J 1
■*itai^aM^<HB*a
THE V/
Botanical Gazette;
A PAPER
or
BOTANICAL NOTES
EDITED BY
JOHN M. AND M. S. COULTER.
Volumes V and VI.
Crawfordsville and Logansport, Indiana. 1880— t88i.
KB ^ vol. €" ^
INDEX TO VOLUMES V AND VL
Pagp.
.. 71 3:^5
340 375 KiG
Acorns and their frerminatiou
.\dditioii8 to F). of N. Am 223,
I'iCidium Jainosiaiuim, u. sp •}*
" polyguliiuim, n. sp 275
•'• Sarcobrtti, u. ep
" Xaiithoxyli, u- sp
Agaricns Brownei, n. up
" ccllariH, n. sp
Albiniem 205
\lbiiio Arcthusa bulbosa 79
A lopocurus saceatiis, n. ep 280
Am. Monthly Mic. Jour 48
Anders, J. M 80
Andropof;on and Amarantaceje 273
,\uthcrs of Clethra 104
> I)Iectrum byemale 248
AquileKia chrysantha 347
Arc-indicatori3, Easily made 173
Arizona, New plants of 183, 217
Arkansas Feme . . .39, 189, 313
Plants .... 56, 84, 91, 139, 188, 215, 230, 273
vrtemisia annua 238
Arthur, J. C 133, 180
Asclepiad Plant, Moth entrapp-.d by 17
Asclepiae, Notes on 64, 80
Asclepias uncialis, n. sp 64
Asparagus for Histological study. 294
Agplenium Bradleyi 15
" Trichomanes, Automatic
movement 37, 43
Asters 139
Audibortia Vaseyi, u. sp 307
Australia, Plants of 267
Bacteria the Cause of Blight 166, 371
Hailey, L. H 44,76, 90
liailcy. VV. W 33, 64, 79, 94, 135, 238, 366, 273
JJanning, M. E 5, 165, ;M0, 310
r.aptisia calycosa : 89
-Marnee, C. R 4, 14, 32, 40, 54, 104, 175, 186
i;eal, W. J 303
Heardsleo, H. C 43
i;ebb's Herb. Salicum 329
l.enuett, A. W 46
I'.essey's Botany 96
jiessey, C. E 173, 394
I'igelovia juncea, n. sp 184
" rupostris, n. sp 183
1 lig Trees of Indiana 69
r.light 166,371
Boltwood, H. L 71
Jiotanical charts 186
" Handbooks for Tourists 348
Index 34
" Objects for the Microscope 37
I iotanic Garden at Cambridge 63
" " , Natural .,.'. 70
!^otany of California 174
" to the aid of Geology 13,34, 49
Krandefcoe, T. S 125
I 'ritish Moss-flora 185
1-ulgaria spongiosa, n. sp 341
i;ulletiu of Torr. Bot.Club 32, 45
llun-ill, T. J 271
bursting of Fruit of Euphorbia corollata 20
Calamagrostis Howellii, n. sp 371
' alifornia Plants 13i'i
I alkius, W. U 57
Calluna vulgaris in Mass 140
Campanula scabrclla, u. sp
< :anby, Wm, M
( arcx aurea
" SuUivantii
" " a hybrid
( 'am ivorons Plants .. 148,161,170,198,
<'aruers New -System of Plants
< drya, Dimorpho-Dichogamy in
270 243
94 169 307 377
11
Cafalpa speciosa, Wanler, n. sp 1,
Cedar-apiiles ol If. S
Cercospora Tili:u, n. sp
Chupuianuia
Characea' 20>
Cheiromyces tinctus, n. sp
(ihcnopodium viride • -
Chesti ut, Crosn fertilization
Chickcriu-i, J . W 144. 15.5,
Chlorophyll 46, 67,
Clethra, Anthers of
Cob;ea scauclens
Cochran, C. B
Cocliicient of Contraction
Colorado Nott-.s of M. S. Jones
Colorado Plants
Colored llowers and Insects
Colors of some western flowers
CommelynacejB
Comparative View of Fl, lud
Coniothyrium niiuutulum, n. sp
Couoliea niultillda
Convolvulus senium, Rootstocks of ■■
Coulter, Jno. M. .70, 95, 96, 10.5, 10(1, 174, 219, ;M1, 290, 301
Coulter, .\L S
'"ox, C'has.F
Cratfes-ue tomentos.-i, var. punctata
Cross-fertilization of Baptisia tinctoria
'• " " Chestnut Tree
" " in Cruciferie
Cryptogams, Evolution of
" Terminology in ■■-
Curtis.sA.II 65,136,137,138,
Curtiss'N. Am. Plants ''.).
Cynaroid (.'omposite, A new
Cynosurus cristatus
Cypripedium caudidum
'' spectabile . . — ■
Darlington, Collection of
Darwin, b'niiicis ... „ ••. ,•
Davenport, Geo. E 30, 48, 131, 18., 3()4,
Davis, .J.J
Davis, J. T... •„■
DeBary, Modes of work in Laboratory 193,
Delidiiuium scaposr.m, n. sp
Destruction of Insects 1)V Kiiniii
Development o) Heat in"PhYtelephas
Diatryi)e augulare, u. sp
Dic(aitra ochroleuca, n. sp
Digestion in plants
Dimorpho-Dichogamy in Juglaus and Gary a.
Discella variabilis, n sp
Double-staining of vegetable tissues
Double Thalictrum
Downingia p:ilchella
DraOa Mogollonica, n. sp
Early Plants . j.
Eaton, D. C .131,^16,
Echinocystis lobata, Trichomcs of
Elfectsof uninterrui)ted sunliuht o" plants. ..
Electric light, Veiiutation >inder
Embi-yo-sac, ))ev(dopment of ... . .^- ■ — •
Engelmann, <; 1, 63, i).i, <i, -«.i,
Epiga'arepens, Doul)lo
Ervtiirea Centaurium
Es'chscholtzia Californica, n. sp
Essex Co., Mass., Flora of
Euphorbia coKiilat I, fSu.'stiug fruit
" vcrsic'olor, n. s()
Evolution of Cryi)t.ogain8
Exi'haiige Fraud
Farlow, W. G
I'"ernery, An interesting
Feru l/ist
33
309
377
257
140
35
235
1.59
188
2)9
104
64
Oil
-1
11
51)
31
198
42
301
33
374
2.i6
**29
94 250 57 94 1.59 243 241 164 357 K!(; 383 177 343 3r,9
ilO
175
295
243
136
21H
156
14;i
2-43
36
22:5
13H
11
■:a
65
64
91
1.57
.56 2s:J ]!^0
40
54 105 2.35 3:8
44 2:15 187
20 IM 341
12
Ml 395 1:51
^9A) i\ i)
INDEX CONTINUED.
PoruB of Ai'knnsiiB :39, 189,
" " Flo-:da «, 137,
" " •' for sale
" " New Me?:ico 195.
<« •' New York
" " Tr'uidad, Fendler's
" Notet* on rare
Fcrtilizatiou of Trumpet Creeper
Flint, W.F
Flora of Ind., Comparative view
Florida Plants 57, 65,
Floridian Alp'ii!
Flowers and Insects
Foerste, A. F
Foliar Nectar G'auds of Populus
Forest N oti^s
Forestry in N. Am
Franklin Co., Ivy., Plants of 44,
FraxiuuH qnadriinijnlata
Function olChloroijhyll
Funici destroying; insects
" ' Now spc'ies of 33, 105, 226, 239,
" Notes on Maryland 5,23,200,
" on Anemone nemorosa
Oa:bera
Germinat-on and growth of parasit'c plants. .
Godei'i), Rudimentary Coma
Goodyera pubescens
Grasses, Some rew 173,271,290,
Gray, Asa 3, 4, 2.->, 27, 39, 53, «3, 75, 87, 88, 138,
Gray's Bot. CoutrihutiouB
Greene, E.L 56,64,156, 183, 198,
(irowtli of Trees
( Jutteuberg, G
<;yninosporaugia of U. S
Halienaria brev'folia, ii. sp
" Garheri, n. sp
" v:resceu8
Halsted, B 1)
Handbooks for Tourists
Harvey, PL .15, 39, 50, 84, 91, 139, 189, 213, 230,273.
Heat in Phytelephas
Herbarium for sale
" of Brown Uuiv
Hieracium auraulirtcuin 248,^265,
" cameum, u. sp
Iligley, W. K 148, 161, 170, 198,
Hill. E. J
Holway, E. W 77, 177,
Hoopes, .Josiah
Howe, E. C 94,
Howell, Thos. , I
Hunter, E
Hygienic and Therapeutic Relations of House Plants
213 161
43 220 248 121
42 302
42 301 158 138
31 264 28 1 273 141
70
63
46 143 274 210
Impurities of Drinking Water
I'linois Plants
Indiana Plants 69,
In.sects and Flowers !
Intern ;il Hairs of Nympba'a and Nuphar
Introdnci'il Plnnts of Dallas Co., Texas
Isoetes laeustris
Jackson, .Joseph
.lames, Davis L
.lames, .Joseph P
Jones, M. S 11, 1.5, 40.
.lum-iiH ruiriilosus, n. sp .,._
J uglans, Dimorph -Dichogamy in 11
2.57
38
95
264
296
185
106
217
31
177
2(19
218 135 63 20 248 215
243 138 149 273 184 207 259 243 90 169 267 178
80
141
71
259
31
250
10
228
SM2
2ti6
126
143
S>'\1
Kentucky Plant.«
Kerguelen"s Land, Klnra of
,.44, 70 .... 30
Lankester. E. Ray 69
Large Piiff ball 290
Leaveiiwortliiu ill Mo. and Ark 230
'' The Genus 25
'• stylosa, n. sp , 26
'■ tojiilosa, n. sp 26
Lecythim macrosora, n, sp 35
J...emna minor. Development of. 152
Lennon. W. II . . 3^18
Lepidiiiui CiHui)estre, L 14
Leptolhyriuni chromospermum, n. sp 33
Liliiuii drayi 215
Linum IS'eo-.Mcxic.'inum, u. sp 18.J
Lithospermum Cobreuse, n. sp 157
'• viride, n. sp 1.58
Littorella in Nova .Scotia.. . 4
Lockwood, S 14
Loouiis, E. .1. . . . 43
Lubhock, S'r J., Address of 268
Lysimachia thyrsiflora 246
Alagnolia graudiflora 270
Mail Rates for Bot. specfmens 32
Marine Algre of N. E 246
Murtiudale, I. (; .38,303
Marvbind Fungi 5, 200, 210
Mead, IS. B.. Death of 1.50
Meehan, Joseph . 264
Meehan, Thos 11, 63, 64, 75, 152, 219, 245,
247, 2,53, 265, 273.
Melnnconium Typhre, n. ^p 275
Melica Hallli,n.''sp 296
Mesembryauthemum 88
Michigan Lake Shore Plants 76, 90
" Plants 57, 76, 90, 2.55, 2.59
Microscope, Preparing objects lor 27
Missouri Plants 230
Mistletffi 271
Mode.* of Teaching Botany 233
" Work in Lab. of Prof. DeBary. . .193, 204
Monthly Indt!X 95
Morgan, A. P
Morong, Thos . . ... .50, 89,
Moths Entrapped by an Asclepiad
Movement of Frond of Asplenium Trich-
otnanes 27,
Mueller, Hermann....
Mycenastrum spinulosnm, n. sp
NabalUR Ronnensis, n. sp. . . . 155,
Narcissus Canariensis
Nasturtium lacustre
Nectar Glands of Populus
Nesreaverticillata
New Cyuaroid Composite
New Jersey Trees
New-Mexican Perns 19.5,
" Plants, New Species 156, 183,
New York Ferns
Nolina in Colorado
North Am. PL, Additions to 2-23,
Notulre Exiguaj 53, 63, 75,
Nova Scotia, Littorella and Schizaea in
Nuphar, Internal Hairs
Nymphacea- in Ark....
Nympha'a, Internal Hairs
" odorata
164
290
17
43
93
240
191
84
264
284
274
2S3
270
220
21T
24S
56
235
87
4
250
139
250
266
Observations on Triticnm repens 40
Ohio Plants 44,274
Onagraceie, Stipules in 137
Origm and survival of types. . 83
Orobanclie, (iermination of 38, .53
Our Native Perns £64
I'ackard, A. S
Painesville, Ohio, Notes from 43,
Parasitic Plants, Germination and Growth. 38,
Perk, Chas. II 33, 209, 226, 239,
Peltandra Virginica ...
Peutstcmon paucitlorns, n. sp
'• pinilblius, n. sp
Peronospora vilicola
Perrett, Fannie J
Perulai'i.i viroscc:ns
Peziy.a spongiosa, n. sp
Pbacidiuiu spursnm. u. sp
Phaseolus narvuliis, n. sp
Phonia al bas-triat'i, n sp
" colonitn, n. sp
Phyllosticta ,\stragali, n. sp
Physalis griindillora
Physiology of Plants
Phytelephas, Heat in
Phytography. A. DC 77,
Pilen puniibi for sections
Pinus I'.ontoi'ta, Viiality of seeds 54,
" Revision of Geniis
PIntanthera l)racteata
Poa, Notes on
" i)uri)urasceus, n. sp
17
53
53
274
219
218
218
177
291
63
35
35
217
33
34
275
90
175
243
99
244
62
58
63
297
297
INDEX CONCLUDED.
Podophyllum peltatum ITS
Pi)lomoniniii llnvuin, n. sp 317
I'oU'U of Pringloii 5<!
I'mI' porup abortiviis, n. sp SJ74
I'.I' 'lUB l)!ilsiimifcrn,Noti;8 on 90
Foliar Nectar Glauds 284
Porter Thos. C 1:5, 135, 207
I'l 1 1 ulaca suflVuteticene, n. ep 2:i()
Ic : mogetonn 2(i0
I'diiiinogeton irt'ininiparue, n. 6p 51
" Hillii.n. sp 200
" Illiuoc'iiBis, n. ep 50
" lati;nili6!, n. ep 51
" Mvsticus, u. sp 50
»» Vaeeyi 89
I'rairiee, TroeleHB 253
I'rovideuce, R, I., Notes from 135
Pleiigaqnilina 30, '18
PiiC'cinia acrophila, u. sp 2;i7
" aruicalis, n sp . 227
•' Calochorti, n. sp 228
'' hystcriirorniis, u. sp 276
" Jonu6ii,n.sp 226
" Merteusia;, n. sp 227
" iiiirabilisfima. n. sp 226
" plumbaria, n. sp 228
" Pringlc'}, u. sp 275
" Troxin ontis, n. sp 227
Pufl-ball, A large 290
Punipkin stem for liisiology 133
l^nercuB heterophylla 303
" Leana 12;i
Ttnttan, Volney 94, 242
K(-'(l Calyx iu SambncuB Canadensis 40
Keply to Mr. Meehan's criticisms 15
Keverehou. J 10
Kevnolds, ]\Iarv C 42, 89, 158, 161
Uliode Island Plants 33
Khils Toxicodeiidrum 42
Hili's piuetorum, u. ep 157
Kiddell. L. S l-lil
Koan Mt., Summer in 144
Footstocks of Convolvulus eepium 266
Eos.'i, western species 236
Ilorhrock, J. T. . . . 27, 193, 2M, 233
Uudbeckia rupestris, n. sp 188
Ihidimentnry Coma in Godetia ... 95
Ifusby, II. II 195, 220
Samhni'up Canadensis, Red Calyx 40
Siiporta's World of Plants 21
Sargent, C. S 54
Sjirraceni'i purpurea 342
SwuKsurea A)iieri('ana, n. sp 283
Sawatch Mts. Timber Line 195
Kaxifniiia umbrosa and insects 93
Scales of Thnjn sjiL'antea 267
JSchiz.'ea in Nova Scotiii 4
Science 94
Schneck. J 40,159,225,238,246
Septoria albaniensis, n. sp . 122
" coneocia. n. sp 34
" irregulare, n. sp 34
" Querceti, u. sp 123
Serotinous Cones, Vitality of Seeds C2. 75
Smith, B. P' 57
Sorosporium atrura, u. sp 35
Splucria altipetn, n. sp 86
" li(l)e)K!lis, n. sp ;j6
Sporobolus Jouesii. n. sp 297
Sporodesmium miu'utissimum, n. sp :i\
Si)rang, Geo 302
Starch grain.^, Growth of 244
St. Croix, Fl. of 17
Stem of Pumpkin for histology 183
Stemonitis Morgani, n. sp 33
Stictis fulva, u. sp 30
Stipules in Onagracea; I37
Sullivantia ( )hiouie, New station 94
Surlight, Ellect of u interrupted 40
Synchytrium Jouesii, u. sp 210
Synoptical Table of Vegetable Fibres 101
Syracuse Botanical Club 45
Systematic Botany nevertheless 298
Systematic Fern List .,,, 131
■i annum humile, 11. up 183
Teaching Botany, Modes ol 2:J3, 302
Tennessee Plants ... 3
Terminology of Cryptogams 64
Texas Plants, Dallas Co 10
Thalictrum anemonuidee, Double (M
Thuemen, F. de 122
Thuja gigantea, Scales of 267
Timber line of high mts 152
" " in Sawatch Mts . . 125
Townsend, Collection of 90
Tradescantia tuberosa, n. ep 185
Trametes Peckii, n. sp 274
Trelease, Wm 28-1
Treeless Prairies 253
Trees, Growth of 31
" of Ark 215
Trichobasie Balsamorhiz;e, n. sp 276
Trichomes of Echinocystis lobata 180
Trichostema Parishii, n. ep 173
Triticum repens 40
'J'rumpet Creeper 302
Tsuga Caroliniaua, n. sp 223
Uromyces borealis, n, sp 276
" Psorale;e, n. sp 239
" Zygadeni, n. sp 239
Ustilago Osmundse, n. ep 276
Utah Plants 153
Vasey, Geo 173, 271, 290, 296
Vegetable growth in drinking water 141
Vegetation under electric light 54
VesqueV development of Embryo-sac 105
Vettcllart's Synoptical Table 101
Vicia leucophcea, n. sp 217
Viola tricolor, L., var. arvensis 13
Virgin Islands, Flora of 17
Vitality of seeds of Pluue contorta 54, i.2
Ward, Lester P 123
Warder.Jno.A ..188
White, Wm. C 30
Wildberger, R. H 12, 44, 70
Winter herborizations in Fla 57
Wisconsin Plants 136
Yucca macrocarna, u. sp 224
Zostera marina, L 14
Zygodesmus atrornber, n. sp 377
" granulosus, n, sp 277
Botanical Gazette.
Vol. V. JANUARY, 1880. No. i.
Editorial. — With this number begins the fifth volume of the Gazette. We do not wish to press its claims too persistently, but at the same time, we do not wish them to be lost sight of, and the vol- ume might as well begin as usual, with both a retrospect and a pros- pect. When, in November, 1875, the Gazette made its first appear- ance, bearing the already preoccupied name of Bulletin, having four pages and not a single subscriber or contributor even promised, it was felt to be a hazardous experiment. If the usual methods had been empl 'yed, the Gazette would never have seen the light of day. In tlie first place, consultation with botanical friends would probably have frost killed the nascent bud. There would have been objections to the i>aper and more serious ones to the editor. If it had escaped this ordenl, the attempt to get subscriptions and notes before beginning would have destroyed the last lingering spark of life the frost had left. But those dangers were avoided by acting in no such prudent way, but by starting as if all botanists were encouraging and there was a large subscription list pledged. The end of it was that the Gazette was not a paying investment for the first year, and not much better the second. The third and fourth years have seen a rapid advance, and the time has come at last when it seems that the Gazette is really able to completely pay its way. At the sime time the printed matter has been (juadrupled and the subscription kept at the original price.
There iias been another favorable change. The first volume or two were mainly editorial, and as neither of the editors had had a particu- larly large botanical experience, there was sometimes a good deal of space devoted to a very little matter. Now the editor need not write at all with the object of supplying the call for ''copy," but only for the purpose of stirring up friends whose zeal begins to flag, and of convincing strangers that they had better be strangers no longer. In view of the fact, then, that in the struggle for existence the Gazette has seemed to be the fittest to survive, while others have perished, we would urge that botanists take vigorous hold and by means of sub- scri])tions, advertisements and contributions, make this volume unex- am[>led for its ra]:)id advance.
C.ATALPA speciosa, Warder. — A middle sized tree with grayish- brown, much cracked or furrowed, at last slightly flaky bark and light, yellowish gray wood ; leaves large, truncated or more or less cordate at l:)ase, slenderly acuminate, soft downy on the underside, inodorous; flowers in large and loose panicles ; tube of the corolla conical, longer than wide, its lower ]:)art scarcely protracted ; upper lip before its ex- pansion longer tlran the other lobes and enveloping them, lower lobe
BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
bilobed, inside of corolla slightly marked at the throat with red brown lines, and with two yellow bands at the commisures <tt" the lowest wiih the lateral lobes; stamens and style as long as the tube ; pod terete, strongly furrowed ; wings of seed about as long as the seed itself, and rounded at the ends and split into a broad coma.
Common in the low, rich, sometimes overflown woodlands near the mouth of the Ohio, along the lower course of the river and its con- fluents, and in the adjoining lowlands of the Mississippi; in the Stater, of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas ; according to Michaux abounding near the borders of all the rivers which empty into the Mississippi further south ; whether the localities, cited by him, of West Florida produce this or the Eastern species, is at present unknown. — Flowers in May. — This tree has quite an inter- esting and instructive history. It was already known to Michaux and to many botanists and settlers in those regions ; even the aboriginal Shawnees appreciated it and the French settlers along the Wabash named it for them the Shawnee wood (Bois Chavanon) and prized the indestructable quality of the timber, but the botanists, even the subtle Rafinesque, who roamed over those very regions, seem to have taken it for granted thai it was not distinct from the Southeastern Catalpa bignonioides. To me the fact that these trees, then not rarely cultivated in St. Louis,* produced their larger and more showy flowers some lo or 15 days earlier than the Eastern or common kind, was well known as early as 1842 and their blossoming has since l)een annually record- ed in my notes on the advance of vegetation, but 1 had not the sagac ity or curiosity to further investigate the tree. U was reserved to Dr. J. A. Warder, of Cincinnati, to draw public attention to it. He was struck with its beauty in the streets of Dayton, Ohio, vvhere a few stragglers were cultivated, and described it cursorily in his Journal, the Western Horticultural Review, Vol. Ill, page 533, without decid- ing whether a distinct species -r a variety, and without assigning a name to it. It was soon named, however, privately as it seems, by hnn and his friends Catalpa spcciosa and was propogated as a more or namental form. Thirteen years later I find in the catalogue of J. C. Teas' nursery, BaysviUe, Indiana, for 1866, Catalpa speciosa offered, the 100 one year old seedlings for $1.50. But only within the last few years the beauty and im{)ortance of the tree has made a greater im pression on the public mind, princi])ally through the exertions of Dr. VV^arder himself. Mr. E:. E. Barney, of Davton, and Mr. R. Douglas, of Waukegan, 111. The latter was s ■ much struck with the future importance of this species that in the Autumn of 1878 he collected on the lower Ohio 400 pounds of its seed for his own nursery and for distribution to all parts of the world.
