KSPR SO Wan WH ey Kia La} A AN \ a A ae ay ANY) ane TORREYA A Montruiy JouRNAL oF BotTanicAL Notes anp NEws JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873 LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST Volume IX. NEW YORK SIND eH i i. pao ERRATA, VOLUME 8 Page 29, 2d line from bottom, for 305 read 305. Page 48, 4th line, for Corprinus read Coprinus, Page 49, title of picture, omit comma after Saxifraga. Page 50, 11th line, for Grimmias read Grimmias. Page 50, 13th line, for Ga/uwms read Galiums. Page 84, roth line, complete the brackets. Page 86, 3d line, for It read “* It. Page 86, 13th line, for size read size”’’. Page 86, 21st line, swdsttute semicolon for comma after D. C. Page 94, Oth line, for f read If. Page 97, 5th line from bottom, for Hicoria glabra read HIicoria GLABRA. Page 98, 6th line from bottom, for Juglans nigra read JUGLANS NIGRA. Page 104, 5th line, omz¢ comma afer included. Page 136, 4th line, for Frond read ‘‘ Frond. Page 136, 13th line, for Rootstock read ‘‘ Rootstock. Page 139, 1st line, for figures 6, 7, 8, and 9g read figures 6, 7, &, and 9. Page 155, 19th line, ov Rhipsalis Cassutha ~ead RuipsaLis Cas- SUTHA. Page 156, 2oth line, for Rhipsalis alata read RHIPSALIS ALATA. Page 160, for Sept. 21, 1908, read Sept. 21, 1907. Page 160, for Symposium of 1909 vead Symposium of 1908. Page 161, 12th line from bottom, for Gymnopogon ambiguus (Mx.) B.S.P. read Gymnopogon brevifolius Trin. Page 162, 15th line, for Pogonia diviricata read Pogonia varicata. Page 164, 13th line from bottom, before Pyrola secunda L. insert Aralia spinosa 1. Georgetown. Page 164, gth line from bottom, for Gentcana puberula Mx. ? read Gentiana Llliotiia Chapm. (fide Britton). Page 167, roth line, for Wedelel/a read Wedeliella. Page 167, 14th line, for Wedeliella cristata read Wedeliella cristata. Page 167, 15th line, for Wedeliella glabra read Wedeliella glabra. Page 167, 16th line, for Wedeliella tncarnata read Wedeliella in- carnata. Page 167, 18th line, for Wedeliella incarnata anodonta read Wedeli- ella incarnata anodonta. Page 167, 2oth line, for Wedelella incarnata villosa read Wedeliella incarnata villosa. iii iV Page 167, 22d line, for Wedeliella incarnata nudata read Wedeliella incarnata nudata. Page 173, 16th line, for /uscraea read Furcraea. Page 174, 1oth line from bottom, for Paoso read Paso. Page 180, 3d line, omzt comma after it. Page 200, 3d line from bottom, supply comma Jefore and. Page 212, 13th line, for Ayrthronium read Erythronium. Page 218, 2d line, omzt comma a/fer species. DATES OF PUBLICATION No. 1, for January. Pages I-20. Issued January 26, 1909. No. 2, February. 21-44. February 26, 1909. No. 3, March. 45-64. March 26, 1909. No. 4, April. 65-88. April 8, 1909. No. 5, May. 89-108. April 30, 1909. No. 6, June. 109-132, June t, 1909. No. 7, July. 133-152. . July 1, 1909. No. 8, August. 153-176. August 3, 1909. No. 9, September. 177-196. September 27, 1909. No. 10, October. 197-216, October 26, 1909. No. 11, November. 217-240. November 18, 1909. No. 12, December. -241— 284, December 31, 1609. Vol. 9 ‘ January, Ig09 No. I TORREYA A Monrutiy Journat or BoTanicaL Nores AND News EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873 CONTENTS A New Genus of Fossil Fagaceae from Colorado: ARTHUR HOLLICK ........... Mae Rust of Timothy > FRANK D. KERN. se, ol oe eee dane ete ae 3 Aberrant Societies of Sanguinaria and Trillium: RosweLu H. JoHNSoN a PA oad 5 Reviews: Thaxter’s Contribution toward a Monograph of the Laboulbeniaceae. Bart Ei MARSHAL UAL OW EE, 7. Lip ass 7). ceth to de gene Seve ame mona tiahn staan ce 6 Proceedings of the Club: Percy Witson, Marsuart A. Howe......... ASE ey ie Mia Of Interest to Teachers :....... Me CAs Cato sdtore Sele eho ahis So Moca We Cone Dee pae eres Penne 14 Bigs Item stoi Seychelles Piha Geapei aia Cate ke aNd auld .ae Mab ase cael Bate Aa ORs Ae a 17 PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB Ar 4x NorwH Queen Srreut, Lancaster, Pa. By Tue New Era Prinrinc Company [Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter. ] THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1909 President HENRY H. RUSBY, M.D. Vice-Presidents, | is oe EDWARD S. BURGESS, Pu.D. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D. Recording Secretary PERCY WILSON Botanical: Garden, Bronx Park, New York City Editor Treasurer ; et MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pxu.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, Puar.D. Botanical Garden, Bronx Park College of Pharmacy, rz5'Weést 68th St. 95 New York City id New York City . Associate Editors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M.,'M.D. TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, PH: Di’: JEAN BROADHURST, A.M. | WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, Pu.D. PHILIP DOWELL, P.D.’ : CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, ‘A.M. ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., Px. D. HERBERT M. RICHARDS, S.D. TorreyA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or _ express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City | banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be ~ furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, ToRREY BoTANICAL CLup, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHURST Teachers College, Columbia University New York City TORREYA “= January, I909 Vol. 9. No. t. ANEW GE NUSROLe MOSSIL, PAGACHAE PROM COLORADO By ARTHUR HOLLICK Among the many beautifully preserved specimens of fossil plant remains from the Tertiary shales of Florissant, Colorado, sent to me for examination by Professor Theodore D. A. Cock- erell, are the two here figured. They present the rare com- bination of leaves and fruit, the latter in different stages of development, attached to their respective branches, thus enabling us to identify the several parts as belonging to one and the same species. Detached leaves of this species are abundantly represented in the shales, and years ago these were described and subsequently figured by Lesquereux under the name Ylanera longifolia ; + but the correctness of their reference to this genus has generally been regarded as questionable by those who had occasion to critically examine them. The nervation of the leaves is not typical of Flanera, and the characters of the fruit, now found unmistakably associated with them, demonstrate beyond question that the original generic identification was erroneous. In view of these circumstances it therefore becomes advisable to determine, if possible, the correct botanical affinities of the remains and to redescribe them in the light of our newly acquired information concerning them. The fructification is, superficially, so strongly suggestive of the Fagaceae that it is difficult to resist the conviction that relation- ship at least with this family is clearly indicated, and the leaves * Illustrated with the aid of the McManes fund. Piedin Aya, Ie, WW, Sy Ceol, jsiway, Were, nye Agin iWeys.) INGet Whe iS Geol. Surv. Terr. 7 (Tert. Fl.) : 189. p/. 27. 7. 4-6. 1878. [No. 12, Vol. 8, of TORREYA, comprising pages 277-315, was issued January 6, 1909. | ] 2 also are fagaceous in their general characters; but I have failed to make entirely satisfactory comparison with similar parts of species in any existing genus of the family; although several paleobotanical writers have referred certain fossil leaves more or less similar to ours in nervation and dentition to Fagws and Castanca.* Taking all of these facts into consideration, therefore, the course which appears to be least open to objection is to regard the speci- mens as belonging to a species of an extinct fagaceous genus and to redescribe it under a new generic name. Fagopsis longifolia (Lesq.) comb. nov. lanera longijolia \Lesq., Sixth Ann. Kept. U) S) Geolitsiime Mein S 72) syn ee S73 Fagus longifolia (Lesq.) Hollick and Cockerell, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 24: 88 (footnote). 1908. General arrangement of growth of leaves and fruit on terminal branchlets similar to that of Fagus Americana Sweet ; leaves = Fic. 1. Fagopsis longifolia (Lesq.) Hollick. Nat. size showing immature fruit. * Fagus dentata Goepp. Paleontogr. 2: 274. pl. 2g. f. 3. 1852; Heer, FI. Poss. Arct. 1: fl. zo. f. 2, 76, 9; Gaudin and Strozzi, Mém. Gisem. Feuilles @ss, Wosezne 28 Wh Os jb FF jth We ffs Me Fagus castaneaefolia Ung., Synops. Plant. Foss. 218. 1845; Chlor. Prot., 104, pl. 28. f. rz. 1847; Heer, 2. c., f. 7a, 8. (= Castanea castaneaefolia (Ung.) Knowlton, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. No. 152, 60.) Ete. ae 3 elliptical-lanceolate in outline; margins coarsely and regularly crenate or bluntly dentate; nervation strictly craspedodrome, the secondary nerves almost parallel, each one terminating in the apex of a marginal dentition; fruit apparently single, on a Fic. 2. Fagopsis longifolia (Lesq.) Hollick. Nat. size showing mature fruit. stout, short peduncle, somewhat ovoid in shape and covered with spinous bracts when immature; globose, rough, and apparently destitute of bracts when mature. Tertiary shales, station 14, Florissant, Colo., June, 1907. eune) 1, specimen collected by; Vins. I) De Ae Cockerell: Figure 2, specimen collected by T. D. A. Cockerell. Specimens in Museum N. Y. Bot. Gard. NEw YorK BOTANICAL GARDEN IMBNE, AROS I Ole TMNT ee By FRANK D. KERN Timothy rust was reported from this country as early as 1881 or 1882 by Trelease in the Transactions of the Wisconsin Acad- emy of Science ¢ but it is only in very recent years that it has been found in sufficient abundance to attract much attention or to be the cause of any alarm. Except for this single report, rust on timothy has been so rare in this country that its pre- vious existence might almost be questioned. In 1906 a fairly abundant amount was observed at one or two localities in New York, and in 1907 it was reported from Delaware, West Vir- * Read before the Indiana Academy of Science at the Thanksgiving meeting, Purdue University, November 27, 1908. { Preliminary List of Wisconsin Fungi, Trans.Wis. Acad. Sci. 7: 131. 1885. 4 ginia, and New York again, and also from two localities in On- tario, Canada. In New York it was rather common, having been collected in eight or more localities in different parts of the state. 1908 has added Michigan to its list and Wisconsin has reported it again. It is seemingly increasing in its distribution and occurring in much greater abundance. This spread of a fungous disease on a crop of great importance has caused some anxiety concerning its identity and nature. This has led to some investigation concerning it. In the first place the American and European forms are undoubtedly identical and represent the same species. In the gross appearance of the sori and in the microscopical details of both the summer spores (wredimiospores) and winter spores (Zeliospores) the species is indistinguishable from the black rust of cereals, Puccinia pocult- formis or Puccinia graminis, as it is better known. In 1894 Erikson and Henning separated the timothy rust as a distinct species, Puccinia Phlei-pratensis,* on the grounds that their arti- ficial cultures showed that it probably does not form its aecial stage on the barberry (erderis). An examination of their original report shows, however, that out of nine trials (five in 1892, and four in 1893) while eight gave negative results, one gave a positive result showing pycnia in 16 days and developing aecia in 16 days more. It is noted that the cups formed were unusually small. During the present season eight unsuccessful inoculations on barberry were observed by the writer. Several seasons’ experience with the cultures has shown that negative results are not always to be relied on; they may indicate lack of proper conditions or that infection does not take place readily. The one positive result mentioned ought, it seems, be accorded more weight than all the negative ones together, and proves that it does, even if with difficulty, form its aecial stage upon the barberry. The conclusion is that the timothy rust may be con- sidered a race of Puccinia poculiformis, or a so-called physio- logical species, differing from the typical from in having some- what smaller aecial cups and in the somewhat smaller size of * Die Hauptresultate einer neuen Untersuchung ueber die Getreideroste, II. Zeits. f. Pflanzenkr. 4: 140. 1894. 3) the hyphae of the uredinial mycelium as cytological studies have shown, but there is no positive evidence to show that it can be regarded as a distinct species. Knowing the taxonomic relationship, it may be predicted with reasonable certainty that there is not much danger of the rust transferring to timothy from the other cereals and grasses. It may be expected to become more general in its distribution and may locally do considerable injury ; but in spreading it will be limited, chiefly if not entirely, to passing in the summer spore (uredinial) stage from timothy to timothy. PURDUE UNIVERSITY, LAFAYETTE, INDIANA pm AN “SOCIERIES OF SANGUINARIA AND TRILLIUM By Roswre.L H. JoHNSON Several years ago, in the course of biometric studies on some of our wild flowers, I determined the variation in the number of petals of Sanguinaria Canadensis L., the bloodroot, for several localities. One of these localities gave results so aberrant that it seems desirable to place it upon record. The manuals give the number of petals as 8-12 but always figure it with 8 petals. Dr. Cheney, formerly of the University of Wisconsin, informs me that the modal number is eight in every one of the localities in which he has seen it in that state. The following table gives my results, with a count from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for which I am indebted to Dr. P. H. Dernehl. Place Year| No. 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 Gia eeIS INI NG Chor ndocenneennepHee | ’99 | 102] o fo) Me) 1s) i) || BE | aa SWS, INE load obo ns pacensenerescace 7) || | 3 2 TOS I fo) fo) fo) Glencoe DU sae ease si tenons: JOON 7i51 | 2 Ta) © O o| o Ii tiivenilieres WAVGIGS, ccocnanoacooasona! "O2:)| 10% || © I 98 2 2 i |). © Stony Brook, Mass......... ...... | 799 ZN) | @ Aor sOnlevoMl: 10 Bliresislands lle escscesmete caer 00 &) || © fo) 8 fo) fo) fo) fo) Eagle Heights, Wis..........-.0.+. "Op Ell © (0) 5 | 3© Co) fo) fo) It is evident that in general any other number than 8 petals is a rarity. The society in Yonkers where the count was made is, therefore, a remarkably aberrant one, presenting a polygon of 6 frequency of a peculiar character. The locality was a wooded slope in the area bounded by Midland, Yonkers, Jerome, and McLean Avenues. I have sent this note to Torreya in the hope that some of the local botanists may care to make counts of this species in other surrounding Saxguinaria localities and investigate the nature of this peculiar society. I am reminded, in this connection, of a similar aberrant society of Trillium grandiflorum Salisb. near Williamsville, Erie Co., N. Y. This grove contains an unusually large number of cases of acaulescence, petiolate leaves, and sepalody of the petals. These variations are all known in 77idiium grandiflorum, but they are really common in this particular society. BARTELSVILLE, OKLAHOMA REVIEWS Thaxter’s Contribution toward a [Monograph of the Laboulbeniaceae. Part II* Part II of Professor Thaxter’s monograph of the Laboul- beniaceae is a handsome work of 251 quarto pages and 44 plates and is throughout, as it is almost superfluous to remark, of the same high quality that characterized the first part of the mono- graph, published about twelve years ago. The growth of our knowledge of these small fungous parasites on insects and the manner in which Professor Thaxter has made this special field peculiarly his own is well illustrated by the fact that when he began his studies of the Laboulbeniaceae eighteen or twenty years ago the group in the world as a whole was credited with six described genera (four of them valid) represented by fifteen described species, of which only one was from North America. ‘The present contribution brings the number of described species and varieties up to about five hundred, distributed in more than fifty genera, and the author intimates that during the progress of the work more than one hundred additional new species have accumulated, which must await elaboration at some future time. And this expansion is due in very slight measure to any change *Thaxter, R. Contribution toward a Monograph of the Laboulbeniaceae. Part II. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 13: 219-469. f/. 25- Tie G03: i in point of view as to the taxonomic arrangement of previously known forms; practically all of the forms described as new have been hitherto absolutely unknown. Inthe first part of the mono- graph, printed nearly twelve years ago, the number of known species is given as 158, of which 130 were North American and Ig were European. No summary is given in the present part, but while North America is still apparently in the lead in the number of recognized species, its overwhelming preponderance has doubtless been relatively reduced by an increased knowledge of the Laboulbeniales of the other parts of the world. Professor Thaxter has twice visited Europe for the purpose of examining collections of insects in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Berlin, and Paris, and many exotic species of Laboulbeniales thus detected are here described and figured. His own extensive collections of these entomophilous fungi in South America in 1905-6 still remain to be described. Professor Thaxter devotes a page té refuting Cavara’s conten- tion that the Laboulbeniales are essentially saprophytes rather than parasites, his conclusion being that although “the growth of these plants is not associated with any appreciable injury to the host, it is nevertheless a true parasitism of a typically obligate type.” As to the details of the phylogeny of the group, the author of the monograph modestly and refreshingly ‘‘ confesses his complete agnosticism in these matters, an agnosticism which embraces the question of the origin of the Ascomycetes as a whole, and the determination of the course of evolution in the entire fungus series.’ His conclusion as to the taxonomic posi- tion of the group is summed up as follows: ‘As to the Laboul- beniales, it may be said with safety that they resemble the Flo- rideae in some repects more closely than they do any other plants, while at the same time they are more surely Ascomycetes than many forms included in this group, and the writer sees no suffi- cient reason why they should not be placed in the Pyrenomy- cetes, as a group coordinate with the Perisporiales, Hypo- creales, etc.” A slight bibliographical defect in Professor Thaxter’s mono- graph is the fact that the contribution which now, apparently, we 8 are to consider “ Part I’’, itself consists of a ‘‘ Part I”? and a “ Part II so that some such citation ‘ Thaxter, Monog. La- boulbeniaceae, Part II, pp. 251-396”’ might possibly be inter- preted as referring to the contribution of twelve years ago as well as to that of the present year. But, of course, no one ought to quote the work in any such fashion. If the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are cited, as they should be, any such trifling chance of ambiguity will be obviated. That such a notable extension of human knowledge as is evi- denced in Professor Thaxter’s monograph has been the work of an American scholar, must always remain a source of pride to American botanists. In connection with a contribution of this kind, it occurs to the reviewer to remark that the fungi parasitic on marine algae are still practically unknown and that though they are probably much less numerous than those parasitic on insects, they offer a field that is well worthy of the attention of mycologists. MarsHaLtt A. Howe PROC IDIONGES Os s Ieals, Clowes NOVEMBER 25, 1908 The meeting was called to order at the Museum Building of the New York Botanical Garden at 3:40 Pp. M., with Dr. M. A. Howe inthe chair. There were 14 persons present. The minutes of the meeting of November 10 were read and approved. The resignation of Dr. Valery Havard, dated November 8, 1908, was read. A motion was made and carried that the resig- nation of Dr. Havard be accepted and that his name be trans- ferred to the list of corresponding members. There was no announced scientific program for this meeting, but the following communications were made: _ Dr. Britton showed fruits of the rare and local tree, Priorza copaifera Griseb., which he collected in company with Mr. Wil- liam Harris, at Bachelor's Hall, Jamaica, near where it was originally discovered sixty years ago by Nathaniel Wilson who 9 sent it to Grisebach. vioria is one of the largest trees of Jama- ica, sometimes attaining a height of ninety feet, and is a member of the senna family. So far as is known, this tree is found only on two estates in Jamaica, and grows at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet. This species is characterized by having a one-seeded legume, which is indehiscent. The genus Pyioria is reported to be represented also in the Republic of Panama. Dr. Murrill displayed photographs and colored drawings of several of the larger local fungi. He also explained reproduc- tion of colored drawings by the four-color process. This process seems to be the most satisfactory for representing fungi in colors. Mr. Nash exhibited a living plant of Dendrobium Coelogyne, a rare orchid from Burma, which has just flowered in the con- servatories of the New York Botanical Garden. Specimens of Coelogyne and of other species of Dendrobium were also shown to illustrate the characters of these two genera. While the flowers of Dendrobium Coelogyne resemble those of a Dendrobium, the habit is that of a Coelogyne. The Club adjourned at 4:30 Pp. M. Percy WILSON, Secretary DECEMBER 8, 1908 The meeting was held at the American Museum of Natural History, President Rusby in the chair. About seventy-five per- sons were present. After the reading of the minutes of the pre- ceding meeting, the following persons were elected to member- ship: Miss Jane R. Condit, 1230 Amsterdam Ave., New York City; Mrs. H. Mark Thomas, 239 West 103d St., New York City, and Professor Guy West Wilson, Upper Iowa University, Fayette, lowa. The announced scientific paper of the evening on ‘“‘ Mechanical Response of Plants”’ was then presented by Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose, professor in the Presidency College of Calcutta and author of ‘“ Response in the Living and Non-Liv- ing’’, ‘Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investiga- tion’’, etc. The presentation of the subject was accompanied by an exhibition of some of the ingenious and delicately contrived apparatus constructed by Professor Bose for the purpose of 10 measuring and recording the responses of plants to various stimuli. Following is an abstract of the paper compiled from notes furnished by Professor Bose : The effect of stimulus impinging on a responding tissue is to induce a fundamental molecular derangement. This condition of derangement constitutes excitation. On the cessation of stimulus, there is a slow recovery, the tissue returning to its original condition. This molecular reaction is itself beyond our scrutiny, but it may be shown that we can gauge its intensity and extent by the observation and record of certain concomitant changes induced by it in the responding tissue. Amongst these are (1) changes of form, manifested as mechanical response, and (2) changes of electrical condition, which may be recorded as electrical response. The intensity of the responsive change will obviously depend on the two factors of strength of stimulus and physiological con- dition of the tissue. Hence, when stimulus is constant, the am- plitude of response gives us a measure of the physiological con- dition. Now we know that the changing environment must induce unknown changes in this physiological condition, of which there is no outward sign. But we are here enabled to make the plant itself reveal its condition, by the reply it makes to the blow of a stimulus. A stimulating agent will exalt, and a depressing agent diminish or abolish, this response. We have thus a means of attacking the deeper problem of the physiolog- ical variation in an organism. The speaker had been able to overcome the numerous diffi- culties which occur in connection with the automatic recording of the mechanical response of the plant, by devising three types of instrument. These are (1) the oscillating recorder, (2) the op- tical lever, and (3) the balanced crescograph. In the oscillating recorder, the recording lever is made of light aluminum wire and is suspended vertically on jewelled bearings. This lever is L-shaped, and the shorter arm, at right angles to the longer, is attached to the responding leaf. The great advan- tage conferred by the oscillating recorder lies in the fact that the friction of the writing point against the recording surface is prac- Ail tically eliminated. The source of friction in such arrangements arises from permanence of this contact. In this instrument, how- ever, the writing lever is virtually free, except for the brief inter- vals in which the smoked glass surface is brought into periodic contact with it. For these records, the glass surface moves in a vertical plane by means of clockwork, and a minute oscillation to and fro is given to it by the agency of an electro-magnetic ar- rangement. The period of this oscillation is, say, one fifth of a second, and the record is thus made to consist of a series of dots, separated by time-intervals of one fifth of asecond. Thus wecan see the time-relations of the curve at a glance. For responsive movements of minute leaflets the speaker em- ployed the optical lever. By use of this a very high magni- fication is possible. The record is made ona traveling photo- graphic plate by the spot of light reflected from the optical lever, connected with the responding plant. For the instant detection of the effect of stimulus on the rate of growth, the balanced crescographis used. Here a balanced and stationary point of light undergoes a sudden movement up or down, according as the rate of growth is enhanced or depressed by the action of an external agent. In order to study the effects of external agencies on physio- logical excitability, it is first necessary to obtain a series of normal responses under stimuli of uniform intensity and duration, applied at- regular predetermined