Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 4, Pt. 3

4
BOTANY.
and angled, somewhat muricate-toothed in a ring at the abrupt origin of the very long and
capillary beak, which is more than thrice the length of the achenium. The latter is only 2
lines long, while the beak is three-fourths of an inch long; the pappus fully half an inch long.
The lobes of the leaves are all retrorse and callous-tipped, as described by Mr. Bentham.
MACRORIHYNCHUS GRANDIFLORUS, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 492, (Stylopappus grandiflorus,
Nutt.): var. involucri squamis exterioribus aut ovatis appendice acuminatis aut oblongo-lanceolatis. Hill-sides, Napa Valley, near Sonoma; May Head in fruit an inch and a half long,
broader -and proportionally shorter than in M. retrorsus, the external calyculate scales more
foliaceous and spreading. Achenia smooth and glabrous, oblong, acutely ribbed and angled,
barely 22 lines long, abruptly tapering into a filiform beak of three-fourths of an inch in length;
the pappus only 41 lines long. This may be a larger state of M. laciniatus, (of which I have
only a miserable flowering specimen,) but it plainly passes into M. grandiflorus. The achenia
differ from those of M. retrorsus, and the lobes or laciniee of the leaves are either spreading or
ascending.
MACRORHYNCHUS HUMILIS, Benth. P1. Hartw. No. 1816, p. 320. Hills, near Punta delos
Reyes, California; April.' The leaves are larger and more glabrate than in my specimen of
Hartweg's plant; the scape 6 to 10 inches high. The fusiform achenia are from 1~ to 2 lines
long; the external rather longer than the inner ones; the latter more strongly and sharply
ribbed, as Mr. Bentham remarks. The beak, though apparently full grown, is not longer than
the achenium. If it varies so as to be "more than twice the length of the achenium," as
Bentham characterizes the species, then it must pass, I should think, into M. Lessingii, Hook.
& 4rn.; of which we have no fruiting or certain materials; but it is said to have the beak
" nearly thrice the length of the achenium."
MAcRORHYNCHUS HETEROPHYLLUS, Nutt. in Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 1. c.; Torr. & G ray, Fl. 2,
p. 493. M. Chilensis, Hook. in Lond. Jour. Bot. 6, p. 256. Fields, Benicia and San Geronimo
Ranch, California; April. This abounds in California and Oregon, where it is theonly annual
species known. Hooker pronounces this to the M. Chilensis; and it doubtless must be so
considered, if that is held to include all the Chilian species. But the short wing-ribbed
achenium (1I to 2 lines long) and long beak (of 3 to 4- lines) distinguish it from M. lvigatus,
and less decidedly from M. pterocarpus, to-one or the other of which Lessing's M. Chilensis is
referred, though in neither are the achenia " plano-obcompressed." The ribs or wings of M.
heterophyllus vary considerably in strength; they are scarcely, if at all, serruelate. When less
salient and acute, they remain straight and even; when more developed, especially in the exterior achenia, these wings become strongly undulate at or before maturity, sometimes very
strikingly so, giving the body of the achenium a remarkable corrugated appearance. Some
different state of the marginal achenia has probably served as the basis of Nuttall's Cryptopleura Californica; but I have seen nothing that accords with his character of it.
TROxIMON PARVIFLORUM, Nutt. in Trans, Amer. Phil. Soc. 1. c., p. 434. Macrorhynchus cynthi6ides, Hook. P1. Geyer, in Lond. Jour. Bot. 4, p. 256, ex char. Sandia mountains, New
Mexico; October. The specimens, with mature fruit, are taller than~ Nuttall's; the scapes 9
inches high; the scales of the involucre'tinged with purple, and the ligules of a remaining
flower appear to have been purple. I suspect that T. roseum, Nutt. is only a variety of this
with pinnatifid leaves and purplish or rose-colored flowers. I should confidently refer the
present specimens to Macrorhynchus purpureus, Gray, P1. Fendi., were it not for the short
and stouter beak, of less than half the-length of the body of the achenium; and the pappus is,
perhaps, a little stiffer. Whether the difference holds constant or not, it is evident that the
present plant effects a real transition between Troximon and Macrorynchus.,
MULGEDIUM PULCHELLUM, gutt. 1. c. Banks of the Pecos, New Mexico; October.
SONCEtUS OLERACEUS, Linn. Near San Gabriel, California; March.
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