Catalpa speciosa xt\\iCQ?, C. bignonioidcs Q\\i\x^\y in the Mississip])! valley. It is readily distinguished from it hy its taller and straighter growth, its darker, thicker (i^-i inch thick 1, rougher and scarcely exfoliating bark (in the older species it is light gray, constantly peeling off and therefore not more than 2 or 3 lines thick) ; its sofdy downy,
*It seems singuhir, that the commnn Kastern spccifs has in our streetn almost coin- pletcly s\iiii)lant('il the nuich lianilsoincr native.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. j
slenderly acuminate and inodorous leaves (those of bignciiioides have a disagreeable, almost fetid odor when touched), marked with siruilar glands in the axils of the principal veins of the under sidpj.by its much less crowded panicle and by its much larger flower, fruit and seed The flowers I found 2 inches in the vertical and a little more in the transverse diameter; in the other they have \-/i inches in each diameter; the lower lobe is deeply notched or bilobed in speciosa, en- tire in bignouioidcs ; the tube in the former is conical and 10 lines, in the latter campanulate and about 7 lines long, in the first slightly ob lique, in the other very niLich so, the upper part being a great deal shorter than the lower one, so that the anthers and stigma * become uncovered; the markings in the flower of the old species are much more crowded and conspicuous, so as to give the whole flower a dingy appearance, while ours looks almost white. The upper lip of the corolla before expansion extends beyond the other lobes and covers theui like a hood in the Western siecies, while m the Eastern it is much shorter than the others and covers tbem only very partially. The pods of our species are 8-20 inches long, 17-20 lines in circumfer- ence, dark brown and strongly grooved, when dry, the placental dis- sepiment very thici<; in the Eastern species the pod is nearly the same length, hui only 9-12 lines in circumference, its grooves very slight, its color pale and dissepiment flat. In both species the pod is per- fectly terete before the valves separate, after that the valves of ours remain more or less semiterelc. while the much thinner ones of the other flatten out, so that thev seem to indicate a compressed pod. The elongated seeds winged at both ends, are of about equal length in both species, but in speciosa they are much wider (3/^-4 times) and the wings have more or less rounded ends which terminate in a broad band iif rather short hair; in bignonioidcs the seeds are only 2^-3 lines wide, with pointed wings and their tips terminating in a long, pencil shaped tuft of hair.
Our tree is larger, of slraighter growth and being a native of a more Northern hlitude is hardier than the Southeastern species; the wood of both is extremely durable, perhaps as much so as that of our red cf-dar, and has the advantage over it of a much more rapid growth and of possessing only a very thin layer (2 or 3 annual rings) of des- tructible sap wood. But of these qualities and of its adaptability to many important uses others, and especially Mr. Barney in a recent ])amphlet, have given a full account It is already extensively planted in our Western prairie States and especially along railroads, for which it is expected to furnish the much needed timber in a comparatively short time. — G. Engelmann, .S7. Louis, January 7, 1S80.
I ■ vNESSEE Plants. — Along with specimens we receive from time to i! valuable notes from our esteemed correspondent. Dr. Gottin-
*I may liere remark that Cottoipa, probably like all its aUies, is proteraiidrous. the anthers open in the morning and the lobi-s of the stijj-ma se|)arates ami become jrlnt'ti- ous toward evening, the iii)pef lobe reninining erect. Ilie lower turning down close upon the style. I have not ascertained how they are impr(vgnated as at that time the anthers are effete, and by the following morning the lobes of the stigma are again closed.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
ger, of Nashville, Tenn. A few ot them may here be put on record. Eore'atiera ligustrina does not (like E. acuminata) blossom in early spring from axils of the preceding year. On the cedar barrens near Nashville, where it abounds, the fragrant flowers develop about the middle of August from the axils of the leaves of that year ; and the fruit ripens at the end of September. That of E. acuiuinata, which blossoms very early, is ripe before the end of May. Tragia macro- carpa. — Both surfaces of the leaves bear stinging hairs. Phlox StcUaria. — This neat and rare species is found at Lavergne, seventeen miles from Nashville, in cedar barrens, growing in beds of sphagnum and other mosses, in moist places. Therniopsis Catvliniana, a most rare species, has been found by Dr. Gottinger on the Harpeth hills, near Nashville. — A. Grav.
LiTTORELLA AND ScHiz^A IN NovA ScoTiA. — It is singular how a long-overlooked plant, once detected, is then promptly found again and again. Following upon Mr Pringle's announcement of the second discovery of Littordla lacustris (at the northern end of Lake Cham- plain), I have now to announce that Miss Elizabeth G. Knight, of the New York Normal College, found it in August last, growing abund- antly between the stones on the shores of Grand Lake, Nova Scotia, twenty-three miles from Halifax.
Botanists will be equally interested to know that she also detected, among the rhizomes of Osmuuda regalis, near tlie lake shore, the rare Schiziva pusilla. La Pylaie's specimens in his herbarium at Paris, col lected in Newfoundland about sixty years ago (whit h I have seen), had accredited this plant to New Foundland ; but I believe no one has since found it out of New Jersey until this hap])y discovery by Miss Knight in an adjacent portion of British America. --A. Gray.
The Coefficient of Contraction. — My attention was lati s drawn to a remarkable case of the difference in length, produced 1>\ unequal "seasoning," in the two sides of an nak post. The ]X'^' referred to is about four inches square; one end is sunk in the groonci and the other projects ten and one half feet above the surface. When placed in position some time ago it was straight and perpendicular; at the present time it leans toward the south, deviating a little over a foot from the perpendicular. The post was "set with the compass," and it is interesting to note that a north and south line lies in the pline of the curve.
Experiments have given us the coefficients of expansion in differ- ent metals. Why may we not have exj^eriments to determine tiic coefficients of contraction in different woods, i. e., to determine die fractional decrease in length produced in rods of "green" wood, say I meter long and 2 cm. square, by the application of a steady ;■'""] absolutey dry heat for a given length of time ? The knowledge womu be of no practical importance perhaps, but it might bring out unsus- pected correlation between looseness of tissue and amount of contrac- tion.— C. R. Barnes, LaEayctte, hid.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 5
Notes on Fungi. — The great drought which extended throughout Maryland in June and July, 1879, ^^^^ discouraging to the collector of Fungi. Very few Agarics appeared, and the Boleti, with the excep- tion of a few stunted forms, were not represented. Even in eastern Maryland, where the atmosphere is humid, the land low — woods often in swamps— plains intersected by narrow streams and broad rivers — there was a like scarcity of plants.
For the past four years certain species of fungi have been plentiful in nearly all woods within the distance of thirty miles from Baltimore. In June and July. 1877, likewise in 1878, the woods near Lutherville, Baltimore county, was adorned wiili beautiful forms and glowing colors. This profusion continued at intervals until September, a few coming as late as November.
The first and only perfect plant I collected in June, 1879, was A. [Copriniis] micaccus, Fr. It had chosen a low situation on a lawn that was kept constantly watered with, a hose. In this way it obtained sufficient moisture to reach perfection. The pileus was ovate, pale ochraceous or cinereous, i ^2-2 inches broad ; two were covered with micaceous granules, the rest were smooth; margin deeply striate, nearly plicate ; lamella?, at first white, turning to black; deliquescent; stipe hollow, white, silky ; spores .0003 x. 00035 of an inch long, .0003 of an inch broad; black; plant ciespitose. On the day that I found this Agaric, I asked a laboring man if he had seen any "Frog stools" in that section ? He looked at me earnestly, repeating : "Frog stools ! Why, they isn't come up yet. What does anybody want with them pison things ? You'll pison yourself to death !" A few days after this I met with the same man, and was greeted with the query : "Found any frog stools, yet ?" When I replied in the negative, he in- stantly said : "An' it's a blessed thing you can't find 'em! Better let frog stools alone 1 That's my advice to everybody." When turn ing to walk off, one of my companions heard him remark in an under tone: "Poor thing; crazy, certain sure. Clean gone mad!"
During the great drought in July I met with Boletus sirobilaceus, Scop., growing solitary upon the summit of a high embankment. • Considering the jjarched and slippery grass that one had to pass over, it looked like a break neck excursion to attempt to reach it ; but with the aid of two stout sticks I succeeded in gaining the eminence. The plant was perfect in all its parts, with a pileus 2 inches broad. The wonder was how a spore could germinate in soil that was apparently without moisture ; but so it was. In ^'ery wet seasons this fungus often attains 10 inches across pileus. In the latter part of July, A. {Lcnfinas) Icpidcus. Fr. , appeared in profusion on an old stump in Druid Hill Park, near Baltimore. The stipes were scaly, rooting below and variously branched ; each branch bore a perfect pileus 2-4 inches broad, mostly convex, white, covered with small, pale brown scales; lamellfe white, decurrent; spores .00026 x .0003 of an inch in diameter. A. {Ai/iani(a) strohilifonnis, Fr. , appeared in Druid Hill Park about the same time. This is a majestic plant with a pileus 8-9 inches broad, dirty white cinerous and even ochraceous, covered with persistent warts not unlike the scales on a small pine cone; lamellte
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white to cream color; stipe 6-7 inches high, 1-2 inches thick, floccososquamose, bulbous, rooting, bulbs large and conical, extend- ine 6-8 inches below the surface, ring large, lacerated, volva short, encircling the bulb like a frill, lacerated at margin ; odor delightful, somewhat resembling that of our edible A. campefris, but more pow- erful; the aroma from the bulb is even greater than from the pileus ; spores .00057 X .00035 inch, plant gregarious; open places in woods. One more plant, Zylaria polymorpha, Grev., which grew on an old stump at Druid Hill Park, completed the collection made in June and July, 1879.
The heavy rains of August brought Agarics and Boleti in both sec- tions of the State, but at no time were they so plentiful as in past years, neither did they continue later than the first week in September, in consequence of a second drought. Possibly, if one had explored eastern Maryland extensively, new and different forms might have been discovered, but with the exception of Panus strigosun, B. & C, found there only, the flora of the two sections was j^recisely the same, except that the plants from eastern Maryland were generally larger. A. {Amanita) muscarius, L., was remarkably beautiful, pileus 8-9 inches broad, canary yellow, covered with pale ochraceous warts ; margin striate; lamellae white; stipe 6-7 inches thick, bulbous; volva broken up skirting the bulb in large, heavy flakes; ring large ; fuga- ceous; spores .00026 x .00032 inch. In western Maryland this plant was scarce, dwarfed in size, and not to be found in woods it occupied in 1878. The pileus varies in color from ochraceous brown to canary yellow; the spores were also slightly smaller, .00018 x .00032 inch. A. {Amanita) ri'besccns, Pers., also a very handsome plant, had a pileus 8 inches broad, dark red to sienna red, covered with brown warts, margin striate ; lamellte white; stipe 7-8 inches high, bulbous, almost fringed with red scales; spores .00022 x. 00032 inch. In western Maryland the stipes were without one exception clothed with red scales, not marked or streaked with red as heretofore ; pileus 4-5 inches across; stipe 3-4 inches high; spores .00018 x. 0003 2 inch. The flesh in all turned red when cut or bruised, but this is not constant ; very often the flesh is white and unchanging. A. {Amanita) vaginatiis. Bull., from eastern Maryland, was unusually large and beautiful ; the pileus measured 6-7 inches across, more or less studded with scales at disk, not persistent, mouse gray, margin deeply and beautifully striate ; lamellae white, striped with a cottony substance ; stipe 6-7 inches hio^h, sericeo squamulose, hollow or stuff'ed, volva sheatlilike; spores .00032 X .00040 inch. The easy splitting of the stipe longitud inally seems to be a constant character in the fungus. In western Maryland, A. vaginatiis rarely measures more than 3-5 inches across pileus, variable in color, mouse gray or various shades of slate color, sometimes white ; lamellae with or without the cottony stuffing ; pileus with or without scales. A. {Amanita) nitidiis Fr. , was large in both sections of the State, with a pileus 6-8 inches broad, white with a tinge of umber, deepened at disk, covered with pale cinereous warts ; margin not deeply striate ; lamellae white, stipe 4-5 inches high, solid, squamose, attenuated upwards, bulbous at base, ring fugaceous ;
BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
spores .00024 X .00032 inch. A. {Amanita) solitanus, Bull., was another fine looking Agaric ; the pileus measured 6-7 inches across, covered with warts more or less erect at disk and tinged with ochre ; lamelliie white or cream color ; sripe solid, unequal, squamose, and even imbricated; bulb very large, rooting below, ring torn. This fungus has always appeared solitary until last summer, when I found two growing very near each other. The Lactarii were variable in size. Lactarius insulcus, Fr. , pileus 4-7 inches broad, margin sometimes distinctly striate, then faintly striate, again without striae ; at times faintly zoned, then plainly zoned, then zoneless; color various shades of yellow, often buff color ; lamelke concolorous ; stipe stuffed or hollow, pale shade of yellow ; spores .00032 of an inch in diameter, milk white and plentiful; taste extremely acrid. The stipes of several of these plants were lacunose. The Ritssidm from eastern Maryland were generally large R. virescens, Fr., came with a pileus as large as an ordinary breakfast plate, metallic green, varying in depth of color, more or less covered with patches or scales from green to ochraceous green and even yeilnw ; margin striate all the way round, then only at intervals ; lamellae white, brittle, more or less forked ; stipe equal, short, stuffed, white; spores .00028 x .0003 of an inch in diameter; taste pleasant. This plant appears in western Maryland with the same variations, but smaller. R. emctica, Fr. , measured 8 inches across pileus, variously shaded from bright red to sage color; lamellae white; stipe white stained with red ; spores 00036 of an inch in diameter ; taste acrid. R. aliitacca, Fr. , was about the same size, with a red pileus; buff colored lamellae and half colored spores ; very mild and pleasant to taste. R. rubra, Fr. , a remarkably handsome plant, the ornament of the woods wherever it grows, with its beautiful, glossy red or deep pink pileus, white lamellae, white or pinkish stipe, and acrid taste, was large and plentiful.
Boletus luridus, Schteff, from both sections of the State, came glow- ing with color. Pileus 5-6 inches broad, bright red or scarlet shaded into bright yellow at martrin, excessively viscid, shining as if var- nished, convex or expanded; pores convex, at times adnexed, again nearly free, again free, dark brownish red, bright yellow with red around the orifices, then bright orange color; stipes red with brown reticulations, again reticulated with carmine. Heretofore the pileus of this fungus has been slightly tomentose, dark reddish brown, pinkish, and brick-red ; pores free, yellow, with red around the orifices ; spores .0006 X .00038 inch, dark olivaceous green. The flesh of this plant, when eaten into by insects, does not change to blue. I have found this to be the rule without one exception. In eastern Maryland I collected a curious Boletus, the name of which I do not yet know. Two plants seem undecided whether to remain Boleti or to become Agarics One was decidedly lamellated on one side nearly to the margin, the other lamellated only at intervals. The same plant ap- peared about the same time in western Maryland, but lamellated only as the pores reached the stipe. Two specimens of Polyporus applan- atus, Fr., I found growing in short grass about ten yards from an oak tree. The pileus of one plant measured 4 the other 5 inches across.
8 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
. There was evidently a struggle to adapt themselves to their new hab- itat. There were neither roots or dead wood for them to adhere to, and I concluded that some s vere storm had separated them trom the tree and placed them in their new position.
The above plants comprise only a few out of the lari;e number I collected in 1879. Many that appeared in profusion during the Sum- mer and Autumn of 1878, were not with us in 1879. Perhaps the most conspicuous amongst the missing for their singular beauty as well as fur their offensive odor, were PhaUiis duplicatus, Bosc, and Phallus ij/ipudicus, L. I found Phallus duplicatus, in the early part of June. Three plants in three different periods of growth were close beside each other in an open place in the woods. The first form of this fungus is that of a puff ball, containing a tremulous mass i.f gelatine. Within this is P. duplicatus, with its rudimentary pileus and stipe pre- paring to burst through the volva. In the second period of growth it escapes the volva sufficiently to show the pileus, together with a por- tion of the stipe around which hangs a white reticulated frill looking like a beautiful lace drapery ; pileus 6-7 inches across, campanulate, lacunose and distinctly marked with variously formed reticulations; a portion of gelatine clings to it, which, from the action of air and light often turns amber color, giving a showy, transparent appearance. In the fully developed plant the external surface of the pileus rapidly passes into mucilage and drips away in deliquescent drops of a dark olivaceous green, almost black. The perforated apex is firmly attach- ed to the stalk and bordered with a delicate edge of white or cream color. Beneath the pileus the stalk is duiical and c 'vered with a reticulated drapery, which adheres for the space of one inch, when it flows off and hangs down loosely like a white lace frill an inch or so below the pileus. There is attached to the apex a lengthened drop of gelatine, two inches long, which hangs within the cavity of the stalk and seems to furnish its internal lining with mucilace. The pileus is lined with a smooth white skin slightly viscid. The stalk is 10 inches high, 1-2 inches thick, white, looking like carved ivory, hollow, with a white, smooth, glossy, internal lining, externally covered with small and variously shaped cavities which extend to the internal lining, but do not penetrate it, forming a substance somewhat like the fine tissues in bone, cutting hard and brittle ; exceedingly delicate at the base, and but for the volva which remains upright with its mass of gelatine, it would have nothing to support it. The volva is universal and com- posed "f a strong, rough looking, tough skin, whose sole duty seems, protection; within it, and extending to more than half its height, there is a partition or dividing wall of tough, thick white skin, this keeps the gelatine in place separating it from the stalk and holding it fast between the two walls.
Strange to say I drove six miles in a public conveyance with three of these plants closely covered in a basket, without hearing a remark upon the abominable odor. By the time I reached my place of de.s- tination the smell had increased to such an extent that the flies near- ly devoured me, in their eagerness tc) get at the fungus. Worse than all there was an outcry through the house, one enquiring of the
BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
other what the loathsome smell could be, and where it came from. Each moment was filled with anxiety, lest my precious fungus, for which I had already endured so much, might be seized and carried off before I finished dissecting it. The pileus was crowded with beetles, and judging from the eaten |)ortion they must have relished it greatly for t'.iey had taken a hearty lunch. Phallus impudicus, which I found shortly afterward was equally offensive and attractive to flies and beetles.
While it is interesting to observe the variations in the color, size and configurations of certain species of fungi, it is equally so to note their absence from one locality, f 'r an indefinite time, and perhaps their appearance in another. One is led to suspect that the spores either hibernate or are carried by the winds to far off sections like the seeds of some phiVinogamous plants; or there mav be in some seasons an absence in certain qualities in soil and atmosphere requisite for their germination. In sections where no changes have been made, such as draining the soil, cleaning out woods, or cutting down trees, we are constantlv missing ])lants for a period of one or more years as the following notes will show:
In 1877, Ladarius volmum, Fr. , was plentiful from June to Septem- ber, but very slender in form. In 1878, not so plentiful, but very arge. In 1879, it- ^^^^ its old haunts and other plants took its place, though in some instances its place was unoccupied. A. {Tricholoma) 7'irescens, Pk , was plentiful in 1877, but has never appeared since. Boletus oniatipes, Pk., as well as many other plants that one could not go amiss for in 1877, were rare in 1878, none in 1879. For three successive years I found A. vaginatus, in one spot, on or about the fifteenth of July; in 1878 it was missing, but appeared plentifully in a distant woods. A. laccaius. Scop., was scarce in 1877, mostly to be found on dead leaves and sticks. In 1878 it carpeted the woods in some places three yards in diameter; in 1879, "^^t one was to be found in the same locality; it took a freak to visit a woods ten miles distant, and after having been small and unpretending in appearance it assum ed the most beautiful and fantastic shapes, as well as the brightest colors; ])ileus 4-5 inches across, conve.x, umbilicate or deeply infun- dibuliform ; lameila2 often bright reddish purple, with a deep flesh color or bright sienna-red pileus. Fistulina hepatica, Fr., has been rare for several years past, but last August old oak stumps as well as the projecting roots of oak trees, were crowded with it. At first sight it presented the most curious appearance, looking like large pieces of raw flesh or liver scattered about on the grass. It has a delightful acid taste. Monhella esculcnta, Pers., and Helvclla crispa, Fr. , so plentiful in 1877, has not been seen since. That beautiful little plant Cyathus vernkosus, DC, which abounded in nearly all gardens in 1878, was absent in 1879. During some seasons when other species are so plentiful the Trichogasters are poorly represented. In 1876, Geaster fimbriatus, Fr. , was abundant, but I have not found one plant since. In 1877, Lycoperdon gein»iutu?n, Fr. , crowded the woods in almost every section; one or two imperfect forms appeared in 1878,
lo BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
none in 1879. Lycoperdon cyathiforme, Bosc, numerous and very large in 1877, has not been with us since. Scleroderma vul^are, Fr. , plentiful in 1877, two imperfect forms in 1878, none \n 1879. — M. E. Banning.
Notes on Some Introduced Plants in Dallas Countv, Texas. — These are notes on most of the naturalized plants in this county.
Adonis autumnalis, L. , was imported by the French colonists in 1855, and appears in many fields and along the roads.
JSasturtium officinale, R. Br., was first introduced about twenty years ago, but became common only within four or five years
Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Moench. was ^een for the first time in 1865, but has become quite a common weed.
Viola tricolor, L. var arvensis, Ging. , I am satisfied, is native. I have met it in large patches in remote woods and prairies, sometimes very far from settlements. The true V. tricolor has been naturalized in gardens and seems to be keeping its characters very constant. I believe the two may be considered good species.
Portidaca oleracea, L., is certainly native, although it has been con- sidered by most of the botanists as an introduced species. It infests all cultivated fields. You may go 100 miles from civilization, break the prairie, and the second summer will be sure to see it covering your field This year in traveling on the northwestern frontier, far from any settlement, I have met it growing in prairie dogs' villages, in company with the P. pilosa and P. lanceolata, both considered native species.
Tribidiis maximus, L., was introduced about i860.
Abutilon Avicennce, Goert. , made its appearance about the same time.
Conia occidcntalis, L., belongs to the same period.
Anthe'iiis Cotula, L. , dates from 1875, ^''^"d since has been very com- mon in the city of Dallas.
Jmpomea purpurea and / hederacea are common in some fields, but I have not the date of their introduction.
Datura Tatula, L. , is very common and was naturalized long ago.