intervals. This is accomplished by means of the automatic stimulator, in which an expansible fan periodically closes the exciting circuit. The intervals between successive applications and the period of stimulation are, in this instrument, capable of adjustment at will. In a complete curve of response of the sensitive leaf or leaflet of Mimosa or Liophytum sensitivum, we find (1) a short horizontal line representing the latent period, (2) an up-curve showing attain- ment of maximum reaction ; followed by (3) a down-curve repre- senting the recovery. The latent period in a vigorous A&mosa is about .24 of asecond. The effect of fall of temperature or fatigue results in the prolongation of this latent period to .3 of a second in the former, and .58 in the latter case. The maximum fall of the leaf is attained in 1.5 seconds. Complete recovery takes place in 6 minutes in summer, and in 18 minutes in winter. In a leaflet of Liophytum the maximum fall is attained in .5 of a second and full recovery is reached in 3 minutes. The excitatory fall of the leaf takes place when stimulus is applied at or near the respond- ing point. Seen from different points of view, this reaction will appear as a diminution of turgor in the pulvinus, constituting a negative turgidity-variation ; or a shortening or contraction of the more excitable lower half of the pulvinus. Electrically speaking, this reaction will have its concomitant in an electrical variation of galvanometric negativity. It is convenient to include all these excitatory symptoms together, under the single term negative response. Here, however, we may describe a responsive change of precisely opposite character, which takes place under definite conditions. This postive response consists of an erectile move- ment of the leaf, a positive turgidity-variation, expansion, and an electrical change of galvanometric positivity. The occurrence of this positive response may be demonstrated, in /mosa, by apply- ing stimulus at a point distant from the responding organ. Ina certain experiment this positive or erectile response occurred .6 ofa second after the application of the stimulus, and was followed, 2.8 seconds later, by the normal excitatory fall of the leaf. Here we have a response which is dphasic, positive followed by negative. When stimulus is moderate, and applied ata still greater distance, the response evoked is positive alone. These facts obtain uni- versally, and from them we derive the following law of direct and indirect stimulation: The effect at the responding-region of a strong stimulus trans- mitted to a short distance, or through a good conducting channel, as negative. The effect transmitted to a great distance, or through a semi-conducting channel, ts positive. Responsive movements, like those of the “sensitive” plants so-called, can be detected also in ordinary plants. It will be no- ticed, in Mmosa, that the responsive movement is made possible by the unequal excitability of the upper and lower halves of the pulvinus, the movement being determined by the greater shorten- ing or contraction of the lower. If now we take a hollow tubu- lar organ of some ordinary plant, say the peduncle of daffodil, it is clear that the protected inner side of the tube must be the more excitable. When this is cut into the form of a spiral strip, and excited by means of an electrical shock, we observe a re- sponsive movement to take place by curling, due to the greater contraction of the inside of the strip. This mechanical response is at its maximum at that season which is optimum for the plant. When the plant is killed, its response disappears. In Mimosa, under continuous stimulation, there is a fatigue- reversal, the responsive fall being converted into a movement of erection. The same thing happens in the response of ordinary plants, when the first contractile movement of the spiral, for in- stance, is reversed, under continuous stimulation, to an expansive uncurling. An important series of observations is that on the modification of response by the tonic condition of the tissue. When the con- dition is sub-tonic, response is by the abnormal positive, instead of the normal negative, reaction. A strong or long-continued application of stimulus, however, converts this abnormal positive _ into normal negative. Another important phenomenon is that for which the name of multiple response has been suggested. When the stimulus is very strong, the response is often not single, but repeated, or muitiple. Excess of stimulus is thus seen to remain latent in the tissue, for rhythmic expression later. This storage of en- ergy from the environment may in some cases be so great as to cause the continuance of rhythmic activity, even in the absence of immediate stimulation. We thus obtain a natural transition into so-called spontaneous or autonomous movements. The various peculiarities of the spontaneous movements ex- hibited by Desmodium gyrans, or the telegraph plant, may be studied in the automatic record taken by the optical lever. The rhythmic tissues of the plant are then found to have character- istics which correspond to those of similar tissues in the animal. Lowering of temperature enhances the amplitude and diminishes the frequency of pulsation in the rhythmic cardiac tissue of the animal, The same is found to be true of the pulsatory activity of 14 Desmodium gyrans. The eftects of various drugs are also very similar. The first result of the application of an anaesthetic like ether is to evoke a transient exaltation, followed by depression and arrest. Poisonous gases also induce a continuous depression of activity. A strong poisonous solution, again, induces a rapid arrest of pulsation. It has thus been shown that by the waxing and waning of re- sponse, the variations in the plant’s physiological activity, under changing external conditions, may be gauged. It has been shown also how numerous and varied are the factors that go to make up the complexity of plant-responses. It has been shown that stimulus may be modified in its effect, according as it is direct or indirect, and feeble, moderate, or strong. The modify- ing influence of the tonic condition of the tissue has also been shown, according as this is normal, sub-tonic, or fatigued. In the numberless permutations and combinations of these varied factors lies the infinite complexity of the responsive phenomena of life. After a discussion of Professor Bose’s paper by Doctors Rusby, Richards, and Pond, the meeting of the Club was ad- journed to the second Tuesday in January. MarsHALL A. Howe, Secretary pro tem. OM JONINBIRIES I IO) WAC IBUSIR'S Foop FOR THOUGHT School Science and Mathematics for January gives the following “simple plant experiment” by E. S. Gould, of Galva, Illinois. “The following device for showing the necessity of CO, in photo- synthesis may be of use to teachers of botany, especially where apparatus is limited. “A bell glass with a rubber stopper is placed on an ordinary pump plate. The tube Cof the plate is closed with a cork. In the cylinder inside is placed NaOH or Ca(OH), to absorb the CO,. Air is forced through tube A (tube B being open) for a few minutes until the most of the air in the bell glass is devoid of CO,. What CO, is left in the glass will be absorbed by the NaOH in the cylinder. The air is changed every day so that if 15 there were anything in air beside CO, that helped in photosyn- thesis the plant would be sure to have it. Tube & is kept closed except when it seems necessary to introduce water through it to the plant. Before commencing the experiment the leaves of the plant were found to contain starch, but after continuing it three days all traces of starch disappeared, thus proving that CO, is necessary in photosynthesis. ‘The department editor * wishes to raise four questions relative to this experiment : 1. Do the pupils know enough chemistry to enable them to prove that NaOH or Ca(OH), takes CO, from the air ? 2. Is it true that forcing the air through the liquid in the cylinder by means of tube A, and out of the bell jar through tube £& “ for a few minutes’ would render “ most of the air in the bell jar” devoid of CO,? 3. How does the pupil know that in watering the plant through tube & you do not introduce CO, sufficient for the plant’s uses ? 4. Does this prove “‘ that CO, is necessary in photosynthesis ”’? “Do not all the points raised in these questions refer to things that the student must take for granted upon the authority of the teacher? If so, would it be quite as well for the pupil to assume in the beginning that the teacher is correct when he says that CO, is necessary to the process of photosynthesis ?”’ The Outlook of December 19 has a short, practical article on forest fires and their prevention, written by Alfred L. Donaldson. The increasing interest taken in our national forests is indicated by Speaker Cannon’s statement that three years ago they cost three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, this year, nearly four million, and the estimates for next year are about six mil- lion dollars. The North American Review for November, 1908, contains an article by Gifford Pinchot on “ The Foundations of Prosperity ”’ which is well worth reading. Mr. Pinchot remarks that the * Professor O, W. Caldwell, School of Education, University of Chicago. It is with his permission that this article is reprinted from School Science and Mathematics. — Epiror’s Norte. 16 “Forest Service is the sole present example of a branch of our © National Government which finds the reason for its existence in the need of a long look ahead” ; and he rightly emphasizes the present discussion of the conservation of natural resources as “the most fundamental question now before the country.” For “if we succeed in the conservation of our natural resources, we shall have an opportunity to succeed in everything else.” Science has recently printed another article on the coconut bacterial disease known as bud-rot, which is becoming very com- mon in tropical America. ‘It is confined to the crown, or ter- minal bud, of the tree, in which it causes a soft, vile-smelling rot. Owing to the great height of the coconut trees and the difficulty experienced in getting at the terminal bud, surrounded as it is by the sheathing cases of the petioles of the leaves, it is almost impossible to treat the disease locally.’’ The results of the investigations carried on by the United States Department of Agriculture and by appropriations in Cuba are expected to prove helpful. At present the disease seems to be increasing rapidly and none but very early cases are checked by treatment. Professor Edward L. Nichols, retiring president of the Amerian Association for the Advancement of Science, in his Baltimore address on ‘“‘ Science and the Practical Problems of the Future’”’, said, ‘“‘ Forests may be renewed and the soil restored to its maxti- mum fertility but the problem which is presently to confront the race is that of civilized existence without recourse to energy stored by the slow processes of nature. This problem must be definitely solved before the complete exhaustion of our inherited capital. The problem is not without conceivable solution, since the annual accession of energy from the sun, did we know how to utilize it without awaiting the slow processes of storage employed by nature, is ample for every thinkable need of the future inhabitants of our planet. Estimates of the constant of solar radiation show that about 2.18 kilowatts of power is continually received from the sun for every square meter of the earth’s surface or over seven and a half millions of horse-power per square mile. The uf present use of power in the United States is about eighty million horse-power or one horse-power per capita. This quantity is likely to increase more rapidly than the population in the future unless curtailed by lack of fuel, but it is evident that a very small fraction of the sun’s radiation would meet all demands.” NEWS ITEMS Mr. E. H. Eaton has been made professor of biology at Hobart College. Mr. A. J. Grout has been transferred to the Curtis High School, New Brighton, Staten Island. Dr. J. K. Small has recently been sent to Florida by the New York Botanical Garden for a month’s collecting trip. In December, 1908, New York State, at a cost of about $600,000, added 15,000 acres to its forest reservations in the Adirondack and Catskill regions. Mr. Raphael Zon is studying forest management in Europe, preparatory to taking charge of the experimental work of the United States Forest Service. The Sullivant Moss Society met at Baltimore with the Am- erican Association for the Advancement of Science. Several interesting papers were presented. Mr. C. A. McLendon, of the South Carolina Experiment Sta- tion, has accepted the position of botanist and plant pathologist at the Georgia Experiment Station. On January 11 the United States Senate passed a bill appro- priating $90,000 for acquiring all private holdings in the Sequoia and General Grant national parks, California. Collections are now being made for the New York Botanical Garden along the northern coast of Cuba by Dr. J. A. Shafer, who expects to spend three months in that region. The State Agricultural College at New Brunswick, New Jersey, offers several short winter courses in general agriculture, fruit farming, market gardening, etc. Tuition is free to residents of the state. 18 An address by Professor N. L. Britton on “‘ Darwin’s Work in Botany” will form part of the Darwin exercises which are to be held at the American Museum of Natural History by the New York Academy of Sciences on February 12. Dr. James. Fletcher, botanist and entomologist, died last November in Montreal. He had served as botanist at the Dominion Experimental Farms, and Dr. L. O. Howard has termed him ‘the heart and soul of the Botanical Club of Canada.” Earl Grey, Governor-General of Canada, and President Diaz, of Mexico, have been asked by President Roosevelt to send rep- resentatives to a national conference on the conservation of natu- ral resources, which will be held in Washington, February 18, 1909. A prize of $1000 is offered by the Naples Table Association for promoting laboratory research by women. The prize is awarded in April, 1909, for the third time; it is given for the best thesis, written by a woman, on a Scientific subject and must be based on independent research in biological, chemical, or physical science. Further information will be given by Mrs. A. D. Mead, 283 Wayland Avenue, Providence, R. I. The Baltimore meetings of Section G of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science alternated with those of the Botanical Society of America. The vice-presidential address of Professor Bessey was given Tuesday afternoon. An unusually large number of papers — over sixty — was presented, and it was necessary to run two parallel subsections of the section: one for pathology and one for morphology, physiology, ecology, and taxonomy. The officers for next year are: Professor D. P. Pen- hallow, of McGill University, vice-president, and H. C. Cowles, secretary. The Botanical Society of America together with the Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology and the American Myco- logical Society held several sessions in the Eastern High School building. President W. F. Ganong presided. Papers by E. C. Jeffrey and J. M. Coulter on vascular anatomy and its recent de- velopment opened the first scientific program. The symposium on ecology included the following papers : 19 ‘¢The Trend of Ecological Philosophy’’, H. C. Cowles; ‘‘ The Present Problems of Physiological Plant Ecology’’, b. E. Livingstone ; ‘¢ Vegetation and Altitude’’, C. H. Shaw ; ‘‘ Local Distribution of Desert Plants’’, V. M. Spalding ; and ‘‘ The Relation of the Climatic Factors to Vegetation’’, E. N. Transeau. A special Darwin Memorial Session was held on Thursday afternoon. The program was as follows : “« General Sketch and Estimate of Darwin’s Work on Cross-pollina- tion in Plants’’, William Trelease ; ‘‘ Estimate of Darwin’s Work on Movement in Plants’’, H. M. Richards; ‘‘ Darwin’s Influence on Plant Ecology and Plant Geography’’, . E. Clements. Many other interesting papers were presented at the regular sessions. Dr. J. C. Bose, by invitation, gave his address on “ Elec- trical Response in Plants.” The address of the retiring president, Professor G. F. Atkinson, was given at McCoy Hall, Tuesday evening. The botanists’ dinner, held on Wednesday evening, was attended by about one hundred and twenty people. The officers for the new year are as follows: President, Roland Thaxter ; secretary, Duncan S. Johnson; and treasurer, Arthur Hollick. An editorial in Sczence for January 8 says in discussing the Baltimore meeting of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, ‘‘ It seems to be scarcely credible, but it is the case, that there were on the program published by the associa- tion the titles of more than one thousand papers to be read at the meeting. The great majority of the papers represent research work of a high order. It is sometimes said that the United States is not doing its part in the advancement of science, but this program is a conclusive answer to such criticism. No other country except Germany could hold a meeting in which so many scientific researches maintaining such high standards could be presented as the result of a year’s work, and Germany has never ” held such a meeting. The Darwin centenary memorial exercises were held January 1, at McCoy Hall, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, as previously announced. Beginning at 10 A. M., the entire day was devoted to the commemoration of the rooth anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition of the ‘‘ Origin of Species”. The exercises were held under 20 the joint auspices of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science and the American Society of Naturalists. All the addresses are to be printed in a memorial volume to be pub- lished by Henry Holt and Co., of New York. The program for the whole day included: 1. Introductory Remarks, Prof. Thomas C. Chamberlin, Univer- sity of Chicago, President of the Association. 2. ‘Fifty Years of Darwinism: Past and Future Experimental Work Bearing on Natural Selection’’, Dr. Edward B. Poulton, Hope Professor of Zodlogy, Oxford University. 3. ‘©The Theory of Natural Selection from the Standpoint of Bot- any’’, Dr. John M. Coulter, University of Chicago. 4. ‘*Determinate Variation’’, Dr. Charles O. Whitman,* University of Chicago. 5. ‘* The Isolation Factor’’, Dr. David Starr Jordan,* Stan‘ord University. 6. ‘* The Cell in Relation to Fleredity and Evolution’’, Dr. E. B. Wilson, Columbia University. 7 ihe: Directs Mitect of Environment 7.4) Dr) Daniel mies Dougal, the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 8:4 The Behavior of Unit @haractersin Heredity ~, Dr sive. Castle, Harvard University. g. ‘‘Mutation’’, Dr. Charles B. Davenport, Carnegie Institution of Washington. to. ‘‘ Adaptation’’, Dr. Carl H. Eigenmann, Indiana University. tz. ‘* Recent Paleontological Evidence of Evolution ’’, Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Columbia University. 12. ‘*Evolution and Psychology’’, Dr. G. Stanley Hall,* Clark University. The subscription dinner given in the evening was attended by about three hundred people. Appropriate addresses followed the dinner. * Not read. TORREYA NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year 1909 Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to ew sub- ) scribers of either journals and also. is: not open to. members of the American Nature-Study ‘Society, of which THe Nature-Stupy Review “is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms may be credited as member's fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. | Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB Columbia University New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (a) BULLETIN A monthly journal devoted to general boa established ~ 1870. Vol. 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text — and 40 full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, 14. shillings. Dulau & Co.,37 Soho Square, London, are agents for England. | Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each; Vols. 28-35 three dollars each. Circle copies (30 cts.) will be furnished only when not ‘breaking complete volumes. (2) MEMOIRS The Memoirs, established 1889, are published at irregular intervals. Volumes 1-11 and 13 arenow completed; Nos, 1 and 2 of Vol. 12 and No. 1 of Vol. 14 have been issued. The sub- scription. price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. The numbers can also be purchased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application. — (3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within. one hundred miles of New ; York, 1888. °, Price,-$1.00:; Corsespondence relating to the above ee should be addressed to THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB Columbia University NEW YORK CITY Vol. 9 ay | February, 1909 No. 2 ORREYA A Monruty Journar or Boranicat Notes and News ' EDITED FOR MUN THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873 CONTENTS : : North American Rose Rusts: J. Cy ARTHUR: fo: Sa acee neanace dey tcc opeae plat 2E The Perennation of the Clover Dodder, Cuscuta Epithymum Murr: Fy C STEWART AND G. F. ERIN 0, fe hoe al, eee enh | Rubee eo a 28 Notes on ‘Sagittaria : IGENNETH KE AMNCKENZURD: AGa3 cole ou dtoenicie Cwseeepaiees tecerae ARTS) Wotes on Rutacese — 11:7; PERCY WAIESON 23h eae Re oa at Ue eee Veh 332 The Field Meetings of the Club for 1909: NORMAN TAYLOR ......s.0000000+- sige gins 33 Reviews: Recent Bulletins of the State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut: MARSHALL A. HOWE)... ....0cseccepeodecteresecnemensere 35° Proceedings of the Club: PERCY WILSON... 0.0. cele eens Use lec alatet eae Kevin ave oun Si, Of Interest to Teachers.........ccccccccsecees Date bietie oktcicuialeteipaslts ae Ge) nt Ssetie 38 News Items...... eth aaue VEpaReae tee Ce ES HE NCAR SAC GEN ea blige ste Wiabin' bis Bewinte paca ee le Ne tha Me 44 PUBLISHED FOR THE, CLUB At 4x NortH Queen Srreet, LANCASTER, Pa. BY THe New Era Prinrinc Company {Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter ] THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1909 President HENRY H. RUSBY, M.D. Vice- Presidents EDWARD S. BURGESS, PH.D. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D. Recording Secretary PERCY WILSON Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City _ Editor : Treasurer 3 MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, PHAr.D Botanical Garden, Bronx Park ; College of Pharmacy, rz5 West 68th St. New York City New York City Associate Editors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M.; M.D. TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, Pu.D. JEAN BROADHURST, A.M. WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, PH.D. PHILIP DOWELL, Pu.D. CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, A.M. — ALEX. W.- EVANS, M.D., PH.D; HERBERT M. RICHARDS, S.D. TORREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New Vork Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices.. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY Botanical Crus, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St.; New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHURST Teachers College, Columbia University — New York City TORKH YA February, 1909 Vol. 9. No. 2. INOQURaC YAQUI COAIN IOVS 3, IRIORS INS) By J. C. ARTHUR From the days of Schweinitz, that is, the times of the first studies of American fungi, down to the near present, all rusts upon roses in North America had been placed under two species, 2. €., Phragiudium speciosum, a strictly American form, and P. subcorticitum, a cosmopolitan form. The latter name has many synonyms, P. mucronatum having been especially popular, but the earliest and consequently the rightful name appears to be P. ds- ciflorum, and therefore will be used in this paper. In 1876 Peck vaguely called attention in his twenty-eighth Report of the Botanist of the New York State Musuem (page 86) to a variation in teliospores that he had observed. His words are ‘“‘ American specimens generally have the spores more opaque, and with two or three more septa than the typical form. This variant form might be called var. Americanum.” The variety was placed under P. mucronatum. Two years ago Dietel pub- lished an extended taxonomic study of the genus Phragmidium in Hedwigia, and five months later a supplementary article in the same journal (44: 112-132, 330-346)., In these two articles Dietel established and well defined four new species of Phrag- mudium inhabiting American roses, and one new species of Caeoma, C. Rosae-gymnocarpae, from California. This comprises all im- portant taxonomic work upon rose rusts of America up to the present time. In pursuing the study of American rusts for systematic pres- entation in the forthcoming North American Flora the genus Phragnudium has been reached, and I desire to give in this * Read before the Botanists of the Central States, at the Madison meeting, March 29, 1907. Illustrated with the aid of the McManes fund. [ No. 1, Vol. 9, of TORREYA, comprising pages 1-20, was issued January 26, 1909. | 21 22 paper some of the more interesting results that have come to light pertaining to the forms on roses. Very little has been learned about the Californian Cacoma. It s clearly an aecial stage of the type of Cacoma nitens on Rubus, and like it may belong to the genus Gymmnoconia. But as no hint has yet been secured regarding the telial stage, the assignment to any other than a form-genus is hazardous. Fic. 1. Spores of the three species of Phragmzdiuwm on rose having slender eliospores: 1, P. americanum, 2, P. Rosae-setigerae, 3, P. Rosae-californicae ; I, aeciospore, II, urediniospore, III, teliospore. The characters of the rust which has been called Phragmidium speciosum, such as the non-gelatinous pedicels of the teliospores, the large, compact telia, found on the stems, and the absence of a uredinial stage, show that it does not accord with true members of the genus Phragmidium, and justify its separation under the name Lar/ea speciosa, made some two years ago. This rust occurs upon any and all species of roses in North America, both wild and cultivated, and extends throughout the United States and southern Canada. Its omnivorous and adaptable habits are in marked contrast with the fastidious and restricted habits of all true species of Phragmidium on roses found in the same region. In carefully going over the available material of American rose rusts, properly assignable to the genus Phragmidium, the old world species, P. desciflorum and all the species erected by Dietel Ae ; be $5- 3 PD RDR AA os IN O00 ean ai = 5 f @ 2 ate cope a | Fic. 2, Spores of the three species of Phragmidium on rose having stout telio- spores: 4, P. Rosae-arkansanae, 5, P. montivagum, 6, P. disciflorum; 1, aecio- spore, II, urediniospore, III, teliospore. are confirmed, as common in North America, together with one additional species now to be described. In defining these spe- cies, characters have been drawn from all three stages of the rust, aecial, uredinial, and telial. The new species may be character- ized as follows: 24 Phragmidium montivagum Arthur, n. sp.