BOTANY. 
143 
cillis 6-9-floris ; staminibus 6 ; carpellis 8-10 uniovulatis basi gibbosis abrupte longirostratis. 
(Tab. XXI. In water, near lone Valley, California ; May, (in flower and fruit.) Tuber sub- 
globose. Leaves all radical, on elongated petioles ; the lamina 2-3 inches long, and often 
nearly an inch wide. On young plants the leaves are much smaller, and sometimes not more 
than 2-4 lines wide. Scapes 12—18 inches high, usually several from one root; whorls (3-4) 
distant; the longer pedicels 1-2 inches in length. Flowers nearly twice as large as in A. 
Plantago, white. Sepals oblong, obtuse. Stamens shorter than the sepals ; anthers oblong ; 
filaments subulate from a somewhat dilated base. Ovaries usually 8-9, connected at the base, 
with a tapwing straight style ; each with a solitary ascending anatropous ovule arising from 
near the base of the cell. Carpels 4-5 lines long, much compressed, abruptly narrowed to a 
long rigid beak, always one-seeded. This species greatly resembles Damasonium stellatum, 
Dalecli. of Europe, but that differs in the entire petals, and in the carpels being almost uni¬ 
formly six, with the beak gradually narrowed from a broad base. It is a little remarkable to 
find a representative of the genus or subgenus Damasonium in the Western Hemisphere. 
Echinodorus rostratus, Engelm. in Gray, Man. Bot. cd. 2 , p. 439. Alisma rostrata ; Nutt, in 
Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. (n. ser.) 5, y>. 159. On Mohave creek, California. The seeds of this 
plant are collected by the Mohave Indians, and used as food. The species is widely diffused. 
We have it from Key West, Florida, (Mr. Blodgett); Georgia, (Dr. Leavenioortli) ; St. Louis, 
(Dr. Engelmann); and Texas, (Drummond, Coll. 2, No. 432); the last a form with narrower 
leaves, which are not cordate at the base. 
Sagittaria simplex, Putsh, FI. 2, p. 391; Engelm. in Gray, Man. Bot. ed. 2, p. 439. In 
water, near the Shawnee villages, on the Canadian River. August. Plant larger than usual; 
the blade of the leaves being 5-6 inches long, an inch or more in breadth, and the scape a foot 
high. Flowers not much larger than in Alisma Plantago. 
JUNCACEiE. 
Luzula campestris, DC. L. campestris, var. J. E. Meyer, in Linncea, 22, p. 407. Near San 
Francisco, April. Stem H-2 feet long. Leaves 3-4 lines wide. Flowers in sessile clusters, 
forming a compact ovate head. L. comosa of E. Meyer, if we may judge from specimens of 
Scouler and others referred to that species by Hooker and by Meyer himself, is hardly to be 
distinguished from L. campestris. 
Juncus bufonius, Linn. Sp. p. 466 ; Torr. El. N. York, 2, p. 329. Damp places, Los Angeles, 
etc., California ; May. Wholly like the eastern plant. 
Juncus xipeioides, C. A. Mey. in Beliq. Hcenk. 2, p. 143, ex Kunth, Enum. 3, p. 331; Hook. 
& Am. Bot. Beech, p. 161. Low grounds, Napa Valley, California, April. 
IRIDACEiE. 
Sisyrinciiium Bermudiana, Linn. Sp. 2, p. 954 ; Torr. FI. N. York, 2, p. 291, var. 1 & 2. 
Plains, near San Gabriel, California; March 23 ; mostly the var. mucronatum, and with flowers 
larger than in the eastern plant. 
Sisyrinchium lineatum (Torr. in Emory’s Bep>. Mex. Bound, ined.) : scapo late alato erecto 
simplici basi foliato ; foliis linearibus gramineis ; spatha triflora valde ineequali, folio exteriore 
flores longe superante; perianthio luteo lato-campanulato, phyllis obtusis, exterioribus 7-nerviis, 
interioribus 5-nerviis ; filamentis brevibus glabris ; capsula ovato-pyriforme. Punta de los 
Reyes, California ; April 18. This species was first detected by Dr. Parry, who found it near 
San Diego. The flowers are one-third larger than in S. Bermudiana. Another yellow-flowered 
Sisyrinchium occurs in New Mexico. 
Iris longipetala, Herb, in Hook, dj Am. Bot. Beech, p. 395. Grass Valley, and near San 
Francisco ; May 19. Flowers as large as in I. versicolor. 