Martynia proboscidca, Glox, is sparingly 1 aturalized, but seems spon- taneous in the West
Verbena officinalis, L., is certainly nitive. It grows in all the sandy woods and wild praries. The roots are positively perennial, which does not agree with the description in the Synoptical Flora of Dr. (jray.
Marrubium vulgare, L. , appears in the neighborhood of cattle and sheep lots after a few years of settlement.
Boerhaavia viscosa. Lag., was first seen in 1876; B. stricta, in 1879.
Rumex obtusifolia, L., seems perfectly at home in all damp ]:)laces.
Chenopodium hxbridum, C. /nurale, C. ambrosioides and C. anthel- fninticuni, are more i)r less common, the last seeming perfectly indigen- ous.—J. Reverchon.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. ii
DiMORPHO-DiCHOGAMY IN JuGLANS AND Carva. — Referring to a note by Mr. Pringle, in No. 12, Vol. 4, it may be interesting to note that in the grounds of Dr. Dunton, in Germantown, there is a very large Carya olivivformis, supposed to have been introduced to the gar- den through the agency of Mathias Kin, in the early part of the pres ent century, which bears nuts very freely every year, as I believe. The nearest tree that I know of its kind is at the Bartram garden, some fifteen miles away. Single specimens of /ii<:;lans cinerea are not uncommon in Germantown gardens, with other trees a quarter or a half mile away. Groups of them are not uncommon in the Wissa- hickon two or three miles away from the gardens. These trees gen- erally bear. Some years along the whole line of the Wissahickon there is not a nut to be found. When there are any at all, they are found on every tree. — Thomas Meehan.
Mr. M. S. Jones' Colorado Notes. — Malvastrum coccinenm. — Without questioning the accuracy of Mr. Jones' determination, I yet teel moved to "suspend judgment" on the noxious qualities of this species. Tt seems so incredible that a malvaceeus plant should have this fearfully to.xic property, that it will be safer to believe the stock men have not sent the real culprit. "Twelve hundred sheep dying in four hours," does not strike those acquainted with the vegetation about Pueblo, and the nature of the ovine constitution, as being par- ticularly careful records of the facts.
Ncillia Toirevi. — In addition to the pubescent ovaries, it maybe noted that the calyx and i)edict"ls have the same character, — the calyx indeed often quite woolly. This is parlicularl]^ the case with speci- mens I collected in 1871, in what is now Englemann's canon. This thick pubescence seems to follow all the forms found in Colorado, and is a good distinguishing mark from the Eastern species, N'. oppiilifolia. Beside there is another good character not noted by Mr. Watson, in the calyx, which has its sepals ohtuse, while in the Eastern species they are apiculate as the carpels are. Botanists speak of the N. Torrcvi as a "small species with small leaves and flowers," but this is only true as regards the altitude at which it is found. I have some specimens gathered in 1873, t^xact locality not noted, in which the whole plant was not probably over a foot high, with the leaves smaller than the most stunted Ribes rotuiidifolium, which in that conditifui, they much resemble. Some from the high hills at the entrance to South Park, through Golden Gate, gathered in 187 i, were from plants two to three feet high, — while the specimens gathered near the mouth of Englemann canon, in 1871, were from bushes, as large as the aver- age of those we see of N. opuUfolia in the East.
Aqiiikgia chrysantha.—Mx. Jones says he ha.?, 'iQQn A<j 11 ilegia c/iry- santha "occasionally," with "both colors of flowers on the same plant." By "both colors" I infer he meant the blue of A. coerulea and the yellow of A. chrysantha. This would be a valuable fact if there be no mistake in the plant in Mr. Jones' mind. As he refers to finding the plant near "Colorado Springs," I may fairly suggest some
12 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
mistake. What is now Colorado Springs was once my camping grounds when it was a "wild waste," and if any where I think I should have found A. chtjsantha there. I never knew of any one finding it there. Though found in southern Colorado. I believe, I have never met with it myself in the State nor even in Utah, where it is probably more at home. There seems to be an error also, in the reference to "Rothrock in Wheeler's Survey." Instead of making "similar obser- vations," he says they are '■'■always yellow," italicising the words. From my observations of A. chrysantha, under culture, which have been extensive, I should imagine there was as much distinction be- tween the two species named, as between any other species, for, in the whole genus the "evolutionary links" have not been lost in many instances. Smilax herbacea, was collected by Isaac C. Martindale and party, in Queen Canon, in 1878; as also was the interesting vari- ety oi Ampdopsis quinqiiefoiia. The valuable observations on the flowers which Mr. Jones made, were, however, not noted, the plant being then only in fruit. See also Porter's Fl. Col.
Mr. J. will, I trust, pardon these ittw criticisms, as they are offer- ed solely in the interest of Botanical Science. —Thomas Meehan.
An Exchange Fraud. — For the benefit of others engaged in col- lecting and exchanging I would like to expose one Willie F. Wamble, of Raleigh, N. C, whose plan is to get plants sent him for which the sender gets only promises in return. Botanists who have no dupli cates to throw away, will save them by steering clear of him. Not only has he defrauded me of a lot of ferns, but I have it from good authority in Raleigh, N. C . that he is not reliable — R. H. Wildber- GER, Prof. Nat. Sciences Ky. Mil. lust., Fanndale, Ky.
Botany TO THE Aid OF Geology. — "The little facts of science, seemingly trifling, are often of great value in deciding greater ques tions or, at least, ones deemed of more importance by the human rac«-. On Kerguelen's Island, a tract 4,000 miles west of Cape Horn, our common fern {Polypodium viilgarc) is found. Other plants common to America are also found there. It is considered out of the question that they had their original home center there, and it is deemed highly improbable that they could have been carried there by any agency now existing. The only suggestion deemed within probability is that there must in the past have been a land connection between these points, now four thousand miles apart. This vvas Dr. Hooker's view, when he visited the Island and noted these plants many years ago. Geographers connected with the 'Challenger" expedition have now come to the same conclusion with the botanist, from an entirely ditifer- ent line of reasoning. There are several plants on the Island found no where else. One of these (the Prifiglea aiitiscorbutica) is not only special to the Island, but it is distinct from any known coniferous plant, in having no powdery jjollen and no petals. And these facts are taken to indicate that a long connecting line has been swept away " — Independent.
W^^J^^
' HERBAP.rjIvI, ,,
Botani^^^a^tte.
Vol. V FEBRUARY, 1880. No. 2.
Editorial. — A new school of botanists is rapidly gaining ground
in this country and we are glad to see it. While the country was new
and its flora but little known it was very natural for systematic botany to be in the ascendency. It is a very attractive thing to most men to discover new species, but when the chance for such discovery be- comes much lessened there is a turning to the inexhaustible field of physiological botany. Systematists are necessary, but a great number of them is not an essential thing and it is even better to have but a few entitled to rank as authorities in systematic work. But in study- ing the life histories of plants or their anatomical structure we can not have too many careful observers. This, at the present day, seems to be the most promising fieldand one botanist after another is coming to appreciate it. As microscopes are becoming cheaper and hence more common the workers in the histology of plants are becoming more nimnerous and it is to such that the Gazette would now address itself. It will be noticed that the notes published heretofore would largely come under the head of systematic botany, and it is our in- tention to continue to give large space to this subject, but we would like to take a stand in this new school and call for notes from its workers. Dr. Rothrock's paper on "Staining of Vegetable Tissues" was a start in the right direction and the eagerness with which such papers are now read is shown by the fact that that issue of the Ga- zette was entirely exhausted in filling orders. We expect to receive many notes pertaining to this branch of our science and if botanists who are interested in it will but come forward the Gazette will will- ingly open its pages to them. Let not only the results of study with the microscope be noted, but observations on the habits of plants, such as their fertilization, movements, absorption and evaporation of moisture, and the many other subjects which are now attracting so much attention. Let there not only be a record of such observations but expressions of opinion as to the best method of teaching how pupils can be made observers, and how far this can be profitably car- ried. Such topics would open up a new and large field to the Ga- zette and one that would be of interest to all botanists. That short notes upon the teaching of botany would be read with interest goes with the saying, when it is understood that nearly every other man upon our subscription list is a Professor of some kind or other, and that there is no college in the United States, Avhere botany has any sort of prominence, where the Gazeitk is not taken.
Viola tricolor, L. var. arvensis, DC. — The plant of the United States, so named by Torrey and (iray, is K tevAla of Muhl-
14 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
enberg (Cat. 1813) and V. bicolor of Pursh (Fl. 1814), who evident- ly regarded it as native and for that reason, perhaps, a distinct species. Even if further comparison with European specimens should prove the determination of Torrey and Gray correct, its claims to a place in our indigenous flora seeni to me very strong. In Pennsylvania it is widely diffused, but rare, yet abundant wherever found. It occurs in grassy meadows and on rocky slopes, remote from dwelhngs and never in cultivated grounds. Its entire behavior is that of a native, and hence unlike that of V. tricolor oi the gardens, which, though it comes up from self-sown seeds, soon disappears, when not reinforced by fresh plantings, and shows no disposition to spread beyond cuhure. Mr. Reverchon. in the last number of the Gazette, reports it from Dallas county, Texas, and says: *' I am satisfied it is native. I have met it in large patches in remote woods and prairies, sometimes very /rtir from settlements " To this I may add the fact that it has also been collected in Colorado by Mr. Wm. A. Henry, who thus wrote me Aug. 29, 1876-" I send you more of the violet. It grows on a warm, dry slope at the mouth of Boulder Canon, in a rather inaccess- ible place. I have seen a few stalks further up the canon. It blooms very early, along with Leucocrinum montanuin, so that it has probably escaped the notice of other collectors. I gathered it three years before in the same ])lace. It. could have been introduced, but I great ly doubt that seeds of recent introduction could have reached the spot where I found these plants."
I may here mention another addition to the flora of Colorado. Aubrey H. Smith, Esq., has kindly given me specimens of Goodyera repens, P.. Br., collected by him on Pike's Peak, Aug. 1878. —Thos.
C. PORIER.
Lepidil'm campestre, Linn. — Last September as I was just com- ing out of the hay fever, a farmer brought me a package of what he said was now becoming a troublesome weed. I instinctively smelled of the plant and brought hack some decided sym])toms of my malady. The weed proved to be Z. cam[yestre. As this has hitherto been a rare plant, it is of interest to know that with us it is no longer so. But this crucifer has struggled hard to attain its acclimatization. An ad- venturer from Europe, it came, as I believe, from Great Britain, where it was accustomed to a mild and humid climate, hence, though a great seed bearer, ere it could become prolific of individuals it had to struggle through several generations of years in a climate involving extremes so o|)i)Osile to the conditions of its native land. — S. Lock WOOD, Freehold, N. Jersey.
ZosrERA .MARiN.v, L. — .\. Euglcr, in a recent number of the Bot- anische Zeifung, has published some interesting observations concern- ing the " Eel grass," so common in the bays of our own coast. His observations relate chiefly to fertilization and growth. The following is an abstract of his paper from a late number of Nature.
At first the thread like stigma lies on the neighboring anther lobes.
BOTANICAL GAZET7E. 75
mostly those of the two different anthers; next the style elevates itself, and so the stigma comes out of the narrow slit in the sheath, and receives pollen from some of the older spadices.
After fertilization the thread like stigmas disappear and at the same moment will be found clusters of as yet unopened anthers around the stigmaless gyncecia, these now having fertilized ovules. This was probably the stage observed by Hofmeister when he described the fertilization as taking place inside the unopened inflorescence. Cer- tainly the anther lobes are not at this stage always emptied of their contents, and certainly when the emptying takes place the gyncecia are often beyond the power of being fertilized.
The condition of the buds also engaged Engler's attention, because the sympodial bud system appeared similar to many Aracere. The miin shoot develops sterile buds from the axil of the nodal scale and then after developing 4 to 6 internodes in the mud grows upward, giving rise to leaves frequently a metre long but never in the same year is inflorescence observed. In the axils of the lower leaves fer- tile buds are developed which lie alternately to right and left of the main axis. These grow for a great while along with the main axis, the axis of growth thus presenting a flattened cone-sh.iped form with two furrows superim|)Osed on a cylindrical axis. — C. R. R.
AsPLENiUM Bradlevi. — During the fall of 1876 while collecting ferns on White River, in northwestern Arkansas, a few specimens of Aspleniuin Bradlevi v^'qvq found. Since then, by searching closely several localities have been discovered, which have yielded some fine specimens. The species seems to grow upon sandstone, exclusively, as it has not been found on any other formation, and to require situa- tions more or less shaded.
As the plant had never before been found west of the Mississippi River, the discovery is important, because it .shows a greater geo- graphical range than the species was supposed to have. It occurs in Kentucky and East Tennessee, and probably will be found across the northern part of this state. The species is not confined to the streams, but has been found upon isolated ledges several miles in- land.
Notholcena dealbata, Kunze, grows in northwestern Arkansas abund- antly, on limestone ledges which are isolated and have a southern ex- ])osure. This species, so far as I know, has never been reported from this state, nor farther south than Kansas.— F. L. Harvp-.v, Ark. Ind. Univ., Fayettevillc, Ark.
Reply TO Mr. Meehan's Criticisms.— y^(/?///(;i,'v<'' chrysantlia. In Mr. Meehan's observations on the Wheeler Report "it does not strike those acquainted with the" book and its contents "as being particular- ly careful records of the facts." For Rothrock says that A. chrvsan- tha is "hard to distinguish from A. acrulea by any mere description, as they exhibit transition at all points" (Wheeler Rep., p 59, lines i and 2). This is not only a similar observation, but also a stronger
i6 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
statement than mine. Mr. M. lias erred again in quoting Rothrock as saying that the flowers are ^^always yelloiv" "italicizing the words." Mr. R. does not italicize both words and does not say the flowers are always yellow in any but southern specimens.
It does not follow because Mr. M. camped at Colorado Springs once that all the species inhabiting its vicinity were found by him. It is as likely that he overlooked A. chrysantha as it is certain that he failed to find Stipa pennata var. Americana, Anemone cylindrica, Psora- lea hypogcea (in the streets), Asclepias Hallii, Eritrichium leiocarpum, Pedicularis procera and many others that I found there, blooming at the same time as A. chrysantha. I will say that I have made Colo- rado Springs my home the greater part of two seasons, doing little else than collecting (securing iioo species), and would be more apt to know its flora than a transient visitor or even one who camped there once. Besides, Mr. Brandegee found the plant in the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, not 30 miles away in an air line {Flora Col. p. 4). My notes were drawn IVom s])ecimens in my herbarium col- lected by me at different times and places.
(i) Some specimens have the sepals narrower than petals. (2) Others, broader; sepals i incli long, petals over ^ inch ; leaflets 12 to 15 lines wide ; spur very slender, 2 inches ; sepals broad lanceolate ; flowers yellow ; plant 30 inches high. (3) Others like (2) except se- pals lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate narrower than petals. (4) Like (2) except leaflets 6 lines wide (plant as tall). (5) Like (2) except se- pals and petals ahiiost equal ; sepals and spurs b ue ; plant 24 inches high. (6) Others like (2) excejit leaflets 2^ inches wide ; flowers size of (2) or one-fourth smaller.
Two years ago specimens of this plant were taken up and set out at Colorado Springs. The flowers were yellow when taken up but have been blue since. I have seen the plant in bloom.
Malvastrmn coccincum is common on the plains, often in large patch- es. There is no other common plant (on the p ains) known to be poisonous (except the "Loco" which does not act that way). That i,2oo sheep died in 4 hours after being turned upon a large patch of M. coccineum the owner of the sheep knows too well. Botanists can afford to wait a chemical analysis of the plant, but stockmen cannot.
Neillia Torrevi. The "thick pubescence" does not "follow all the forms found in Colorado. " I have specimens with glabrous pedicels and calyx. Mr. Meehan's distinction of acute, apiculate sepals in N. opidifolia, and obtuse sepals in N. Torreyi holds good in all my specimens. The pubescent pods of A'. Torreyi 2^^^ glabrous pods of N. opidifolia do not seem to be constant, at least I have a number of specimens with very slender pedicels, 2 inches long, pedicels and calyx either glabrous, slightly pubescent or woolly ; leaves 3 inches by 2 inches, slightly three lobed, and doubly crenate (not incised) ; flow- ers 35 to 40; pods as densely pubescent as Utah specimens of iV. Torrevi.
Smilax hrrlacca, L. var inodora T found August 8, 1878, in Platte
BOTANICAL CAZF.Tl E. 17
Canor, but having only the fruit I delayed naming it till I secured the flowers. — Marcus E. Jones.
Note.— Since writing the note on Malvastriiin coccineum., further correspondence leads me to believe that the large number of sheep lost by Mr. Ruble was caused largely, if not wholly, by poisonous water oozing out of an embankment in the midst of a large patch of MalvastriiJH. I am glad to be able to add this item of evidence in favor of the plant. There are, howe\er, a number of other com- j)]aints about this plant yet to be settled. — M. E. J.
ThI'; Flora of St. Croix and the Virgin Islands, by Baron Eggers. — This is No. 13 of the Bulletin of the U. S. National Museum and is quite a thick pamphlet, containing 133 pages. Some 21 pages are devoted to a general description of the position, geology and cli- mate of the islands, with remarks upon the charatteristic ])lants. The vegetation is divided into four groups, called the "littoral," the "shrubby," the "sylvan," and the "region of cultivation." The author comes to the conclusion "that at a former period all the West India islands have been connected mutually, and perhaps with the Ameri- can continent also, during which time the plants in common to all the islands, as well as to the West Indies and the continent, have ex- panded themselves over their present geographical areas, at least as far as they are not possessed of particular faculties for emigration over the sea."
Then follows a catalogue comprising 1,013 species of phaanogamous and vascular crytogamous plants, of which 881 are indigenous and 132 naturalized. The prop/ortion between Mono- and Dicotyledonous plants indigenous and naturalized is i to 5.8 ; in the indigenous ones alone i to 4.9, thus showing the plurality of the recently introduced plants to have been Dicotyledonous. Five new species are described one of which is a i?Zv/i-. One looks in vain for the familar heading ComposiUe and hardly recognizes it under the form of Synaulhereff.. It seems strange also to see all the grasses and sedges put before the Liliaccce and the other kindred families, making the highly specialized Orchids the last of Phanogams. The entire absence of all Ranuncu- laceous plants is a noticeable feature to workers in our more northern flora.
The report is an interesting one in more ways than can be men- tioned in a brief notice and is well worth a careful study.
Moths entrapped pa' an Asclepiad Plant (Physianthus) and killed by Honey Bees. — Towards the last of September, Mr. John Mooney, of Providence, an observing man, brought us a stalk of F/iysiaiithus albens, an Asclepiad plant originating in Buenos Ayres, with the bodies of several moths {Flusia precationis) hanging dead by their proboscides or maxillae. It was found that the moths had, in endeavoring to reach the pollen pocket, been caught as if in a vise by one of the opposing edges of the five sets of hard horny contrivances covering the pollinia. A 'i(^\K days after, Mr. Everett A. Thomjison,
i8 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
of Springfield, Mass., wrote us, that he had a plant of the same species which had caught a nuoiber of moths of several species, and that in some cases only the heads and tongues of the moths were left, and he attributed this dismemberment to birds, but wrote in the same letter that his father had seen bees sting the moths while alive and struggling. He sent me one of the moths, which proved to be a Plusia precationis, the same species as we had observed in Providence, and a honey bee {Apis viellifica) which had been seen by his father to attack the moths, and which had a pollen mass of the same plant attached to one of its fore legs. On writing Mr. Thompson that his father's observations were quite new, the hive bee not being known to be carnivorous, beyond its well-known habit of stinging and killing the males of its own species and the bee moths invading its cells, his father. Rev. L. Thompson, of North VVobiirn, Mass., a careful ob- server, kindly prepared the following .statement :
" I cannot undertake to give an account of my observations of the plant, moths and bees, concerning which inquiry is made, from the standpoint of a scientist, which I do not claim to be, but after pretty close watching, continued for many days, I feel quite confident of the general correctness of the following statement :
" Early in September, of the present year, as I made one of my daily visits to the plant, to me unknown before, \\\^ Physianthus albens, or Arauja, I noticed among the many moths that had been caught in the flowers, a considerable number of tongues still in the traps, while all, or nearly all, else belonging to the recent captives had disappear- ed. While I stood gazing, my attention was arrested by two or three bees buzzmg immediately around ns many entrapped moths that were alive and struggling to get away. Every moment or two, the bee suddenly and furiously darted upon the prisoner and seemed to sting it despite its desperate efforts to escape. The onset was generally in- stantaneous, but was repeated again and again, and, after the moth became still and apparently lifeless, the bee settled upon it, and, if my eyes did not greatly deceive me, began to devour it. I had previous- ly noticed the tongues but supposed the bodies of the moths had been eaten by birds, though I had not actuallv seen it done. I cannot therefore positively assert what seemed to me the f;-ict at the time, though I had no other thought, and the fact that so many of the moths had actually disappeared, leaving only their tongues, and, in some cases, other fragments of their bodies, in the shape of legs chnging to bits of casing or skin, satisfied me that the bees had really feasted on animal food as well as upon the nectar of surrounding flowers.
"I did not suppose it to be the honey bee at the time, but a kind of wasp, such as or similar to that whose nest I had sometimes found in sodded banks or terraces and looked upon as an architectural won- der. Yet I did not examine it, and can only say that I saw many, or supposed T did, upon a bed of Nasturtiums and other flowers, a few feet distant from the Physianthus.
" I think T have found as manv as three or four different kinds of
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. ig
moths upon the plant, besides numerous small black flies which, un- like the moth, go down bodily into the flower. — L. Thompson." '• North U'obuni, Oct. 2g, iSyc^."
Upon writing Dr. Hermann MuUer in reference to these facts, he replied as follows :
"Lippstadt, Nov. lo, 1879. — Physianthiis rt'//w/^ has been observed by Delpino as being visited by humble bees and fertilized by their proboscis. It is a new and very interesting fact that Plusia precationis is caught by the flowers of this plant and has been found dead sus- ])ended by its proboscis. About carnivorous habits of bees, my brother Fritz, in south Brazil, has observed that honey bees (but I do not remember for the moment whether Apis or stingless Brazilian honey bees) licked eagerly the juice dropping from pieces of flesh which had been susijended in order to be dried in the open air. Nothing else as far as I know has ever been published on the car- nivorous habits of bees ; I hope, therefore, you will soon publish your very interesting observations."
We have also received the following letter from Mr. Darwin, dated Down, Beckenham, Kent, Nov. 23d. "I never heard of bees being in any way carnivorous, and the fact is to me incredible. Is it pos- sible that the bees opened the bodies of the Plusia to suck the nectar contained in their stomachs ? Such a degree of reason would re- quire repeated confirmation and would be very wonderful. I hope that you or some one will attend to this subject."