* Pycnia amphigenous, gregarious and often confluent, in small groups surrounded by aecia or on spots opposite the aecia, in- conspicuous, subcuticular, 80-1124 in diameter by 30-35 py high. Aecia hypophyllous and petiolicolous, 0.4-1.5 mm. across, solitary, or in irregular groups, often confluent over areas 5-10 mm. long, applanate; paraphyses abundant, conspicuous, sur- rounding each individual sorus, noticeably taller than the spore- mass, spatulate-capitate or clavate, 12-25 u by 50-70, wall evenly thin, I-1.5 2; aeciospores globoid or broadly ellipsoid, 16-19 wp by 21-26 p, wall medium thin, 1.5—-2 y, rather sparsely but distinctly verrucose: Uredinia hypophyllous, numerous, scattered, round, small, about 0.1 mm. or less across, soon naked, inconspicuous ; para- physes numerous and noticeable, encircling the sorus, cylindrical or slightly clavate, 9-11 w by 45-64 y, wall thin, about 1 yp, slightly thicker above on outer side of curve; urediniospores obovate-globoid, 16-19 by 19-23 y, wall pale yellow, rather thin, 1-1.5 y, closely verrucose-echinulate. Telia hypophyllous, at first arising from the uredinia, numer- ous, thickly scattered, 0.1-0.5 mm. across; paraphyses none ; teliospores cylindrical, 24-29 by 64-96 y, usually rounded below and narrowed above, cells 6-9, closely and rather moder- ately verrucose, apex usually with a conical subhyaline papilla- 7-10 » long ; pedicel rugose when dry, upper half 7-9 » in diam, eter, lower part swelling in water to 15-30 y at broadest part. On Rosa Sayit Schw., Cummins, Albany Co., Wyo., July 26, 1895, Aven Nelson 1499 (type), Crow Creek, Albany Co., Wyo., August 12, 1903, Aven Nelson 8913, Belt Mountains, Mont., * Pycniis amphigenis, in greges dispositis, inconspicuis, 80-112 mu diam., 30-35 fé altis. Aeciis hypophyllis vel petiolicolis, 0.4-1.5 mm. latis, saepe confluentibus, ap- planatis ; paraphysibus conspicuis, marginalibus ; aeciosporis subglobosis vel ellip- soideis, 16-19 & 21-26 ; episporio subhyalino, 1.5—2 w crasso, verruculoso. Urediniis hypophyllis, numerosis, minutis, rotundatis; paraphysibus cylindraceis vel clavatis, marginalibus; urediniosporis obovato-globosis, 16-19 19-23 4; epi- sporio dilute flavo, I-15 jx crasso, verrucoso-echinulato. Teliis hypophyllis, numerosis, sparsis ; teliosporis cylindraceis, 24-29 >< 64-96 p, verrucosis, 5—S-septatis, loculo terminali apiculo conoideo hyalino 7-10 w longo ornato ; pedicello supra 7-9 yw diam., infra incrassato, oblanceolato vel ellipsoideo, 15-30 p late. In foliis Rosa Savi, Cummins, Wyoming, Julo 26, 1895, Aven Nelson, 1499. 6) 5 September, 1889, /. W. Anderson ; and also on related species of hosts from Colorado and Utah northward in the Rocky Moun- tains. Of the rose rusts in North America belonging to the restricted genus Phragmidium there are now to be recognized six valid species, all indigenous but one. Space does not permit, and the needs of this discussion do not require the full characterization to be, given for each species, but the following key, when taken in connection with hosts and geographical data, will provide some aid to those persons who desire to determine their collections. Teliospores slender, 8-1 1-celled. Walls of aecio- and urediniospores thin, I-1.5 yw. Teliospores long, 80-100 p. 1, P. americanum Diet. Teliospores very long, 90-130 Lu. 2. P. Rosae-setigerae Diet. Walls of aecio- and urediniospores thick, 2-3. Teliospores long, 90-112 uw. 3. P. Rosae-californicae Diet. ‘Teliospores stout, 5-9-celled. : Walls of aecio- and urediniospores medium, 1.5-2 . Rosae-arkansanae Diet. Teliospores 5—8-celled. dig IP 5. 2. montivagum Arth. Teliospores 6-9-celled. Walls of aecio- and urediniospores thick, 2-3 ju. Teliospores 5—7-celled. 6. P. disciflorum (Tode) James These six species of Phragmidium have a most interesting dis- tribution, both as to hosts and territory. The onespecies coming from Europe occurs chiefly upon thick-leaved roses of the dog and cabbage rose sections, Rosa canina and R. Gatlica, their allies and hybrids, and appears to follow wherever these roses are cultivated. It is known throughout the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, northward into Canada, and south- ward into Mexico and Central America. It does not appear to have passed over to any native rose. The distribution of the five indigenous species is shown by the accompanying chart. LP. americanum inhabits the northeastern region along the Atlantic coast from Maryland northward and north of the great lakes, chiefly on Rosa blanda, R. lucida, R. Sayi, and certain cultivated varieties derived from these. FP. Rosae-setigerae is only known upon Rosa setigera and R. carolina, extending nearly throughout the region of the hosts from central New Yorktocentral Nebraska. P. Rosac-arkansanaeis only known on the prairie rose, formerly called Rosa arkansana, now known as R. pratincola, and extends from northern Illinois to Kansas and northward. PP. montivagum is found in the Rocky Mountains from southern Colorado and Salt Lake in Utah northward. It occurs on all or nearly all the many species of native roses of this region, having been reported on Rosa Lakert, R. Fendlert, R. UW: Phr. americanum WW Phx Rosae-seligerae miss Phr Rosae-Arkansanae Wil, Phr montivagum = Phr Rosae-Californicae Fic. 3. Distribution of the five American species of Phragmiutum occurring on native roses, grosse-serrata, R. manca, R. Maximilian, R. Say, R. Under- qoodi, R. Woodsi, and others. P. Rosae-californicae extends along the Pacific coast from southern California to southwestern Alaska, on Rosa californica, R. gymnocarpa, R. pisocarpa, and R. acicularis chiefly. It will be observed that there are large areas from which no Dif native rose rusts are reported, notably all the southern region, and the plateau between the Sierra and Rocky Mountains. Probably this is in part due to the sparseness of native hosts in these areas, to the oversight of collectors, or it may be to the absence or rarity of the rusts because of unfavorable conditions. At present it is only possible to call the attention of observers to this hiatus in our knowledge. The especially prominent feature brought out in the study of the native rose rusts is the remarkable parallelism between them and their hosts in regard to geographical distribution and specific variability. Each species of rust inhabits one species of host or a group of species of similar physical characteristics, and ranges over quite definite areas, usually nearly coextensive with the range of the respective hosts. Probably the most variable species of all is P. montivagum of the Rocky Mountains, and it is also true that the roses on which it occurs form the most intri- cate complex of ill-defined species known to North America. Furthermore, intergrading forms are not infrequent between the mountain species, P. montivagum, and the prairie species, P. Rosae-arkansanae, along the foothills of Colorado and Wyom- ing, just as intergrading forms of the hosts also occur along this tension line. In explanation of these facts probably many of the ecological] factors controling the distribution of the hosts on which the rusts occur would also have a bearing on the distribution of the rusts themselves. It is not possible, however, to resist the impression that one of the chief factors is the intimate relation between host and parasite. Whatever the nature of this relationship may be, and it would be difficult to define it, it permits of a certain thrifti- ness of the parasite in proportion to the susceptibility of the host. Any tendencies to variability in the parasite must therefore be ‘accentuated by changes in the host. That the variability in the parasite does not originate through any qualities in the host probably needs no proof, but has an admirable illustration in this connection. arlea speciosa is found abundantly throughout all the territory and upon all the hosts inhabited by the five species of Phragmidium, and yet shows no marked variations, whether 28). comparison is instituted between specimens from widely separated regions, or from strongly dissimilar hosts. This species of Zar/ea possesses an aecium exactly comparable in appearance and habit of growth with that of the species of Phragmudium under discus- sion; and in other ways a near relationship is evident. The fixity of characters in Aarlea and the high variability in Phragmidium as shown in American rose rusts present an inter- esting contrast. Regarding the latter it may be safely asserted that each species of Phragimidium has attained a degree of ortho- genetic development and a diversity of characters corresponding to those of the hosts on which it occurs, always, however, with a certain lag due to the inhibiting nature of parasitism. PURDUE UNIVERSITY, LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. Was TWAOIGININ AION (ue Wels, (CILOW IIx IDOI. GUSQU ITA AIPM St TUNE MVTQIRIS = By F. C. STEWART AND G. T. FRENCH In almost all botanical writings the numerous species of Cuscuta are all classed as annuals. It appears to be the prevail- ing opinion that none of the dodders survive the winter in the thread form and that, in order to perpetuate themselves, they must start anew every year from seeds. Yet, so long ago as 1868 Dr. Julius Kuhn made the announcement,+ based on his own observations, that clover dodder, Cuscuta Trifoli (= C. Epithymum), lives over winter on clover and alfalfa plants in Germany. Also, Sorauer, in the second edition of his well-known Handbuch der PAlanzenkrankheiten, published in 1886, states that clover dodder is not annual but perennial, and that on perennial plants it perpetuates itself more often by the further growth of the previous year’s dodder plants than by the germination of new seeds. On the other hand, Frank, { ten years later, makes an equally positive statement that the dodders are all annual plants that start anew every year from seed. In 1900 Kuhn * Read before Section G of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Baltimore Meeting, December 31, 1908. t Ztschr.. landw. Centralvereins der Provinz Sachsen 25: 238. { Die Krankheiten der Pflanzen, Zweite Aufl. 2: 523. 29 published a second paper * on the subject, in which he character- izes the supposed annual habit of clover dodder as one of those errors which, even in the realm of science, are sometimes held to with remarkable tenacity. After citing his observations made in 1868, he states that he has since confirmed them in various years, even in those having the hardest winters. With the exception of two recent articles + by the writers of this paper, there seems to be no published record of any dodder living over winter in the United States. Yet, our observations indicate that Cuscuta Epithymum is frequently perennial here. { During the past three years this species has lived over winter in New York alfalfa fields, hibernating on the crowns of alfalfa, red clover, and certain weeds. This is not accidental or occasional, but of common occurrence. Inthe writers’ opinion, it is the chief method by which dodder is carried over from one year to the next in New York alfalfa fields. In dodder-infested fields live dodder may be found readily during the winter and spring at any time when the ground is free from snow. One should take a sharp, heavy hoe or light grub-hoe and cut off and examine the crowns of plants standing on the margin of a dodder spot of the previous season. For the most part, the hibernating dodder threads appear in the form of tufts of short, stout yellow threads, one fourth to one half inch long, attached to the bases of the branches close down to the ground around the crown of the host plant and especially on the under sides of branches lying close to the ground. Yellow, haustoria-bearing threads tightly coiled around the very lowest parts of the stem are also common, but in no case have we observed dodder on the root proper. Besides alfalfa and red clover, the favorite winter hosts of dodder are fleabane (Erigeron annuus) and yellow trefoil (Med?- cago lupulina). We have seen it also on dandelion. Although * Ber, Physiol, lab. u. Vers. Anst. Landw. Inst. Halle. i900. Heft 14, 144-155. + (1) Stewart, F.C. Further studies on alfalfa dodder and trefoil. N. Y. State Dept. Agr. Report of Director of Farmers’ Institutes and Normal Institutes for the year 1906, 67, 1907. (2) Stewart, F. C. et. al. Troubles of alfalfa in New York. N.Y. Exp. Sta. Bull. 305. Nov., 1908. { Full details of these observations are given in N. Y, Exp. Sta. Bul. 305: 369- 374- 30 Evigeron annuus and Medicago lupulina are generally classed as annuals, they are regularly biennial in New York alfalfa fields. While the appearance of the hibernating dodder is such that there seems little reason to doubt that it really is alive and capa- ble of further growth, the writers have thought it best to place the matter beyond question by forcing the threads into growth. This has been accomplished several times by placing the dodder- infested crowns in a moist chamber for a few days. Given warmth and moisture the dodder threads begin to lengthen promptly. In six such experiments the dodder-infested crowns were placed in contact with thrifty young alfalfa plants growing in pots ina moist inoculation chamber in a greenhouse. In every case the dodder started promptly, established itself on the alfalfa plants and there made a vigorous growth. Our observations have been confined to the State of New York; but dodder hibernates there so frequently and under such a variety of conditions as regards soil and exposure, that we can but believe that it is perennial also in other parts of the United States. Whether other species besides Cuscuta Epithymum are peren- nial, we cannot now say. In every instance in which the identi- fication of the dodder has been made possible by the appearance of flowers, the species has been found to be C. Apzthymum. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, GENEVA, NEw YorK. INOMES ON SAGOMCAUSILAL By ICENNETH K. MACKENZIE Almost all American botanists are acquainted with the com- mon arrow-head (Sagittaria latifolia Willd.), and are familiar with the great amount of variation in the shape of its leaves. These are ordinarily strongly sagittate, but they vary from several inches broad to but two or three millimeters. All botanists are, how- ever, thoroughly agreed that these variations, while striking, are of no importance from a systematic standpoint, but depend en- tirely on the conditions under which the plant has grown. This, then, being the thoroughly understood condition with reference 31 to the above species, one necessarily approaches the study of related species with similar thoughts in mind. Two plants closely related to the common arrow-head were separated in 1894 by Mr. Jared G. Smith in his revision of the North American species of the genus. All the standard manu- als since that time have recognized these two plants as valid spe- cies, and the distinctness of Sagittar1a Engelmanniana J. G. Smith and Sagzttaria longirostra (Micheli) J. G. Smith, as these two plants were named, has not been questioned. They are, of course, both thoroughly distinct from Sagzttaria latifolia, but when one comes to study the distinctions relied on between the two plants themselves, he soon finds out that the distinctions emphasized are the very ones which are universally agreed to be of no value in separating forms of Sagittaria latifolia. Thus Mr. Smith’s own key is as follows : “¢ Fertile pedicels much shorter than the bracts; leaves ample; beak of the achenium SOU GREC ia coeds obcoobaaneanb9p obb apBoado oH NBgoRUsUb abaodocoaanuanadec R. longirostra “‘Wertile pedicels longer than the bracts; leaves with linear lobes; beak of the AC NE iaMibyaN GOGH Moone ogsobente cacadecoroouncdeacabuonasecoocceccacebad S. Engelmanniana’’ Practically the same key is used in the Illustrated Flora except that the achenium characters are omitted, and properly so, be- cause in Mr. Smith’s detailed description he says that S. Enge/- manniana has a stout beak, thus leaving no marks of difference in this respect. In the recently issued ‘“‘ Gray’s Manual’ the key used is é¢ Stout ; leaf-blades broadly ovate-oblong ...:......5.:..2-..se-e++s S. longirostra “6 Sileaglers leavelollaveless Ihbae2he joasqsden sadoocuecdooeanagodvoa sooeadans S. Engelmanniana’”’ So much then for the history of the plants, and now for an experience of my own with them. Although I had collected the plants before this year, the collections never had been under the most favorable conditions, but this year conditions seemed to be just right, when on Labor Day I went to Forked River in the New Jersey pine-barrens. Immediately beyond the station there, there is an artificial pond, the shores and shallower portions of which I quickly found were lined with Sagittarta. It was in fine fruiting condition and many specimens agreed well with S. Engelmanniana as described in the manuals, but others had 32 broader leaves. Continuing my journey around the pond I found back in the bushes at the margins other specimens with the | broad leaves and stouter appearance of S. dongzirostra, but I also found all manner of intergradation between the two, just as one would find with S. datfolia. In fact as many forms could have been found as there have been of the common plant. As to the comparative length of bracts and pedicels all I can say is that these organs varied with individual plants just as in S. datfolza, and differences in their comparative length are of no value in separating the plants under discussion. My conclusion then is that S. Jongzrostra and S. Engelmanniana as described in the manuals are but forms of the same species. Whether S. Engelmanniana is technically based on specimens really representing a species distinct from S. dongzirostra, is a question which Dr. Small is now investigating for the North American Flora. At all events, however, the characters hereto- fore relied on to separate these plants are plainly insufficient. NOTES ON RUTACEAE — II Xanthoxylum cubense P. Wilson, comb. nov. Zanthoxylum juglandifolium Rich. Ess. Fl. Cub. 332. 1845. Not Willd. 1806. Fagara juglandifolia Krug & Urban, Bot. Jahrb. 21: 587. 1896. Type locality: In high mountains of Vuelta de Abajo and around Guanimar, Cuba. Distribution : Cuba. Xanthoxylum jamaicense P. Wilson, sp. nov. A glabrous tree 5-10 m. tall with a spiny trunk; branches un- armed or armed with few, solitary, slender, brownish prickles, 3-6 mm. long; leaves odd-pinnate, 13-24 cm. long ; leaflets 3-9, oblong to oval or somewhat obovate, 2.8-11 cm. long, 1.5-4.8 cm. broad, short-petioluled or subsessile, more or less crenate, short and obtusely acuminate or rarely rounded at the apex, cuneate and equilateral or inequilateral at the base, dull or some- what lustrous above, paler and the venation more prominent beneath ; inflorescence terminal, paniculate-corymbose ; staminate BY 33 flowers (immature): sepals 3, semioval to broadly triangular ; petals 3, ovate; stamens 3 ; pistillate flowers: sepals 3, broadly triangular ; petals 3, ovate, 2—2.2 mm. long, I-1.2 mm. broad ; ovary 3-carpellary, sessile; follicles (immature) subglobose, 4 mm. in diameter, brown, apiculate, the surface pitted. Type collected at Dolphin Head, Jamaica, N. L. Britton no. 2318; also collected in hills near Kempshot, N. L. Britton no. 2433- Distribution: Jamaica. RIP VASrAN coum ME tochineh ate M52 700: Triphasia trifolia (Burm. f.) P. Wilson, comb. nov. Limonia trifoha Burm. f. Fl. Ind. 103. 1768. Limonta trifoliata L. Mant. 237. 1771. Triphasia Aurantiola Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 1: 153. 1790. Triphasia trifolata DC. Prodr. 1: 536. 1824. Note: The illustration of the flower in Burm. f. FI. Ind. (pl. 35) is incorrectly figured with five petals. Type locality : Java. Cultivated and naturalized in tropical and subtropical America as far north as Florida and Texas. : Percy WILSON. TIROS, = SIURIGID) MOUSSA UNGES “Ole Asie, (IUNs) IOI weyers In order that the field meetings of the club may be attractive to the members, and also accomplish work of permanent value, it is proposed to arrange a definite plan of campaign for the entire season of 1909. This will be done in cooperation with the chairman of the local flora committee, so that the local herbarium may be in- creased where it is weakest, and sufficient material may be accu- mulated to serve as a basis for a descriptive list of the plants growing within the area prescribed by the preliminary catalog of the club in 1888. The specimens in the club herbarium, together with the collections of the New York Botanical Garden are be- ing critically studied and tabulated, so that when the season opens everything will be in readiness for an effective system of 34 field meetings. These will have in view partly the enlargement of the collections, and partly the equally desirable end of providing attractive and interesting excursions for ‘members interested in our metropolitan flora. Various features of interest will be planned from time to time such as (a) changes from month to month in the floristic aspect of restricted ecological areas, (0) the encroachment of plants be- yond their supposed natural habitats, (c) the behavior of aquatic and land plants when subjected to unusual conditions, (@) intro- duced plants and their ability to spread and maintain themselves, (2) the pine-barrens of Long Island and New Jersey and their relation and similarity, and (/) so-called ‘‘ weeds”’ and ballast plants and their occurrence and adaptability. These are only a very few of the problems that offer delightful possibilities to those willing to take the time and trouble of collecting and making careful notes. In Torreya for July 1908, Dr. R. M. Harper has outlined scores of such problems, but many of them are unfor- tunately beyond the scope of the field meetings of the club. Care will be taken to distribute the excursions so that those interested particularly in the cryptogamic flora will not suffer injustice be- cause of a preponderance of meetings planned for the higher flowering plants, and vice versa. There are about thirty-one days upon which it is possible to hold field meetings, and it is necessary in order to systematize them to make plans early in the season. To do this will require the hearty cooperation of members able and willing to act as guides. The chairman of the field committee will attend all the meetings possible, but it is essential to the success of the meetings that an efficient corps of guides volunteer for the work. Every- thing that can be done towards the arrangement of time and place of meeting will be carefully planned. Those willing to act as guides will greatly further the work if they will send their names, together with the dates upon which they will serve and the dis- tricts with which they are familiar, to the undersigned. NorMAN TAYLOR, Chairman Field Committee New York BOTANICAL GARDEN. REVIEWS Recent Bulletins of the State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut* The State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connect- icut published in 1905 ‘‘A preliminary report on the Hymeniales of Connecticut,” by Edward Albert White, and ‘The Ustilag- ineae or smuts of Connecticut,’ by George Perkins Clinton. In the latter part of 1908 there appeared notable continuations of the published results of the botanical survey of that state in “A preliminary report on the algae of the fresh waters of Connect- icut”’ by Herbert William Conn and Lucia Washburn (Hazen) Webster, and “The bryophytes of Connecticut’ by Alexander William Evans and George Elwood Nichols. The report on the fresh-water algae consists essentially of brief synopses of the classes and orders, keys to the genera and short descriptions of them, the names of the species found, and, with few exceptions, figures of all the species collected by the writers within the limits of the state. A few species are admitted on the authority of Hazen and of Setchell, and the names of a considerable number from the ‘ Phycological notes of Isaac Holden,” published by F. S. Collins in Rhodora, have been introduced in brackets. The Cyanophyceae and Characeae are included, but no attempt is made to treat the Diatomaceae. The treatment of the Chara- - ceae is, however, very inadequate, only one species and that an unnamed one being figured. The authors have evidently not made use of the monographs of T. F. Allen and of C. B. Robin- son, in which Connecticut materials are mentioned. The authors appear to have devoted their attention largely to the Conjugatae. Under Spirogyra, Zygnema, Closterium, Cosmarium, Staurastrum, and Micrasterias, numerous species are listed and figured, but under genera like Cladophora, Oedogonium, and Vaucherta, which may reasonably be supposed to be well represented in Connect- icut, the lists are confined to two or three species each. For the *Conn, H. W., & Webster, L. W. A preliminary report on the algae of the fresh waters of Connecticut. State Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. Conn. Bull. 10: 1-78. pl. 1-44. 1908. Evans, A. W., & Nichols, G. E. The bryophytes of Connecticut. State Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. Conn. Bull, 11: 1-203. 1908. 