No. 543] 



NOTES 



AND LITERATURE 



183 



which thirteen are peculiar. California has some 

 sixty species of Lupinus, out of a total of about one hundred 

 described species, and of these forty-five are endemic. More 

 than half of the known species of Gilia occur in California and 

 more than half of these (thirty-four out of fifty-seven) are en- 

 demic. Many other cases could be cited but these will suffice to 

 show the extraordinary degree of endemism exhibited by the 

 flora of California. 



The remarkable development of coniferous trees in California 

 is of course famous. Within the state are nearly twice as many 

 species of coniferous trees as in the whole region east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. Moreover, a considerable number of these 

 species are quite peculiar to the state, and often of very limited 

 range, as for example the Big Tree and the Monterey Pine and 

 Cypress. 



While the flora of Oregon and Washington has much in com- 

 mon with the Rocky Mountain region, and even with the Atlantic 

 states, the northern elements are much less prominent in Cali- 

 fornia, although owing to the southward trend of the mountains, 

 many northern types reach far southward, especially in the cool, 

 moist forests of the outer Coast range, where such northern 

 genera as Trillium, Oxalis, etc., are abundant. There is a cer- 

 tain number of types which seem to be of Asiatic affinity, e. g., 

 Fritillaria, Lysichiton, and Tan-bark Oak, but in the drier re- 

 gions the plants are for the most part allied to Mexican and 

 South American forms. Of the latter there are certain species 

 belonging to Chili and Argentina which also occur in California, 

 but are absent from the intermediate territory. 



An interesting feature of the Pacific flora is the occurrence 

 of certain genera belonging to the Mediterranean region, e. g., 

 Arbutus, Cupressus, Lavatera, and there are also a few Old 

 World Ferns and Liverworts which are absent from Eastern 

 North America. Of the latter we may cite Woodwardia rad- 

 icans, Equisetum telmateia, Targionia hypophylla. The sur- 

 vival upon the Pacific Coast of these latter types, which are prob- 

 ably old ones, is presumably due to climatic reasons, and perhaps 

 this explanation may apply to the occurrence of the phamogamic 

 genera as well, a case comparable to the many correspondences 

 between the flora of eastern Asia and that of Atlantic North 

 America. 



Only a small part of North America lies within tin- tr..pi.-s. 



