Four new plants from New Mexico

Vol. XV, pp. 177-179

August

6, 1902

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

FOUR NEW PLANTS FROM NEW MEXICO.*

BY CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD AND

^T. D. A.

COCKKRELL.

The mountain _ranges

of

New _Mexico, numerous and

_largely isolated as

they

^{are, offer}

unusually

favorable conditions for the

development

^{of local} types of plants

and

animals.

Only

^a

few

of these

ranges have been explored

^for plants

with any degree

^of

thoroughness, and even

these arestill

yielding novel- ties

whenever

visited.

The Sandia Mountains, within

sight of

Albuquerque, were

visited

long ago by Bigelow, but have

^since

then been

strangely neglected.

Miss

C. Ellis recently

obtained

a small series of plants ⁱⁿ these

mountains, and we

find

among them such conspicuous

^{novelties as the}

Primula and

Acldllta

herewith

described.

The Las Vegas Range, being

really con-

tinuous

to the

north with

the

mountains

of

Colorado, would not be expected

^to

have

_{a peculiar flora;}

but

as a

matter

of fact

many

of the plants are quite different

from

their

congeners

ⁱⁿ

Colorado. This statement

is

made with some _degree

of con- fidence,

because

the difference is seen in

many conspicuous mem-

bers of the flora,

and

is

not

_easily

overlooked; moreover,

^the junior writer of ^this

paper

spent three years ^at the foot of the

Sangre de

^Cristo

mountains

in

Colorado, and became

familiar

with

the plants of that region.

*Publishedherebypermission^ofthe Secretary^oftheSmithsonianIn- stitution.

34—Biol. Soc. Wash. Vol. XV, ^190i. (177)

178 Pollard and

Cocl-crdl

—

JS'cu'

Plants

_froin

Neto Mexico.

A

^Pr'unnhi

and

a violet are here described

frum

the

Las Vegas Range,

^the

^former from

the Iludsoniati _z(jiie, tlie kTtter fi'om the

Canadian

zone.

Viola V\'ilmattae.

Acaulescent, low (."i-Tcm. highat liowering), tufted,the scape barely exceeding ^the foliage; leaves practically glabrous, cordate ⁱⁿ general outline, allpalmately ^cleftandlobed with

numerous

divisions; stipules lanceolate, scarious; scapes bibracteale^ataboutthemiddle; flowersdeep violet, 2cm. broad; sepalslanceolate, slightlyscarious-margined; petals narrowlyoblong, well bearded:fruitnot observed.

Type

^No.404,924, inthe UnitedStatesNational Herbarium, ^collected in ftapello Canon, l>eulah.

New Mexico

_(altitude about 8000 feet), by Mrs.

Wilmatte

P. Cockerell, for

whom

itis

named.

The

species^isof interest asbeing the only representative ^of the _pal-

matae

_occurring in the Southwest. It is related to V. cognataGreene

much

as V.'palmata^isrelated to V.liapiUonacea of the Eastern States.

From

the compestrine ^V. liedntlfida and V. Bernardi it

may

^{be dis-}

tinguished by the color of the _flowers, the

much

smaller, narrowly oblongleaves, anu die remarkably uniform ^{cut of the latter. In this} connection it is

worthy

^of note that Mrs. Cockerell has collected V.

pcddtifidd,further

up

^the

same

canon.

Primula

Ellisiae.

Plantabout1

dm.

_high, from a stout vertical caudex; leaves minutely scabrous on both .surfaces,oblong-spatulate ⁱⁿoutline, tapering ^{to scar-} ious-margined petioles, the upper ^{half of} the blade irregularly

and

sharply^serrvilatewith salient teeth, the _ai^ex obtuse or acutish; scape barely surpassing the _leaves, bearing a dense

umbel

of rather large flowers; calyx-teeth lanceolate, exceeding ^the tube, the whole _calyx densely^farinose, but tending^to

become

_glabratewith _age; corolla tube twice the length ^of the calyx; limb of the _{corolla J} cm. in diameter, lavender-purplewithayelloweye, the lobes truncateandretuse.

Type

^{No. 404,914inthe UnitedStatesNational}Herbarium, collected by MissC. Ellis inthe SandiaMovmtainsof

New

Mexico.

Thisbeautiful species ^{isallied to}P. RushyiGreene, the type^of

which

Avascollectedby ^Ur.

Rusby

^intheMogollon Mountains ^of

New Mexico

in 1881. It differs inhaving

much

_larger flowers

and

a conspicuously farinose calyx; the leaves are also shorter-petioled,

more

spatulate in outline, and

more

_distinctly serrulateonthe margins. In thesizeof its flowersiteven approaches^P.ParryiGray,^ofthe

Rocky

^Mountainregion, whilethe white, farinose calyx resembles that^ofP. farinosa.

Pollard and

Cockerell

— Nev^ Plants from

^{N'ev^}

^Mexico.

^1*79

Primula

angustifolia Helenae.

Leaves narrowly^linearand remotely denticulate; corolla lobes longer

and

narrower thaninthe type; flowerswhite withayelloweye.

Type

^{No. 404,913intheUnitedStates}National Herbarium, ^collected on the

summit

of the Las Vegas Mountainsof

New Mexico

(altitude about n,000feet),

June

29, 1901,

by

^MissHelenBlake, ^for

whom

it is

named. The

_{typical P. angudifuUa}^is

common

inthe

same

_region.

Achillea laxiflora.

•

Perennial, glabrous: leaves coarselypinnatifid, theupper^ones5-Gcm.

long; divisionsirregularly lobed ^orcleft, the ultimate segments acute;

inflorescence _loosely corymbose, the peduncles long

and

inclined to droop; heads turbinate, about 8

mm.

_high; bracts _closelyimbricated, scarious, with a greenish ^keel; rays orbicular, usually large (.5

mm.

broad in the dried specimen), pure white; achene _linear, the apex prominentlyscarious-margined, the^sidesscarcely^so.

Type

^No. 404,884 in the UnitedStatesNational Herbarium, collected by MissC. Ellis intheSandiaMountainsof

New

Mexico, ^at an altitude of8000feet.

The

_plantattractsattention

by

^itslooseand comparatively few-flowered

corymb and by

the largeheads with conspicuous orbicular rays.

The

segmentation^ofthe foliage ^is also of an _entirely difl'erent type from ^{that observable in other} western_yarrows;

and

the apically margined achenes^{afford a}conspicuous^character.