36 species, no descriptions or keys are given, and specific determina- tions, if they are to be made from the report at all, must be made from the figures. The keys, it is to be regretted, are often inad- equate and sometimes positively misleading, as when under Chara it is asserted that ‘‘ The stems are covered with a cortex,’ a state- ment that would result in excluding Chara Schwetnitzi (C. cor- onata of most American authors), one of our commonest species. Many of the figures, especially, perhaps, those of the desmids, give a fair idea of the general habit and form of the organisms treated, but some of the others, like that of Glocotrichia Pisum, can scarcely be of service to the student, in the determination of — the species, at least. fhe bulletin on) The bryophytes of Connecticut ;{sbyakne= fessor Evans and Mr. Nichols is a thoroughly scholarly and scientific paper and one that is likely to have much good influ- ence in stimulating and aiding the study of the bryophytes in Connecticut and neighboring states. The catalogue of species is prefaced by a general introduction of thirty-seven pages, in which are discussed ‘‘ General characteristics of the bryophytes’, “History of bryology in Connecticut”’, ‘ Distribution of the bryophytes in Connecticut according to environment’, and “ Eco- nomic value of the bryophytes’’. Under the head of distribution according to environment, the factors considered are latitude, character of substratum, intensity of light, and water supply. In the body of the catalogue are keys to the families, genera, and species, lists of the known Connecticut species, names of collec- tors, references to exsiccatae and to the principal literature, and statements as to the extra-limital distribution of the species. The general summary shows.that 387 species of bryophytes are at present known to occur in Connecticut and that of these 12 belong to the Marchantiales, g2 to the Jungermanniales, 3 to the Anthocerotales, 31 to the Sphagnales, 2 to the Andreaeales, and 247 to the Bryales. Only about 18 per cent. of the species are peculiar to America. Over 62 per cent. are common to Europe and Asia, while, of the remainder, 16 per cent. have been found in Europe but not in Asia and 4 per cent. have been found in Asia but not in Europe. Misprints in this paper are few, but on page 101 Dicranum fulvum is listed where D. montanum was evidently intended, as is apparent from the key. It is to be hoped that members of the Torrey Botanical Club will in the near future devote themselves to the study of the flora of the metropolitan district with the purpose of publishing a series of papers similar to ‘‘ The bryophytes of Connecticut” in order to facilitate the study and ready identification of both the seed- bearing and seedless plants of the vicinity of New York City. Meanwhile, ‘“‘ The bryophytes of Connecticut’’ will prove almost as useful in New York and indeed along our whole North At- lantic seaboard as it will in Connecticut. MarsHatit A. Howe. ROG ADIINES, Ove Wiese, CwUs; JANUARY 12, 1909 The first meeting of the Club for 1909 was held at the Ameri- can Museum of Natural History, with President Rusby in the chair. [here were ten members present. After the reading and approval of the minutes for December 8, 1908, the resignations of the following members were presented and accepted: Miss Anna Murray Vail, Miss Henrietta E. Eiookeru\irs. John KR: Delaheld, Mr G. ©) Hanmer, and! Mie Albert Ruth. This being the annual meeting of the Club, reports were pre- sented by the treasurer, editor, chairman of the field committee, and the secretary. These were read, accepted, and placed on fle. The editor reported the completion of Volume 35 of the Bulletin, containing 608 pages and 4o plates. The only Memoir published during 1908 was ‘“ A Study of the Lactariae of the United States” by Dr. Gertrude S. Burlingham. This paper was issued in May as No. 1 of Volume 14 of the Club’s Memoirs, and contained 10g pages and 15 half tone illustrations. Mr. Charles Louis Pollard presented his report as chairman of the field committee up to the time of his resignation in August. Mr. George V. Nash, who acted as chairman for the remainder * No meeting was held the last Wednesday in December. 38 of the season, presented a supplementary report. Mr. Norman Taylor was appointed by the president chairman of the field committee for 1909. The secretary reported that 15 regular meetings had been held during. the year, at which 463 persons were present. Nine persons have been elected to membership but not all have qualified, and 14 resignations have been received and accepted. Through death the Club has lost three members. — The treasurer’s report indicated that the Club’s finances are in a Satisfactory condition. The following officers were elected for the year 1909: President: Henry Hurd Rusby. Vice-Presidents : Edward Sandford Burgess and John Hendley Barnhart. | Secretary: Percy Wilson. Treasurer - William Mansfield. -iditor : Marshall Avery Howe. Associate Editors : John Hendley Barnhart, Jean Broadhurst, Philip Dowell, Alexander W. Evans, Tracy Elliot Hazen, William Alphonso Murrill, Charles Louis Pollard, and Herbert Maule Richards. The Club adjourned at 10:15 P. M. PERcy WILSON, Secretary OMT JUNINSEINIGS IO IQ) IBA IGUEIRS LABORATORY TEACHING Professor Charles H. Shaw, discussing laboratory teaching for culture students in Sczence for September 11, states that the aver- age student falls to a discouraging degree short of ‘‘ developing that power of obtaining knowledge which it was planned that he should,” and ‘as a matter of fact the hours when actual inde- pendent work is being done are few and precious, and the greater part of the laboratory time is spent in merely performing assigned tasks.” Professor Shaw further adds: “In looking for a solution my 39 point of departure would be the fact that certazu of the lessons actually do call out a real interested and independent effort on the part of the student. That ounce of fact is worth tons of theorizing. Then if it is true that the greatest good which can come to the student out of such courses is the development of his own powers of obtaining knowledge, it would not seem far to this principle: Zhe laboratory course should be composcd mainly of those lessons which the instructor can so present as to arouse in- dependent effort on the part of the student. “Then the question will at once arise ‘ What about the lessons of which this is not true; what about the many and important topics in which the student can at best scarcely do more than to perform faithfully the task assigned?’ My answer would be to remove most of them frankly to the domain of lecture and demon- stration. A good demonstration, where the student feels the spark of inspiration from the teacher’s performance and example, is far better for both teacher and student than a time-serving laboratory exercise. ““No doubt a certain proportion of laboratory lessons which are mere verification exercises are desirable, but on the whole it still remains true that for culture students the laboratory hours are too precious to be used in anything butindependence begetting work. In the lecture room is the place to see that the course is rounded out, kept coherent, and the ground covered.”’ In a recent paper, Charles J. Brand, of the U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry, traces the history of alfalfa in the United States. The earliest date of introduction is 1855, from South America to California ; the next, 1857, from Europe to Minnesota. The South American seed finding a congenial soil and climate easily became the basis of an extensive industry now netting $150,000,000 a year. The European seed, despite the favorable soil in Minnesota, was acclimated with difficulty ; but Grimm, the farmer who introduced it, worked with “ characteristic German persistence, realizing neither the practical nor the scientific im- portance of his unconscious experiment in acclimatization.” He 40) “patiently saved generation after generation of seeds from the plants that survived each successive winter, planting new fields to replace the deteriorated ones on his own farm, and selling his surplus seed to his neighbors. He was probably oblivious both to the difficulty of the task he had undertaken and to the great value of the result, and took as a matter of course the yearly de- generation of his stands,’ nized as one of the hardiest ; it ‘‘is undoubtedly the direct prod- until now the Grimm strain is recog- uct of fifty-one years of perpetuation of fit and elimination of unfit individuals under climatic conditions whose rigors are un- known in Germany.” Robert Kennedy Duncan in his recent book, ‘‘ The Chemistry of Commerce,” has a chapter on cellulose which is written in a manner making it equally interesting to a scientist or to a novice in the field. He shows the stupendous industrial utility of cellu- lose and the immense value of each fact gleaned from the field of cellulose research. At present, although one third of the dried vegetable matter of the world is cellulose, it cannot be synthesized in the laboratory and very little is known about it. One class of cellulose industries is based on its inertness and resistivity to the disintegrating action of air and moisture. First in importance comes paper, both that made from the comparatively pure cellulose of rags and that from wood pulp. As most of the cellulose in wood exists chemically encrusted with other sub- stances, the problem has been either to manufacture the paper directly from wood, in which case it does not last, or to devise a means of extracting the pure cellulose. This has been done but the resulting cellulose is not so pure as that from cotton. Another important cellulose industry, the making of fabrics, has almost reached perfection. One interesting phase is the merceri- zation of cotton by the application of caustic soda. Twine and rope are also cellulose products. Out of the 110,000 species of flowering plants that exist in the world, the fiber-making possi- bilities of only half a dozen are used. - Cellulose also has merit as a chemically active body. Dis- solved in one substance it forms vulcanized fiber or may be car- bonized for incandescent light flaments. When treated in another 4] way an insulating material for electric wires is formed. By still another method, viscose, a very plastic form of cellulose, can be obtained. This can be moulded into various forms or made into films possessing great elasticity. The addition of nitric acid or nitroglycerin results in gun cotton, blasting gelatin, or smokeless powder. Our common celluloid comes from low cellulose ni- trates dissolved in solid camphor and alcohol. One of the sreatest triumphs of technological science is the production of artificial silk from either cellulose nitrate or viscose. The value of a pine tree is increased nearly 600 fold when it is spun into this silk. The cellulose industry is developed upon an exceedingly slender knowledge of the raw material and it would be well for manufacturers and centers of technical education to give more at- tention to the subject. — Jane R. Condit. Recent government publications contain the following state- ments: “When water falls on the soil part of it runs off the sur- face, and part of it runs through the surface by gravitation and comes out in the subsoil, and part of it starts and rises as soon as we get sunlight on the surface, and this part comes up in films over and through the finer spaces, and is bringing with it dis- ”) solved material from below.” The water that passes through larger openings, gets very little of the soluble material, “‘ because it is not long in contact with the soil grains. It gets some by reason of the fact that, as we know, our springs and rivers and wells are all soil solutions and carry mineral matter. Now, water rising by capillarity cannot get very concentrated because it gets saturated with the minerals, and any excess that is contained in it is thrown out, except in extreme conditions, as in the west, and then we get alkali conditions; but under ordi- nary humid conditions we cannot have an excess of it, and the soil solution is bringing materials from below which the plant gets, and, as a matter of fact, the most important discovery of the Bureau of Soils in recent years is that plants are feeding on ma- terial from the subsoils, far below where the roots go. If this is true, and there are many other arguments in the same line, it is absurd to make an analysis of the surface soil and say that is the 42 soil that the plant is feeding on.” Professor C. G. Hopkins, ina lecture given at Cornell last July, refers to the above quotation and states that because of proven ‘“‘ uncompensated loss by leach- ing of the upper soil in all normal humid sections, we dare not base our definite plans for systems of permanent agriculture upon a theory that by the rise of capillary water plant food is brought from the lower subsoils sufficient to meet the needs of large crops and to maintain the fertility of the surface soil in all places and for all time.”’ Professor Hopkins further says: ‘One dollar taken from 100 dollars leaves not 100 dollars, but only gg dollars. This is a scientific fact which no theory or hypothesis can nullify. Like- . wise when a crop removes 20 pounds of phosphorus from the soil it leaves that soil 20 pounds poorer in phosphorus than before the crop was grown. The rotation of crops or the application of salt or some other stimulant may liberate another 20 pounds of phosphorus from the soil and thus enable us to grow another crop the next year, and possibly this may be repeated for several or many years, but meanwhile the total supply of phosphorus in the soil is growing smaller and smaller vear by year, until ulti- mately neither crop rotation nor soil stimulants can liberate suf- ficient phosphorus from the remaining meager supply to meet the needs of profitable crops. It is certainly safe teaching and safe practice to return to the soil as much or more than we remove of such plant-food elements as are contained in the soil in limited amounts when measured by the actual requirements of large crops during one lifetime.”’ The following extracts from President Roosevelt’s recent mes- sage to Congress are of interest : (1) ‘“ There are, of course, two kinds of natural resources. One is the kind which can only be used as part of a process of ex- haustion; this is true of mines, natural oil and gas wells, and the like. The other, and of course ultimately by far the most im- portant, includes the resources which can be improved in the proc- ess of wise use; the soil, the rivers, and the forests come under this head.” (2) ‘“‘ There are small sections of our own country, in the east 43 and in the west, in the Adirondacks, the White Mountains, and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky Mountains, where we can already see for ourselves the damage in the shape of permanent injury to the soil and the river systems which comes from reck- less deforestation. It matters not whether this deforestation is due to the actual reckless cutting of timber, to the fires that in- evitably follow such reckless cutting of timber or to reckless and uncontrolled grazing, especially by the great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means destruction to forests and disaster to the small homemakers, the settlers of limited means.” (3) “Not many centuries ago the country of northern China was one of the most fertile and beautiful spots in the entire world and was heavily forested. “We know this not only from the old Chinese records, but from the accounts given by the traveler Marco Polo. He, for instance, mentions that in visiting the provinces of Shansi and Shensi he observed many plantations of mulberry trees. Now there is hardly a single mulberry tree in either of these provinces, and the culture of the silkworm has moved further south, to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an illustration of the com- plete change in the rivers, we may take Polo’s statement that a certain river, the Hun Ho, was so large and deep that merchants ascended it from the sea with heavily laden boats; to-day this river is simply a broad sandy bed, with shallow, rapid currents wandering hither and thither across it, absolutely unnavigable. ‘“ But we do not have to depend upon written records. The dry wells, and the wells with water far below the former water mark, bear testimony to the good days of the past and the evil days of the present. Wherever the native vegetation has been allowed to remain, as, for instance, here and there around a sacred temple or imperial burying ground, there are still huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the glorious ancient forests. The thick, matted forest growth formerly covered the mountains to theirsummits. Al] natural factors favored this dense forest growth, and as long as it was permitted to exist the plains at the foot of the mountains were among the most fertile on the globe, and the whole country was a garden. 44 ‘Not the slightest effort was made, however, to prevent the unchecked cutting of the trees or to secure reforestation. .. . The big trees disappeared centuries ago, so that now one of these is never seen save in the neighborhood of temples, where they are artificially protected ; and even here it takes all the watch and care of the tree-loving priests to prevent their destruction.” NEWS ITEMS. Professor John M. Coulter, of the University of Chicago, and his family were on the steamer Republic during the recent col- lision with the Florida. Professor Coulter lost the manuscript of ‘his proposed new book on gymnosperms. He expects to resume his journey soon ; he had originally planned to attend the Darwin celebrations in England. The University of Wisconsin is to build on its campus a build- ing suitable for the United States Forestry Service, thus enabling the Service to concentrate its western laboratories, and carry on a series of investigations on timber, lumbering, the making of wood pulp, and the utilization of present by-products. The government will in return equip the building and provide for lectures to students at the university. A series of nine lectures on Charles Darwin and his influence on science are being given Friday afternoons, at 4 P. M., in_ 309 Havemeyer Hall, Columbia University. The first two on “ Dar- win’s Life and Work” by Henry Fairfield Osborn and “ Terres- trial Evolution and Paleontology’ by William Berryman Scott, have been given. The others are: “ Darwin’s Influence on Zoology” by Thomas Hunt Morgan, February 26; ‘* Darwin in Relation to Anthropology’ by Franz Boas, March 5 ; “ Dar- win’s Contribution to Psychology” by Edward Lee Thorndike, March 12; ‘‘ Darwin’s Influence on Botany”’ by Daniel Trembly MacDougal, March 19; ‘‘ Darwinism and Modern Philosophy ” by John Dewey, March 26; ‘‘ Cosmic Evolution” (date subject to change) by George Ellery Hale, April 2 ; and “ Darwinism in Relation to the Evolution of Human Institutions” by Franklin Henry Giddings, April 16. TORREYA AND NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year Igog Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to zew sub- scribers of either journals and also is not open to members of the American Nature-Study Society, of which THe Nature-Stupy Review is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms nay be credited as member’s fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68th Street New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (1) BULLETIN A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol, 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text and 4o full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, ~ 14 shillings. Dulau & Co., 37 Soho Square, London, are agents _ for England. : a CF Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire ; cer tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock . of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols. 28—35 three dollars each. Single copies (30 cts.) will be furnished only when not breaking complete volumes. (2) MEMOIRS The Memoirs, established 18809, are published at irregular intervals. Volumes 1-11 and 13 arenowcompleted; Nos. 1 and 2 of Vol. 12 and No. 1 of Vol, 14 have been issued. The sub- | scription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. The numbers can also be purchased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application. (3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York, 1888. Price, $1.00. Correspondence relating to the above publications should be an addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy — 115 W. 68TH STREET NEW YORK CITY Vol.g | March, 1909 No. 3 TORREYA \ A Monrucy Journat or BoranicaL Notes anD News EDITED FOR no) ce THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST J@HN TORREY, 17960-1873 CONTENTS Botanical Observations in Iceland and Spitzbergen: JULIA IT. EMERSON......... 45 Wotes on Uromyces: JoHNn L. SHELDON,..... Lt MSNA NGS on term eee a IS cos Om 54 Reviews: Willis’s Flowering Plants and Ferns: Tracy E. HAZEN)..... .....2.- 56 | Proceedings, of ‘the: Club’: «PERCY, OWIESON re eye he ae ea de 57 Of Interest to Teachers: College Entrance Botany .......0..0.......00 gees eecsee ees 60 PI CWS LEIS et ule ea Ns ee tatiana aaoe hia as Ga PU ae ULE Tg Se 63 PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB At 4x NortH Queen Srreet, LANCASTER, Pa. BY THe New Era Prinrinc Company (Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter } THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1909 President HENRY H. RUSBY, M.D. Vice- Presidents EDWARD S. BURGESS, PH.D. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D. Recording Secretary PERCY WILSON Botanica) Garden, Bronx Park, New York City ~ Editor Treasurer ; MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, PH.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, Puar.D Botanical Garden, Bronx Park College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St. New York City New York City Associate Editors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M., M.D. TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, Pu.D. JEAN. BROADHURST, A.M. WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, Pu.D. PHILIP DOWELL, PH.D. CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, A.M. ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., Px.D. HERBERT M. RICHARDS, 5.D. TorRREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City. banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should besent to TREASURER, TORREY BoTanicaL Cius, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHURST ; Teachers College, Columbia University New York City MAR 29 1909 { TORREYA March, Igo0g9 Vol. g. No. 3. BOTANICAL OBSERVATIONS IN ICELAND AND SPITZBERGEN * By JuLiA T. EMERSON In July of this year the writer was so fortunate as to have the opportunity of visiting some of the islands of the northern seas of Europe, and it is hoped the following notes may prove of interest to others who‘are as ignorant of the countries seen as the writer was. The steamer was in port often for a few hours only, in one or two places for thirty-six hours, and the excursions on land never went far inland or off the regular roads. A small trunk already well filled, and nothing but a life preserver to press specimens with made it necessary to keep the collections very small ; there- fore the list of plants observed does not pretend to be complete, especially as the writer was unfamiliar with the flora of northern Europe. After a couple of days in Edinburgh, one being spent in the city and the other in a hurried trip through the Trosachs, we reached Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands in the middle of the day. Substantial stone or brick houses with small windows and little yards or gardens made a typical Scotch town. The sycamore maple and the beech were the most conspicuous trees, and they were evidently glad of the shelter of houses, for exposed speci- mens were blown sideways by the strong winds, and the sur- rounding hills looked bare of trees or shrubs. All the season- able vegetables and flowers were growing in the cultivated grounds near the town, butas the old Saint Magnus Cathedral and the ruins of the bishop’s and the earl’s palaces were well worth looking at there was no chance to get into the real country. [No. 2, Vol. 9, of TORREVA, comprising pages 21-44, was issued February 26, 1909. ] * Vlustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. 45 46 THORSHAVN, FAROE ISLANDS A misty, cool day and the few trees or cultivated flowers made us feel as if we were getting rather far north. Perhaps the many rocks and high winds discouraged farming or else fishing was a more profitable industry; at any rate the season was late and probably short, although the friendly fisherwomen declared they did not have a cold winter, and that it frequently was no colder than the day we were there. Grass was luxuriant on the sodded roofs of many of the tiny houses of the very picturesque little settlement, and some of the spring flowers were still in bloom — suchas buttercups, marigold, forget-me-not, daisy, Vzscarza vul- garis, and a pink stone crop. -~— = ~ — Fic. 2. Cercés canadenszs Linné, from the Pleistocene of North Carolina. Ericales VACCINIUM ARBOREUM Marsh Berberis sp., Berry Journ. Geol. 15: 343. 1907. Additional material shows that what was formerly listed as doubtfully referable to Berberis is unquestionably the foliage of this species of Vaccinium. It is sometimes removed from the latter genus and placed in the genus Latodendron of Nuttall. In the modern flora it ranges from North Carolina to Florida and westward to eastern Texas and up the Mississippi to southern Illinois. Station 850, Neuse River. Jouns Hopkins UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 74 HERBARIUM NOTES * By Pau C. STANDLEY In mounting a considerable number of plants recently the writer had occasion to notice a number of common defects in labels and in herbarium specimens — defects which could easily be remedied by a little care and forethought on the part of the collector ; some of these are discussed in the following notes. Labels should never be printed on stiff paper. Such paper is certain to curl up at the corners and edges unless it is kept under pressure until dry. True, if the corners do curl at first they are usually flat on the sheet after they are thoroughly dry, but they will always be loose and likely to be torn or still further loosened if anything happens to catch on them. It is preferable to use paper that is thin and will not curl away from the sheets when it is wet. The size, too, deserves consideration. The largest labels that I have seen are about 234 by 534 inches and some of the speci- mens which they accompanied had to be broken to keep them from covering parts of the labels. Such pieces of paper require too much time for pasting on the sheet and are not necessary if the labels are filled in by hand, no matter how large a hand the collector may write, and are still less necessary when all the data are printed in. The size most generally used seems to be about 44% by 2% inches. : While neatness of labels is always desirable, other ornamenta- tion than the necessary wording is superfluous. This applies to ornamental borders and all advertising of the scenic attractions of the locality in which the plants were collected. The type used should be plain. The most conspicuous parts of the label should be the name of the state in which the collection was made and the name of the plant. These things are not of so much importance in a small herbarium but when working with *Tllustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. 