Argemone hispida, Gray. Erodium cicutarium, L’ Her. 
Isomeris arborea, Nutt. Lizyphus Parryi, Torr. 
Krameria canescens, Gray? *Vitis californica, Bth. 
Houquiera sblendens, Engelm. II. | *Rhus ovata, Watson. 
Larrea Mexicana, Moric. II. *Melilotus parviflora, Desf. 
