carpa is confined to the westward of the Mackenzie River, so is the present plant to the eastward of it, and
both inhabit the shores of the sea. Mr. Brown’s admirable description of this species, in the place above
quoted, and the splendid figure of Mr. Bauer in illustration of the characters of the genus, leave nothing to
be desired. If I am correct in referring the three Neurolomata of M. De Candolle to P. macrocarpa, we
have as yet but two species of the genus Parrya described; but a third, and a more singular one than either of
the present, has lately been sent to me from the Altai by Professor Ledebour, under the name of P.exscapa,
MSS. The pedicels almost appear to spring at once from the top of the root, and by the number and size
of their flowers to conceal the leaves, as do the pods, which are more than 4 inches long and 3 lines broad.
The seeds, however, are scarcely margined, and the funiculus umbilicalis, or seed-stalk, is wholly fixed to the
marginal receptacle.
T rib. II. Alyssineje ; seu Pleurorhize* Latiseptae. DC.
Silicula longitudinaliter dehiscens, septo lato ovali membranaceo, valvis planis aut
concavis. Semina compressa, ssepe marginata. Cotyledones planae, accumbentes (o=),
septo parallel*. DC.
10. VESICARIA. Lam.
Silicula globosa, valvis membranaceis inflatis. DC.
1. V. Ludovidana; stel]atim _to mentosa, incana, foliis lineari-spathulatis sub integris
calyce gequali, siliculis globosis pubescentibus, stylo gracillimo breviori.—De Cand. Prodr.
v. 1. p. 159.—Alyssum Ludovicianum. Nutt. Gén. v. 2. p. 63.—V. globosa? Desv. Joum.
Bot. 3. p. 184. (according to the description.) De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 159.—Myagrum
argenteum. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p. 434.
H ab. Cultivated in the garden of the Horticultural Society of London, from seeds sent from North-West
America by ilfr. Douglas; but the exact station is not mentioned, and it does not occur in the Herbarium.
__It quite agrees with my specimens gathered by Bradbury on the hills of the Missouri; and is best distinguished
by the lèngth and slenderness of its style from the following species.
2. V. arctica; stellatim tomentosa, incana, foliis. radicalibus spathulatis reliquis sub-
linearibus integerrimis, calyce aequali, siliculis globosis stylo crassiusculo longioribus.
ct. floribus majoribus, siliculis glabris.—V. arctica. Rich, in Frankl. ls£ Joum. ed. 2. App.
p . 26. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 159.—Alyssum arcticum. FI. Dan. t. 1520.
p. floribus minoribus, siliculis pubescentibus.—V. arctica. Hook, in Bot. Mag. t. 2882. ■
V. arenosa. Rich, iri Frankl. 1st Joum. ed. 2. App. p . 26. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 160.
TTau. a. Mostly confined to the Arctic shores and islands, eastward of the Mackenzie River, while an
intermediate state (that is, with the silicul® slightly pubescent,) is found on the summit of a hill 700 feet high,
at Bear Lake River. Dr. Richardson, K Hills and dry prairies at Carlton House. Dr. Richardson. Upon
the Rocky Mountains. Drummond. I have received it, gathered in Canada by Mr. Goldie, but without any
particular station being given.—Numerous specimens in different states, and cultivation in our gardens, have
satisfied Dr. Richardson that Vesicaria arenosa should rather be considered a var. of, than a distinct species
from, V. arctica. My own opinion quite coincides with his, and hence I am led to unite them; nor can I
distinguish from V. arctica, specimens I have in my Herbarium, gathered in the plains of Mendoza and hills
about Cordova, South America, by Dr. Gillies and Mr. Cruickshanks. In these specimens, the leaves are
sometimes sinuato-dentate, which again brings the plant near the European V sinuata. All seem to vary
with erect and prostrate stems, and with those stems more or less leafy. -
3. V. didymocarpa; stellatim tomentosa incana, foliis radicalibus late obovato-spathulatis
reliquis lanceolatis subintegris, calyce aequali, siliculis magnis inflatis didymis.
(T ab. XVI.); .