75 a large number of specimens in one of the larger herbaria they will save a great deal of time. Typewritten labels are not desirable unless black indelible ink is used. The purple and blue ink that is ordinarily used on typewriter ribbons will fade so much in eight or ten years that it will be impossible to read it. Of course there is every variation in the quality of the speci- mens themselves, due in part to the climatic conditions of the locality in which they were secured (and very largely to the pres- sure under which they were dried). The preservation of the original color of the plants is always desirable but not always possible with thick and fleshy specimens, with certain plants in which peculiar chemical changes take place in drying, or in very damp climates. Here in New Mexico the making of good specimens is a very simple matter providing the proper kind of plants can be found. It is often unnecessary to change the driers for small plants or those which contain little moisture. Some of our best specimens have been made in the following manner: First a drier is placed upon the table ; on this is laid a sheet of drying paper upon which the plant is placed; over this another drier, then a sheet of corru- gated paper such as is used in packing glassware, etc. ; over this another drying paper and specimen, or if one prefers another drier and then the sheet; and so on until a bundle of sufficient size is formed. This is then strapped and thrown out in the sun- shine upon the sand and left for several days. It is necessary to tighten the straps occasionally but no other attention is needed unless a rain should come. Excellent specimens can be made in this way, even of the cacti and other fleshy plants. Of course this method is practicable only in a dry region where there is an abundance of hot sunshine. In the mountains frequent changes of driers are necessary. Most plants which contain considerable moisture will be black- ened and consequently ruined if the bundles containing them are placed in the sun and heated to a high temperature before the driers have been changed at least once. If the driers themselves are heated before the plants are placed between them the heat 76 does not seem to blacken the plants and hastens their drying appreciably. Too large and too generous specimens are an abomination when it comes to mounting them. It is best to use drying papers a little smaller than the standard size of herbarium sheets; then there will be no difficulty in getting the specimens upon the sheets. Sometimes one receives specimens so large that they must be almost ruined in trimming them down to the size of the mount- ing paper. If a sheet contains more material than can be conveniently mounted upon an ordinary herbarium sheet it necessitates the writing of a new label or else the throwing away of the surplus material. The second course is perhaps the better, for it is very seldom that one cares for two sheets of one collection. If one sheet is properly filled it should, except in rare cases, contain material enough for the study of a plant. Besides the use for corrugated paper mentioned above we have found it useful in mounting. When we are gluing plants upon the sheets we lay a piece of the corrugated paper over the glued plant, corrugated side down, and then a drier upon this, contin- uing in this manner until we have a pile of sufficient height to be. placed somewhere and weighted until the glue has thoroughly dried. The corrugated paper, because of its corrugations, has less surface to stick to the plant and holds it in contact with the mounting paper just as well as the driers or sheets of pasteboard would do. The accompanying figure shows an end view of a piece of appa- ratus that we have found very useful for moistening straps in strapping herbarium specimens. It wasdesigned and made by Mr. O. B. Metcalfe, who was formerly student assistant in botany here. AA are pieces of wood about 3 % inches long and 1 % inches wide ; to these is riveted a strip of galvanized iron C, which is T-shaped at the ends so as to cover the blocks of wood; upon the wood are tacked two or three layers of ordinary felt drying paper, BB ; in order to make the paper last longer it is covered with a piece of cloth of medium. thickness, & The apparatus is then placed in a small tin pan, D (the lid of a baking powder box will Ci do), containing a little water. The straps are picked up with a pair of forceps used in applying them to the sheets, and while held in the forceps are laid onthe moistened lower pad, while the upper one is pressed down upon it. In this way the straps can be moistened very rapidly and one soon learns to regulate the amount of water in the pan so that they will get just the right amount of moisture. H.«éRBARIUM OF THE NEw MEXxIco AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE SHORTER NOTES Tue CEepar or LEeBAanon. —I have read the compilation of notes on Cedrus Lidani in TorrReEyA, and as usual in similar pub- lications botanists alone are made to figure. William Lithgow, a Scotch traveller, visited the Lebanon Grove in 1611 and found twenty-four trees much burnt in one grove, and spoke of another of seventeen trees nine miles west. One of the first trees planted in Britain zs at Bretby, Derby- shire, planted in 1676. The late Sir J. D. Wolff, ‘“‘ Rambling Recollections,’ Vol. 2, p. 18, seems to have known Rustem Pacha (spoken of by J. D. Hooker) who told him that he replanted the Lebanon Grove with young trees from the Brussels Botanical Garden! (This ought to be easily verified.) Professor Marquand’s tree at Princeton had a fine growth and lots of cones a year or two ago, but remains quite pyramidal (see Downing’s 1859 ed.). JAMES MaAcPHERSON TRENTON, NEW JERSEY SUBMERGED WILLows. — My attention was called during the past summer to an interesting illustration of the tenacity with which our common willows cling to life. An artificial lake was formed in my vicinity last year by damming a small brook, mak- ing a lake nearly a mile long and fifty feet deep at the deepest point. Part of the valley which was covered by the water was occupied by a thicket of willows. These were left standing with the belief that they would soon rot away and disappear, and were covered so that their topmost branches were five or six feet below 78 the surface of the water. During the past summer the lake was drained to allow repairs upon the dam. The willows had at this time been under water for seventeen months without once being exposed to the air. At the end of the first week they were dis- tinctly green with a new growth of leaves, and in less than two weeks were in full leaf. Apparently, but for the filling of the pond a second time, they would have continued their growth from the point * at which they had been interrupted nearly a year and a half before, and would have been little the worse for the experience. | Henry C. BEARDSLEE ASHEVILLE SCHOOL, ASHEVILLE, N. C. SomME CrocusEs Grown IN A NEw York Room. — Tempera- ture variable ; daytime about 70° F.; night almost that of out- doors. Soilloamandsand. Planted October 31, 1908. Twelve bulbs — nine unnamed and three of the Sir Walter Scott variety. They were planted in an unglazed clay pot 8’ in diameter, 3/” deep and placed under a desk in the coolest part of the recom. In about five weeks they were set in a south window which received direct sunlight for about five hours of the day. For several weeks the leaves of the nine unnamed bulbs grew rapidly and the bud sheaths looked promising, then growth ceased and the leaves turned yellow at the tips. The Sir Walter Scott plants showed almost no evidence of growth. So after five or six weeks in the window, the entire dozen were deemed failures and they were banished to their former corner under the desk. There they were neglected, save for an occasional drink. After having been in that subdued light for about four weeks, a bud was dis- covered on one of the Sir Wafter Scott crocuses. It opened on February 9, 1909, and in a few days was followed by a second blossom. The second Sir Walter Scott began to bloom February 20, 1909, and had three blossoms. The third has at present, March 5, 1909, two thrifty looking buds. GrAcE L. Morrison TEACHERS COLLEGE * The condition of the willows at the time they were submerged — whether in leaf or only in bud — would be of interest. — EDITOR. 79 NEw STATIONS FOR EUROPEAN PLANT IMMIGRANTS. —In my field work for the past few months in eastern West Virginia, making extensive economic botanical collections, I repeatedly inquired for any plants from which brooms were made, and was shown a wild specimen of Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link, by a native who informed me that it was sometimes used to make ‘‘snow”’ brooms. The plant was growing on an old deforested hillside, one mile east of Pickens, Randolph County, and was 200 yards or more from any path or cultivated field, with no evidence of previous habitations. None of the natives had a common name for this plant, and few had noticed it, except a German, who was acquainted with the plant in Europe. He informed me that it was called ‘‘Ginster’’ in the old country. The range of Cytzsus Scoparius is given as Nova Scotia and the coast region of Massa- chusetts, Delaware and Virginia, where it is often used as a sand- binder. Close to the Cytisws, I found several specimens of Ulex europaeus L. This was called “thistle” by the natives, doubtless on account of its excessively prickly character. The range of Ulex is given from southern New York to eastern Virginia near the coast, where it is cultivated as noted under the above species. I have not found these plants elsewhere in the state. Specimens of both species are preserved in the botanical de- partment of the Field Museum of Natural History. Huron H. SmMirx, FIELD MusEuM OF NATURAL HIsToRY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS POC DINGS NOR Ha "Crus FEBRUARY 24, 1909 The Club met at the Museum of the New York Botanical Gar- den at 3:30 p. M. In the absence of the President and both Vice-Presidents, Mr. Fred J. Seaver was called to the chair. Eight persons were in attendance. After the reading and approval of the minutes of the meeting for February 9, the following names were presented for member- ship: Mrs, Pamela Eakin, 38 Oakwood Avenue, Arlington, N. J., 80 and Miss Gertrude L. Cannon, 1786 Clay Avenue, New York City. The announced scientific program was then presented : “ Collecting Fungi in Jamaica,’ by Dr. W. A. Murrill. This paper has been published in full in the February Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. “Cypripedium in the Light of its Segregates,’ by Mr. G. V. Nash. ; Mr. Nash exhibited living plants and herbarium specimens illus- trating the four segregates now recognized by orchidologists, and formerly considered as parts of the genus Cypripedium. These segregates are : Cypripedium, Selenipedium, Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium. These divide themselves into two groups. In the first group are Cypripedium and Selenipedium, characterized by the usually long, leafy stem and broad, flat, thin, many-nerved leaves which are convolute in vernation, and the withering peri- anth persistent on the ovary. In Cypripedium the ovary is 1-celled, and the seeds elongate with a thin testa. This genus is of north temperate distribution, its representatives, about 30 in number, being found in North America, Europe, and Asia. The other genus of this group, Se/epedium, has a 3-celled ovary, and the seeds nearly globose with a crustaceous testa. This is found from Panama to northern South America and is rare. It contains only 3 species, which are seldom seen in cultivation. The second group is at once recognized by the conduplicate vernation of its long, narrow, fleshy, strap-shaped leaves, and the deciduous perianth. The flowers are borne on scapes, which are rarely somewhat leafy below. To this group belong the remain- ing two genera, Paplopediluim and Phragmipedium. In the former the ovary is 1-celled and the sepals imbricate in the bud. The most evident character, however, differentiating this at once from Phragmipedium, is in the lip, which has the margin-of the opening straight not infolded. The scape is also commonly 1-flowered, the exception being with more than one. There are some 50 species known in this genus, which is entirely Old World, being generally distributed in tropical Asia and the Malay region. The genus Phraguipedium is entirely New World, occurring 81 in northern South America and Panama. It contains in the neighborhood of a dozen species, and is at once separated from Paphiopedilum by the character of the lip in which the margin of the opening is marked by a broad infolded portion. In addi- tion to this the ovary is 3-celled and the sepals valvate in the bud; the scape, moreover, bears several, sometimes many, flowers. We have then in the New World three of the genera, two, Phragmipedium and Selenipedium not known elsewhere, and Cypripedium which it shares in distribution with the Old World. The only strictly Old World genus is Paphiopedilum. The meeting adjourned at 4:30 P. M. Percy WILson, Secretary CNP MINING SI SO WAC SURES) COLLEGE ENTRANCE Botany (CONCLUDED) SPECIFICATIONS OF THE TOPICS TO BE STUDIED Part I. The General Principles of (A) Anatomy and Morphology, (L) Physiology and Ecology A. Anatomy AND’ MorPHOLoGcy. The Seed. Your types (dicotyledon without and with endo- sperm, a monocotyledon and a gymnosperm); structure and homologous parts. Food supply ; experimental determination of its nature and value. Phenomena of germination and growth of embryo into a seedling (including bursting from the seed, as- sumption of position and unfolding of parts). The Shoot. Gross anatomy of a typical shoot ; including the relationships of position of leaf, stem (and root), the arrangement of leaves and buds on the stem, and deviations (through light ad- justment, etc.) from symmetry. Buds, and the mode of origin of new leaf and stem; winter buds in particular. Specialized and metamorphosed shoots (stems and leaves). General structure and distribution of the leading tissues of the shoot; annual growth ; shedding of bark and leaves. The Root. Gross anatomy of a typical root; position and origin of secondary roots; hair-zone, cap and. growing-point. 82 Specialized and metamorphosed roots. General structure and distribution of the leading tissues of the root. The Flower. Structure of a typical flower, especially of ovule and pollen; functions of the parts. Comparative morphological study of four or more different marked types, with the construc- tion of transverse and longitudinal diagrams. The Fruit. Structure of a typical fruit. Comparative mor- phological study of four or more marked types with diagrams. This comparative morphological study of flowers and fruits may advantageously be postponed to the end of II, and then taken up in connection with the classification of the Angiosperms. The Cell. Cytoplasm, nucleus, sap-cavity, wall. As to the study of the cell, it is by no means to be postponed for consideration by itself after the other topics, as its position in the above outline may seem to imply, but it is to be brought in earlier, along with the study of the shoot or root, and contin- ued from topic to topic. Although enough study of the individ- ual cell is to be made to give an idea of its structure (a study which may very advantageously be associated with the physio- logical topics mentioned first under B), the principal microscopi- cal work should consist in the recognition and study of the dis- tribution of the leading tissues. B. PHysioLoGy AND ECOLOGY. Role of water in the plant ; absorption (osmosts), path of trans- fer, transpiration, turgidity and its mechanical value, plasmolysis. Photosynthesis ; Dependence of starch formation upon chlorophyl, light, and carbon dioxide; evolution of oxygen, observation of starch grains. Respiration ; ced of oxygen in growth, evolution of carbon dioxide. Digestion; Digestion of starch with diastase, and its role in translocation of foods. Irritability ; Geotropism, heliotropism and hydrotropism. Growth ; localization in higher plants; amount in elongating stems ; relationships to temperature. Fertilization ; sexual and vegetative reproduction. 83 Although for convenience of reference, the physiological topics are here grouped together, they should by no means be studied by themselves and apart from anatomy and morphology. On the contrary, they should be taken up along with the study of the structures in which the processes occur, and which they help to explain; thus — photosynthesis should be studied with the leaf, as should also transpiration, while digestion may best come with germination, osmotic absorption with the root, and so on. The student should either try, or at least aid in trying, experi- ments to demonstrate the fundamental processes indicated above in italics. Modifications (metamorphoses) of parts for special functions. Dissemination. Cross-pollination. Light relations of green tissues ; leaf mosaics. Special habitats ; Mesophytes, Hydrophytes, Halophytes, Xe- rophytes; Climbers, Epiphytes, Parasites (and Saphro- phytes), Insectivora. The topics in ecology (particularly the first four and in part the fifth), like those in physiology, are to be studied not by them- selves, but along with the structures with which they are most closely associated, as cross-pollination with the flower, dissemina- tion with the seed, etc. The fifth may most advantageously be studied in G in Part II. In this connection field-work is of great importance, and, for some topics, is indispensable, though much may be done also with potted plants in green-houses, photographs, and museum specimens. It is strongly recommended that some systematic field-work be considered as an integral part of the course, coor- dinate in definiteness and value as far as it goes with the laboratory work. The temptations to haziness and guessing in ecology must be combated. Part Il, The Natural Fhistory of the Plant Groups, and Classification A comprehensive summary of the great natural groups of plants, based upon the thorough study of the structure, repro- duction and adaptations to habitat of one or two types from each 84 group, supplemented and extended by more rapid study of other forms in those groups. . Where living material is wanting for the latter, preserved material and even good pictures may be used, and a standard text-book should be thoroughly read. The gen- eral homologies from group to group should be understood, though it is not expected that these will be known in detail. In general, in this part of the course, it is recommended that much less attention be given to the lower and inconspicuous groups, and progressively to the higher and conspicuous forms. Following is a list of recommended types from which, or their equivalents, selection may be made: A. AuGaE. Ffleurococcus. Sphaerella, Spirogyra, Vaucheria, Fucus, Nemation (or Polysiphonia or Coleochaete). B. Funer. Bacteria, R/zzopus, or Mucor, Yeast, Puccinia (or a powdery mildew), Corn Smut, Mushroom. Bacteria and yeast have obvious disadvantages in such a course, but their great economic prominence may Justify their introduction. C. Licnens. Physcia (or Parmelia, or Usnea. D. Bryopnyres. In Hepaticae, Radula (or Porella or Mar- chantia). In Musci, Wnium (or Polytrichum or Funaria). E. Preripopuytes. In Filicineae, Aspzdium or equivalent, in- cluding, of course, the prothallus. In Equisetineae, Eguzsetum. In Lycopodineae, Lycopodium and Selaginella (or Isoetes). F. GymmMosPermMs. /2zus or equivalent. G. ANGIOSPERMS. A monocotyledon and a dictoyledon, to be studied with reference to the homologies of their parts with those in the above groups; together with representative plants of the leading subdivisions and principal families of Angiosperms. Classification should include a study of the primary subdivi- sions of the above groups, based on the comparison of the types. with other living (preferably) or preserved material. The princi- pal subdivisions of the Angiosperms, grouped on the Engler and Prantl system, should be understood. The ability to use manuals for the determination of the species. of flowering plants is not considered essential in this course, 85 though it is most desirable. It should not be introduced to the exclusion of any part of the course, but should be made voluntary work for those showing a taste for it. It should not be limited to learning names of plants, but should be made a study in the plan of classification as well. The preparation of an herbarium is not required nor recom- mended except as voluntary work for those with a taste for col- lecting. If made, it should not represent so much a simple ac- ‘cumulation of species as some distinct idea of plant associations, or of morphology, or of representation of the groups, etc. The recent report of Gifford Pinchot, chief forester of the United States, shows that about 700,000 trees were planted last year on forests in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and California. There are now growing at the planting stations more than 2,200,000 trees, which will be ready for planting in 1909. Sufficient seed was sown in the spring of 1908 to produce 4,600,000 seedlings. For the Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden issued February, 1909, Addison Brown has written an interesting ac- count of the Elgin Botanical Garden, created by Dr. David Hosack, and its relation to Columbia College. The Azadletin also contains a paper on the North American Gill Fungi with a simple key that will be very helpful to many readers of TorrEyA. Each of the above contributions is also issued separately by the New York Botanical Garden. At the first annual conference of the governors of New Eng- land one session was devoted to the planting of trees. Forest trees were discussed, but especial interest was shown in orchard trees. New England, with its convenient markets, low land prices, and large proportion of hilly country not well suited to farming, could easily rank first in the production of apples, if the business were conducted with the energy characterizing western agricultural enterprises and guided by up-to-date methods. 86 Mycologia, the new journal issued from the New York Botan- ical Garden, contains the following on the chestnut canker which Dr. Murrill has earlier described for TORREYA: It is well known that practically all of the chestnut trees in and about New York City have been killed within the past few years by the chestnut canker, Diaporthe parasitica ; but the number of trees destroyed has been only very roughly estimated. Through the efforts, however, of Mr. J. J. Levison, arboriculturist of the parks of Brooklyn, who has made a careful survey of Forest Park, it is now known that 16,695 chestnut trees were killed in the 350 acres of woodland in this park alone. Of this number, about 9,000 were between eight and twelve inches in diameter, and the remaining 7,000 or more were of larger size. A report has been made by the Commission which was ap- pointed by the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations in 1906, to consider various matters relating to the expenditure of public funds. The members of the commission are David Starr Jordan, Stanford University, chair- man; Whitman Howard Jordan, of Geneva, New York, secre- tary; Henry Prentiss Armsby, State College, Pennsylvania ; Gifford Pinchot, Washington, D. C., and Carroll Davidson Wright, Clark College, Massachusetts. Among other recom- mendations are the following : 1. Every effort should be made to promote the training of competent investigators in agriculture both in the agricultural, and, so far as practicable, in the non-agricul- tural, colleges and universities, and their training should be as broad and severe as for any other field of research. 2. The progress of agricultural knowledge now demands that agricultural research agencies shall deal as largely as possible with fundamental problems, confining atten- tion to such as can be adequately studied with the means available. 3. The work of research in agriculture should be differentiated as fully as practi- cable, both in the form of organization and in the relations of the individual investi- gator, from executive work, routine teaching, promotion and propaganda, and should be under the immediate direction of an executive trained in the methods of science who should not be hampered by other duties of an entirely unlike character. 4. An advisory board is suggested consisting of members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and by the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experi- ment Stations, respectively, which shall confer with the Secretary of Agriculture re- garding the mutual interests of the department and the stations and shall consider the promotion of agricultural investigation in general. 