1855, a French naturalist, named J. Remy, passed over this route 

 from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, and made a scanty collection of 

 plants on the journey, which were afterwards deposited in the 

 Paris Museum. His published narrative, entitled "Pays des 

 Mormons," contained only very general allusions to the botany of 

 the region traversed, and no scientific account was given of his 

 collections, the material being apparently imperfect and fragment- 

 ary. Since then, up to the year 1870, we have no account of any 

 botanical collector visiting this district. At the latter date (1870), 

 at the suggestion of the writer, Dr. E. Palmer, then in the joint- 

 service of the Department of Agriculture, in Washington, and the 

 Smithsonian Institution, was induced to visit this section on a 

 collecting tour, extending to the mouth of the Colorado and the 

 Pacific coast. Leaving Salt Lake in the latter part of May, he 

 spent about three weeks in the vicinity of St. George, collecting 

 in that vicinity a number of new species of plants which were 

 mainly described in Mr. Watson's Botanical Report of the geolog- 

 ical exploration, 40° parallel, vol. v. 



In the following years (1871-2), the expeditions of Lt. Wheeler 

 and Major Powell, both touched on this district, and small collec- 

 tions of plants, made by Mrs. E. P. Thompson, Capt. Bishop and 

 others connected with these surveys, added several new species to 

 the flora of this district, being described by Mr. Watson in the 

 American Naturalist (Vol. vii, pp. 299-303). 



In addition to these published sources, several local collectors 

 have at dilferent times aided materially in extending our knowl- 

 edge of the plants of this region, among whom may be mentioned 

 as especially worthy of notice, Mr. A. L. Siler, and J. E. Johnson, 

 Esq., both residents of southern Utah. 



Being- desirous of obtaining a more complete view of the botan- 

 ical features of this district, and especially of securing the evan- 

 escent spring plants, which on account of the late season of 

 gathering or hasty mode of travel, other collector-, had mainly 



tedious and disagreeable. 