Radix perennis, fusiformis, longe descendens, inferne subfibrosa: superne, ad collum, caules plurimos
diffusos, non raro prostratos, proferens. Hi caules (ut et tota planta, nisi corolla staminaque,) pilis vel
squamulis stellatis numerosissimis incani, simplices, digitem longi. Folia radicalia numerosa, patentes, duas
fere tres uncias longa, late obovato-spathulata, obtusiuscula, inferne in petiolum attenuata: caulina lanceo-
lata, obtusa, basi attenuata, integerrima, vel raro subsinuato-dentata. Flores speciosi, in corymbos terminales
dispositi. Calycis sepala oblonga, erecta, ®qualia, obtusa. Petala laete flava, calyce duplo longiora, obovata,
obtusa, basi in unguem attenuata. Stamina petalis breviora. Antherce oblongse. Pistillum: Germen sub-
rotundum, didymum: Stylus longus, filiformis: Stigma truncato-capitatum. Silicula fere magnitudine
Nucis Avellance, globosa, profunde didyma, stylo subseque longo terminata; lobis rotundatis, ad septum
insigniter contracts. Dissepimentum lanceolatum. Loculi subhexaspermi. Semina subovalia, superne
emarginata, fusca, immarginata. Cotyledones plano-convex®, accumbentes.
Hab. Growing in deep sand upon the Rocky Mountains, between lat. 52° and 57°. Drummond. Abundant
on the barren sandy plains of the Columbia, at Walla wallah and at the Kettle Falls. Douglas.—This is
without exception the most singular and most beautiful of the genus Vesicaria, having broad leaves, clothed
with the curious close stellated pubescence which seems to be almost characteristic of the genus, and large
yellow flowers; and a seed-vessel with its two valves separated by so deep a sinus, that, were it not that the
whole habit of the plant is completely that of a Vesicaria, it might almost form a generic character.
Tab. XVI. Plant:—natural size. Fig. 1, Flower; fig. 2, Petal; fig. 3, Stamens and pistil; fig. 4, Pistil;
fig. 5, 6, Fruit:—natural size. Fig. 7, Do. with one of the valves removed at fig. 8 ; fig. 9, The same:
----magnified. Fig. 10, Front view of the dissepiment, with the seeds; fig. 11, Seed; fig. 12, Transverse
section of do.:—magnified.
11. ALYSSUM. DC. (Alyssi Sp. Linn.')
Silicula orbicularis aut elliptica, valvis planis aut centro convexis. Semina in quoque
loculo 2-4, compressa, interdum ala membranacea cincta. Calyx basi eequalis. Petala
integra. Stamina nonnulla dentata. DC.
1. A. hyperhoreum ; caulibus herbaceis caespitosis, foliis ellipticis grosse et acute den-
tatis subhirsutis, siliculis ellipticis, staminibus majoribus dente auctibus. DC.—Linn. Sp.
PI. p. 910. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. p. 463. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p. 434. De Cand. Prodr. v.
1. p. 164.—Draba hyperborea. Desv.—Lunaria foliis ellipticis incondite dentatis. Krasch.
Nov. Comm. Acad. Petrop. 1. ann. 1750. p. 388. t. 15. f . 1.
H ab. In North America; Krascheninnikof in Linn.; and, according to Pursh, on the North-West
coast.—I have seen no specimen of this plant, nor do I know in what part of North-West America it was
discovered; probably in a high northern latitude, if we may judge from its name. Krascheninnikof appears
to be the only author who has described, it, and his work I have not the opportunity of seeing. De Candolle
attributes the discovery of this plant to Steller, who travelled in Siberia and Kamtschatka; but I am
not aware that his researches extended to the American continent. Its flowers are said to be white.
2. A.? dentatum; foliis radicalibus subruncinato-dentatis lineari-lanceolatis, siliculis
ellipticis pubescentibus. DC.—Nutt. Gen. Am. v. 2. p. 63. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 165.
•r-^Draba arabizans. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p. 434; not Mich, (according to Nuttall.)
H ab. Canada ? Pursh: but Pursh has probably confounded the Canadian Draba arabizans of Michaux
with the Alyssum dentatum of Nutt, which he found in Virginia: and hence it should probably be excluded