87 NEWS ITEMS Edward Valentine Hallock, president of the Society of Amer- ican Florists, died March 3, 1909, at his Long Island home. The University of Michigan has recently received a gift of ninety acres of land to be used as a*botanical garden and arboretum. In the departments of biology, L. L. Woodruff, of Yale, has been promoted to assistant professor, and R. W. Hall, of Lehigh, to full professor. Mr. Patrick H. Lawlor, a well-known arboriculturist died recently at Flushing, Long Island. Many of our rare shade trees were first imported by Mr. Lawlor. M. Louis Mangin has been madea member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the section of botany, succeeding M. Van Tieghem, who has been elected permanent secretary. The new chief of the Bureau of General Statistics and Agri- cultural Information in the International Institute at Rome is Dr. C. C. Clark, of the United States Department of Agriculture. Further cooperation is planned between the government and the University of Wisconsin. This will include the cultivation of medicinal plants including related investigation and research work. Since Dr. George H. Shull’s return from Europe, where he was studying scientific and economic plant breeding, he has gone to California to resume his work on Mr. Burbank’s methods and results. As the result of the North American Conference on the Con- servation of Natural Resources, held in Washington last week, all nations are to be asked to send delegates to an international conference on conservation, to be held at The Hague. The fifth summer school session of the University of Washing- ton, opens June 22, at Friday Harbor, Washington. Courses are offered in elementary and in field botany. The tuition fee is but $13, making the entire charges for board, etc., for the six weeks only $45. The Station for Research at Agar’s Island, Bermuda, will be open for about seven weeks this summer. There are accommo- 88 dations for a limited number of instructors or research students in either zoology or botany. Members of the expedition may leave New York on one of the steamers of the Quebec Steamship: Company’s Line, either the middle of June, or, if more con- venient, about the first of July. For further information address. Professor E. L. Mark, 109 Irving Street, Cambridge, Mass. The next annual session of the Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences located at Cold Spring Harbor will be held during the months of July and August, 1909. The regular class work will begin on July 7, and con- tinue for six weeks. The Laboratory offers courses in zoology and botany, and facilities are promised to independent investiga- tors ; excursions and evening lectures form additional features of interest. The laboratory fee is $30; board will be furnished stu- dents for $5 aweek. For further information address Dr. Charles Davenport, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York. The following illustrated lectures will be delivered in the lec- ture hall of the museum building at the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City, on Saturday afternoons, at 4:00 o'clock : April 24. ‘*A Winter in Jamaica”, by Dr. William A. Murrill. May 1. ‘‘Spring Flowers’’, by Dr. Nathaniel I. Britton. May 8. ‘‘ How Plants Grow’’, by Dr. Herbert M. Richards. May 15. ‘‘ Evergreens: How to Know and Cultivate Them”’, by Mr. George V. Nash. May 22. ‘‘ Collecting Seaweeds in Tropical Waters’’, by Dr. Marshall A, Howe. May 29. ‘‘ Vanilla and Its Substitutes’’, by Dr. Henry H. Rusby. June 5. ‘‘ The Selection and Care of Shade Trees”’, by Dr. William A. Murrill. June 12. ‘*The Ice Age and Its Influence on the Vegetation of the World’’, by Dr. Arthur Hollick. June 19. ‘* Haiti, the Negro Republic, as seen by a Botanist’’, by Mr. George V. Nash. June 26. ‘‘Some American Botanists of Former Days’”’, by Dr. John H. Barnhart. July 3. ‘* An Expedition up the Peribonca River, Canada’’, by Dr. Carlton C. Curtis. July to. ‘Collecting Experiences in the West Indies’’, by Dr. Nathaniel L. Britton. They will close in time for auditors to take the 5:34 train from the Botanical Garden Station, arriving at Grand Central Station at 6:04 P. M. | TORREYA AND NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year Ig09 Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case _will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to zew sub- scribers of either journals and also is not open to members of. the American Nature-Study Society, of which Tue NATURE-STUDY REVIEW is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms may be credited as member’s fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68th Street New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS. OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (1) BULLETIN A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text _and 40 full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, 14 shillings. Dulau & Co., 37 Soho Square, London, are agents for England. Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols, 28-35 three dollars each. Cae copies (30. cts.) will be furnished only when not breaking complete volumes. (2) MEMOIRS The Memoirs, established 1880, are published at irregular intervals. Volumes I-11 and 13 arenow completed ; Nos. 1 and 2 of Vol. 12 and No. 1 of Vol. 14 have been issued. The sub- scription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. The numbers can also be purchased singly... A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application. (3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one Ee miles of New York..1836:. Price; $1.00. Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy : 115 W. 68TH STREET NEW YORK CITY ore VWolig ; May, 1909 No. 5 TORREYA A MonTHLy Journal or BoranicaLt Notes anp News Ly) EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY : JEAN BROADHURST JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873 | CONTENTS Reproduction by Budding in Drosera; WINIFRED, J. ROBINSON.........0.0s.0c.000: 89 Juglandaceae from the Pleistocene of Maryland: Epwarp W. BERRY..,............ 96) Proceedings) of ther Club :s-PERCY, WWALSON Qcto sca ore ieee rete seu uete dene cracked ake 99 Reviews: Ward’s Trees: JEAN BROADHURST...., 001.2454. Heigtromule a cinta cn shen eM crn 103 Of Interest to Teachers: Biology in Summer Vacations .................. Lay rene 104 PVE WS UL ETS 6 ey hea Ni SA RU aM AA ee SIT yl IM Ta La Cae SRN A Ue) Ae ATS Ue PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB Ar 41 Nortu Quzen Street, Lancaster, Pa. By THe New Era Printing Company [Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter 1 THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB OFFICERS. FOR 1909 _ President HENRY H. RUSBY, M.D. Vice- Presidents EDWARD S. BURGESS, PH.D. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M ,M.D. Recording Secretary PERCY “WILSON Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City Editor Treasurer MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, PH.D... WILLIAM MANSFIELD, Puar,D. | Botanical Garden, Bronx Park College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St. New York City ~ New York City Associate Editors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M., M.D. TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, Pu.D: JEAN BROADHURST, A.M. WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, PH.D. * PHILIP, DOWELL, Pu.D, CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, A.M. ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D. HERBERT M. RICHARDS, S.D.. ‘Torreya is furnished to subscribers in the United States and ~ Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but. the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BoTanicaL Chup, 41 North Queen St., Lan-\ caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHUEST Teachers College, Columbia University New York City MAY 1- 1909 LIBRARY) NEW York TORREYA greet May, I909 Vol. o. No. 5. REPRODUCTION BY BUDDING IN DROSERA * In August, 1907, young plants were found growing from old leaves of Droscra rotundifolia (Fig. 1) in the propagating houses of the New York Botanical Garden. At first they were thought to be seedlings but further observation showed that they had no cotyledons, no nepionic leaves like those of seedlings, no roots with one exception (Fig. 5), while they bore glandular foliage leaves like those of the adult plant except in size. Hence it was evident that the young plants were produced from the budding of the old tissue. In some cases the leaves upon which they grew were green and apparently normal; in others, brown and decaying. Microtome sections through the point of connection between the young plant and the parent tissue (Figs. 2 and 3) showed no union between the vascular tissue of the parent plant and that of the young plant. A differential stain (Haidenhain’s iron haema- toxylin) showed the difference between the vigorous tissue of the young plant and the disintegrating tissue of the parent plant very clearly, but Delafield’s haematoxylin showed no such distinction. In each case, the stem of the young plant gave rise to five or six leaves before the root appeared as alateral outgrowth. The root had a red apex and was diageotropic until it had passed be- yond the margin of the old leaf, when it bent downward into the sphagnum in which the original plants were growing. In cne case only (Fig. 5) was a root observed on the under (non-glan- dular) surface of the leaf. Later, leaf-petioles and one flower- stalk (Fig. 6) that had accidentally been broken from a plant were found to be proliferating in a similar way. This growth from an inflorescence is noteworthy because so * Tllustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. {No. 4, Vol. yg, of ToRREYA, comprising pages 65-88, was issued April 8, 1909. ] 89 | i 90 Fig. 1. Drosera rotundifolia, showing a young plant growing from leaf. 91 few examples have been reported (Kupfer, Mem. Torr. Bot. Club I2: 224. 1907; Robinson, Plt. World 8: 131. 1905). Plan- Fic. 2. Photomicrograph of section through an old leaf in region from which young plant is developing. Fic. 3. Photomicrograph of section through a leaf petiole which bears a well differentiated plantlet. There is no connection between either of the vascular bundles of the petiole and the vascular tissue of the young plant. chon (Ann. Sci. Nat. III]. 9: 84. pls. 5 and 6. 1848) described and figured flowers of Drosera intermedia which had passed into a chloranthic condition. The petals and the valves of the ovary Fic. 4. Leaf upon which young plant is growing. Fic. 5. Dorsal surface, showing root protruding. were provided with stipules, bore glands, and were circinate in vernation. Leavitt (Rhodora 7: 14. 1905) described a similar 92 aberrant form of Dvosera rotundifolia but neither observer re- corded the development of young plants from the flower-stalks. To determine whether it was necessary that a leaf should be in connection with the parent plant in order to proliferate, two leaves cut froma mature plant were placed on sphagnum ina moist chamber September 7. One month later a bud was seen upon the surface of oneleaf. Three months from the date of beginning Fic. 6. Flower stalk from which two young plants are growing. the experiment (Dec. 3) the parent leaf was still green, the leaf- lets of the young plant were like those of the adult, except in size, and the internodes of the stem were proportionately long, but no root had developed. At the end of four months (Jan. 3) a root was observed which had grown laterally from the base of the stem, while the parent leaf had entirely decayed. This was repeated with four leaves with practically the same results. A portion of a leaf was able to produce a new plant as readily as an entire leaf. Leaves placed with the gland-bearing surface downward in the moist chamber did not produce buds, and all the buds which appeared upon leaves still attached to a plant were upon the upper or ventral side of the leaf. 93 Nitschke (Bot. Zeit. 18: 57. 1860) described reproduction by budding in plants of D. rotundifolia growing in their native bogs. He observed that while the bud-formation from the leaf surface occurred throughout the summer it was especially frequent in the fall. The buds always developed from the upper side of the leaf. He compared the plant arising from the bud with the seedling and noted that the bud-plant had only a stem-root while the seedling had numerous roots at the base. The first leaves of the bud-plant resembled the mature leaves while the seedling had cotyledons each with a single stoma, and nepionic _ leaves without glandular hairs. Both the bud-plant and the seedling were caulescent during their first year’s growth and _ attained their rosette form at the beginning of the second season, though bud-plants produced in spring in some cases gained the rosette form during the summer. The first leaves made an acute angle with the stem but the angle made by succeeding leaves increased until it became 90° and the rosette form was reached. Drought tended to hasten the production of the rosette form, while fully developed plants placed under moss produced elon- gated axes like those of their early form. Grout (Am. Nat. 32: 114. 1898) noted adventitious buds on the leaves of D. rotundifolia, also the occurrence of glandular hairs a short distance from the base of stems of young plants. The latter observation corresponds with a statement made in Nature (15: 18. 1876) that plants of D. rotundifolia exhibited at the Chester (England) Society of Natural Science showed elongated axes which produced leaves and glandular hairs alternately. Similar proliferation of the leaf tissues of D. zutermedia was recorded by Naudin (Ann. Soc. Nat. II. 14: 14. pl. 7. f. 6. 1840). Two plants developed between the mid-vein and margin of the leaf which had rosettes of leaves like those of the mature plant. The lower surface of the budding leaf was perfectly intact and there was no indication of a root. The appearance of buds upon leaves of D. longifolia was re- ported by Kirschleger (Bull. Soc. de France 2: 723. 1855). Winkler (Ber. d. Deutsch. Gesell. 21: 105. 1903) noted 94 reproduction in J. capensis as arising not from latent embryonic tissue but from ordinary epidermal cells at the apex or near the petiole of the leaf, or upon the petiole itself. Goebel (Einleit. i. d. exp. Morph. d. Pflanz. 196.97. 1908) describes and figures a portion of a leaf of D. dimata, a species whose leaves fork into two long segments. If a part be cut away and placed in a moist chamber it develops adventitious shoots, which have leaves like those of D. votundifola instead of being like the parent plant in form. This is the only species so far observed, in which young plants which arise by proliferation from mature tissue, develop leaves different from those of the adult. The question arises as to whether D. rotundifolia is not near to the antecedent form in structure while D. dzvata may be the result of the greatest modification, so that it is still in a state of variation and hence reverts to the D. rotundifolia type. An allied form of reproduction which occurs in D. pygmaea, a native of southern Australiaand New Zealand, is described by Goebel (Flora 98: 324. 1908). The leaves are arranged ina rosette like those of other species but they are peculiar in having a peltate form and little chlorophyll, the work of assimilation being carried on chiefly by the petioles which are fleshy, contain much chlorophyll, and have stomata. At the close of the vege- tative period, in the latter half of October in cultivated plants, numerous brood-bodies which resemble the gemmae of M/ar- chantia appear in the center of the rosette. Each is borne upon a slender hyaline stem, the turgid cells at the apex of which set up such a tension that the brood-bodies are easily broken off by the animals which pass over them or by the rain. These small (0.730mm. by 0.515 mm.), heart-shaped brood-bodies show dor- so-ventral differentiation, the under side being smooth while the upper side is rounded into a horse-shoe-shaped cushion. There are stomata on both sides and a vascular bundle runs from the point of attachment to the center of the brood-body. The tissues are rich in starch, fat, and other reserve foods. The anlage of the new plant lies in the hollow at the base and may develop immediately after separation from the parent plant if conditions are favorable, drought being the most serious hindrance. The 95 first leaves are peltate like those of the adult while the nepionic leaves of the seedling are simpler in form. Goebel believes that the origin of the brood-body is from a leaf anlage which explains their appearing alternately with the foliage-leaves, also the de- velopment of a slender vascular strand. It is more difficult to correlate particular parts. At-first one is inclined to homologize the blade of the foliage-leaf with the brood-body and the petiole of the foliage-leaf with its stem. However the petiole of the leaf is more strongly developed than the blade, while the stem of the brood-body is less developed. Stipules which appear very early in the formation of the leaf have no homologue in the brood-body. The foliage-leaf is curved so that the apex is directed inwards while the brood-body remains upright. The brood-body de- velops early from the leaf-anlage and its stem must be regarded as a new structure, the function of which is the dissemination of these reproductive bodies. The part homologous with the foliage- leaf is a group of cells which arises on the inner side of the anlage. No axial buds have been observed in the inflorescence of D. pygmaca so it seems reasonable to regard the brood-bodies as new structures which do not arise from axial buds. From the above observations it is seen that reproduction by budding occurs in D. rotundifolia, D. intermedia, D. longifolia, D. Ginata, and if the brood-bodies of D. pygmaea be taken as aborted leaves, the reproduction is by budding in that case also. In each species except D. d:mata the first leaves of the young plant resemble those of the adult. In D. rotundifolia at least, the resulting form is the same whether the young plant arises from a leaf still attached to the plant, a leaf cutting, or a flower- stalk removed from the plant. Whether this is regarded as regeneration or not, depends upon the definition of regeneration which is accepted. Morgan (Re- generation, 23. 1901) says, ‘“‘ The word Regeneration has come to mean in general usage not only the replacement of a lost part but also the development of a new, whole organism, or even a part of an organisn, from a piece of an adult, or of an embryo, or an egg.” Goebel (Einleit. 1. d. exp. Morph. d. Pfilanz. 136. 1908) expresses his idea of regeneration as the phenomenon of 96 completion or restoration of a plant body after injury without regard to the manner in which it occurs. Pfeffer (Phys. of Plts. trans. by Ewart, 2: 167. 1903) states that “only those cases ought to be designated as regeneration in higher plants in which the new parts formed after injury or loss exactly resemble in number and position the organs that have been removed.” Mc- Callum (Bot. Gaz. 40: 98. 1905) recognizes three forms of re- generation as follows: ‘(1) The part removed is entirely restored by the growth of cells immediately below the cut surface; (2) there is no growth of embryonic tissue at the wounded surface, but at a greater or less distance from it the organization of en- tirely new primordia which develop organs which replace those removed ; (3) the organ removed is restored by the development of already existing dormant buds.” Dr. Kupfer (Mem. Tor. Bot. Club 12: 196. 1907) says “ The word regeneration ought to be limited to those cases in which an organ is formed, de novo, at a place or under conditions in which it would not normally be formed.” In the broadest sense of the term this form of reproduction in Drosera may be termed regeneration, but since it may occur on portions of the plant which are still attached to the main axis, without the apparent stimulus of injury, it seems better to place it in the category of plants that reproduce by budding than as an example of regeneration. However it is an illustration of a principle which much of the work on regeneration teaches, that the different forms of reproduction in plants may be arranged in a scale of slight gradations. WINIFRED J. ROBINSON New YorkK BOTANICAL GARDEN | JUGLANDACEA PROM DHE BEEISTOCENE ZO MARYLAND * By EpwarD W. BERRY Some years ago a very complete account of the Pleistocene flora of Maryland was given by Dr. Hollick | who enumerated * Illustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. + Hollick, Maryland Geol. Surv., Pliocene and Pleistocene, 217-237, pl. 67-75. 1906, 97 é about forty species of plants from deposits of this age in that state. Among these there were five members of the family Juglandaceae represented by leaflets of /ug/anus, Hicoria, and pos- sibly Pterocarya (although the latter is doubtfully determined), and a small poorly preserved nut of A/corza. Remains of //coria, both leaflets and nuts, have proved to be very common in such of our Pleistocene deposits south of the terminal moraine as have been exploited. /ug/ans, on the other hand, has ‘thus far proved to be exceedingly rare. I am indebted to Dr. F. H. Knowlton, of the U. S. National Museum, for the privilege of describing the present exceptionally well preserved specimens which were collected from the Talbot formation, about one mile south of Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County by William Palmer. Hicoria glabra (Mill.) Britton. Several extremely well preserved specimens of the fruit of this species were collected some of which are shown in figs. I-5. These bring out very well the pear-shaped outline, the indehis- cent husk, and the thick shell which characterize the modern 98 fruits of this species and from which the fossils are indistinguish- able. This species has been found fossil at a number of localities, The writer has recorded it from both Virginia * and North Caro- lina; + Mercer reports numerous specimens from the celebrated cave deposits at Port Kennedy, Pa.; { and the leaflets described by Hollick § from the Maryland Pleistocene as Aicoria pseudo- glabra may well belong tothe same species. This comparative frequency of occurrence in the Pleistocene would seem to indicate that it was exceedingly abundant. Its presence in these deposits can hardly be attributed to more favorable opportunities for pres- ervation since other hickories like /zcorta minima and Fiicoria aguatica inhabit wetter situations and would seem to be equally well situated for interment in river and estuary swamp deposits. As previously mentioned, the genus AZzcorza is abundant in the Pleistocene, additional American records being those of A/zcoria pecan,|| Hicoria ovata,§| Hicoria aquatica,** and HAicoria alba. ++ The latter is found in the remarkable Interglacial deposits of the Don Valley near Toronto, Canada, and enables us to form some- what of an estimate of the time involved in the ceological changes of the Quaternary, since with the exception of the occasional carrying and burying of the nuts by squirrels, the normal rate of migration which includes the factors of seed dispersal and rate and time required to grow to bearing age, is comparatively slow in this family. Juglans nigra Linne. The single nut of this species which was found is shown in fig. 6. It is identical with the smaller nuts of the modern tree. The husk was entirely rotted away and the surface largely smoothed before entombment, the rugosities of the shell being partially eliminated. It seems probable that the tree which bore * Berry, Torreya6: 89. 1906. + Berry, Journ. Geology 15: 340. 1907. { Mercer, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. (Il) 11: 277, 281. 1899. AEVollickseloceicite 221s 0 p/5n 7/2 9 /anz, LOL 7p || Lesq., Am. Journ. Sci. 27: 368. 1859. {| Mercer, loc. cit. 279. Berry, Journ. Geology 15: 340. 1907. ** Berry, Torreyag: 71. 1909. Tt Mercer, loc. cit. 281. Penhallow, Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. 10*: 73. 1904; Amer. Nat. 41: 446. 1907. 99 the present specimen grew at some distance from its final resting place and that after a period of desiccation it was brought down by some temporarily swollen stream to the estuary where it finally became water-logged and deposited. Remains of /ug/ans are not abundant in the Pleistocene de- posits and so far as I know nuts have not heretofore been de- scribed from our American Pleistocene. In Europe the /ug/ans tephrodes Unger of the Pliocene persists in the Lower Pleistocene of the Netherlands: /uglaus regia Linné is recorded from a number of Pleistocene localities in France, Italy, and Germany ; and fruits practically identical with the present species and de- scribed as /uglans nigra var. fossilis by Kinkelin * occur in the Upper Pliocene of Germany. Both genera have a long and in- teresting geological history, the records of /ug/ans antedating those of Acoria by a considerable interval of time, since the first recorded species of the former are found in strata of Mid-Creta- ceous age while the latter has not been found as yet until toward the close of the Upper Cretaceous. JouHns Hopkins UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND ROG TI EIDIONGS) Owes Welle, (C008 MARCH 9, 1909 The meeting was called to order at the American Museum of Natural History at 8:30 p. m., with Dr. E. B. Southwick in the chair. About fifty persons were present. After the reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting, the resignation of Mr. E. L. Rogers was read and accepted. The Club then listened to a very interesting lecture on “Ferns” by Mr. Ralph C. Benedict. The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides made from photographs taken by the speaker. The meeting adjourned. Percy WILSON, Secretary MARcH 31, 1909 The meeting was held at the Museum of the New York Botan- ical Garden at 3:30 p.M., with Dr, J. H. Barnhart in the chair. * Kink., Senckenb. Abhandl. 29°: 237. p/. 30. f. 8, 9. 1908. 