We have also received the following note from Prof. Gray in refer- ence to the subject : "It has long been familiar, and must several times have been recorded, that moths or butterflies and other insects are caught by getting their tongue, proboscis or legs into the chink between adjacent wings of the anthers in Physiantluis or Arauja albens, and Asckpias, etc. The anther-wings are very rigid, the groove be- tween them narrows gradually upwards, so that when a leg or probos- cis is engaged, an upward pull only fixes it more securely, and the unhappy insects seem rarely to pull backward or downward, which is the only way to get disengaged. As to the rest of your account I know nothing; and should say that the observations need, if not 're- peated confirmation,' at least some confirmation by an etomological observer."
It appears from the fact that the single worker bee received had a pollen-mass attached to one of its fore legs, that it visited the plant originally for the sake of its nectar. For what purpose did it attack, kill the moths and, as it is claimed, "devour" them? We publish the observations of Mr. Thompson and the comments upon them, with the hope that the subject will receive attention next summer.
Since this note has been put in type. Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Agricultural College of Michigan, well known as an apiarian of ex- perience, informs us that ivithin the hive, honey bee workers in killing the drones tear them in pieces with their mandibles rather than sting them, and that he has seen them thus kill a humble bee that had en- tered the hive ; it thus appears, what we judge will be quite new to
20 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
entomologists, that the honey bee uses its mandibles, at least on some occasions, as weapons of attack, quite as much as the sting; this would also corroborate the exactness of Mr. Thompson's observations. — A. S. Packard, Jr., in Aw. Naturalist.
Bursting of the Fruit of Euphorpja corollata. — Mr. E. E. White, of Lincoln, Iowa, has noticed the bursting of the pods of Euphorbia corollata, with a report loud enough to be heard across an ordinary room. An entire plant had been brought into the house with the view of saving the seed and the reports soon took place. This note is given not so much with the idea that this bursting is peculiar to Euphorbia, but that it may call out similar observations and thus group them together in a tangible shape. — Prof. Wm. C. White.
Charac.^. - For the benefit of several subscribers who have express- ed a desire to know something of the structure and position oi characce, we take from B. D. Halsted's paper upon the "Classification and De- scription of the American Species of Characeie" the following de- scription :
The members of this distinct group of Cryptogams are all filamen- tous, submerged, aquatic plants, to the naked eye either green or ashy gray in color, depending- upon the presence or absence of a calcareous incrustation. The plants are attached by a long, colorless, root-like structure to the muddy bottom of the pond or stream in ^vhich they grow, and often f )rm dense masses varying according to tne species from a few inches or two to three feet in height. They are remarkable for their large thin-walled cells and the cyclo^is of their contents.
In number there is something over a hundred species.
Development: — At the upper end of the spore there is first produced by division a thin-walled, hemispherical shaped cell. This cell soon divides into two by a cell-wall parallel to the longer axis of the spore. Both of these new cells increase in size and push themselves out be- tween the separating ends of the fine enveloping spirals, one turning downward to become the primary rhizoid, the other upward to form the proembryo. The proembryo, the upper portion of which is green, consists of but a few alternating nodal and internodal cells. When the Chara plant develops, one of the disc shaped nodal cells divides up first into two, and afterwards, by successive divisions, into a num- ber of cells, the largest one of which becomes the initial cell, or punc- tum vegetationis of the future plant. From this cell by further growth and repeated cell divisions the Chara plant is developed.
Antheridia [globules) : — These, the male organs, are situated on the leaves and are often of an orange color, and from .50 to .75 mm. in diameter. The wall consists of eight cells called shields, closely joined by their serrate edges. The four basal ones are somewhat four sided ; the upper four triangular. From the center of each shield-cell there projects into the interior of the antheridium an ob- long cell called the manubrium. Each manubrium is surmounted bv
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 21
a smaller cell known as a capitulum. The capitula end in turn in six secondary capitula from each of which grow four long flagelliform threads which are composed of small disc-shaped cells. The anlhe- rozoids are borne singly in the cells. When free from the cell the an- therozoid is a spirally twisted, naked, protoplasmic body, many times longer than broad, and is capable of a very rapid motion by means of two cilia which are placed near one end.
Sporangia (jiuciiles) : — These are the female organs and when ma- ture are usually of an ovoid shape, and .30 to i.io mm. in length. The sporangium consists of a large central cell, the spore and five tubes which are coiled closely around it. The sporangium is a trans- formed leaflet.
Non-sexual organs of reproduction- : — Bulblets are found in a number of species; they occur most frequently at the lower nodes of the plant near the surface of the ground, where few or no leaves are developed and the internodes are colorless.
A second method of non-sexual reproduction is found in Cliara fragilis, which is called by Pringsheim "Branches with naked base."
Classification: — It is difficult to place the Characeae very close to any other group of Cryptogams. Their method of development, sex- ual organs, and anatomical structure separate them from the Vascular Cryptogams on the one side, and the Thallophytes on the other ; and bring them nearer to the Muscineie than to any other general group. Of the Muscinea? they bear the most resemblance to mosses. Differ- ing as they do widely, even from the mosses, in being less complex in structure and in the development of the fruit, it seems fi'ting that the Characeje be placed iii a group by themselves and arranged with the others in the following order, proceeding from the highest to the lowest : Vascular Cryptogams, Muscinece. Characar, and Thallophytes.
Saporta's World OF Plants.— In the Popular Science Monthly for February is a review of Count de Saporta's work translated from Revue Scientifique by Miss E. A. Youmans. The general bearing of the work is well shown by the reviewer's preface. "Men of science, whose patient researches have accumulated the proofs of the theory of evolution, have perha[)s found more facts in support of this great phi- losophical doctrine in the vegetable than in the animal world. When we say the vegetable world, we of course mean chiefly fossil vegeta- bles. It is only by the study of extinct forms, and their comparison with the living flora, that the affinities between actual types and distant ancestors have been discovered, and their mode of evolution revealed. Vegetable paleontology, it is true, is yet in its infancy, and has many great gaps; still, the rapidity with which it is being developed, and the prodigious number of facts that have been already collected, give good ground for the hope that the day is not far distant when we shall have surely determined the ancestral lines of most of our plants. To this the efforts of paleontologists are tending, and their activity is be- yond all praise. During the last twenty years their discoveries have furnished the matter for large volumes and for many memoirs, pub-
22 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
lished in the reports of academies of scit^nce, in the bulletins of geo- logical societies, etc. But the profound lessons derived from these discoveries have hitherto been almost the exclusive possession of sci- entific men. People of general intelligence, who are interested in all progress, have known little of the results obtained. This injustice could be no longer tolerated. A complete treatise was required, writ- ten in a style that all could comprehend, and summine up the progress thus far accomplished : and M. de Saporta. one of the most eminent authorities in vegetable paleontology, has just published such a work."
"The study of fossil flora not only enables us to follow the evolu- tion of plants from their remotest known ancestors to their present actual descendants, but it throws much light upon the past mysteries of the earth, and especially u))on the climatic conditions which con- trolled its surface while the slow revolutions of organic life were going on." We will quote here and there from the review, not having space for the entire article, although one of great interest to all interested in the history of plants. "There exists between a flora and the climate in which it lives a relation so close that, knowing the one. we can represent the other. Palms do not grow in Greenland nor fir-trees on the plains of equatorial Africa. Each climate has it? flora, and each flora its climate.
Paleontology has established the permanence and universality of this law ; but it has at the same time established a singular fact which remains inexplicable. It is this : the different climates of the earth have not always been what they are now, either as to temperature or distribution. We speak only of those epochs which have succeeded each other since the time of the most ancient known plants. If we transport ourselves in thought to a time toward the end of the Tertiary period, and then, leaving behind us the Quaternary epoch, follow the course of ages, we find, as an increasing enlargement of the tropical zone, that which is eciuivalent to an increase of temperature for the whole earth. More extended in the Pliocene epoch than in our day, this zone was still greater in die Miocene epoch, and yet greater in the Eocene, and so on till we reach a time when it embraced the whole surface of the earth, bestowing everywhere an equal temperature, feebly oscillating between certain limits. This climatic equality, which, according to Saporta. reaches at least as far back as the time of the coal, would probably cease at the epoch of the lower chalk. Such is the fact established by examination of the flora of different ages."
"Saporta divides the world of fossil vegetables into four great pe- riods: I. The Primordial or eophxtic, corresponding to the Lauren- tian, Cambrian, and Silurian ; 2. The Carboniferous or paleophytic, comprehending the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian; 3. The secondary period or mrsophvtic, commencing with the Trias and reach- ing to the end of the chloritic chalk ; 4. Finally, the Tertiary or fieo- phytic, embracing all the formation from the chalk of Rouen up to and including the Pliocene."
"The flora of the eophytic period is unknown. The debris \}\{\c\\ represents it has in general a character so vague that there is yet no agreement upon its true nature. The graphite found in the Lauren-
BOTANICAL GAZET7E. 23
tian indicates, however, that from this epoch vegetables existed in gre it abundance."
"Many of these primordial plants are undeniably linked with more modern types, of which they bear the generic form, and prove that this primordial flora is not really separated from that which followed it. We can even affirm that certam Silurian algas have had a duration so prodigious and a tenacity of character so pronounced that their last direct descendants were living in the European seas in the middle of Tertinry time."
"With the Devonian tilings changed. The bad state of preservation of fossil vegetables belonging to this formation has not permitted us to study them perfectly ; but, from the aspect of those which we pos- sess, we conclude that at this epoch the vegetable kingdom was al- ready vigorous and varied, and that nature while in its infancy put forth the carboniferous flora, the almost inconceivable exuberance of which has never since I:)een equalled." "The plants of this flora be- long exclusively to the two classes of vascular cryptogams and gymno- spermous phanerogams." "The Permian flora, which succeeded the Carboniferous, is only a pale reflection of it." "Saporta says of the Trias, which commences' the Secondary or mesophytic period,' that "it appears to correspond to one of those periods of revival where the failing types finally disappear, while those which displace; them are successfully introduced. The first leave chasms because they are reduced to a decreasing number of individuals ; the last are yet ob- scure and rare. Both old and young are equally feeble, and, when these two extremes meet, the apparel of nature seems poor and monot- onous." At the beginning of the Jurassic period a transformation is already manifest, and we soon find ourselves in the presence of a new flora, where the carboniferous types have disappeared, but where, ex- cept some rare monocotyledons, the angiosperms are still wanting. From Spitzbergen to Hindostan, from Europe to Siberia, everywhere the same vegetable forms, so that the character of the Jurassic flora is monotonous, lifeless, and relatively indigent." "We know not under the influence of what conditions organic evolution, and especially the apjiearance of dicotyledons, has taken place; but we do know that from the commencement of the neophytic period, these plaints appear in a multitude of places and multiply with great rapidity." "This revolution," says Saporta, "has been as rapid in its progress as univer- sal in its effects."
Notes ON Fungi. — In printing Miss Banning's pajier in the Jan- uary G.\ZETTE some mistakes were made which should be corrected. In the description of i?. ^W(?//m' (p. 7) read "rose-color" instead of "sage-color." R. ahitacea (p. 7) has "buff colored" spores instead ot "half-colored." In A. rubescens (p. 6) from Eastern Maryland the spores measure .0003 x. 00032 inch; small plant from Western Mary- land .0003 x. 00026 inch.
Catalpa speciosa, Warder. — On page 3 of the January (Gazette "3^-4 times" should read "3;-<^-4 lines." The d;Ue of Dr. Warder's
24 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
first publication of this species, in the Western Horticultural Review, is 1853. The dissepiment (p. 3, 1. 22.) of C. bignotiioides is flatter (or more compressed) but not "flat" as is stated.
Correction. —On page 12 in the last Gazette, for "coniferous" read "cruciferous."
When in some emergency an editor weakly yields to the temptation of «1oing some careless "stuffing" he is "ery apt to repent it at his leisure. Fortunate is he if his patrons are both keen enough and friendly enough promptly to call his attention to the fact and thus pre- vent a repetition of the offence. The note reprinted from the Inde- pendent in the last Gazette has called forth such an inundation of re- bukes and remonstrances as to completely counteract any tendency to "stuff^' in the future. We wish to print a part of one of the best of these, from a botanist of high rank, both for our own satis- faction and the benefit of our patrons :
' * The Polypodium vulgare is certainly not our form of the species, and is very probably not jP. r'/z/i^-^f/r^' at all." But in the story about Pringlea the mistakes are very amusing. The statement is :-"One of these {Pringlea antiscorbutica) is not only special to the Island, but it is distinct from any known coniferous plant in having powdery pol- len and no petals."
v4// coniferous plants have "powdery pollen and no petals." Prin- glea is not special to the Island, but occurs on three other groups or islands. It is not coniferous, but is cruciferous. (This mistake was not the fault of the writer in the Independent. — Ed.) It has petals sometimes, "1-4, clawed, rosy-tipped, inconspicuous, caducous."
It differs from the crucifers not in having powdery pollen, for all crucifers have powdery pollen, but in that the pollen is produced in greater abundance, and in that the grains are "smaller, and perfectly spherical, instead of ellipsoid with three furrows."
Sir Joseph Hooker thinks the plant is anemophilous, while the rest of the order is said to be entomophilous. Pringlea though closely re- lated to Cochlearia, has more the habit (and the use) of a cabbage, and as it grows on islands where winged insects are either scarce or want- ing, it is not strange that it should be wind-fertilized."
The Botanical Index. — This neat quarterly, published by L. B. Case, Richmond, Ind,, still continues to be full of interest, especially to the horticulturist. The press-work and designs are fine, and in the last number a brief summary of botanical progress for the past year, evidently prepared with great labor, is of interest to every botanist.
Botanical Gazette.
Vol. V. MARCH, 18}{(). No. 3,
Editorial — Never have our friends come forward more readily to the support of the Gazette than in the beginning of this fifth volume. More subscriptions have been received than ever before in the same time. Many letters have come expressing surprise that such a publica- tion as the Gazette existed, for the writers had never heard of it Now this kind of knowledge will have to be spread by botanical friends, as it would be impossible to have the Gazette advertised in such a way as to come to the knowledge of every botanist. If our friends, in their correspondence, will mention the Gazette and recommend, at least, applying for a sample copy, many persons will be reached who will be glad to become subscribers. The G .zette can pay for itselt now, but some such effort to increase our subscription list will enable us to pay for plates, by which we can secure some excedingly valu- able articles. That our friends may know in what estimation the Ga- zette is held by our leading ootanists and thus feel a confidence in recommending it to any of their friends, we make the following quo- tation from the American Journal of Science and Arts for February: "It (the Gazette) is an organ for communication among botanists, for the prompt publication of notes and observations, and of those contriiiutions to knowledge which every accurate observer may do his part in, but which must be collected in order to be preserved and util- ized. New species are published or announced in it, but it is rather an organ for new observations and botanical news. It is well con- ducted; it is very useful; we learn that it is in a condition which in- sures its continuance, and that every increase in the subscription will go towards increasing its value. Our botanists should now see that it is worthily supported. Indeed they can hardly do without it."
The Genus Leavenworthia has been almost from the first involved in s"me difificulty as to the species. Having now some new material, I wish to bring the present state of the case before the botanists of the Trans-Alleghanian States it inhabits in order to obtain from them further collections and observations in the course of the ensuing spring and early summer. With such aid I may then hope to deter- mine the number and distinction of the species.
Two species were originally established by Dr. Torrey; L. aurea, with distinct style and embryo nearly straight, and L. Michauxii, with style almost wanting and radicle oblique. The corolla of the first was said to be yellow, upon the authority of the original collector. Dr. Leavenworth. Indeed one of his specimens in the Shortian herbari-
26 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
urn is ticketed "flowers yellow"; the other "flowers golden yellow." Both are from the Irish Bayou settlement [N. E.] Texas," and though Dr. Leavenworth tliought they might be distinct species, they differ only that one has all the peduncles radical and one-flowered, while the other is subcaulescent with central peduncle few flowered. The petals show no trace of the yellow color, but rather seem to have l)een white with a purplish tinge.
Of the second species, described from Dr. Short's Kentuckian specimens, Dr. Torrey could only say that the flowers in his opinion were pale yellow. Dr. Short does not record their color, either in the specimens he sent to Dr. Torrey or in his own herbarium. But all the specimens received of Z. Michauxii, that is all with an even and rather broad silique and a very short or almost obsolete style, have white or purplish tinged petals with at most a yellow base. But the same is true of all the specimens (of which the color is noted) received from Alabama, Tennessee, etc., which, having their ob'ong-linear or lanceola'e pods surmounted by a distinct and rather slender style, were taken for L. aurea; also in plants raised here from seeds in different years. At most the base or claw of the petals was yellow, the lamina white varying to purple. Accordingly, in the Manual, neglecting the style, and the embryo, I referred all these to L. Michauxii, and reduced L. aurea to a synonym or a yellow-flowered form of it.
But now, with all the available material before me, including a pe- culiar yellow flowered form recently detected in Tennessee by Dr. Gattinger, I am disposed to recognize four forms as probable species, and I will here note their distinctions, making at the same time an ap- peal for further information before coming to a full conclusion. The forms or species before me are as follows:
T. L. Michauxii, Torr. Silique oblong-linear, not torulose; sty'e very short or none; seeds orbicular and rather broadly winged; radi- cle very oblique, approximated on one side to the edges of the coty- ledons; petals white with purplish tinge and a yellowish claw. — (Ten- nessee, on rocks at Knoxville, Michaux, if this is indeed Cardamine uiiifioni, Michx., but I have noticed that his specimens have a distinct but shorts'yle.) Barrensof Kentucky, Short. Charlestown, Indiana, J. 3f. Cou/ier.
2. L. AUREA, Torr. Silique oblong-linear or narrower, not torulope; style conspicuous, commonly as long as the breadth of the silique; seeds of the preceding; but the radicle merely oblique, sometimes slighdy so. peta's of the preceding or yellow! — Arkansas and N. E, Texas, Leavena-orth, with flowers said to be yellow. Alabama, Buck- ley, Hatch, Peters, etc., with petals purple, pale rose, or white, with yellowish base, sometimes fully half inch long.
L. TORULOSA. Silique linear, conspicuouslv torose; style fully equalling the breadth of the silique; seeds broadly oval, narrowly winged; radicle nearly transverse, strictly applied to the edges of the cotyledons at the base on one side; petals purplish with a yellow base. — Barrens of Kentucky, Short. Very abundant near Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Gatthiger.
L. STVLOSA. Slender, strictly stemless; silique or rather silicic
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 27
oval or broadly ob!ong (about 4 lines long and fully two inches wide), plane, surmounted by a slender style of fully 2 lines in length; seeds only 3 to 6, orbicular, distinctly winged; embryo as in the preceding; petals pure golden yellow.— Cedar barrens, Lavergne, near Nashville, Tennessee, Dr Gattin^^er, June 2, 1879.
Fresh specimens and notes are solicited by Asa Gray.
Automatic Movement of the frond of Aspi.enium Tricho- MANES — Mr. E. J. Loomis, of the Nautical Almanac office, Wash- ington, recently shewed me a phenomenon which 1 suppose has never before been noticed, and which is commended to the attention of botanists. A tuft of Asplcnium Trkhomanes, gathered last autumn in the mountains of Virginia, is growing in his house, in a glass dish. About two months ago he noticed ihat one of the fronds — a rather short and erect one which is now showing fructification— made (piick movements alternately back and forth, in the plane of the frond, through from 20 to 40 degrees, whenever the vessel was brought from its shaded situation into sunlight or bright daylight. The movement was more extensive and rapid when the'frond was younger. When I saw it on the 23d of January, its compass was within 15 degrees, and was about as rapid as ihat of leaflets of Desmodium gyrans. It was more rapid than the second hand of a watch, but with occasional stops in the course of each half vibration. This was in full daylight next a window, but not in sunshine. No movement had been observ- ed in the other fronds, which were all sterile and reclining, with the exception of a single one which was just unfolding, in which Mr. Loomis thinks he his detected incipient motion of the same kind.
It is very easy to obtain this little fern and to set it growing. We may expect further observations to be made upon it without delay. —
Asa (tRAY.
How TO Make Permanent Botanical Objects for the Micro- scope.—In the Gazette for September, 1879, I had a short paper on s'aining and double staining of vegetable tissues. I desire now to add a few hints on ihe previous and the subsequent stages of the preparation.
Mounted objects may be divided into two classes, i. e., the opaque, and the transparent;— the former to be seen by a light (more or less strong) from above, and the latter by light passing through the object from below.
The first thing for the preparer to decide upon, is, which of these two classes shall any object come under?
If the former, the preparation is extremely simple. The whole problem resolves itself into making a suitable case for the treasure. To give a tangible idea suppose we have the seed of a Portulaca or the scarlet tip of a Cladonia, or the yellow apothecium of a Thelo- schistes. The first thing to do, is to see that your cage (or to speak strictly, your cell) is opaque and of sufficient depth to hold the object. Opticians now keep wooden slides with a central concavity ready to close by placing over it a glass cover. These are cheap and neat.
28 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Or you may take the ordinary glass slide and fas* en on to it by ma- rine glue, the rubber, glass, block tin or other cell of any desired depth. Any ordinary work on the microscope will give instruclian on the use of tliis or similar cement. Supposing now that the cell is made and fastened to the glass, I then paint a thick coat o( the as- phaltum cement over the whole l)ottom (inside) of the cell so made. This gives you an opaque field. When the object has been properly prepared, by cleansing, I put another coat of the asphaltum on over the first, and on ihis I place the object. There it becomes cemented as the varnish hardens and nothing is left save to put on a cover of the same or nearly the same diameter as the cell, and then lay on over the outer marj^in a ring of asphaltum, zinc or anv suitable ce- ment, wliich excludes the air and fastens the cover. This is all suf- ficiently simple. And it may be well to add that opaque objects are too much neglected because they are not to be used with other than a low power. The smaller lichens may thus be mounted bodily, and so far as their mere external characteristics go, studied more satis- factorily than by any other method. Besides we may then have them safe, handy, and in permanent keeping. Type specimens, if small, should as a rule be so preserved.
