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

BOTANY.
They compose a small section section of the genus, quite otherwise characterized, however, than
is Decaisne's Micropsyllium, and not embracing all his species.
PLUMBAGINACEE.
ARMERIA VULGARIS, Wild., var. A. Andina var. Californica, Bois. t I)C. Prodr. 12, p.
682;-Benth. Pl. Hartw. p.-332. Hills near San Francisco; and Laguna of Santa Rosa creek
April. We are not satisfied with the characters on which the acute Boissier has separated into
many species what may, perhaps, better be regarded as variations of A. vulgaris.
STYRACACEE.
STYRAX. CALI-FoRNICUM, Torr. Desc.- Darlingt. in'qntithson. Contrib. 6, p. 4, t. 12. Hill-sides
and river banks, Mokelumne Hill, California; May 17: in blossom. Some of the racemes are
5-6-flowered. This is quite an ornamental shrub, and well deserves cultivation. -
PRIMULACE2E.
TRIENTALIS EUROPEA, Litnn. var. LATIFOLIA. T. latifolia, Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 121.
Tokeloma creek; April 16. Mountains, near Oakland, California; April 5.
GLAUX MARITIMA, Linn. Martinez, California; April 23.
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS, Linn. There was no label to this plant. It is, however, common in
California, and was doubtless introduced from Europe.
DODECATHIEON MEADIA, Linn. var. D. integrifolium and D. frigidum, (Chai.) Hook. Fl.
Bor.-Am. 2, p. 118. Cocomungo; March 17; and mountains, near Oakland, California;
April 4. We can recognize but one species of Dodecatheon. The length of the tube of filaments
is exceedingly variable.
OROBANCHACEE. (By A. GRAY.)
BOSCHNIAKIA STROBILACEA (sp. nov.): squamis orbicularibus vel obovato-rotundis obtuslssimis
ubique confertim imbricatis, fioralibus flores subequantibus; calyce postice truncato haud
obliquo, dentibus 3 lineari-subulatis tubo longioribus; labio corolla inferiore patente superius
advequante, lobis oblongis; fi]amentis basi barbatis; placentis 4 equidistantibus. Dry and
rocky hills, South Yuba, California; May. A span high, thick, resembling Conopholis Americana in aspect, the scales larger and broader, about half an inch wide, brown in the dried
state. The three slender teeth of the calyx are anterior and lateral, a line and a half long; the
two others obsolete or indistinct. Anthers sparsely hairy. The shape of the scales and of the
calyx teeth at once distinguishes this from B. tuberosa and B. glabra of Oregon, etc.
PHELIPEA CALIFORNICA, Don, Syst. 4, p. 632. Orobanche Californica, Cham. & Schlecht. it
Linnea, 3, p. 134. _Plains, near Marysville, California; May. The specimen renders it probable that P. Californica is not distinct from P. Ludoviciana, which has a wide range. It is
nearly allied on the other hand to P. comosa, (the Orobanche comosa of Hooker,) which must
find a place in this genus, notwithstanding the bractlets are remote from the calyx.
APHYLLON UNIFLORUM, G ay,.Man. Bot. States,ed.,p. 290. Napavalley, California; April
27. The range of this species includes all temperate North America, from Newfoundland and
Canada, south to Florida and Texas, and west to the Pacific. Had Wallroth's name of Anoplon
been generally adopted by succeeding botanists, it might have been unwise to disturb it. But
very small anthers-whether sterile or precocious is uncertain, probably the latter, as the ovary is uniformly fruitful;-and the
corolla,- as is well known, becomes connivent-closed after anthesis, its broad lobes involutely and imbricately enwrapping each
other, so as to form a kind of beak surmounting the fruit. This is the type of Decaisne's section Cleiosantha.-Gray, J.ss.
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