100 Sixteen persons were in.attendance. After the reading and ap- proval of the minutes of the preceding meeting, the scientific program was presented. The following abstracts were prepared by the authors: “Exploration in the Everglades”, by Dr. J. K. Small. “TI was accompanied on my recent expedition by Mr. J. J. Carter, of Pleasant Grove, Pennsylvania. ‘The principal undertaking of the expedition was the explora- tion of the group of keys forming the southwestern extension of the everglade reef or chain of islands. This group, extending westward from near Camp Jackson for about ten miles and thence southwestward for about eight miles, dies out in the everglades eighteen miles from Cape Sable. It is popularly known as Long Key, and has furnished the basis of much misunderstanding among the native Floridians and superstition among the Seminole Indians. “ While awaiting the arrival of baggage delayed in transit from the north, we took occasion to visit some of the upper Florida Keys, including the group of Ragged Keys, making notes of observations and complete collections of the plants inhabiting them. Our main object was to determine whether or not Soldier Key and the Ragged Keys really belong to the Florida Keys, from the standpoint of their structure and vegetation. The fact that these islands are members of the Florida Keys was demonstrated in the affirmative by evidence furnished by their coral structure and tropical vegetation. Thus Soldier Key is to be considered the most northern member of the Florida Keys. A glance at a map of that region will also indicate that it is sep- arated from the two islands lying north of it by about five miles of water, including a natural channel. The two islands just referred to, namely, Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, are gener- ally included among the Florida Keys; but a previous study of their structure and vegetation proved them to be merely detached portions of the narrow coastal peninsula, which thus ends at the historic Cape Florida. Soldier Key consists of several acres of partially sand-covered coral-rock with both herbaceous and woody vegetation, the number of species growing there amount- 101 ing to about five dozen. The Ragged Keys lie about five miles south of Soldier Key and consist of about six islands, the majority of them being larger than Soldier Key. “The first attempt to reach Long Key was defeated by the high water in the everglades caused by recent rains. While _ waiting for the water to subside, we visited Key Largo and spent several days exploring the southern portion of that key for a dis- tance of about fifteen miles. We found a considerable original forest about the middle of the key, where four species of cactus were quite common, two spreading opuntias, one spine-armed and one spineless, and two climbing forms, one, a Cereus, with three-angled stems, the other, a /arrisia, with fluted stems. The leaf-mould in the forest was very deep, in some places cov- ering the coral-rock for a depth of one or two feet, but curiously enough, herbaceous vegetation was almost, if not completely, absent, and places where humus-loving orchids should have grown were barren. In such places the only visible plant not a shrub or tree was the climbing fern, Phymatodes exiguum, a trop- ical American plant known from the United States only on Key Largo. On parts of the key where the forest had been cleared off several plants were found evidently lately introduced from other parts of the tropics. ‘“The rains having become less frequent and a steady dry southeast wind having set in, Long Key was reached, and a ‘supply-camp established on the eastern end, from which point exploring trips were made to different localities. ‘“On the most distant island visited we found another tree to add to the arboreous flora of the United States. Returning we crossed portions of the three larger islands which form the back- bone of the group, exploring both the pinelands and such ham- mocks as had not been burned out by recent fires. The flora of the pinelands was both rich and interesting, but that of the small hammocks turned out to be rather disappointing as compared with that of the hammocks twenty miles to the northeast. The larger hammocks certainly contained a more varied flora than the smaller ones, but the fires had been so recent that not a plant could be found in a condition to collect. The second journey was 102 made along the northern side of the largest key for more than half its length. The everglades seem to be lower on the northern side than on the southern, for we found them submerged, and when the depth of the water prohibited further progress we grad- ually worked across the key towards the south, and returned to the supply-camp across the higher prairies. A third journey was made along a course close to the southern side of the largest key for eight or nine miles to the west, and then up through the narrow intersecting prairie into the everglades on the north side directly west of the point where we were forced to turn south on_ the second journey. We then returned to the supply-camp, crossing the largest key through both pinelands and hammocks. “The last day of the Long Key expedition was devoted to work on Royal Palm Hammock and the two smaller islands ad- jacent to its western side. Royal Palm Hammock is remarkable for thegrowth of palms (Roystonea regia), from which it takes its name. These trees are visible across the open everglades almost as far as the eye can reach, and curiously enough this species of palm is confined to this island, with the exception of two plants which grow on the small key which lies near its western side and a very few plants which exist on a key about two miles directly east. Royal Palm Hammock is also noted as being the only locality in the United States where several tropical American epiphytic orchids grow naturally. ““We were surprised to meet with a number of plants, both herbaceous and woody, characteristic of more northern or cooler parts of the country. Among the woody plants the more con- spicuous were the laurel-leaved greenbrier (Slax laurifola), Ward's willow (Salix longipes), sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinguefolia), persimmon (Lio0- spyros virginiana), French mulberry (Cadllicarpa americana), and buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). The most interesting of these was the sweet bay, which occurred in diminutive forests, the plants assuming the form of a tree and ranging from one to three feet tall. Their trunks were characteristically buttressed, with a diameter of several.inches at the base, tapering to about one half an inch a foot above. The diminutive trees bore both flowers and fruit. 105 “Our last field work was done on the .Vaccas Keys, Crawl Keys, and Grassy Key. We secured a good collection of the plants inhabiting these islands, including some additions to our flora, and a view of the remarkably dense growth of the palm, Thrinax floridana, which is well worth a trip there to see.” “Notes on North American Pondweeds”’, by Mr. Norman Taylor. ‘‘A short historical review of previous treatments of the genus Potamogeton shows that Morong (1893) credited 37 species to North America, while Pflanzenreich (1907) lists 42 species and scores of varieties. The forthcoming part of the North Ameri- can Flora will contain descriptions of only 36 species. A decidedly conservative tendency in the conception of specific limitations accounts for the difference in the number of species, and this is based on a more or less fixed adherence to the prin- ciple that in Potamogeton fruit characters are the only ones of any real stability. “The usual characters that have been used by monographers and their relative value for taxonomic purposes, was discussed. As an example of the variability of the group, a series of speci- mens showing every gradation between the lanceolate leaves of P. Richardsonit and the orbicular ones of P. bupleuroides was shown, and the contention was advanced that in all probability the three species P. Richardsoni, P. perfoliatus, and P. bupleurotdes were in reality one aggregate species with trifling differences.”’ Discussion followed by Dr. Barnhart, Dr. Rydberg, and the speaker. . The meeting adjoumed at 4:30 P. M. PERcy WILSON, Secretary REVIEWS Ward’s Trees* The little book, which follows the three volumes on Buds and Twigs, Leaves, and Inflorescences and Flowers, is of course de- signed primarily for use in England; yet, it will prove helpful in * Ward, H. Marshall. Trees: A Handbook of Forest Botany for the Woodlands and the Laboratory. Vol. IV. Fruits. Pp. 154. f. 147. 1908, Cambridge, University Press (Putnam’s, New York). 104 this country, especially to the teacher of general botany. The key is simple, and despite its broken character, owing to the interpola- tion of many illustrations, can be used easily by any one really in- terested in trees; it is based upon the fruits as the sub-title indicates. The list of trees included, does not, of course, agree with similar lists of American trees ; this is noticeably true of the oaks (5 species) and the maples (3 species). The greatest value to Americans is in the general chapters on fruits (pp. 3-55) in which the distinctions between seed and fruit, and between the various kinds of fruits, is told in a very readable way. The illustrations will prove very helpful for general demonstration purposes; one very great advantage over most illustrations is the care with which the seed attachment is shown. JEAN BROADHURST OW IUNINBIRISS IF IMO) INS /AVEISUEIKS BIoLoGy IN SUMMER VACATIONS In the preliminary report on the high school course in biology prepared by the New Jersey Science Teachers’ Association,* sug- gestions are given for observations during the summer vacation. They are divided into the studies possible at the seaside, on the mountains, in gardens, etc. The questions suggested by Dr. Harper in the July (1908) TorreyA may be too difficult for most of the high school pupils, but some of them, at least, can be used. Will not some teacher, who is in touch with’ his botany or biology classes again in the fall, send us a report of what he has been able to do in this line? We hear much claimed for biology because it is such a vital subject, in close touch with the child’s life. Caz we in one year give the high school pupil enough to interest him in any such problems and can we enable him to carry them out independently during the summer? Oris it mere talk? Will not some of our teachers try it this summer ? Reports upon work of this kind would be more convincing than pages on ‘educational biology”’ as to what we can rightfully * Committee: Mr. G. H. Trafton, Passaic, Chairman; Prof. J. Nelson, Rutgers College, and Miss S. Streeter, Jersey City. 105 claim for biology or botany and also, as to what we must grace- fully yield as wholly beyond high school possibilities. JEAN BROADHURST Professor C. S. Gager has an illustrated article on some phys- iological effects of radium rays in the American Naturalist for December, 1908. The March Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club has a study of winter buds with reference to their growth and leaf content by Emmeline Moore. This interesting article is illustrated with growth curves and many line drawings of bud sections. The same number contains also an article on some aspects of the mycorhiza problem by Benjamin C. Gruenberg. The Journal of Biological Chemistry for December, 1908, con- tains an article on /bervillea Sonorae, specimens of which are » growing in the New York Botanical Garden. Theauthors, Miss Julia T. Emerson and Mr. William W. Walker, discuss the plant’s chemical composition and its toxicity. One swollen stem that has been lying on a board in a museum case since 1902 still sends up yearly shoots bearing leaves and tendrils. The parasitic fungi of Aleyrodes citri, a serious scale pest of the orange groves in Florida and other southern states, have been recently fully described and illustrated by Mr. Howard S. Fawcett, of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station ; the study was made from an economic standpoint, for the “ greatest success in the use of fungi to combat insect pests seems to have been attained in Florida, where proper conditions of temperature and moisture are present.” The Botanical Gazette for January, 1909, has an illustrated article by Robert Greenleaf Leavitt on homoeosis, in which is discussed the translocation of characters, such as abscission from the petiole to the petiolules in the horsechestnut, the subdivision of the pinnae as in the frond as a whole in the Pierson and other 106 ferns, and several other phases of homoeosis, the complete or partial translocation of foliage characters to the flowers or vice versa, and the omission of one of the alternative generations as in some ferns, where the tips of the pinnae may be converted into prothallia bearing archegonia and antheridia. The New York Tribune for February 14 reports that ‘‘a buried prehistoric forest on the New Jersey coast, near the Sandy Hook military reservation, has been discovered by army engineers while boring for an additional water supply. When the test pipes were down nearly four hundred feet, through strata of red clay, shale, and white sand,a broad strata of wood was found. At one point the borers reported that they went through twenty feet of wood, which they think was a tree trunk still remaining upright. In- vestigations are being made in the interest of archaeology. If a forest flourished where the sand dunes are now, it is believed it was covered with sand by the action of the sea until buried.” The Calaveras National Forest, the famous grove which con- tains about 1,400 giant sequoias over six feet in diameter is de- scribed in Sczence, Marchig. The grovealsoincludes many very large sugar pines, yellow pines, white firs, and cedars. Most of the larger sequoias have been named for famous generals, states- men, or for states. The Father of the Forests, now fallen, has a basal diameter of over forty feet. Some of these trees contain as much lumber as fifteen acres of ordinary timberland. The first Calaveras bill was introduced some four years ago; the pres- ent bill is one of the last signed by President Roosevelt. Loco-weed, the cause of extensive losses of live stock in the western United States, has been recently investigated by A. C. Crawford (Bull. 129, U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry). Having proved its toxic powers, which was doubted by some investi- gators, Mr. Crawford next found that the toxicity remained after boiling and was also easily proven in the ash of the plants under examination. In the experiments with animals it was noticed 107 that a ‘close analogy exists between the clinical symptoms and pathological findings in barium poisoning and those resulting from feeding extracts of certain loco plants. Small doses of barium salts may be administered to rabbits without apparent effect, but suddenly acute symptoms set in analogous to what is reported on the range,” and finally “barium was found in the ash of many ‘loco’ plants in amounts sufficient to account for the symptoms.” The authcr mentions that in other localities the toxic action may be due to substances other than barium, and explains the contradictory results previously obtained as follows: ‘‘Loco plants grown on certain soils are inactive pharma- cologically and contain no barium. In drying certain loco plants the barium apparently is rendered insoluble so that it is not ex- tracted by water, but can usually be extracted by digestion with the digestive ferments. “The barium to be harmful must be in such‘a form as to be dissolved out by digestion. ‘In deciding whether plants are poisonous it is desirable not merely to test the aqueous or alcoholic extract, but also the ex- tracts obtained by digesting these plants with the ferments which occur in the gastro-intestinal tract.” INTE WS) AMES At Munich Dr. P. Renner has been made curator of the cryp- togamic herbarium. The University cf Minnesota has been given over 2,000 acres of land for experimental forestry. L. Lancelot Burlingame has been advanced to assistant pro- fessor of botany at Stanford University. Columbia University is contemplating establishing a course in forestry, with the degree of forest engineer. The Smithsonian Institution has recently received from Captain John Donnell Smith a second herbarium consisting of over seven thousand fern sheets. Professor William Stuart, of the Department of Horticulture, 108 University of Vermont, has accepted an appointment in the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Dr. H. Metcalf b) who has been traveling in Italy collecting re- sistant varieties of rice, has resumed his work in this country at the Bureau of Plant Industry. The biology department of Princeton University has received about ten thousand specimens of mosses and hepatics from Dr. Per Dusen and Dr. Hj. Maller, of Sweden. The British Science Association is to meet at Winnipeg, August 25 to September 1. Reduced rates from points east and west, with side trips in Canada, are being offered. Mr. B. E. Dahlgren, formerly connected with the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is now in Jamaica, making studies for a series of models of representative tropical plants for the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Dr. M. H. Boye, a prominent chemist, died in March. Though far from the most important of his discoveries, readers of TORREYA may be most interested in his process of refining cotton seed oil (1845) thus securing the well-known colorless oil instead of the former blackish thick liquid. The New York Botanical Garden offers from the income of the Caroline and Olivia E. Stokes Fund for the Preservation of Native Plants the following prizes for essays not exceeding 5,000 words : (Z) $40.00, (2) $25.00, (3) $15.00. The essays must be type- written in duplicate and must reach the Garden not later than June 20, 1909. Professor F. S. Earle reports through Sczence that the Cuban administration has demanded the resignation of the staff of the Cuban Agricultural Station —a repetition of the Cuban football policy followed to satisfy the office seekers. Among the men thus unjustly displaced are the following botanists whom Professor Earle ‘‘ heartily recommends to any institutions having vacancies ”’ in their lines: Dr. H. Hasselbring, botany ; Prof. Wm. T. Horne and Mr. J. S. Houser, vegetable pathology ; and Prof, €. F. Austin and Mr. C. F. Kinman, horticulture. TORREYA AND NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year 1909 Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to zew sub- scribers of either journals and also is not open to members of the American Nature-Study Society, of which THE NaATuRE-STuDY REVIEW is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms may be credited as member's fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68th Street New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (1) BULLETIN en monthly journal devoted to general botany, established. 1870. Vol. 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text and 40 full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, —. 14 shillings, Dulau & Co., 37 Soho Square, London, are agents . for England. | . a Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer-" tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stant of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. , Vols, 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols. 28~35 three dollars each. | ; Ginole copies (30. cts.) will be furnished onl when not breaking complete volnnee : (2) MEMOIRS The Memoirs, established 1880, are published at cleoute intervals. Volumes 1-11 and 13 arenow completed; Nos. rand 2 of Vol. 12 and No. 1 of Vol. 14 have been issued. The sub- scription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. The | numbers can also be purchased singly. A list of titles of the» | individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application. . (3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York): 1888... Price, $1.00. Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM ‘MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68TH STREET NEW YORK CITY { i Voli oq. : June, I909 No. 6 TORREYA A Monruty Journat or Boranicat Notes anp News EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST | JOHN TORREY, 1790-1873 J CONTENTS. Experiments upon Drosera rotundifolia as to its Protein-D gesting ‘Power ; WINIEFRED J ROBINSON 2.0.20 55... eiccenaees mse Ualt ae SMa niin aNaiets baie cena cere 109 Species of Gymnosporangium in Southern Alabama: R. E. STONE ..........,... 114 Fossil Euphorbiaceae, with a Note on Saururaceae: T. D. A. COcKERELL...... 117) Reviews: Coulter and Patterson’s Practical Nature Study: ROBERT. G. LEAVITT. 4% ec MEU ER ie niles SR ata ile Sate aie ME ate af lB gina AS RUS a malas (E20 Proceedings of the Club: PERCY WILSON.........2...00... HANNAN ea ton an aN i Cece wea 124 Field Numbers forthe Torrey Club Excursions: NoRMAN MAVIOR Aiea 126 Of Interest to Teachers; College Entrance Botany...... 00... lecceseeten ect eeeceeees 127 Mews tems (ihr, Sim ilias onsce nasa dear pint came Nab rateuse aos Rakes Mae NS Wb aura Muoaemaere 130 PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB’ Ar 41 Norru Quzen Sirreer, LANCASTER, PA, By THe New Era Printinc Company [Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class mattet ] THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1909 President HENRY: H. RUSBY, M.D. / Vice-Presidents : 2 EDWARD S. BURGESS, Pu.D.. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D: Recording Secretary PERCY WILSON Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City Leditor Treasurer MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, PuH.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, PHAR. 1), j Botanical Garden, Bronx Park College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St. New York City New York City Associate, f-ditors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M., M.D. | TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, Px.D. JEAN. BROADHURST, A.M. WM. ALPHONSO MURRILI, Px.D. PHILIP DOWELL, PH.D. CHARLES: LOUIS POLLARD, A.M. ALEX. Wo EVANS, M.D., Pu. D. HERBERT M.° RICHARDS, S.D. TorREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum ; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing. House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BoTANICAL CLuB, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHURST Teachers College, Columbia University New York' City JUN 2- 1909 BOTAN CAL TORREYA es June, I909 Vol. 9g No. 6 EXPERIMENTS UPON DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA AS TO ITS PROTEIN-DIGESTING POWER By WINIFRED J. ROBINSON A repetition, with some extensions, of a part of Darwin’s ex- haustive series of experiments on the digestive power of the leaves of Drosera rotundifolia was undertaken with the purpose of ascertaining whether the purer proteins now available would give any different results from those obtained by Darwin with tissue fragments or crude protein materials, solid and liquid. The experiments were carried on at the New York Botanical Garden under the direction of Professor William J. Gies, of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. The plants used were collected in the bogs near Lakewood, N. J., in July, 1907. They were planted in sphagnum at the propagating house of the New York Botanical Garden, where they were kept continuously except when certain of their num- ber were brought to the laboratory of the garden fora short time for observation. The proteins used were prepared at the College of Physicians and Surgeons under the direction of Professor Gies with the ex- ception of the nucleoprotein, which was extracted from com- pressed yeast by Professor Gies’s method, in the laboratory of the New York Botanical Garden. _ To insure accuracy in the records of the experiments a dia- gram of the arrangement of the leaves of the plant was made in each case, the point on a leaf where a protein particle was placed being indicated on the diagram by anink spot. Observa- tions of the plants brought to the laboratory were made at intervals of from ten to thirty minutes during the first half day, [No. 5, Vol. 9, of TORREYA, comprising pages 89-108 was issued April 30, 1909. ] 109 iO) while those allowed to remain in the propagating house were examined daily. Dry EGG-wHITe * Particles of dry white of egg were placed upon all the leaves of aplant on October 13,1907. The tentacles curved slowly but at the end of 24 hours were tightly closed over albumen parti- cles. At the end of three days the albumen had entirely dis- appeared and was no doubt pretty thoroughly digested. In the use of such crude products as egg-white, as was the case in practically all of Darwin’s Drosera experiments, the pos- sible influence of salts and other non-protein compounds in the materials employed, is ignored. In the remaining experiments, accessory substances, such as inorganic salts and extractives, have had no influence, for they were completely eliminated from the protein samples in the course of their preparation. ACIDALBUMIN Acidalbumin particles were placed upon all the leaves ee plant on October 13, 1907, but the response was slight, and the albuminate remained at the end of three days. © ALKALI ALBUMINATE Alkali albuminate particles were placed upon the leaves of a third plant, October 13, 1907, with a result similar to that in the case of the acidalbumin. The results of the foregoing experiments show that egg albumen causes a response of the tentacles and ultimate diges- tion, while the acidalbumin and alkali albuminate both cause a much less vigorous response. The plants upon which the experi- ments were tried were just ready to enter the resting stage so it is hardly fair to say that they would not more readily digest the acidalbumin and alkali albuminate if the plants had been in prime. condition. It is possible, of course, that the prior separation of saline matters and other impurities from the albuminates, re- moved an effective digestive stimulus. * This was the only crude product employed. All others were chemically pure. iy EDESTIN Particles of crystalline edestin were placed on each leaf of a single plant on October 13, 1907. The response of the plant was very slow, and at the end of 24 hours the edestin granules showed no apparent change. Gradually, however, they were dissolved and at the end of three days had disappeared. FIBRIN Small shreds of fibrin* were placed upon a leaf August 26, 1907, at 2:30 P. M., the plant being kept in the laboratory under a bell-jar, with tubulure, for observation. At the end of 4 hours the tentacles had curved inward and, after 19 hours had elapsed, the particles had been carried from the margin to the center of the disc. At the end of 67 hours a part of the fibrin remained, with the tentacles still slightly closed over it. ° On August 26, 1907, small shreds of fibrin were placed on one leaf of each of three plants, which were left at the propagat- ing house; 24 hours later the tentacles were tightly closed over the fibrin in each case. They remained closed through the sccond day, when they expanded fully. The fibrin had been partially dissolved. Some of the tentacles on two of these leaves were closed over insects. Fibrin was then placed upon the other tentacles, and these continued to be closed after those which digested the fibrin had expanded again. In an experiment begun October 13, 1907, shreds of fibrin were placed on all the leaves of one plant; 24 hours later the response was slight but at the end of 3 days the fibrin had dis- solved. The results of these experiments show that fibrin, as pure as it can be prepared by the best methods, is dissolved and digested when placed