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. 6, Pt. 3

BOTANY.
which little or nothing else than clumps of Artemisia will grow. The third is formed by forests
of yellow pine, (P. _ponderosa,) which apparently finds on these arid surfaces its most congenial
habitat. It sometimes happened to us that, during a whole day's ride, we were passing through
a continuous forest of these yellow pine trees, in which scarcely a dozen distinct species of plants
could be found.
LOCAL BOTANY.
BANKS OF PIT RIVER.
After leaving the Sierra Nevada, the botany of no part of our route, before we reached the
Klamath lakes, requires especial notice. Most of the plants collected on the banks of Pit river
are identical with those before collected in the Sacramento valley. On the mountain range
which forms the upper canon of Pit river we first found a cedar, (J. occidentalis,) which fills
precisely the same place in the botany of the west that the red cedar of Virginia does in that of
the east. We here, too, for the first time, met with the " bunch grass," (Festuca scabrella,)
which is found in all parts of the region under consideration, and now constitutes by far its
most important vegetable production. This is an exceedingly nutritious grass, and was our
main dependance for the subsistance of our mules in all parts of our route, between the lower
caion of Pit river and the Columbia. It grows in bunches, as its name implies, and in that dry
climate, "C curing" as it stands, forms a valuable fodder, and one highly relished by cattle and
horses, even when it has the appearance of being perfectly worthless.
SHORES OF THE KLAMATH LAKES.
About the Klamath lakes, and along the banks of Klamath river, a better supply of moisture
has produced a more vigorous and varied vegetation than in most parts of the surrounding
country. A large number of annual plants was there obtained, many of which are unknown
in the valleys of California and Oregon, as will be seen by reference to the catalogue of the
plants collected. The immediate borders of the lakes are covered with a growth of tule, (Bullrush and Cat-tail flag,) similar to that which borders the Sacramento. On drier ground, but
still in the vicinity of the water, are thickets composed of Pyrus rivularis, Prunus subcordata,
Rhamnus Purshianus, and wild cherry, (Cerasus emearginata,) all of which, at the time of our
visit, were loaded with fruit. On the hill sides are several species of Ribes, which, with the wild
plum and x4melanchier, form another series of thickets equally fruitful with those below, and
with them constitute the favorite feeding grounds of the bears.
The number of trees in this vicinity is small. A few cotton-woods and willows are found in
the neighborhood of the water, while the hills are covered with yellow pine and the western
cedar. On the banks of Klamath river we found Pinus contorta, generally forming a dense
forest of trees of small size. The botany of Klamath marsh and the country about it is similar
in all respects to that just described, except that nearly half the surface of the marsh is covered
with the broad leaves of the yellow pond lilly, N. advena? here exhibiting a vigor of growth
that I have never seen equalled in the eastern States. The capsules which contain the seeds
have somewhat the form, and are fully as large as hen's eggs, and are filled with seeds, which
form an important part of the subsistence of the Indians who reside in the vicinity.
3Z
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