The second class: -objects through which the light is seen, i. e., transparent objects. Some are so thin as to need no sectioning and may, or may not, require the bleaching process described in my pre- vious paper. Suppose they are not so thin! How are i hey to be made so? Evidently by a sharp knife of some foim There are costly instruments of this kind made. Allow me to assure you, the assertion of dealers to the contrary notwithstanding, that you do not need any such knife for any ordinary work. K raz t sharp enough to shave with is the best and handiest instrument you can use. Neither - do you need to have the hol'ow ground out of one surface providing you hold it as you should hold things, i. e., with a firm hand. So then you may well be satisfied with a good razor; providing always thai, it be sharp. Next! How shall the object be held whilst being sectioned? Firs':— it may be held in the hand and if the cuttincr hand be reasonably steady a good section may be secured. Second: — it may be held in an instrument where it is simply screwed fas', and after the first cut gives you a flat surface, by a turn of a screw in the bottom the object thrust forward so thai the next cut shall be of any desired thickness. This is my favorite means of holding the object, and if I have one so small that I cannot so sacuie it, I take a bit of carrot of the proper size, make a slit in this, in wk h I put the minute object; then I screw it and the carrot fast, together. Some use potato as a substitute for the carrot but it is not so good, as the starch grains become separated and adhere to the object giving some trouble to remove them. Other objects too small even for the carrot may be se- cured by making a paper cone of proper diameter to fit the section holder (section cutter as it is called, but this name should Le retained for the knife), then melt paraffine and pour in until you have enough, then in this set your minute objects. Allow the prraffine to harden and with, or without, the paper cone you may screw it into the holder
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 2g
as you did the carrot. Then, third: — There is a section holder which is to be used only with the paraffine. It is an e egant, somewhat costly instrument, with I think on the whole a more limited range of usefulness than the second form I have described. But whether you take the second or the third form be sure that it his a glass top for the cutting surface. Brass does well for a time, but sooner or later bceomes rough and so blunts the edge of the cutter, which can never be too sharp.
Now as to the act of cutting: some objects may be cut dry, others may be required to be moistened with water or even with alcohol, and a little of the same fluid may be allowed a ong the knife edge to se- cure a good or uninjured specimen. The value of a section does not (beyond certain common sense limits) depend on its sixe. A small, thin section may, nay will, reveal more structure than a large one thick enough to be nearly opaque. Hence, make your object as large as you can to make it thin, bur no larger.
Suppose it is made, and made properly, worthy of mounting per- manently. How shall we do this? First, remove all dirt by washing in clean water, then remove all air by immersing in water, or glycerine or alcohol, depending upon what you mean to do with it next, and also in which we shall distend or shrink the object least. Remember here the stages 1 gave in my previous paper concerning tbe repeated alco- hol baths it must liave before it comes to be rendered clean in oil of cloves. This rids you of all water and makes it as transparent as it can be made. Now if the object has had the preliminary stages in alcohol and oil, its suitable and final mount should be balsam. I have cast aside all balsam with benzols and balsam with chloroform an J come down to the slower evaporations — what is called balsam pure. Some objects are not injuriously distorted by this process. Indeed some delicate spores even stand it well. But this is not the rule. Spores do not generally tolerate it and retain their original symmetry and size. Hence we must find some other process.
Take for exan.ple a section of Solorina saccala — a lichen with charmingly large and handsome spores. I would rid it of air by first putting it in water, then after an hour or two, into glycerine, where if. may remain twelve or more hours. And then I mount it in Farrants medium (bear in mind Farrants, not Tarrants medium) which Dr. Carpenter says is made by "dissolving four parts (by weight) of pick- ed gum arabic in four parts of cold distilled water, and then adding two parts of glycerine." Make without heat, stir but don't shake it, and when it is made, strain it through washed cambric, put it into a bottle along with a small lump of camphor which will prevent fungi from developing in the sweet solution. Now, shall you make a cell or not, for your object? Not unless that object is thicker than (for a simple standard) a sheet . of writing paper. If however the glass cover cannot be made to remain flat on the slide, or if an appreciable distance exists between the slide and the cover, then you need a cell. What it shall be made of depends upon i's re(iuired thickness. If a deep cell is needed then you must go back to the rubber, block tin, or other cells such as I have already named. If however you want
B O TAXICA L GAZETTE.
a shallow cell, then a ring (run from the turn table) of Bell's cement, of one or two coats is all sufficient. This cement you may make )Ourselves by dissolving shellac in strong alcohol. It has the very great merit of drying very quickly and of resisting the action of glycerine, the last a most important quality. Put then your Solorina or other like object in the Farrants medium, with or without cell, and cover it with thin glass, put on so as to drive the air out hy press- ing down one side first and then slowly lowering the other to the hor- izontal, and under the gentle pressure of a wire clamp allow it to harden. Next remove the exuding surplus medium and in a few hours run from a brush a coat of Bell's cement around the edge of the cover and your slide will be done. These processes are more simple than they appear from a description. Carbolized or camphor water is also a good medium for mounting spores or sections of lich- ens and fungi in.
As for instruments; whilst I do not regard the turn-table or the section holder as essential, I do consider them as most important aids.
One other point. To clean glass covers I fill a small wide mouthed bottle with strong sulphuric acid, then one by <7/7r.dip in my covers; then they arc thoroughly coated with ihe acid, then after remaining in the acid several hours I pour it off, and by repealed wasliing in clean water remove most of the acidity, then 1 put in Labarraques solution, and after a i^f^ hours in this I pour it off and wash the bottle and glass with two or three waters and the covers are clean. To keep them so. 1 put in clean water, and cork the bottle. And to use the covers you have merely to dry them and ihey are ready for service.
In the above, hastily written, simple statements I have advanced little or nothing new, but have given the modes my own experience has approved, without regard to the sources whence they were de- rived. It is however fair, that I should state my attentiim was called to the great value of Bell's cement and Farrants medium by my friend, Prof. Barbeck, of Philadelphia, a most accomplished crypto- gamic botanist. — J. T. Rothrock.
Pteris AQUiLiNA. — I have received from Mr. F. A. White, an es- teemed Florida correspondent, a specimen of Pteris aquilina, var. caudata, which measures 13 feet and 4 inches from the base of the stipe to apex of frond. The stalk measures from i/^ to i inch in cir- cumference in its present dried state, and is exactly 6 feet in length, thus leaving 7 feet and 4 inches as the length of the frond. The first internode is 22 inches, the 2d, \()% inches, the 3d, 10%' inches with a corresponding decrease up to the i6th internode which measures only ^2 an inch, the apex measuring 2 inches, and the remaining measure- ments being taken up by the spaces occupied by the bases of the con- necting stalks of the primary divisions.
As the primary divisions were taken off to admit of folding the stalk and rachis for mailing without breaking, I can only guess at the probable breadth of the frond; but as the frond of the common brake is nearly triangular in outline, and generally quite as broad at the base
BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
as it is long, this one could not have spread less than 7 feet across the lower primary divisions, each one of which must have been 3 if not 3)^ feet long with a corresponding breadth at the base.
The specimen was found in Brevard county and Mr. White writes ine ihat there were others equally as large, // not la}\^er in the same hummock.
Nearly a'l of the English authors state that the common brake in England often attains the heij,ht of 10 and 12 feet, and Hooker men- tions that Dr. Spruce saw it growing in the Andes 14 feel high, but the dimensions of the present huge specimen exceed any heretofore recorded in this country, and make the old tradition of the Duke of Monmouth's hiding beneath the shelter of a clump of this fern both possible and probable. — (ino. E. Davenport, Afedford, Mass., Feb. lOth, 1880.
Colored Flowers and Insects. — I am sure many readers of the Botanical Gazette feel indebted to your correspondent who showed in the last number that Frinqka was a cruciferous and not a coniferous plant, with some other facts in regard to the Flora of Kerguelen's Land. It wou d I am sure add to our obligation if he would tell us whether on this Island, or on "islands where winged insects are either scarce or wanting" there are plants with flowers having showy petals, or other properties attractive to winged insects. It does not, as he remarks, seem strange that a plant with inconspicuous flowers should exist where there are no wmged insects to carry pollen, — but the con- verse which the Piinglea case may have been intended to illustrate,might be worthy of consideration. What I have read of Pr'mglca indicated a be- lief that ii had in the past either failed to develope showy petals, because no winged insects had ever encouraged it to do so, — or that these showy petals became inconspicuous, after having lost, what it formerly enjoyed, the opportunity to secure insect aid, — but it would be inter- esting to know why other species have not gone and done likewise, if any such there be. Perhaps it is in this direction that the interest in Pringka centers, as much as in whether it is a "cruciferous" or a "coniferous" plant. While this error certainly served to amuse, the information sought may instruct us. — *.
Growth ok Trees. — At a meeting of the Botanical Society of Edinburgli, held on Thursday, Jan. 8th, Sir Robert Christison read a paper of very considerable importance on the relative growth of the trunks of trees during 1879, as compared with 1878. Upwards of two years ago Sir Robert set on foot a system of measurements of the girths of a large number of well grown trees in Edinburgh and neigh- borhood, th« measurements being made by himself with the same measuring-line and the same circumference to be measured secured by marking it at the time of first measurement with paint. The inclem- ent character of the summer months of 1879, as compared with 1878, was described by reference to the daily maximum temperatures noted at the Edinburgh station of the Scottish Meteortjlogical Society trom
72 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
which it appeared that for the six months ending with September the mean for 1879 was fully 5° less than for 1878, the deficiency of day temperature amounting to nearly 10°. Of 11 deciduous trees, exclu- sive of oaks, the.deficiency of growth durmg 1879 as compared with 1878 was 42 per cent.; of 17 evergreens of the pine tribe the deficien- cy was 20 per cent.; and oi 7 oaks the deficiency was 10 per cent. The 7 oaks werej of different species but they gave results closely agreeing with each other. — Nature.
Bulletin of tht Torrev Botanical Club.— After ten years of quiet unassuming life, this publication has blossomed out in a fash- ion that gratifies Its friends. Vol. VII, No. i, appears with a cover, 12 pages of reading matter and two plates. Four years ago the Bul- letin complimented us by saying that we had patterned after it, and now we intend to return the compliment and say that the Bulletin has at last followed the example set by the Gazette as to number of pages and cover and surpassed us in the matter of plates. The num- ber before us contains four articles, the firsu page being devoted to proceedings of the Torrey club; the next seven are taken up by an article from Mr. C. F. Austin, in which he makes some very severe criti- cisms upon Lesquereux and James' last paper upon North American Mosses. Then comes a description of a new fungus, by W. R. Gerard, and '\X, is to this that the two plates are devoted. The new fungus is a species of Simbliou, a genus hitherto considered ex- clusively tropical. The type specimens were collected in Long Island. The fourth paper is a short list of plants, being additions to the flora of Richmond county, N. Y.
So the number ends, with no intimation whether this new order of things is to be kept up or not, probably deeming it safer to promise nothing. But, seriously, we are charmed with this evidence of progress and we wish our esteemed contemporary all the success it so richly deserves.
Goon News to Botanists.- -The following correspondence ex- plains itself. 'I'he facts stated may not be new to some exchangers, but have never been made known before from official sources.
Lafayette, Ind., Jan. 15, 1880. D. M Key, P. M. General, Washington, D. C.:
Dear Sir. — Under the present law cannot labels such as the en- closed (an ordinary botanical label) be placed in a package of speci- mens of dried plan's without subjecting them to higher than merchan- dise rates? Very Respectfully,
Chas. R. Barnes.
Post Office Department, Office of the First Assistant Post- master General.
Washington, Jan. 24, 1880. Respectfully returned to Charles R. Barnes, Esq., Lafayette, Tip- pecanoe county, Indiana, with the statement that under the provis- ions of section 231, Postal Laws and Regulatians, labels, such as that
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. jj
submitted, may be sent with packages of botanical specimens without subjecting them to a higher rate of postage.
James H. Mark, For Fiist Asst P. M. General.
flora.— W. W. Bailev.
New Species OF Fungi, by Chas. H. Peck -Stemomtis Mor- gani.— Plants crowded, growing from a well-developed hypothallus one-half lo two thirds of an inch high; sporangia cylindrical, three or foui times the length of the stem; stem black, shining, prolonged as a columella nearly to the apex of the sporangium; meshes of the cap illuium very large, the knots sometimes thickened and subtriangular spores violet-brown, globose, .0003 of an inch in diameter with a slight ferruginous tint in the mass. '
Decaying vegetable matter. Ohio. A. P. Morgan. Pennsylvania. IV. Barbeck.
Ext-rnally this species closely resembles S. /usca, from which it seems necessary to separate it because of its paler slightly ferruginou- tinied spores and the very large surface meshes of its capillitium The spores are larger and in the mass considerably darker than those of o. ferniginca.
CoNiOTHYRiUM MiNUTULUM. - Perithecia minute, .0045- ooss of an inch broad, scattered, subglobose or depressed, black- spores mi nute, oblong-ovate or elliptical, colorless, .00015- 00016' of an inch long, about .ooooS of an inch broad.
Whitened decorticated surface of h;;rd wood. Vermont. C G
Pringle,
The perithecia are so minute that ihey are scarcely visible to the naked eye. The upper part of the perithecium ruptures irregularly and at length falls away leaving the lower part sunk in the matrix
This and the other Vermont species here described were collected by Mr. Pringle, but communicated to me by Mr. C. J. Sprague
LEPTOTHyRiUM CHRoMospERMUM.— Soots none; perithecia amphi- genous, scattered, orbicular, membranous, easily separating from the matrix, wrinkled when dry, black, about .015 of an inch broad; spores numerous, regular, elliptical, colored, .00045-.00055 of an inch long •00035-.0004 of an inch broad.
Living rose leaves. Ohio. T. Try/or.
The perithecia are easily scraped from the leaf by the blade of a pen-knife. The base is margined by a thin color.'ess membrane which comes off with the perithecia The spores in the mass have a pale yellowish-brown color.
Phoma albistrata.— Perithecia minute, .007-.008 of an inch broad, seated on a thin whitish crustaceous stratum, scattered conical or subglobose, nearly free, easily separated from the matrix, black-
34 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
spores ovate-elliptical, slightly colored, binucieate, .0002-.0003 of an inch long, .00016-. 0002 • f an inch broad.
Bark of arbor-vilae. Vermont. C. G. Pringle.
This fungus is sparingly accompanied by a Sphaeria to be hereafter described. I am not sure that the whitish crust belongs to or has anything to do with the fungus. Its presence may be accidental but it occurs in all the specimens before me. The spores are brownish in the mass.
Phoma colorata. — Perithecia minute, .006-. 008 of an inch broad, nearly free, hemisphi rical or subconical, sometimes depressed when dry, black; spores minute, broadly elliptical, simple, colored, .0002-. 00025 *^f ^" \x\c\\ long.
Surface of wood. Vermont. C. G. Pringle.
This species is closely related to the preceding one but is accom- nied by no whitish crust and the spores are smaller, more highly col- ored and destitute of nuclei. They are brown in the mass. The peri- thecia prow intermingled with specie.^ of Patellaria.
Septoria consocia. — Perithecia minute, .0025-. 003 of an inch broad, closely gregarious, amphigenous, black; spores filiform, nearly straight, .0006-.000S of an inch long.
Living or languishing leaves of Seneca snake root, Polygala Senega. Michigan. V. M. Spalding.
The perithecia manifest a tendency to grow in groups or clusters. They are associaied with a species of ^4^cidium.
Septoria irregulare. — Spots small, angular, often confluent, at first yellowish above, then reddish-brown with a narrow darker border, brown or grayish-brown beneath; perithecia hypophyllous, sometimes amphigenojs, irregular, black; spores numerous, filiform, colorless, .0012-. 0018 of an inch long.
Living leaves of poison sumach, Rhus Toxicodendron. Illinois. /. Wolff. Communicated by S. A. Forbes.
This is clearly distinct from rhoidis B.&C. in the spots, perithecia and spores. The latter s imetimes appear as if obscurely unise{)tate.
DiscELLA VARrABiLis. — Perithecia orbicular oblong or hysteriform, rupturing irregularly and revealing the pallid or blackish disk, black; spores elliptical-oblong, colorless, .0003-.0004 of an inch long, about .0016 of an inch broad.
Decorticated surface of wood. Vermont. C. G. Pringle.
When moist the perithecin open more widely and then by reason of the toothed margin the orbicu ar ones resemble species of Phacidium. The elongated ones resemble species of Hys'erium or Triblidium. They are often partly concealed by the overlying fibers of the wood.
Spokidesmium MiNUTissiMUM — Spores irreeular, multicellular, opake, without any distinct base, generally subglobose or broadly ellip- tical, .0005-00065 of an inch long, collected in minute, scattered black tufts which are .004-. 005 of an inch in diameter.
Whitened surface of decaying wood. Vermont. C. G. Pringle.
.^CIDIUM Jamesianum. — Spots suborbicular, yellowish-green; per- idia mostly hypophyllus, rarely amphigenous, loosely clustered, pus- tuhform, opening by a small aperture; spores subglobose, .0008-. 001
BOTAXrCAL GAZETTE. 35
of an inch in diameter, orange-yellow, with a thick hyaline epispore.
Living leaves of Ascicpias [amcsii. New Mexico. 7. .S'. Brande^^^ee. Communicated by E. A. Rau.
This species is quite distinct from .E. Biwuicgci \\\\\c\\ :A<,g oc.cwx% on Asclepias leavfS.
Lecythea macrosoka. — Sori amphigenous, large, pulvinate, yellow, surround(d by the ruptured epidermis, often crowded or confluent; spores obovate or subglobose, rough, .0006-.0008 of an inch long; paraphyses smooth, capitate, the globose or obuvate head .001-0012 of an inch long.
Living leaves of Epilobium tetragonum. Colorado. T. S. Brandegee. Communicated by E. A. Rau.
SoROSPORiUM ATRUM — Spore balls very unequal, .0006-. 0016 of an inch in diameter, polymoiphus but most often subglobose, com- posed of a few or many spores according to the size, compact, sepa- rating with difficulty into their component spores, black; spores sub- globose, minutely granular, .0003-.0005 of an inch in diameter.
Perigynia of Carex Pennsylvanica. Colorado. AT E. Jones.
The fungus fills the perigynia with its black dusty mass of s,,ore balls. It was found in June at an altitude of about 6000 feet.
Cheiromyces tinctus. — Scattered, black, erumpent in minute hysteriiform chinks; spores with two to five divisions, .0005-. 0008 of an inch long, one to three septate, often a little constricted at the •septa, tinged with blue.
Decaying wood. Vermont. C. G. Frim^lc.
In external appearance this- resembles very closely C. Beaumontii, B.&C, of which Dr. Curtis distributed specimens but of which I have seen no description. In it the spores are smaller, of a brown color and destitute of septa. The blue color of the spores in the present species is clearly seen when the fungus is. moistened and crushed on the side of the microscope.
Peziza spongiosa. — Cups large, one inch or more broad, concave or infundibuliform, thin, soft, externally black, the hymenium black- ish brown, becoming porous when old; stem short, slender, black; asci cylindrical; spores uniseriate, globose, smooth, granular within and often uninucleate, .0005 of an inch in diameter; paraphyses filiform, colored, circinate or uncinate-curved at the lips.
Ground under fir trees. Near the summit of Mt. Mansfield, Ver- mont. May. C. G. Pringle.
The hymenium in all the specimens is porous or spongy. I am not sure that this character exists in the young and fresh plants. It some- times occurs in Peziza badia. The description was derived from dried specimens and the colors may not accurately correspond to the hues of the fresh plant. The globose spores and colored paraphyses with hooked tips are distinguishing characters of the species. It belongs to the section Cupulares.
Phaoidium sparsum. — Perithecia minute, .014-. 02 of an inch broad, few, scattered, black, with a few blunt teeth and a black disk; asci short, clavate; spores crowded, oblong, sometimes slightly nar- rowed toward one end, colorless, .0005-0006 of an inch long, about
BOJ'ANICAL GAZETTE.
.00016 of an inch broad; paraphyses filiform, often longer than the asci.
Decaying wood. Vermont. C. G. Fringk.
This fungus is easily overlooked by reason of its small size and scattered mode of growth. The marginal teeth are sometimes obso- lete and then the plant looks like a Triblidium.
Srici'is FULVA. — Receptacle erumpent, slightly margined, thin, orbicular or ublong-elliptical, about ©ne line long, pale tawny or sub- ochraceous; asci subcylindrical; spores nearly colorless, oblong-ellip- tical, .0006-.0008 of an inch long, .00025-. 0003 of an inch brnad, sometimes containing one or two nuclei; paraphyses filiform
Decaying wood. Vermont. C. G. Fringk.
This fungus belongs to ihe subgenus Propolis as indicated by its dus y-appearing hymenium. It is very closely related to 6". versicolor.
DiATRVPE ANGULARE. — Stroma small, scarcely one line broad, erumpent, externally black or blackish-brown, within slightly reddish- brown; perithecia large, few, one to six; ostiola very prominent, an- gular, compressed or pyramidal, asci cylindrical; spores large, unis- enate, uniseptate, colored, oblong or elliptical, obtuse, very variable in length, .0011-0022 of an inch long, .0006-0007 of an inch broad.
Bark of bass wood, Tilia Americana. Vermont May. C. G. Fringle.
The stroma does not penetrate to the wood. The very prominent angular ostiola are often arranged in such a manner as to give a radiate-sulcate appearance to the upper part of the stroma. The spores are black in the mass and the longest ones are sometimes slight- ly narrowed in the middle.
Sph^ria altipeta. — Perithecia minute, subglobose, immersed, black; ostiola emergent, subconical or cylindrical, nearly as long as the perithecia; asci cylindrical; sports uniseriate, oblong, col- ored, .00065 of ^1"* >"ch long, about .0002 of an inch broad, hya- line at one end, uniseptate near the other.
Decaying wood. Mt. Washing' on. C. G. Pringle.
The perithecia sometimes occur in long lines. When young the spores are colorless, but they soon become colored, except at one end, and contain two nuclei. Finally a septum is formed near the colored end of the spore. The species should be referred to the Ceraloso- mse.
Sph^:ria LiCHENALis. — Perithecia scattered, minute, .oo8-.oiiof an inch broad, subhemispherical, erumpent, black; ostiola papilliform; asci oblong elliptical; spores crowded, oblong, nniltiseptate, fenes- trate, greenish-yellow, .0014-0016 of an inch long, .0004-0005 of an inch broad.
Bark of Birch trees. Vermont. C. G. Fringle.
The perithecia occupy a discolored spot which gives a lichenose as- pect to the fungus. Sometimes two or three are seriately crowded or confluent, in «hich case they present a hysteriiform appearance to the naked eye. The species, though peculiar in its habitat, may be re- ferred to the section Pleospora.
Botanical G?&ette.
Vol. V. APRIL, 1880. No. 4.
