148 
BOTANY. 
nivent or urceolate, and the filaments a little adnate to the base of the sepals. In Camassia the 
sepals are 3-5-nerved, and the filaments are free to the very base of tbe sepals. 
Scilla (Camassia) angusta, Engelm. & Gray in Bot. Journ. Nat. Hist. 5, p. 29, is only a 
slender form of C. Fraseri. 
Ciilorogalum pomeridianum, Kunth, Enum. 4, p. 682. C. divaricatum, Kunth, l. c. ? An- 
thericum pomeridianum, Gatvl. Bot. Beg. t. 561. Pbalangium pomeridianum, D. Don. in 
Street’s Floio. Gard. {ser. 2,) t. 381. Hill-sides, Stanislaus River, California ; May 8. This is 
the celebrated Amole or Soap Plant of California. It has an extensive range from north to 
south in that country, being found from the valley of the Upper Sacramento to Monterey. The 
bulb is ovate-conical, and varies from less than an inch to 4 inches in diameter. It is (especially 
when old) clothed with the black fibrous vestiges of the outer scales. The inner scales are 
mucilaginous when bruised, and are used by the Mexicans as a substitute for soap. There is 
but one Californian species of this genus that has come uuder our observation. The native 
country of the original species, which has long been cultivated in Europe, is not recorded in 
the books, but the plant is generally supposed to have been brought from Mexico. It is very 
doubtful whether C. divaricatum be a distinct species. The characters of the two as given hy 
Gawler and Lindley seem blended in our plant. We suspect that Don was mistaken in de¬ 
scribing the cells of the ovary as several-ovuled. In our specimens they have but two ovules, 
as described by Kunth. 
Allium cernuum, Both; Bot. Mag. t. 1324; Kunth, Enum. 4, p. 435. Mountains and rocky 
places, near Laguaa Blanca, New Mexico ; September. 
Allium acuminatum Hook. FI. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 185, t. 196; Hook. Am. Bot. Beech, p. 349. 
Hill-sides, Sonora, and near Marysville, California; May 3-25. A showy species, with deep 
rose-colored flowers. 
Allium falcifolium, Hook. <£• Am. 1. c. Benicia, and on the Yuba River, California; April— 
May. About a span high. Also a much larger form, with the bracts as long as the flowers. 
Tamal Pass, April. 
Allium tribracteatum (sp. nov.) : humilis ; foliis radicalibus plerumque 2 angusto-linearibus 
scapum 2-4-pollicarem multo superantibus ; umbella multiflora; spatha e bracteis 3 ovatis; 
perianthio basi acuto, sepalis lanceolatis acutis ; filamentis subulatis basi parum dilatatis sepala 
subaequantibus; capsula late obovato-trigastrica, lobis rotundatis, loculis dispermis. Hill-sides, 
Duffield’s Ranch, Sierra Nevada, May 10. Bulb ovate, three-fourths of an inch long. Leaves 
mostly 2, about three lines wide, recurved. Scape 3-4 inches long. Umbell 15-20 flowered. 
Spathe of 3 ovate bracts. Pedicels scarcely longer than the flower. Sepals pale rose-color, 
with a purple midrib, about 4 lines long, not acuminate. Filaments inserted near the base of 
the sepals. Style filiform ; stigma minute, obscurely 3-lobed. Capsule narrow at the base, but 
not stipitate ; the cells rarely perfecting more than one seed. We cannot refer this Allium to 
any described species. It is remarkable for its dwarf habit, 3-leaved spatha, and the sepals 
marked with a strong purple central nerve. 
Allium amplectens (sp. nov.): scapo flexuoso spithamaeo superne bifoliato; foliis filiformibus; 
umbella pauci-(3-6-) flora; spatha e bracteis 2 orbiculatis concavis subacuminatis flores amplec. 
tentibus; sepalis oblongis obtusiusculis; filamentis e basi lata submonadelpha subulatis; capsula 
trigastrica apice depressa, loculis dispermis. Hill-sides, Sonoma, California; May 3. Bulb 
large for the size of the plant. Scape 6 inches high, more or less flexous. Leaves scarcely a 
line wide, overtopping the scape. Easily distinguished by the small few-flowered umbel, which 
is almost enclosed in the concave purple bracts. 
Hesperoscordium? maritimum (sp. nov.): sepalis a basi fere distinctis ; filamentis e basi vix 
dilatata subulatis. Sea shore, Punta de los Reyes, California; April 17. Bulb the size of a 
small pea. Leaves all radical, narrowly linear. Scape 3-6 inches long, shorter than the 
leaves. Umbel 10-12-flowered ; the lower pedicels an inch in length, the others much shorter. 