Editorial. — Now that the season for collection and observation is upon us, it seems appropriate to call the attention of botanists to the importance of systematic and recorded work. Many points of inter- est in systematic botany are still waiting to be settled, while observa- tions in the department of physiology have been but begun. Else- where we have spoken of the great advantage of forming clubs for the better prosecution of this work, where such a thing is practicable. Of course some workers are necessarily isolated and must be carried through these labors by a pure love for them. But whenever a few can be brought together in a neighborhood and be induced to form a B itanical Club or a Natural History Society, the interest that will cer tainly be aroused and the enthusiasm with which observations and col- lections will be made will be productive of large results. There is a great deal of misdirected energy in botanical work, as well as in eve- ry other department of science. A man will collect, observe, record facts, spending much valuable time in getting together material that has already been collected, or is not important enough to justify the trouble. Magnifying small things is the great tendency in the ama- teur, who directs all his enthusiasm towards noting little distinctions and making them of such importance that he really cannot be made to realize that it all amounts to nothing. How many trivial letters from such misguided observers are sent annually to our leading botan- ists it would be hard to say. The worst of it is that these botanists are compelled to submit to such impositions in the hope of gleaning now and then a few grains of wheat from all this chaff. Now it is the tendency of botanical clubs to check such indiscriminate work. While through them the enthusiasm is greater, and interest in botany is rapidly disseminated, work can be better directed and made really valuable. Clubs can put themselves in communication with the best botanists, can become informed of the work that has already been done, and that is still waiting to be done. Members adding to- gether their information will be surprised now they can act as checks upon each other. Persons desiring to form a club, but not having experience sufficient to know tTie best methods, have only to send to the Torrey Club of New York for a copy of the constitution and by- laws. Then when a club is formed, and the work begun, care should be taken not to be so wrapped up in self as not to let any one outside know what is being done. It has always seemed as if it should be one of the important duties of a club to publish what is worth pub- lishing of its work. The simplest and most appropriate way for this to be done is for the secretaries of all botanical clubs to make it a part of their duties to send a synopsis of the proceedings of each meeting to the editor of the Torrey BuUctin or the editor of the Botanical
.38 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Gazette, and let these gentlemen cull out what seems suitable for publication. This is given as a suggestion and from an earnest desire to reach in some way the good work that is being done and to turn into useful channels energies that are being wasted. We mention these two publications only, because they are the only ones entirely devoted to the interests of botanists. Other journals could be men- tioned, but such notes as we speak of would not seem so fitting in them as more elaborate papers. There is good work enough to re- cord to keep the Torrey Bulletin and the Gazette both busy in sim- ply selecting the most important facts, and we hope that soon their pages will have to be increased in number to hold the notes which will come in on them like a flood.
Germination and Growth of Parasitic plants. — Much interest has been manifested recently in regard to the germination ot that class of plants which have heretofore been regarded as parasitics, and ad- vocates are still found of both theories, — that they may germinate without attachment to a mother plant, and, that it is requisite for germination. Lindleysays: "According to the observation of Vau cher of Geneva, the seeds of Oivbanchc ramosa will lie many years inert in the soil unless they come in contact with the roots of Hemp,- the plant upon which that species grows parasitically, when they im- mediately sprout. Schl'auter states that they only seize seedlings, and are unable to attach roots of stronger growths." In the summer of 1878, I collected in abundance near Haddonfield, New Jersey, Oro- banchc minor, (see Botanical Gazette, Vol. 3, No. 9, September. 1878,) and as many of the specimens had ripe seeds I scattered 'hem with a liberal hand over the grass plot and flower beds in the vard at tached to my residence, hoping thereby for an opportunity to watch their development and growth ; but as not a single specimen made its appearance during the following year, I had almost concluded my e.xperiment a failure. A few days ago on going into my conservatory I was surprised to find I was there harboring three specimens, grow- ing in the flower pots with Geraniums. These Geraniums had been transplanted from the conservatory to the yard in the summer of 1878 and hence were growing in the flower beds when the seeds of the Or- obanche were scattered. In the fall of the same year they were re- transplanted to the conservatory ; the same process was repeated in the year 1S79. ^^^ ^^ the three specimens has been removed from the i)lace of growth, and I have been unable to find an attachment to the roots of the Geraniums in any way, to either the main root or any of the smaller young fibrous roots, hence I am led to believe this plant at least has had an independent existence ; the bulbous or en- larged base is much the same as that of the original specimens collect- ed, but there are more fibrous roots attached, and they are more cen- trally fixed underneath, as may be seen in the growth of the common onion; the specimens heretofore examined had more of a side devel- opment, as though the attachment to the root of the parent plant had absorbed somewhat of the substance or caused an unequal growth.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. JP
Here we have two facts shown : — that the seeds of Orobanche minor may remain in the soil an indefinite time before germinating, and, that they do not require attachment in order to induce germination. As this species is parasitic on clover usually, and may have a prefer- ence for that, it is here shown that there may be a growth and full de- velopment without such service. One of these specimens measured lo inches in height and had 45 flowers on it, with a large number of buds undeveloped at the top. I now have hopes that the coming sea- son may give opportunity to watch their development still farther, as more of the seeds scattered in my yard may conclude, if they cannot find the proper foster parent, to grow without one. — Isaac C. Mar- TiNDALE, Camden, New Jersey.
Some Arkansas Ferns. — Cheilanthes lanuginosa, Nutt., grows very abundantly upon limestone cliffs in the northwestern part of Arkansas. It can be found upon the escarpments of the wooded valleys that run inland from White river. I have found it inland two miles or more, and always on the north side of the valley in very dry situations, though it seems to like the shelter of projections. Its habitat is about the same as Notholcena dealhata, but I have never found them growing together. Asplenium pannilum is one of our common species in Arkansas. I have had this doubtful species under observation for sev- eral years, and have never been able to find intermediate forms or any reason for regarding it a variety of A. ebeneum. This species is found on dry ledges in this region, a situation in which I have never seen A. ebeneum. The latter is plentiful here but grows in rocky places in shaded woods. I have observed both species growing within a few feet of each other, in situations moist enough for both, and searched for intermediate forms but without success. Each retained its charac- teristics.
Cystopteris bulbifera, Bernh , is a common form in the northern part of Arkansas. Specimens from Benton county collected upon rocks in moist places measured nearly two feet long. The species mentioned above have never been reported from Arkansas, so far as I know. IVoodwardia angustifolia may also be a'Ided, as I have seen specimens collected in the swamps of southern Arkansas. — F. L. Harvey, Ark. Ind. Univ., Eayette^nlle, Ark.
Flora of Kerguelen's Land. — The question is asked in the March number of the Gazeite, whether the flora of Kerguelen's Land, "in which winged insects are either scarce or wanting," contains to any extent " flowers having showy petals or other properties attractive to winged insects." The elaborate recent memoir in the Transactions of the Royal Society, London, may answer the question. There are twenty one indigenous phaenogamous plants now known on Kergue- len's Land. Not one of them is showy flowered; of those that have petals at all the most conspicuous are the three species of Ranunculus^ which in this respect are about equal to our R. Cymbalaria; the others are Montia fontana, TiUera moschata and Limosella aguntica. — A. G.
^o BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Effects of Uninterrupted Sunlight on Plants. — Dr. Schuebe- ler, of Christiana, has published in the Norwegian Naturen the results of some experiments on the acclimatization of southern plants in Swe- den and Norway. His first experiments relate to the effect of the almost uninterrupted sun of Scandinavia on winter wheat. Samples from Bessarabia and Ohio sown showed in the first crop an increase in size and weight of grain, together with a deepened color. In- creased development of the pigment of plants is shown also in the common garden flowers of central Europe, which when raised in Nor- way take on richer color. Veronica scrpylHfolia, for example, changes from pale to deep blue, while TrientaUs Enropcea, naturally white, be- comes decidedly pink. Under continuous sunlight also plants which usually fold their leaves at night, such as Miviosa pudica, kept them always open. It is also found that the aroma of fruits and vegetables is much increased. Some of the most savory of European garden vegetables when grown in Norway become absolutely disagreeable to the taste. This increase of aroma points to what may and ought to become a profitable industry in the Scandinavian peninsula, viz., the raising ot those plants which are valuable for their yield of fixed and essential oils, inasmuch as the per cent, obtainable from a given weight is much increased by growth under these peculiar conditions. But while aroma, which seems tlius dependent on light is much aug- mented, sweetness, depending on heat, is correspondingly lessened by moving northward. This is especially noticeable in small fruits, such as the strawberry, plum, cherry, etc. Dr. Schuebeler's experiments extended over 30 years and doubtless the full text of the communica- tions would be most interesting. — C. R. B.
Red Calyx in Sambucus Canadensis, L.— As ihe botanizing sea- son is again upon us it may be well to publish tlie following note of observations made last summer in this vicinity. By accident I found a bush of the common Elder in which every calyx was of an intense bright purphsh-pink color, and this was true of all the flowers and un- expanded flower-buds on the whole plant. Pedicels and peduncles were the usual white, but all, including the calyx, were decidedly hirsute. A further examination proved that about one-fourth of all the shrubs in that patch had the calyx more or less tinted there being about 30 in all. During the remainder of the summer I examined a. great many plants and found the calyx more or less colored and hirsute in near one-third observed. In every instance where the calyx was tinted it was also hairy, but in two examples I found the calyx hairy but not tinted. The color was near that of red aniline. The plants that grew in rich alluvial soil appear to be most frequently colored. — J. Schneck, Mt. Canriel, III.
Observations on Remarkable Forms of Triticum repens. — I
am indebted to VVm. Boott, Esq., for the following: "In the
, English Flora Sir James Smythe says under Triticum repens, 'Schrader
describes a remarkable state of this grass figured in Leen, t. 12, f. 4, i»
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 41
in which a great part of the spikelets in the lower portion of the spike are double, or in pairs, contrary to the generic character.'" The above remarks were sent me by Mr. Boott, on seeing my lists of 1878 and 1879, which contain some remarkable forms of Triticum repens. No. 1578 (from Colorado) is characterized generally by involute, nar- row, rigid, faindy nerved leaves, glumes and palets but slightly nerv- ed, short awned. Some specimens have 9 joints to the rachis of spike, lowest joint with single spikelet (as in normal specimens of T. repens), the upper three the same, but all the rest with double spike- lets at each joint. Another has 11 joints, lowest one double, all the rest single. From the same root is another stalk with 15 joints, low- est one single, next three double, rest sintzle. Others have 13 joints,
7 double (always the lowest double unless stated otherwise); 18 joints,
8 double; 19 joints, 12 double; 22 joints, 15 double. From the same root as last is one with 22 joints, lowest single, next nine dou- ble. From Utah, under Nos. 1004a and 15 16, are two very distinct forms, (i)"the mountain form with broad, flat, green, nerved leaves; broad, acute, green, conspicuously nerved glumes and palets; (2) the form of the dry and heated valleys, with very long and narrow spikelets (over one inch long), whole plant glaucous ; leaves rigid, involute, rather short, narrow ; glumes and palets almost horny, smooth, scarcely nerved. Under (i), I have two specimens with 13 joints, lowest three triple spikeleted, rest double. Others have 10 to 15 joints, lowest one double, all the rest single. Others have 25 to 30 joints (very lone; spikes), lowest five double. Under (2), are some with about 18 joints, lower half all double. Others have 18 jomts, all single but the third from the bottom, which is double. One other has 18 joints, lowest one double, next two single, next three double, the rest single.
I have many specimens of the most remarkable forms (besides those already sent out) as well as very many of these forms of T. re- pens with only single spikelets. I have shown the most remarkable forms to Dr. Vasey, who considers them remarkable forms of T. fe- pens. These forms with double spikelets are not uncommon, for I have found them in many places in Colorado and Utah.
That the distinction of double spikelets in Elymus tends to be broken is shown in forms of E. condensatiis and triticoides which often have the lowest joint single spikeleted, and the upper five also. Two or more single spikelets often occur in both the above and in E. are- narius, Sibiricus and occasionally in E. Canadensis.
In most of the eastern species, the glumes of Elymus form an ap- parent involucre, and to the amateur do not seem to be glumes, but in Elymus arenarius, L. and condensatus, Presl. , in all the spikelets of the former and the upper ones of the latter, they are attached to the spikelets as closely as in Tritiaan repens, and more closely than in T. ■violaceum, especially the long awned form. A question asked by one of our leading botanists will find a good place here : "What is there to distinguish Elymus Sibiricus from Triticum violaceum but the double and single spikelets," and if these fail, what then ?- Marcus E,
JONES.
42 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Some Notes of Rare Ferns.— On the trip to Ocala last December we noticed quantities of the beautiful Aster Carolifiianus, full of large bright blossoms, growing all along the Ochlavvaha river. About Ocala the flowers were scarce just then, but I gathered a large number of fine Aspkniinn firmiifu, two forms of A. myriopliylhtm and two forms of Pteris Cirtica. When I saw the number of flourishing plants I had no fear of destroying localities, and was able to secure entire ferns for my specimens.
I was also successful in getting a goodly quantity of fruited Polypo- dii/fti Plum Ilia from a monster Live Oak in a deep forest near St. Au- gustine. This is the first time that I have collected this fern in really good condition. Though one of our prettiest ferns it gives more trouble in pressing than any other one, I think. This is caused by the extreme elasticity of the rhachis, which is so great that the frond 7vi/l not stay as it is placed, and by the rolling up of the pinnae. Unless placed in an extremely wet atmosphere they will not uncoil, and then they are all ready to curl right up again unless pressed at once. I have collected also excellent specimens of Acrostichum aiireiim. Some of these are simply upper sections of fruited fronds, and some show the entire fertile frond. The latter are five or six feet long and are very handsome ferns. — Mary C. Reynolds.
Rhus Toxicodendron. — I notice in the Gazette for October, 1879, an account of an unusually large specimen of Rhus Toxicoden- dron. As every botanist knows, this species is usually prostrate or creeping over walls^and fences and at the north rarely high climbing, the stems seldom more than a half inch in diameter. It was with as- tonishment, therefore, that I noted during the winter of 1879 the enormous specimens among the timber along the Grand river in the Cherokee Nation. Many of them were not less than six inches in diameter and climbing to the tops of the tallest trees, thus rivaling Te.co??ia radicans and Vitis.
Here in Missouri the largest trees along the streams have been felled and most of the old si)ecimensof the RJuts which clung to them been destroyed; still, very large specimens are frequent. I note that while R. txphina is the most abundant species in northern New Eng- land, R. copallina is largely in excess of the others here in the south- west.— William F. Flint, Bozvcrs Mills, Missouri. [,
CoMMELYNACE.E.. — At a meeting of the Linnean Society on Feb. 5, Mr. C. B. Clarke gave an oral re'suvie' of this order, which he had lately worked out for DeCandolle's " Prodromus." He defined the order by the position of the embryo, as not surroundeil by albumen, but closely applied to the embryostega, which is always remote from the hilum. An important auxiliary character is that the three seg- ments of the calyx are always imbricated, so that one is entirely out- side of the two others. Mr. Clarke divides the Commclxnacecp mto
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 43
three tribes, as follows : i. Folliece, fruit indehiscent; 2. Cotnmelynece, capsule loculicidal, fertile stamens 3-2 ; 3. Tradescantiea:, capsule loc- ulicidal, fertile stamens 6-5. He also alluded to the manifest and miportant change of color in the petals of several of the Comuielyna- ce(B — Q. g., Aneilcma versicolor^ where from a bright yellow when fresh, they become a deep blue when dry. — N'aiure.
Automatic Movement of the Frond of Asplenium Tricho- MANES. — In a letter to Dr. Gray in reference to the above article in the March Gazette, Mr. E. J. Loomis says: The motion instead of being " in the plane of the fron'l," is really at right angles to it.
Four other fronds starting from two different roots exhibit motion, but in less degree than the one first noticed. These are not new fronds, but are old ones which were fully developed as to size when taken up, but have fruited since transplanting. It seems to me that the motion is confined, not only to the fruitful fronds, but to the pe- riod of fructification, since these four fronds have been subjected to the same condition as the first, but have exhibited motion only since fruiting began.
The stimulus of artificial light is sufficient to excite motion in the fronds for a {qw minutes, but after the lapse of five or six minutes the motion ceases and is not resumed.
I have noticed that the end of the frond does not describe a straight line but it moves in a long and very narrow ellipse, with the hands of a watch. The motion is more vigorous and through a larger arc in the middle of the day.
Some Florida Ferns for Sale. — Miss Mary Reynolds, of St. Au- gustine, Florida, has pressed beautiful specimens of some rare Florida ferns. She has a large number of duplicates for sale, and the low prices will enable every botanist interested in ferns to procure speci- mens. The species are Asplenium firimim, A. myriophylliim, Pteris Cntiea, Polypodium Plumiila, and Acrostichum aureum. The first four can be procured for fifteen cents each. Upper sections of the fertile frond of the Acrostichum cost from 20 to 60 cents; same with entire small sterile frond, 60 to 90 cents; entire fruited frond, one dollar.
Notes from Painesville, Ohio. — Dr. H. C. Beardslee has sent specimens of Scirpus afro7<irens, with the viviparous growth in two stages, one in which there are roots some inches in length. The spec- imens were on culms which had been broken over and were found ly- ing m the water of a small brook.
Viviparous forms of Cenchrus tribuloides were also collected, a thing that might be expected in a plant of its habits.
Dr. Beardslee has also been watching the vegetation of the seeds of Draba verna, and the growth of the rosettes of radical leaves which it puts forth. This winter he watched it come into flower, which it did
44 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
as early as February 20. He thinks it clearly biennial and would be glad to know from other observers whether it is always so.
Sisymbrium Thaliana, a little later flowering than the Draba, is also biennial. In the first week of March it was just beginning to show flowers.
Erythr.'ea Centaurium. — In the summer of 1878 I discovered three or four fine plants oi Erythrcca Centaurium, Pers. , nicely in blos- som, on the grounds of the Agr'l Coll., Lansing, Mich. Some time before this Prof. Beal found specimens of the same in an open swamp near by. None have been found in the locality since '78.
HydrocotyJe umbellata, L , also occurs near here on the shores of small lakes. —L. H. Bailey, Jr.
Some Plants of Franklin Co., Kv.—For more than a year past I have been indebted to your Gazette for many little things of great interest to me, and I feel that I ought to make some return (or strive to do so) by giving you some of my notes on last year's collecting in this county (Franklin), premising, however, that I am a beginner in botany.
Hepatica triloba and acutiloba are both found on the Lower Silurian limestone hills or cliffs of Kentucky River, the latter species more common and often seen with the lateral lobes of the leaves again slightly lobed.
Isopyruni biternatum, T. & G., occurs in similar situations, but is more rare.
Hydrastis Canadensis, L. , is common in rich woods and often has an additional leaf, three lobed, just below the flower, making three leaves on the stem.
Menispermum Canadense, L., is common, but it is rare to find a specimen with a woody stem nearly an inch in diameter.
Podophyllum peltatum, L., I found once with but one leaf on the flowering stem. I thought it rather interesting to find on one cliff at some distance from any dwelling three introduced plants, viz. ; P<i- paver somniferum, L., Bupleunan rotundifolium, L., and Vinca minor. The latter covers a large portion of the wooded hill side, while the former grew scattered among the loose stones near the base. How the Bupleunim got there I cannot imagine, as I have never seen it anywhere else in the county.
Cardatfiine rhomboidea. var. purpurea,ToTX., is common in rich soil at the base of the limestone cliffs.
Arahis patens, SuUiv. is found in the same situations, but is not com- mon.
Vesicaria Shotiii, T. & G. , is quite abundant in a few localities in similar situations to the above.
Lepidium intermedium, Gray, is rare in dry woods.
Solea concolor, Ging, occurs abundantly in the rich soil on the river
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 43
cliffs, along with Viola pubescens and var. scabriuscula, T. & G. On wooded hill-sides, Hypericiun sphxrocarpon, Mx. , occurs with Tragia macrocarpa, Willd. , which last, according to Gray, has no stinging hairs ; but they certainly made themselves felt on the back of my hands and wrists, while unable to penetrate the thicker epidermis of the fingers and palm. — R. H. Wildberger, Ky. Mil. Institute, Fartn- dale, Ky.
Syracuse Botanical Club. — This active club does not confine its attention to field work, but has been busily employed all winter. They have held weekly meetings for the reading of papers on all the important orders of plants, illustrated by specimens collected the sea- son before. Such a course has kept them very familiar with their lo- cal flora and we anticipate large results from it during the coming season. They will take the field thoroughly prepared by a season's experience in collecting and a winter of study, and our prophecy is that the summer of 1880 will bring to them richer results than that of. 1879. Physiologrcal botany has not been neglected, for they have considered such subjects as "Perfume and Color" in plants, "Com plementary Colors," "Motion in Plants" and "Insectivorous Plants."
We write this not so much for the encouragement of the club, for they do not need it, but to call attention to this most profitable way of studying botany where several persons interested in the science are within reaching distance of each other. One person working alone is apt to dissipate his energies over a very broad field and the result is small. But put several workers together and concentrate their work and it brings important results. The little things, ^yhich by themselves appear insignificant, when brought together, form an aggregate which is of great importance.
CuRTiss' N(.)RTH American Plants. — There is no better collector of plants than Mr. A. H- Curtiss, of Jacksonville, Fla. Not only does he succeed in collecting the rarest of species, but makes beauti- ful specimens, and to receive a bundle from him, with species careful- ly separated and labels handsomely printed, is a pleasure, the full en- joyment of which only a botanist can appreciate. Mr. Curtiss has just issued Fascicle III of his N. Am. Plants. In it are found 215 species and varieties, some 15 being supplementary to Fascicles I and II. The price of this Fascicle, at Cambridge, is eighteen dol- lars.
ToRREV Bulletin. —The February number is at hand, even hand- somer and more attractive than the last. Putting in each month a short synopsis of the proceedings of the club is a good idea, for we all want to know what these clubs are talking about. In the proceedings of this month we notice a peculiar idea advanced by Dr. Jarvis in a paper on "Galls." The idea was not new to us, but its publicity was. It is that the gall insect is a product of the plant. It is contended
46 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
that galls are normal products of the plants on which they grow, and that these galls, by an evolution of their protoplasm, eventually give birth to animal life. This seems to "out-evolutionize" the most radi- cal evolutionist.
Mr. Austin describes two new genera of mosses, dedicating one to Capt. J. Donnell Smith and the other to Mr. Eugene A. Rau. Con- siderable space is devoted to botanical news, a department that could be made exceedingly interesting and important in the organ of a large club so centrally located as the Torrey club. We note with pleasure that Mr. W. R. Gerard has been elected assistant editor of the Bulle- tm.
The Function of Chlorophyll. — One of the most important recent contributions to physiological botany is contained in a recent communication to the Berlin Academy of Sciences, by Dr. Prings- heim, which appears to throw considerable fresh light on the function of chlorophyll in the life of the plant.
Having been led by previous researches to the conclusion that im- portant results might be obtained by the use of intense light, he com- bined an apparatus by which the object under view should be brightly and constantly illuminated by a strong lens and a heliostat. If in this way an object containing chlorophyll —a moss leaf, fern-proihalium, chara, conferva, or thin section of a leaf of a phanerogam be ob- served, it is seen that great changes are produced in a period varying from three to six or more minutes.
The first and most striking result is the complete decomposition of the chlorophyll, so that in a few minutes the object appears as if it had been lying for some days in strong alcohol. Although, however, the green color has disappeared, the corpuscles retain their structure essen- tially unaltered. The change then gradually extends to the other constituents of the cell ; the circulation of the protoplasm is arrested ; the threads of protoplasm are ruptured and the nucleus displaced; the primordial utricle contracts and becomes permeable to coloring mat- ters; the turgidity of the cell ceases; and the cell presents, in short, all the phenomena of death.
That these effects are not due to the action of the high temperature to which the cell is exposed under these circumstances is shown by the fact that they are produced by all the different parts of the visible spectrum. The result is the same whether the light has previously passed through a red solution of iodine in carbon bisulphide, through a blue ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide, or through a green solu- tion of cupric chloride. If the carbon bisulphide solution of iodine be so concentrated that only rays of a greater wave-length than 0.00061 mm. can pass through it, these effects are not produced, although about eighty per cent, of the heat of white sunlight is trans- mitted. On the other hand, if the ammoniacal solution of cupric ox- ide be so concentrated that the whole of the rays of a less wave length than 0.00051 ram. are absorbed, a rapid and powerful effect is pro-
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 4j
duced, although the amount of heat that passes is very small. It is thus seen that the phenomena in question are not the result of heat.
The next point determined by Dr. Pringsheim is that the effects are not produced in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. This was the case whether the oxygen was replaced by pure hydrogen or by a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide; while the removal of the carbon diox- ide from atmospheric air was altogether without effect on th*^ phenom- ena. The conclusion drawn is that the decomposition of chlorophyll in the living plants is a process of combustion which is influenced and promoted by the action of light, and which is not related to the de- composition of carbon <lioxide by the plant. When the green color of the chlorophyll-grains has been partially destroyed, it cannot be restored, even though the cell continues to live; from which it is in- ferred that the result is not a normal physiological, but a ])athological effect. No substance was found in the cells which might be regarded as the product of the decomposition of the chlorophyll, nor was any oil or starch detected in the etiolated cell, nor any formation of grape sugar or dextrine. The assumption is therefore that the products of decomposition are given off in the gaseous form.
The conclusion is drawn that the decomposition produced in the protoplasm, and in the other colorless cell contents, is the direct effect ot the photochemical action of light. That it is not due to the injuri- ous influence of the products of decomposition of the coloring matter of the chlorophyll is shown by the fact that it takes place equally in cells destitute of chlorophyll, such as the hairs on the filaments of Tradcscantia, the stinging hairs of the nettle, &c. It is, on the other hand, dependent on the presence of the oxygen, or is a phenomenon of combustion.
The results of a variety of experiments leads Dr. Pringsheim to the important and interesting conclusion that the chlorophyll acts as a pro- tective substance to the protoplasm against the injurious influence of light, diminishing the amount of combustion, or, in other words, act- ing as a regulator of respiration.
He then proceeds to investigate what are the substances which be- come oxidized in the process of respiration. In every cell, without exception, that contains chlorophyll, Pringsheim finds a substance that can be extracted by immersion in dilute ' hydrochloric acid for from twelve to twenty-four hours, to which he gives the name JixpocJilorin or hypochromyl, and which he believes to be the primary product of the assimilation of the chlorophyll. It occurs in the form of minute vis- cid drops or masses of a semi-fluid consistency, which gradually change into long red-brown imperfectly crystalline needles. It is sol- uble in alcohol, ether, turpentine and benzol, but insoluble in water and in a solution of sodium chloride. It becomes gradually oxidized on exposure to an imperfectly crystalline resinous substance. It is probably an ethereal oil, and an invariable accompaniment of the col- oring substance of chlorophyll, and even more universally distributed than starch or oil. It has not yet been detected in those plants which
48 BOTANICAL GAZETIE.
do not contain true green chlorophyll, such as the Phycochromacese, Diatomacese, Fucaceae and Florideae. Starch and oil appear to be re- serve substances produced by the oxidization of the hypochlorin caused by light, it being the most readily oxidizable constituent of the cell, more so even than chlorophyll itself.
That the hypochlorin— present in variable quantity in every chloro- phyll grain under normal circumstances — is subject to continual in- crease and decrease, may be proved without difficulty. All compara- tive observations on chlorophyll grains in younger and in older condi- tions, point unmistakably to the conclusion that the collection and increase of the starch enclosed in the ground substance of the chloro- phyll, goes on pari passu with the decrease of the hypochlorin. In dark, the hypochlorin, which does not take any direct part in trans- port of food materials, is more permanent than starch ; and this fact again is in agreement with the conclusion that its transformation in the cell into more highly oxidized bodies is hindered by the increased res- piration in light.
In the facts here detailed, and the conclusions derived from them, Dr. Pringsheim believes that an entirely new light is thrown on the cause of the well-known fact that assimilation takes place only in those cells of the plant which contain chlorophyll. This substance acts uni- versally as a moderator of respiration by its absorptive influence on light, and hence allows the opposite phenomena of respiration and elimination of carbon dioxide to go on in those cells which contain it. A more detailed account of the experiments and results is promised by the author in a future paper. — Alfred W. Bennett, /// Am,. Nat- uralist.
PtERIS AQUILINA, VAR CAUDATA, AGAIN. — Since mv nOtC in the GA- ZETTE on the huge specimen of this species sent from Florida, I have received the following note from Mr. White: "In compliance with your request I measured a /'/mV as follows : Stipe 6 ft.; first pair of divisions abortive; second pair 8 ft. from ground, and each divis- ion 5 ft. (making a spread of loft., o. e. d.); third pair, spread 8 ft. and the next pair 6 ft: total height 141^ ft. The primary divisions were 2 ft. apart until the last mentioned pair which were \% ft., making a spread of 6 ft. at a height of 1114 ft. from the ground. Almost aborescent, eh.^" ^
It will be seen from this that I probably underestimated the breadth of the specimen which I described, and that the dimensions of the specimens measured by Mr. White exceed anything heretofore re- corded anywhere.— Geo. E. Davenport.
American Monthly Microscopical Journal.— This a continua- tion of the Quarterly and is worthy the support of all interested in the work of the microscope. It is a journal of 20 pages, is illustrated, and costs but one dollar per year. The name of the editor, Romyn Hitchcock, gives an assurance of careful. con.scientious work.
Botanical Gazette.
Vol. V. MAY, 1880. No. 5.
Editorial. — It is proposed to make our monthly editorials a col- lection of odds and ends, rather than a short article upon some spec- ial subject.
The season has come when hard worked botanists are planning for a summer's campaign. One ot the most profitable ways of spending the time is to attend a summer school of botany. One who has nev- er attended such a place cannot appreciate the pleasure connecf^d with the work there. Persons are met with whose tastes are congen- ial, who can appreciate a devotion to a well loved science without the usual selfish query, "What is it good for ?" Fine instruments, a pro- fusion of material, and masterly lectures, make the time pass most delightfully, and the result is a more thorough knowledge of the science of botany than can be gained by half a dozen seasons of ordi- nary botanical work. The expense of such a summer is exceedingly small, not being half what is so often spent in an aimless jaunting through the country. The editors ot the Gazette have no axe to grind, but it information as to the methods or expenses in such schools is desired, we will cheerfully give it.
It was a bad slip, on the first line of p. 27, to give the width of the fruit of a Leavemvorthia as '■'■ttcw inches," when only four lines long. The grossness of the mistake will suggest the correction of inches to lines.
A correspondent refers us to a statement on p. 24, that "all Cruci- fers have powdery pollen," also to the general statement of the books that wind-fertilized flowers have dry powdery pollen, and then wants to know why all cruciferous flowers may not be as readily wind-fer- tilized as Fringlea, and why they need to be entomophilous, since they all have powdery pollen. He should note the difference between "powdery pollen," such as that of the majority of flowers, CrucifercB among the rest, and "dry powdery pollen," with light and perfectly incoherent grains, such as that of amentaceous trees, etc., which are particularly adapted to be wafted by the wind. We cannot here turn to it, but we suppose the original statement about Fringlea was that it was peculiar in having this dry powdery pollen, and thus had an adap- tation for wind-fertilization correlated with the abortion of its petals. This seems to solve the riddle propounded. It may be noticed that the article on p. 12, with which all this imbroglio began, speaks merely of "powdery pollen," and therefore the writer on p. 24 rightly remarked that this was true of all Crucifers. Let us hope that at length we have come to the end of the explanation required by the unfortunate article about Prindea.
o
50 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
New Species of Potamogeton, with notes upon some published FORMS. — Owing to the difficulty of obtaining specimens of certain European species in fruit which are needed for comparison and safe determination, the writer has been unable hitherto to complete the promised revision of the North American species of Potamogeton. The following notes are published in advance in the hope that they may prove of service to collecting botanists during the coming season, and for the purpose of soliciting further specimens. The determina- tions of new species here offered are not regarded as final.
P. Illinoensis. — Stem stout, branching towards the summit ; float- ing leaves opposite, thick, coriaceous, oval or ovate, 2-3 inches long hy i}4 broad, 19-23 nerved, rounded or sub-cordate at base, and with a short blunt pointat the apex, on short petioles: submerged leaves comparatively few, dark green, oblong-elliptical, acute at each end, usually ample (the largest nearly 8 inches long and i}4 wide), entire, rarely mucronate, nearly or quite sessile, the uppermost opposite; stipules coarse, free, obtuse, strongly bicarinate, about 2 inches in length; peduncles often clustered at the summit of the stem, 2-4 inches long, usually somewhat thickening upwards ; spikes about 2 inches long, densely flowered; fruit roundish obovate, 1^-2 lines long and i-i^ lines wide, 3-keeled on the back, the middle keel prominent and sometimes shouldered at the top, flattened and slightly impressed on the sides, obtuse or occasionally pointed at the base, the style short and nearly facial, the apex of the embryo pointing transversely inwards.
Allied to F. lucens, L., in habit, but with larger fruit, and in foliage quite distinct. It was first discovered by Mr. H. N. Patterson in the Mississippi River bottoms, near Oquawka, 111. Apparently the same is also sent by Rev. E. J. Hill, collected in ditches at Englewood, 111 , but his specimens approach the luccns type more nearly, having very large oval, shining upper submerged leaves, which (as also the float- ing) are 23-38 nerved.
P. Mysticus. — The whole plant very slender; stems irregularly branching, from a creeping rootstock, nearly filiform, terete, 1-3 feet high; leaves all submerged, scattered, entire, oblong-linear, ^-i}^ inches long and 2 or 3 lines wide, 5-7 nerved, finely undulate, obtuse or bluntly pointed at the apex, abruptly narrowing at the base, and sessile or partly clasping ; stipules free, obtuse, about 6 lines long, mostly deciduous but often persistent and closely sheathing the stem; spikes few, capitate, 4-6 flowered, on erect peduncles from i to 2 inches in length. Fruit fully matured not seen, but one or two rather immature specimens indicate that it is obovate, minute, scarcely ^ of a line long by ^ a line broad, obscurely 3-keeled on the back, a lit- tle beaked by the slender, recurved style.
With the habit of P. perfoliatus, but scarcely one-third as stout in any of its parts. — Aug., Sept. Mystic Pond, Medford, Mass., the sheet of water in which the early American investigators of this ge- nus found so many of their plants. The author was not aware that
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 51
any one but himself had ever detected this form until he was recently shown unnamed specimens in the herbarium at Cambridge, collected a few years since by Wm. Boott, Esq., of Boston.
P. LATERALIS. — Stem filiform, branching; floating leaves elliptical, 4- 6 lines long and 2 wide, with 5-7 nerves deeply impressed beneath, tapering at the base into a somewhat dilated petiole shorter than the blade; submerged leaves linear, acute, 1-3 inches in length and i^- ^ line wide, 1-3 nerved, the lateral nerves often obscure, the mid- nerve large and often with fine veins or cellular reticulations on each side, biglandular at base as in P. pusil/us, but the glands few and small and often obsolete; stipules free, short, obtuse when young; peduncles with a very peculiar lateral appearance, (as is also the case with the floating leaves,) widely spreading at maturity, sometimes even recurved, ^'2-2 inches long, often thicker than the stem ; spikes commonly interrupted, 2-4 flowered ; fruit obliquely obovate, scarce- ly a line long by ^ of a line broad, the back much curved, obtuse, with two fine grooves upon it, face slightly arched and surmounted by the nearly sessile stigma, the embryo oval in its curve, the apex near- ly touching the base.
This plant has been rarely found, and specimens of it not fully de- veloped have been referred to P. pusi/lus, with which it is allied, but Mr. C. E. Faxon discovered it the last season at Dedham, Mass., with abundant floating leaves and good fruit which seem to establish its claim to a specific rank.
P. PUSILLUS, L., var. polyphyllus. — A dwarf form, 3-5 inches high, divaricately branching from the base, and very leafy throughout ; leaves very obtuse, not cuspidate, 3-nerved ; non-flowering but abund- antly provided with propagating buds which are formed on the thick- ened and hardened ends of the branches, and closely invested by im- bricated leaves.
Sept. —In a shallow pool, with oozy bottom, some distance under water, at South Natick, Mass.
P. GE.MMIPARUS, Robbius in herb. — Stem filiform, branching, terete, greatly varying in height, rising from i to 4 feet according to the depth of the water in which it grows ; the internodes below, especial- ly in deep water forms, often five inches long; leaves hair like, some times not as broad as the stem, often with no perceptible midrib, plane or canaliculate above, and tapering to the finest point, 1-3 inches long, biglandular at base; stipules ^-i inch in length, acute or obtuse, mostly deciduous ; spikes few, interrupted, 3-6 flowered, on long, filiform peduncles ; fruit very rare, and like that of P. pusillus,Qyi cept that it is flatter and somewhat impressed on the sides ; common- ly propagated by gemmiie, which are abundant. The leaves and stems are often alike in size, so that the plant seems to consist of threads, and this, with the long, naked internodes, renders its jtppearance very peculiar.
P. pusillus, L. , var., gemmipariis, Robbins, in Gray's Man., Ed. 5. The mature fruit of this rare species was obtained at Amherst,
32 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Mass., by Rev. H. G. Jesup, in 1874, and by him sent to Dr. Rob- bins, who thereupon substituted the name here given.
Aug. , Sept. Slow moving streams and still water in various parts of New England.
P. NiAGARENSis, Tuckerman. — Intermediate forms between this and P. pauciflorus, Pursh, have been found within a few years past, rendering it doubtful whether its old rank m Ed. 4, Gray's Man. , as a variety of paucifloriis, should not be restored. The writer collected specimens in sluggish creeks and pools near the mouth of the river Niagara which have the foliage of pauciflorus and the fruit of Niaga- rensis. Rev. E. J. Hill has found an equally doubtful form in great abundance at South Chicago, 111., and the same comes from Canada. A larger number of specimens, and a closer examination may make it necessary to unite the two under the older name.
P. PECTiNATUS, L. — Particular attention is called to this species, as quite a number of abnormal forms have been discovered since the is- sue of Dr. Robbins' monograph, especially in the regions west of the Mississippi, and some of these may prove to be distinct species. It is hoped that additional specimens and notes from botanists in the field will render a good definition possible.
P. ZOSTERACEUS, Fries. -Similar in general appearance to P. pedina- tus, but stouter; leaves flat, 1-3 inches long by 1-2)^ lines broad, 3- 5 nerved, with many cross veinlets, amplexicaul, obtuse or acute ; stipules adnate to the base of the leaves, obtuse, shorter and narrower than the striate, scarious-margined sheaths; peduncles slender, 1-4 inches long ; flowers in verticils more or less distant ; fruit agreeing with that of /<'^///?f7///j in size and shape, but rather more flattened, the style long and recurved, and the apex of the embryo pointing trans- versely inwards
California. P. peciiiiatus, var.? latlfoliiis, Robbins in Bot. King's, Ex. 338. As figured by Reichenbach, this species has drooping pedun- cles 8 inches in length, with verticils of fruit i^ inches distant, but the writer has authentic European specimens which agree with our form in every particular.
P. MARiNUS, L. — Low (3-6 inches) and leafy, with many dichoto- mous branches ; leaves all submerged, thick, setaceous, i nerved, with a few transverse veinlets, obtuse or acute, 2-4 inches long ; stipules adnate to the base of the leaves, shorter than the sheaths which have narrow, scarious margins, sometimes white ; peduncles 2- 3 inches in length ; spikes interrupted or in approximate verticils , fruit subglobose obovate, i-r^ lines long and ^ to i line wide, ob- tuse on the margins, crowned with a broad sessile stigma, the em- bryo circle incomplete and the apex pointing to the base, usually cor- rugated when dry.
The European form differs only in having peduncles 3-6 inches in length.
Aug. {P. Jilifonnis, Nolte). By some good botanists reckoned as a variety of P. pccHnatus, but the fruit is clearly distinct.
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 53
The writer found this plant a few years ago growing on moss-cover- ed rocks, in shallow rapids at Street's Island above Niagara Falls. It doubtless occurs in other localities in this country, but lias probably been confounded with P. pecfiiiatus, from some forms of which it can be distinguished only by the fruit.
Apparendy a new and somewhat striking variety of P. zoste reef alms, Schum., {P. compressus, Gray's Man., Ed. 5,) is sent by Rev. E. J. Hill, collected in stagnant pools at Ashtabula, Ohio. The leaves are narrower, shorter, and more acute than in the type. They are only 3-nerved, being entirely destitute of the many fine lines which are so characteristic of the leaves of this species.
-Sjiecimens of the above mentioned forms, and of other species, are respectfully solicited. —Thomas MoKOiiC, Ashland, Mass.
NoTUL/E ExiGU^. — Referring to Mr. Martindale's article on the germination of Orobanche, one may doubt if it follows from the ac- count given that seeds do not require attachment in order to induce germination, or in order to continued growth. It is very doubtful if the seeds in this instance germinated in the pot, since last autumn. More probably they had germinated in the soil beforehand, perhaps had fed on clover roots or on some congenial host, but had not risen above the soil, which takes place only when about to flower. In pot- ting the Geraniums the clover may have been pulled out, but the plant, having accumulated organized material enough to complete its growth, did so in due time and occasion. It is not proved nor prob- able that it could have made its growth independendy in the manner of a green plant.
On p. 40, last line, "Leen" probably stands for Leer's.
Miss Reynolds describes Aster CaroUiianus as making a fine display on the Ochlawha river in Florida. Will she inform us whether the base of the long stem is suffrudcose, as Walter and Michaux say.
About Draha verna and such plants, and whether they are to be termed biennials or annuals, a difficulty comes in, which shows how evanescent this distinction becomes. At the north, where all vegeta- tion is for a long while arrested by winter, it is perhaps needful to con- sider fibrous-rooted plants which germinate late in autumn, and sur- vive the winter to blossom and fruit in earliest spring, as biennials. But the same plants and others like them, when growmg further south, and especially where the winter is moist and mild and the summer hot and dry, regularly germinate in autumn, and flower and seed in early spring. They are winter anmials (see Gray, Structural Botany, new ed. p. 31), plants that run their course in the cool half instead of the warm half of the year.
Prmgsheim's Chlorophyll investigations, and the hypothetical con- clusions drawn from them are having an unusual popularisation. It may be desirable to keep in mind that the conclusions do not follow from the premises. — A. G.
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1869—24 |
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2 |
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iSyo 45 |
( < |
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1871— 6 |
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I |
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1872 — 19 |
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1873— 9 |
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5^ BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
Vitality of the seeds ok Pinus contorta. — How long pine seeds retain their vitality when inclosed in the serotinous cones which sometimes occur on certain species, has probably never been very carefully noted. In 1874, Dr. Engelmann collected in Colorado a branch of Pinus contorta, to which were still persisting the closed cones which had ripened in 1873-72-71-70-69-68-66-65. In the spring of 1879, four years and a half after the branch had been taken from the tree, these cones were sent to the Harvard Arboretum that the vitality of the seed might be tested.
The following is the result:
All the seeds yielded by the cones were planted on the 27th of May, 1879, those of each year in a separate pot. They all received the same treatment. The final examination was made on the 13th De- cember, 1879.
1865 — 18 seeds from 3 cones were planted. None germinated. 1866 — No seed was obtained from the single cone of this year. 1867 — No cones received for this year. 1868 — 24 seeds from 2 cones were planted. None germinated.
4 a ii li . (1
a a li 2 "
i i a ( i r ( <
" " None "
This experiment is unsatisfactory owing to the want of seeds of 1866 and 1867, and because those of 1873 had probably never been fully developed. It is only interesting in view of the fact that it may pos- sibly lead to this subject being more fully investigated. It is particu- larly desirable to obtain and test the seeds from old serotinous cones of such species as Pinus serotina, the Florida P. inops var. claiisa, P. tuberculata, P. muricata, and P. insignis. There are always facili- ties for making such experiments at the Arboretum when sufficient material can be obtained. — C. S. Sargent, Brookline, Mass.
Vegetation Under the Electric Light. —In the number of iV^?/?//^ for March 11, appears the extract of an important paper by Dr. C. W. Siemens presented to the Royal Society on March 4. The question as to whether or not the dissociation of carbon dioxide and water in the leaf cells of plants could be made to take place under ar- tificial light as it does under sunlight, caused Dr. Siemens to under- take the experiments described. The apparatus consisted of a verti- cal Siemens' dynamo-machine making 1000 revolutions per minute, and driven by an Otto gas engine of 3 horse-power ; furnished with a lamp with carbon electrodes of 12 and 10 mm. diameter; producing a light equal to 1,400 candles. In the first series of experiments the lamp, with metallic reflector, was placed in the open air, two meters above the glass of a sunk melon house. Pots of quick-growing plants, such as mustard, carrots, beans, cucumbers, etc., were so arranged that the light would fall on them at approximately the same angle as that of the sun, provision being made for their protection
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 5j
from either when desired. The pots were divided into four groups:
1. One pot of each kept entirely in the dark.
2. One was exposed to the electric light only.
3. One was exposed to daylight only
4. One was exposed successively to day and electric light.
The electric light was supplied from 5 to 11, p. m., the plants being left in darkness the remainder of the night. The result shows what was to be expected in the first group. The second had pale, green leaves, but with sufficient vigor to. survive. The third showed the usual healthy color, while the last were unmistakably superior to all the rest, both in the deeper green of the leaves and greater vigor. In these experiments the time of supplying the electric light was only about half the time of daylight. In the next series the plants were divided into three classes :
1. Exposed to daylight alone.
2. Exposed to electric light 11 hours, and kept dark in day.
3. Exposed to II hours of electric light and 11 hours daylight, (i) had the usual healthy appearance at the end of four days and nights ; (2) were usually lighter in color but in one case darker ; (3) again were plainly superior, more so than before.
The lamp was next put into a palm house 8 62 m. by 14.42 m. by 4.42 m. All the plants therein flourished, but those nearest the light most. No harmful effects from lack of ventilation of the compounds gener- ated by the burning. The conclusions deduced from these experi- ments are as follows :
1. That the electric light is efficacious in producing chlorophyll and promoting growth.
2. That an electric center of light equal to 1,400 candles, placed at a distance of 2 meters from growing plants appeared to be equal in effect to average daylight at this season of the year.
3. That the carbonic acid and nitrogenous compounds generated in diminutive quantities in the electric arc, produce no sensible deleterious effects upon plants inclosed m the same space.
4. That plants do not require a period of rest during the 24 hours of the day, but make increased and vigorous progress if subjected during daytime to sunlight and during the night to the electric light.
5. That the radiation of heat from powerful electric arcs can be made available to counteract the effect of night frosts.
6. That while under the influence of electric light plants can bear in- creased stove-heat without collapsing, which is favorable to forcing by the electric light.
7. That the expense of electro-horticulture depends on the cost of mechanical energy, but can be made moderate where natural forces can be made available.
Dr. Siemens' experiments still continue and we shall await the results of longer trials with considerable curiosity. His deductions confirm those of Dr. Schuebeler on the efl"ect of uninterruptedsunlight of the Arctic regions. — C. R B.
56 BOTANICAL GAZET7E.
A NoLiNA IN Colorado.— Last January, while clipping lichens from the rocks about Trinidad, I discovered tufts of long, green, grassy leaves, which I recognized at a glance as belonging to the Mexican and sub-tropical liliaceous genus, Nolina. It was a fine sur- prise; no representative of the genus being known to occur much north of the Mexican boundary. From the winter material which I gathered, it is evident that the species is undescribed and new (TV. Greenei, Watson, ined.). Any botanist who may wander into extreme southern Colorado, or northeastern New Mexico during the coming season is hereby notified of the presence of this interesting and im- perfectly known plant; and is requested to make specimens of flow- ers and fruit if possible, as well as leaves. It is common up among the high, rocky verges of the mesas, along with Yucca haccata, all the way between the Apishapa river in Colorado, and Las Vegas in New Mexico. The leaves by which the plant is readily known, are two feet long, and much narrower than those of any of the Yuccas. — Edward L. Greene, Silver City, New Mexico.
Early Plants. — The past winter has been so warm, that vegeta- tion started earlier than usual this spring. It is uncommon to have plants bloommg in northwestern Arkansas early in February, but this year, Ulmus alata. Americana, and fiilva were in flower in January. Draba b7-achycarpa, Viola cordata, V. tricolor, var. arvensis, Erythron- ium albidum. Ranunculus fascicularis, Claytonia Virginica, Houstonia cce- rutea, Acer rubrum, etc., were sparingly in bloom before the close ot February. A snow storm and hard freeze occurred about the 15th of March, killing the blossoms on the elms and maples, and checking the growth of everything. The elms and maples will not produce fruit this season. I succeeded in collecting blossoms of Ulmus alata a itw days before the freeze. This species blooms so early that the flowers are usually killed before fruit is perfected. Fruit has perfected but once in the last five years. Peach trees and Japonicas put out some blossoms before the freeze in March, but were so severely shocked that the majority of the buds were delayed several weeks, and now ( April 5) these species are in full bloom and the prospects most favorable for an abundant peach crop. — F. L. Harvey, Ark. Ind. Univ. Fayette- ville, Ark.
The Pollen of Pringlea.— The answers of A. G. kindly given to my questions, though covering literally all I asked, do not meet all that I hoped for in connection with Pringlea. The orig- inal paragraph stated "all crucifers have pov.'dery pollen. Sir Joseph Hooker thinks lihe plant [Pringlea) is anemophilous, while the rest of the order {C^'uci/erce) is said to be entomophilous." Will A. G. add to the obligation we all feel for his instructive note, by explain- ing what need there is for insect aid in plants that have dry powdery pollen which can be readily taken anywhere by the wind? It had hitherto occurred to me that to have dry powdery pollen was an essential feature in an anemophilous flower. While writing may I
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 57
suggest to our friend who was so amused at "coniferous" for "cruciferous" in Fringlca, that he might furnish us with entertainment as well when it can be obtained out of an original article, as when an Editor is tempted to do some careless stuffing. The Editor was inundated by jokes, in the coniferous case, — but does not appear to have had one drop of fun squeezed out for him when A. G. describes the seed vessel of Leavemvort/iia stylosa as "two inches wide." We shall have to ask for a new committee on comedy if our friend so soon runs dry. — *
Crat^gus tomentosa, L., var. punctata, Gr. —On the east bank of Fish Creek, a few miles north of this place, there is a Haw- thorn ( C tomentosa, var., punctata) which is quite as remarkable for its size as some more celebrated big trees. The thorn divides near the ground into four trunks. The largest trunk measures fourteen inches in diameter four feet from the ground. The other divisions are smaller, but as large as this variety usually grows, one being six inches in diameter and the others less. The tree is about 20 ft. high.
This variety of thorn is vt ry common here, and behaves like a true species. — Erwin F. Smith, Hubbardston, Alich.
Ipomcea pandurata. — The undersigned wants seeds of Tpomcea pandurata, capable of germination, this spring, if any one has a few on hand. — A. Gray.
Winter Herborizations on Indian River, Florida. — During January and February of the present year the writer, accompanied by Dr. J. J. Brown, spent four weeks on Indian River in studying its natural history and collecting whatever of interest offered. Our ob- servations in that portion of Florida began at Sand Point — opposite Cape Canaveral, latitude 28 deg. 30 min., and extended to Jupiter Inlet, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles by our route. Indian River so called, is more properly a vast lagoon, being connected with the ocean by two inlets — one at Fort Capron and the other at Jupiter. The width of this inland sea varies from two to five miles except at the Indian River and Jupiter Narrows. For more than one hundred miles merely a strip of sand from one hundred yards to half a mile in width separates the lagoon from the Atlantic. This portion is largely composed of sand beaches and low flats. The eastern shore where depressed shows a dense growth of the red and black Man- grove, while further back the Cabbage Palmetto {Sabal Palmetto) grows solitary or in clumps. Occasionally rich hummock lands are met with where may be found a number Of peculiarly southern and sub-tropical species of trees and plants. In such places trailing vines with ferns and mosses, fill up the back ground. The "Smilax" and "Wait a bit" bid you halt ! The Cereus growing in long climbing spikes frequently obstructs the path. The small area of pine barrens and a narrow border next the ocean abound in Saw Palmetto {Sabal
S8 BOTANICAL GAZE TIE.
sernilata). The surface is underlaid by ^'Cogiiina" throughout the whole length of the river, and this for some miles on the western shore forms bluffs twenty or thirty feet in height. The lower part of the formation is thoroughly cemented and hard. No outcroppings show a geological group older than the Post Pliocene or fossils different from hving forms. The western shore stands in pleasing contrast to the eastern in its high coquina banks, back of which are extensive pine barrens. These high bluffs are replaced further south by sand ridges and hills of considerable elevation— sometimes at quite a distance from the river. A number of creeks and three rivers coming in from the west materially vary the surface geology of the country where they have broken through the natural deposits. The vegetation on this side is of the same character as that of the east shore with a few exceptions. But that tropical tree, the Mangrove, will not be found at Sand Point, neither for many miles below on the west shore, on account of occasional frosts. It grows, however, immediately opposite and southward, being protected from chilly blasts by the broad expanse of the lagoon. Species of the Cifnts family, the banana, pine-apple, Papaya, Gi/ava, etc , seem to attain more perfection here than elsewhere in Florida. I ha'^e never seen the black Mangrove {Avicennia tomentosa) grow to a greater size and height than along Jupiter Narrows. Such in brief are a few promi- nent features of the country as they appeared to us in our journey by sail boat and from examinations made at thirteen regular camps and a number of landings. Probably, as my friend Mr. Curtiss says, the character of vegetation and species is not so different from the St. Johns country. Familiar northern farms will frequently greet the eye, but not abundantly. The arborescent species are the most in- teresting as well as the most valuable, and afford a number of rare woods, such as the Crab, Boxwood, Buttonwood, Satinwood, Iron- wood (several species). Gum, etc. All of these as well as the Man- grove, are capable of a high polish, and sooner or later will be utilized. My collections during the trip numbered one hundred and six species found in flower, besides some not identified. In addition I secured a number of rare wood specimens with their foliage, one of the most prized being a section of the Quassia tree {Siniaruba g/aiira). Also alive, two Epidendrums and an Orchid found at Jupiter which is exactly the same as one from Mexico, but which no one has ever seen in Florida before. Its name is yet undetermined. Live fern roots, among them the giant Acrostichum aureiim, have been successfully transplanted to my greenhouse in the north. I desire here to express my satisfaction in comparing notes with A. H. Cur- tiss, Esq., at his beautiful home, Talleyrand Place, on the St. Johns, near Jacksonville, where, 'with nis mother, he is doing good work for botanical science, one of the results being the addition of a dozen or S!) of new species to the Southern Flora. Mrs. Curti.ss has also enriched Algology by rare finds and new species. — W. W. Calkins.
Recent Publications. — Revision of tJic Genus Fmus, and descrip-
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 59
tion of Pinus Elliottii, by Dr. George Engelmann. — This is a folio pamphlet of about 30 pages, and contains three fine plates drawn on stone by Mr. Paulus Roetter. The author has taken hold of a per- plexing genus, and with his usual patience and success, has worked it through, presenting us in this Revision the results of years of investi- gation. A full description is given of the structure of stem, leaves, and flowers of the genus, and then follows a new arrangement of the species with notes upon such as the author himself has examined. The position of the resm ducts in the leaves has been taken as one of the most important characters in the sub-division ot the genus. This character together with that furnished by the presence and position of the hypoderm or "strengthening" cells makes the leaves a most impor- tant factor in the determination of the species, second only to the cone scales. The form of the fruit scale, together with other less important characters, constitute two natural sections of the genus, mainly Strobus and Pinaster. The subsections are then distinguished by the position of the resin ducts in the leaf. Then comes the char- acter of subterminal or lateral position of the female ament and the cone, making the number of leaves in a sheath quite a secondary character. This system preserves both natural and geographical alli- ances. The genus Pinus contains between 60 anU 70 species, of which the author enumerates 45 as having been examined by himself. Two new species are described, P. Wrightii and P. Elliottii, the for- mer being a Cuban pine, the latter growing along our southeastern coast from South Carolina to Florida, and thence westward along the gulf border, anii bearing the reputation of being by far the handsom- est of all the southern pmes.
Ferns of North America, Parts 24-27. — With a quadruple number this magnificent work has concluded. While glad to have the com- pleted work, we are sorry that this is the end, for we will miss the pleasurable excitement that each number brought with it and the eager haste with which the broad pages were cut, the life-like figures studied, and the clear text glanced over. This concluding number con- tains illustrations of Aspidiitm patens, Swz.; IVoodsia Oregana, Eaton; W.obtusa, Torr. ; IV. scopulina, Eaton; Onocleasensibilis, L.; O. St ruth - iopteris, Yio^man, ( Striithiopteris Germanica, VViUd. ) ; Pell(za aspera, Baker ; Notholxna Parryi, Eaton ; Cheilanthes Lindhcimeri, Hook ; Phegopteris polypodioides, Lee; Aspidium juglandifolium, Kunze; Asple- nium Filixfamina, Bernh. ; Adiantum tenerum, Swz. ; Pteris longifolia, L. ; Cheilanthes Fendleri, Hook ; C. myriophylla, Desv. ; C. gracillima, Eaton ; Aspleniiim dentatum, L. ; Aspidium mohrioides, Bory, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Brong. ; Asplcnium firmum, Kunze ; Ophio- glossum vulgatum, L. ; O. crotalophoroides, Walt. ( O. bulbosum, Mx, ) ; O. nudicatde, L. f. ; 0. palmatum, Plumier. The last plate is the eightieth.
Notes on the Bartratn Oak, by Isaac C. Martindale. — This is a pamphlet of 24 pages giving the whole history of this much doubted species, collecting from various botanical works all the facts concern- ing it, many of which are very interesting. The object is to give
6o BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
sufificient testimony for its re-establishment to specific rank under the name of Q. heterophylla, Mx.
American Agriculturist. — We can imagine no better journal than this for the class to which it addresses itself. With a competent botan- ist in charge of it, all readers can rely upon its scientific accuracy and freedom from scientific rubbish. The May number contains an arti- cle which ventilates pretty thoroughly a late transaction of the De- partment of Agriculture. If any man in the country can speak with authority upon grasses, that man is Dr. Thurber. The only wonder is that the so-called seed of "Bermuda Grass" was not submitted to Dr. Vasey, the Botanist of the Department, who could have decided the matter with equal authority.
Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club ^ March. — The table of con- tents is as follows : Proceedings of the Torrey Club ; Notes on the Flora of Plainfield, N. J.; Notes on a Botanical Trip through N. W. New Jersey ; Additions to U. S. Phalloidei ; Correlation between the Odor of the Phalloids and their Relative Frequency ; The North- Jersey Botanical Club ; Botanical News ; Juncus setaceus.
Kritisches ■ Verzeichniss alter bis j'etzt bcschrieben luficaceen nebst Diag nosenneuer Arte7i voxvYxdiWz Buchenau. — Prof. Buchenau of Bremen, has published this work of 112 pages after having collected material for some 20 years. First there is given a long catalogue of species and authors, occupying 60 pages. The next 45 pages are taken up with remarks on some of the species and diagnoses of new species. The last few pages are devoted to an attempt at a nat- ural arrangement of hitherto described Juncace(^. The work will be furnished by Prof. Buchenau, postpaid to any address, for one dollar.
A Catalogue of the Forest Tices of North America, by C. S. Sargent. — This is a catalogue to be published in connection with the Report, on the Forest Wealth of the United States. It is sent out in this pre- liminary form with every other page left blank for notes, for the pur- pose of collecting further information before the final publication. The list contains 342 species, and information is asked upon such points as the following : extreme geographical range of any species, regon and elevation where any species is principally multiplied and reaches its greatest perfection, the geological formation most favora- ble, dimensions of remarkably developed specimens of any species, common or local name, purposes for which the wood of any species is employed, products of any species other than wood.
Erratum. — In the first line on page 27, March, 1880, for "two inches" read two lines.
iERBAP,rjM,jj
Botanical Gazette.
Vol. V. JUNE, 1880. No. 6.
Editorial. — Leers, the German botanist, to whom the genus Leersia was dedicated, accidentally receives from the types of the Ga- zette a treatment almost as rough as the sheaths of his gramineous nam sake. His name was printed "Leen" on ])age 140, and the en- deavor to correct it on page 53 produced "Leer's."
In the notice of Dr. Engelmann's admirable Revision of the Genus Piints, we inadvertently stated that only forty-five of the spe- cies— those upon which notes are appended— had been examined by himself. An inexcusable error ; for the author distinctly declares, on page 15, that he had examined every species in his enumeration.
In Mr. T. J. Howell's advertisement of Oregon plants in the last Gazette, it was stated that he would botanize in Wyoming Ter- ritory during the coming season. It should have read Washington Territory, a correction which we hope will be noticed by all desiring to purchase western plants.
Mr. a. H. Curtiss is preparing for a tour of the Florida Reefs, and afterwards expects to go into the interior of the State. We may expect some rich results.
The Death of Mr. Coe F. Austin should have been noticed before in the Gazette. The announcement came with a shock to those who were only acquainted with Mr. Austin through correspond- ence. The Gazette was indebted to him for many valuable notes on Mosses and Liverworts, and such seemed to be the vigor of his in- tellect, the quickness of his observation, that they were by no means associated in our minds with a feeble body and failing health. He died at the age of 48, at his birthplace, Closter, N. J. His widow has put on sale his valuable collections of Musci and Hepaticai, and it is to be hoped that botanists will prompdy procure sets, "both for their own sakes and the sake of the family of this devoted scientific worker." The prices are as follows : Musci Ai)palachiani, $25 ; supplement to Musci, $6; Hepaticre Boreali Americanje, $15.
In the same connection we would mention the death of John Carey. He died at Blackheath, near London, March 26 ult., in the 83d year of his age. Mr. Carey contributed the articles on Salix and on Cairx to the first edition of Gray's Manual.
At nearly the same date, another eminent botanist died at Paris, Wm. Ph. Schimper, whose name is so familiar to bryological students. He was in his 73d year. Twenty years of his life were devoted to the publication of what is called "a grand scientific monu- ment," the Bryologia Europeza. "This contain^ in six quarto voli4mes a detailed description of all the species of Mosses known in Europe, each illustrated by a full plate of figures, beautifully and exactly re-
62 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
producing the characters of the divers parts of the plants and of their variations." Prof. Schimper's later years were devoted to the study of vegetable paleontology.
The Botanic Garden at Cambridge is no longer a local, but a national concern. The eyes and thoughts of the botanists of this country are directed to it as naturally as are those of English, in fact the world's, botanists, to the Kew Gardens. There we find the largest herbarium, the largest library, the largest collection of living plants, indigenous to our own country, to be found anywhere on the continent. But still we can have more, and what is more to the point, we are going to have it. The present director, Prof. George L. Goodale, is a man of indomitable energy, and his heart is in this work of developing the Garden. He can keep more irons in the fire at once, and have them all hot, than any gentleman of our ac- quaintance. Of course improvement means money, and money is what botanists are not generally blessed with, and hence we will not make a financial appeal to them, although about $80,000 would be very acceptable. But botanists, more than any other persons, know good plants and where they can be procured, and if the botanists of this country would make it a point to send good living roots or seeds of their local rarities to Cambridge, they would be doing themselves very little inconvenience, and might do the Garden great good. The best plan would be to send to the Director a list of rare plants whose roots or seeds can be procured by the writer, and then all needless trouble would be avoided. Mr. Sereno Watson has in charge the naming of the large collection already under cultivation, and his name is a guarantee to botanists that all the labels can be depended upon.
Vitality of the Seeds of Serotinous Cones. — On page 54 Prof. Sargent gave the results of his experiments with serotinous (closed) cones of Finns contorta, which I had collected in 1874 in Colorado, kept for more than four years in a garret, and sent to him in the spring of 1879. Seeds of cones 13 years old and 10 years old did not germinate ; one out of six of 9 year old seeds, one out of eleven of 8 year old seeds, one out of three of 7 year old and one out of four of 6 year old seeds germinated and grew up well ; those of 5 year old cones did not come up. Prof. Sargent pronounces the result to be unsatisfactory. To me it seems to be eminently satisfactory. It proved that part of the seeds from cones 5 to 9 years old had re- tained their vitality and that those that are older than 9 years failed ; younger ones would undoubtedly have also germinated had such been experimented upon. The result shows that pine seeds of sero- tinous cones, or, to be more exact, seeds of Finns cotiiorta, kept under the circumstances detailed above, could and did retain their vitality a number of years — even nine years — while the perishable nature of pine seeds under ordinary circumstances is well known. The econ- omy or the effect of keeping tlre^ cones closed is therefore evidently the preservation of the vitality of the seeds for a number of years be- yond their maturity. What is not fully known and what will have to
BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 63
be investigated, is how and when such seeds of serotinous cones are eventually liberated and made available, and whether not a great many of them at last perish, the cones never opening. — G. Engel-
MANN.
Fraxinus quadrangulata has, at least about Allenton, in St. Louis county, Missouri, hermaphrodite flowers. Mr. G. W. Let- terman finds it there common on rocky hills where it is a small tree or shrub with blunt angles of the branchlets, and in rich bottom lands, where the tree is large, and the angles of the branchlets sharp and even winged. Leaves are sometimes in threes when the branch- lets show six angles. The terminal buds are gray-downy. In both localities the flowers are hermaphrodite. The calyx is practically ab- sent, or indicated only by two obscure knobs or two minute scales, alternating with the stamens ; the anthers are sessile and (before open- ing) reniform, their two cells being united above ; stamens somewhat persistent at least to the beginning of May, when the young obovate- oblong fruits, already somewhat twisted (which twist is more marked in the mature fruit), have reached about half their full size. How does the species behave in other parts of the country'-* The style of Fraxinus Americana is very slender — much longer than the ovary ; that of F. viridis does not much exceed the ovary. — G. Engelmann.
NoTUL.E ExiGU/E. — Tn.iEE-FLOWERED Bloodroot. — Among the anomalies occasionally met with, the most unexpected is a scape of Saw^uinaria Canadensis, found by Mr. E. N. Wheeler, in the vicinity of Boston, bearing a pair of opposite bracts about half an inch below the terminal flower, each bract with a well-formed flower in its axil !
Trillium sessile, as we learn from Mr. Lehman, of Salem, North Carolina, and from a specimen sent by him. abundantly occurs in the neighborhood of Kingston, Tenn., with bright yellow petals ; and I have recently heard of this form from other western sources. S]5ecimens, and especially living roots, taken up in autumn, are desired.
Perularia virescens is the proper name for Habenaria [Peru- laria) virescens oi Gray's Manual. The examination of fresh speci- mens shows the ^'cuculli bivalves" of Lindley, the two lips of the base of the anther-cell which fairly cover the gland. In Florida specimens just received from Miss Reynolds, of Florida, the outer lip is the larger, or the one which principally protects the gland. How is it in the northern plant ? It has long since been announced by me in Am. Jour. Sci. , that Orchis rotiindifolia, Pursh, is a true Orchis. — A. Gray.
Platanthera rracteata, Torr. — This is usually regarded as a summer flowering species. In my garden, where it has bloomed for the first time this season, it is the earliest of many that I have. The first flowers were open on the 26th of April, and half of the spike had opened by the ist of May. Hitherto Orchis spcctabilis has been the
64 BOTANICAL GAZETTE.
first to open in my gardens, but this season Cypripedhim pa7-viflon4m will beat it. This will be open by the middle of May. My Platan- thera was originally from Massachusetts, and being from a more north- ern region, required, perhaps, less heat to advance it than the same species from locations nearer home.
Mr. Wheeler, of Berlin, Mass., finds it in bloom the last week in June at Winchester, N. H., at an altitude of i,ooo feet ; so that the time given in the books (July and August), even in its average locations, is probably much too late. — T. Meehan, Germantoivn, Phil.
Double Thalictrum anemonoides. — Double Thalictrums are occasionally found, as many instances are on record in the literature of the past one hundred years. Those which I have seen have been white, and, as the florists would say, rather semi-double than double. I have one now in flower sent me last year by Mr Dory, of Spring- field, Ohio, that is as double as it is possible to be, and of a pretty, rosy tint of white. The petals are as regularly arranged as in a first- class double Camellia. The object of this note is to encourage ob- servers still to look for double ones ; as although double ones are now not novelties, there may be novel shades of color. — T. M.
CoB^A scandens. — It may be worth noting that the flowers of Cohxa- scandens^ the familiar hot-house climber, are distinctly pro- tcrandrous. At the time that the stamens are shedding their pollen, the trifid stigma is completely closed, nor does it open until