upon leaves of Drosera rotundifolia. TENDOMUCOID Small particles of tendomucoid were placed upon two leaves of the same plant, September 18, 1907, and soon dissolved, the glistening drop of solution remaining some time upon the leaf. * Given special care in purification, Ash content was only 0.4 per cent. 112 On September 23 the experiment was repeated with similar results. On October 13 the experiment was again repeated. This time the plant was kept in the laboratory under a bell-jar, with tubu- lure, and the drop of dissolved mucoid disappeared, hence it was inferred that digestion had occurred at the end of three days. YEAST NUCLEOPROTEIN September 10 particles of yeast nucleoprotein were placed upon a leaf of a plant in the laboratory. The tentacles slowly closed over it and remained closed three days. On September 11 the experiment was repeated with the dif- ference that the nucleoprotein was moistened with distilled water before it was used. The result was like that of the preceding experiment. The nucleoprotein became dark-colored in each experiment before it disappeared. From the response of the tentacles and the disappearance of the nucleoprotein it was inferred that digestion had slowly taken place. TENDOCOLLAGEN Fragments of collagen fibers from tendon were placed upon three leaves of one plant. The tentacles bent but did not close tightly. No change in size or appearance of the collagen parti- cles was observed during four days. The experiment was repeated September 23, upon a young leaf, with a result similar to the above. September 27 and October 13 the experiment was repeated upon mature leaves, the result in each case being a bending of the tentacles within half an hour with no further change, hence the response may be attributed to contact stimulus rather than to digestion. LIGAMENT ELASTIN Particles of ligament elastin were placed on a leaf of a plant in the laboratory August 26, at 2:30 Pp. mM. Observations were made at intervals of half an hour during the first four hours, but no response was noted. Daily observations showed no response 113 at the end of a week. On the same day elastin was placed on several leaves of each of two plants in the propagating house. No change was noted in three days. On September 3 nine leaves of a single plant in the propagat- ing house were washed with distilled water, after which particles of elastin which had been moistened with distilled water were placed upon them. No movement of the tentacles was observed during six days. On the same day particles of elastin which had been moistened with dilute Liebig’s meat extract were placed upon two leaves of a plant in the propagating house. Observations were made on three successive days, but no change was seen. (Note the negative results with creatin recorded in the next sec- tion of this paper.) On September 4 particles of elastin moistened with distilled water were placed upon eleven leaves of a plant in the laboratory ; three hours later a slight bending of the tentacles was noted. The following morning all the tentacles had recovered, without effect on the elastin. On the same day particles of dry elastin were placed upon nine leaves of a single plant in the laboratory. After three hours a slight bending of the tentacles nearest the elastin was noted, but, after an interval of twenty hours, all the tentacles had recovered. There was no effect on the elastin. On October 13 the experiment was repeated in the laboratory with similar results. Elastin, then, is not digested by the leaves of these plants. CREATIN Creatin particles were placed upon three leaves of one plant, September 18, in the propagating house. They dissolved but caused no bending of the tentacles. The drops of fluid were present on the leaves for five days, but had disappeared entirely by the ninth day. On September 23, the experiment was repeated upon one leaf of each of four plants. The creatin dissolved within an hour and a beadlike drop remained for three days on each tentacle upon which the creatin had fallen. No bending of tentacles nor other response occurred. 114 In Darwin’s experiments with meat, creatin (and presumably the other nitrogenous extractives of meat) had seemingly no in- fluence. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS The results of these experiments indicate the ready digestibility of dry egg-white, fibrin, tendomucoid, and nucleoprotein. Acid- albumin, alkali albuminate, and edestin were digested, but some- what less readily than the products first named. Collagen and elastin appeared to be entirely indigestible. Even when moistened with meat extract the elastin particles failed to undergo digestive alteration. Creatin did not cause bending of the tentacles, These observations cannot be directly compared with Darwin’s because Darwin dealt with mixtures or crude products. The proteolytic enzymes of Drosera are, like those of other organisms, able to digest some proteins and unable to digest others. New YorK BOTANICAL GARDEN SPECIES OF GYMNOSPORANGIUM IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA By R. E. STONE While connected with the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station I became interested in the distribution of certain fungi, especially species of Gymunosporangium. ‘The presence of sev- - eral species of cedar as well as many species of the Pomaceae would indicate that many species of the genus Gymunosporangium might be found. Up to the present time the species reported for Alabama are: Gymnosporangium macropus Link, G. globosum Farl., G. Clavipes C.& P., G. flaviforme Atk., and G. Nidus-avis Thax. All of these are reported as occurring on Sadina virginiana (L.) Antoine. The presence of Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. and also of Amelanchier canadensis (L.) Medic. and Aronia (L.) Ell. lead me to believe that Gymnosporangium biseptatum Ellis or Gymno- 115 sporangium Elsi Berk. might be found. Also the presence of Sabina barbadense (L.) Small would indicate that Gymmnospo- rangium bermudianum Earle might be collected in the state. For this reason I made a collecting trip into southern Alabama early in March, 1908, for the purpose of gathering material. In order to become acquainted with Gymmnosporangium bermu- dianum as it occurs on its host, Sabzna barbadense, I went first to Biloxi, Miss., the type locality for this species. While on the trip I discovered some new combinations. New Hosts Gymnosporangium macropus Link, on Sabina barbadense (L.) Small (new host). Collections were made at Biloxi, Miss., March 3, 1908 ; Coden, Ala., March 6, 1908; Bayou Labatre, Ala., March 8, 1908. At Biloxi, Miss., the Gymnosporangium macropus and Gymio- sporangium bermudianum were found growing on the same tree. Gymnosporangium globosum Farl., on Sabina barbadense (L.) Small (new host). Collections were made at Biloxi, Miss., March 3, 1908, and Bayou Labatre, Ala., March 6, 1908. On this trip the gap in the known distribution of Gymnospo- rangium bermudianum was partly filled out by collections made at Bayou Labatre, Ala., March 6, 1908, and at Spring Hill, Ala., March 8. The collections of this species are complete enough now to enable us to say that it occurs all along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana. The species probably extends west to Texas and perhaps farther. Perhaps the most important collections, as far as extending the known range of certain species is concerned, were those of the two species of Gymmnosporangium found on the white cedar, Chamaccyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. As stated previously, the presence of the white cedar and both Amelanchier canadensis and Arona arbutifolia gave the requisite conditions for either one or both of the two species to be found. However since neither had been collected in the south my hope of finding them was small indeed. 116 On March 8, 1908, while collecting in a swamp between Mo- bile, Ala., and Spring Hill, a suburb of that place, I secured some very fine specimens of Gymunosporangium Eluisa Berk., on Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. The same day I secured at Spring Hill a very good specimen of Gymnosporangium biseptatum Ellis, on the same host. As I was in a hurry at the time, in order to get out of a storm, I did not fully appreciate the find until I had returned to my laboratory at Auburn, Ala. I have not had another opportunity to secure more of this material. Now neither of these species has been collected farther south than New Jersey. It would seem improbable that such a wide gap as this, from New Jersey to Alabama, would occur in the distribution of either of these species, especially when the white cedar occurs all along the coast between these points and the alternate host plants are usually found in the same localities, at least the range given in the various manuals would seem to show this. It is probable that both of these species, G. drseptatum and G. Elsi occur all along the whole coast from Maine to Texas. Careful search, Iam sure, would fill in the gap in the known distribution if not extending it. Summing up the situation for Alabama we can report the following species of Gymnosporangium. Gymnosporangium macropus Link on Sabina virginiana (L.) Antoine. Sabina barbadense (L.) Small (new host). Gymunosporangium globosum Farl. on Sabina virginiana (L.) Antoine. Sad:na barbadense (L.) Small (new host). Gymnosporangium flaviforme Atk. on Sabina virginiana (L.) Antoine. Gymnosporangium Clavipes C. & P. on Sabina virginiana. (L.) Antoine. Gymnosporangium Nidus-avis Thax. on Sabina virginiana (L.) Antoine. Gymnosporangium bermudianum Earle on Sabina barbadense (L.) Small. Gymnosporangium biseptatum Ellis on Chamaecyparis thyoides (US) 18. Sele. Gymnosporangium Ellis Berk. on Chamaecyparis thyotdes (L.) BuSplee ela Specimens of G. globosum and G. macropus on Sabina bar- badense as well as specimens of G. diseptatum and G. Elisi have been deposited in the following herbaria: Prof. A. B. Seymour, Cambridge, Mass.; Dr. J. C. Arthur, Purdue Uni- versity, Lafayette, Ind.; Prof. S. M. Tracy, Biloxi, Miss.; Prof F. E. Lloyd, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala. ; Dr. E. M. Wilcox, Pathology Herbarium, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebr. I still have a few good specimens of G. Elisa in my own collection. I am still greatly interested in securing specimens of both G. biseptatum and G. Ellsi, especially from the region between New Jersey and Alabama and west to Texas, and any information of such collections would be greatly appreciated. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LincoLn, NEBRASKA FOSSIL EUPHORBIACEAE, WITH A NOTE ON SAURURACEAE * By T. D. A. COCKERELL Up to the present time, no Euphorbiaceae have been described from the American Tertiaries, although from their present abundance and wide distribution there can be no doubt that they have long existed on this continent. Most of the plant-bearing strata are very poor in herbaceous forms, but Florissant is more fortunate in this respect, and has already yielded us a number of low-growing genera not elsewhere known fossil.. Among the recently gathered materials I have been glad to find a couple of species which appear to be certainly Euphorbiaceous. Acalypha myricina sp. nov. Leaf lanceolate, the blade about 22 mm. long and 8 broad, on a short curved petiole; general form very much asin A. gracilens Gray ; surface densely glandular-pitted ; margin with very short blunt dark-colored gland-teeth; three prominent nervures, run- ning nearly parallel. The figure shows. the details better than they can be described, * Tilustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund, 118 The reference to Acalypha seems safe; but there is a possi- bility that the plant may be a Cvofon of the type of C. tghum L. In Croton tughum the shape, margin, and venation are all different from those of the fossil, and I do not know of any Croton which matches it better. Croton furcatulum Ckll. Acalypha myricina Ckll. A, B, calyces (enlarged). Flab.— Miocene shales at Florissant, Colorado, Station 13 B (W. P. Cockerell, 1908). It occurs on a slab with a beautiful branch (bearing thirteen leaves) of Myrica drymeja (Lx.) Kn. The Acalypha \eaf is superficially like that of some species of Myrica. Croton(?) furcatulum sp. nov. Represented by a slender twig, 15 mm. long, giving rise to three slender branchlets as shown in the figure, these about 11 mm. long. The central branchlet supports small dark sessile objects, which appear to be buds or calyces, at 4.5 and 8 mm. from the base, and terminates in a small calyx, below which arises a long-oval or elliptical leaf (no doubt originally a pair), on a petiole about 3 mm. long; at the base of this leaf is a dark object which may be another calyx. The lateral branchlets fork at a distance of 6 mm. from their origin, giving rise to a pair of branchlets supporting calyces and leaves as shown in the figure. The calyces have long pointed lobes, apparently three in number. 119 The general appearance of the plant is suggestive of Euphorbia (in the old sense), but the calyces are much more like those of Croton or Crotonopsis. The species of Croton differ materially in the arrangement of the flowers, but among the scanty materials at my command I have not found one agreeing with the fossil. Possibly C. monanthogynus Michx. is as near to it as anything. Hab.— Miocene shales of Florissant, Colorado, Station 14 (S. A. Rohwer, 1907). Tithymalus Willistoni sp. nov. Some time ago I was informed by Dr. Williston that seeds of a plant almost identical with the well-known ‘ Snow-on-the- Mountain” had been found in the Loup Fork Beds of Kansas, but had not been described. Through the kindness of Mr. H, T. - Martin, I have been able to examine some of these, taken from the interior of a skull from the Loup Fork at Long Island, Kan- sas. As preserved they are perfectly white, and as Dr. Williston stated, they almost exactly agree with the seeds of Zzthymalus marginatus (Pursh) Ckll. The sculpture is practically the same and the only difference I notice is that they are larger and more robust, 4%4 to 5 mm. long, and the larger ones 5 mm. in trans- verse diameter. The suture on one side is very evident. On some of the seeds, the reticulated sculpture has become almost obsolete, but evidently by wearing, as others show it very strongly. This fossil species may be called Zzthymalus Willstont. Fossil SAURURACEAE ? The Saururaceae constitute a small family allied to the Piper- aceae, with three genera. Saururus has one species in eastern North America and one in Asia. fouttuynia is Asiatic and Anemiopsis is represented by a single species living in damp alkaline spots in the western United States. Evidently the group is a waning one, and it might be expected that it would occur more abundantly in the Tertiary strata. It has not been recognized as such in our western Tertiaries, but Piper Heerit Lx., an unfigured species from the Eocene at Golden, Colorado, may belong there. According to Lesquereux, P. Heeri is exceedingly like P. antiquum Heer, a fossil from Sumatra. This P. antiguum, in the shape and venation of the leaf, agrees excellently with Houttuynia, and probably belongs to that genus. 120 REVIEWS. Coulter and Patterson’s Practical Nature Study * The writer once heard from T. C. Mendenhall the story of his first impulses to a scientific career; and that history has always remained with him as instructive and valuable because suggestive of what the elementary school may do for the progress of sci- ence. Mendenhall said that when he was a boy in a country school in Ohio, his teacher took pains to perform with her scholars simple experiments in natural philosophy for the purpose of arous- ing their curiosity, opening their eyes, and stimulating their minds. One of these experiments was to place a coin in the center of a basin, arrange the scholars around in such positions that the coin was concealed from every eye by the rim of the basin, and then to pour in water until, no one having moved in the least, the coin became visible to all. At another time the schoolroom was darkened, light was admitted through a small aperture, so that the camera obscura effect was obtained, and the images of children playing outside were thrown in their natural colors on the opposite wall of the room. These simple exhibi- tions powerfully stirred young Mendenhall’s imagination. The result, as everyone knows, was a career of service in the advance- ment of science, the conduct of government surveys, and the administration of great educational institutions. It is highly important that considerable numbers of people form the habit of finding out things for themselves, with respect to the processes of nature. As a custom of the race this is not an old habit, only about three hundred years old; yet its effects are those which most—at least most visibly — distinguish our age from every age that has gone before. The school may assume a favorable relation to the growth of science considered as human endeavor. Boys and girls may be awakened by the contact with nature which we give them, as Mendenhall was awakened, and thus the numbers of those deal- ing with nature in an original way to the end of bringing its forces into our employ may be augmented. * Coulter, John M., Coulter, John G., and Patterson, Alice J. Practical Natuer Study on an Agricultural Basis. A manual for the use of teachers and normal stu- dents. Pp. ix +350. 1909. Appleton & Co., New York. | $1.35. 121 On the contrary it is possible by means of highly organized scientific courses in schools to kill, to a very thorough dead- ness, interest in natural history and natural philosophy. The writer ventures to express the opinion, long entertained and now, through much inquiry among young men issued from the schools, become a conviction, that the type of school physics course at present in vogue often has this effect. The falling off in the election of physics by college students since the general adoption of an elaborate entrance requirement in physics is well known. As for botany, an experienced college examiner in this subject told the writer that candidates in botany could be grouped into three classes. The first passed with honors: they came from well-equipped schools where the subject was thoroughly done. The second group merely passed. The third got in. The college electives in botany, this professor continued, were manned from classes two and three, the most satisfactory students coming from the latter. Boys’ perfectly ‘“prepared”’ never after- wards appeared upon the field. Such considerations as the foregoing, and the possibility of the untoward effect suggested above, would seem to be enough to command attention among scientific leaders to the problem of school science even in the lowest grades. Unhappily there are some who have frowned upon the movement to keep alive in school children the ‘tentacles of inquiry’’. Regarding nature study as at best ‘the efflorescence of the sciences’ they have bidden the grade teacher (salaried at $400) come to the university for scientific training. They have neither inquired into conditions in order to organize instruction suited to the exigencies of the case, nor used their superior endowments of knowledge and advantage of prospective in cooperation with schoolmen seeking a betterment. But most happily there are some eminent examples of the leader of science alive to the opportunity for wide service. The activity of these men must eventuate not only in the enrichment and improvement of school curricula, but also, as has just been suggested, in an acceleration of the science process itself. The names of several eminent Americans instantly occur to everyone in this connection. 122 Lately Professor Coulter of Chicago has appeared as one of the authors of a work aimed directly at the solution of the nature study problem. The work is styled “ practical’’ and the basis is agricultural. The field is, therefore, that of the rural school, or at least of the schools of communities in which agricultural interests predomi- nate. How far the outlines for school-room use and the speci- men studies will apply beyond the limits of this field, cannot be foretold. But there is no doubt, whatever, that the przuczples enunciated are valid for every variety of local condition. The treatment is especially noteworthy and should have wide atten- tion. The reviewer hopes that its influence may be extensive. Could these pages be broadly disseminated among teachers, super- visors, and superintendents the effect for good would be imme- diate and distinct ; and the fog which so often envelops the subject would begin to dispel. The book is in four parts: the first deals with the mission, the dangers, and the principles of nature study; the second con- tains a topical outline in nature study and typical lesson plans ; the third is devoted to rural school outlines and subject matter for both biological and physical nature study ; and in part four are found chapters on bird study, school gardens, general mis- conceptions, and evolution. The second part represents the course as given in the Training School of the Illinois State Normal University. Though definite in character and designed to give specific aid to teachers who are called upon to handle the subject with little previous training, yet they are not indicative of any belief on the part of the au- thors that all nature study material should be so prescribed as to manner of treatment. The authors think that the time has come for extensive ex- periment by trained teachers working in the light of certain evident principles. They insist that the teacher has the right to the last word. The utilitarian trend of present-day education is reflected in the subjects of study from the first to the last grade — food, clothing, shelter, domestic animals, the plants of garden and 123 lawn, insect friends and enemies of man, thermometers, stoves, pumps, water systems, weather, soils, the selection, cultivation and marketing of corn, etc., etc. Wild nature, however, is not neglected. General principles of life and of inorganic nature are developed in such measure as the grade of advancement will allow. Inthe eighth grade the study becomes distinctly scien- tific in form on the side of plant study, for under the word “ Botany” appears “observation of the gross anatomy of types of algae, fungi, liverworts, mosses, ferns, conifers, monocots, and dicots.”’ In the minds of these authors there is no confusion of nature sentiment, nature fancy, and nature study. The relation of literature to nature study, and of nature study to science and to agriculture are sanely and firmly grasped. Nature study is always to share the scientific spirit, in so far as science is a method of problem solving. Sentiment, the love of nature, which belongs of right to all healthy minded people, should be present as an atmosphere. But it alone is not nature study. Neither is nature study diluted botany, zoology, physics, etc. Poetry may be an aid; imaginative treatment is often a help when it does not substitute interest in fancy for interest in nature. But above all we must be clear to the fact that truth ztself when clearly discerned is very attractive. The intellectual results which the authors believe may be looked for are: A sustained interest in natural objects and the phenomena of nature; independence in observation and infer- ence ; some conception of what an exact statement means ; some conception of what constitutes proof. Their hopefulness is born of experience with the children themselves. It is surprising and gratifying say they —and the reviewer's experience agrees —to see how rapidly young children learn to hold steadily to what they have seen and to state it without exaggeration or verbiage. “ Whole systems of belief and lines of conduct have been con- structed upon a basis of claimed fact which a child in the grades, trained in nature study, could he understand the terminology, would reject without hesitation. An injection of such children in large numbers into any metropolitan community would work a revolution.” 124 The actual treatment of nature study materials is, as above stated, largely utilitarian — necessarily so, since nature study in this scheme leads to elementary agriculture — but the authors’ ideal outcome for all the training given by the school through this medium is so broad and so fine that at once the whole system is raised above the merely industrial and acquisitive plane. In the light of this ideal, nature study becomes, let us dare to sug- gest, something better than an “efflorescence of the sciences”’ —as one eminent man of science phrased it to the present writer. The authors believe firmly in the attainability of this ideal; and with good reason, as experiments in some parts of the middle west are already beginning to demonstrate. Even those who have looked with some contempt upon the nature study move- ment will probably be able to discern in the following picture the delineation of a condition highly to be desired: ‘‘ We do not want our country boys,” say the authors, ‘‘to become merely efficient farmers who have learned to do certain things that they may make more dollars. We want them to be men who realize the larger applications of the laws and principles they are follow- ing, men who see and discriminate, who grasp situations, who think for themselves, and who have an abiding interest and enthusiasm for their profession, looking upon their fields, orchards, and meadows somewhat as laboratories in which to work out experiments to the end that they may do their work more profita- bly and enjoyably. We would have them men who take a keen pleasure not only in making their soil more productive, and in raising better crops and stock, but quite as much in making the home and its surroundings and the life within it more comfort- able, more interesting, and more beautiful.” Ropert G. LEaAvitTtT New YorRK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, TRENTON, NEW JERSEY PROCEEDINGS OF fir Clu APRIL 13, 1909 The Club met at the American Museum of Natural History at 8:30 P. M. and was called to order by Mr. Charles Louis 125 Pollard, who presided in the absence of the president and both vice-presidents. The attendance was twenty-five. Mr. Norman Taylor, chairman of the field committee, asked that authority be given him to issue a circular letter request- ing the members to vote relative to the continuance of the field meetings. The Club voted that this authority be given. The announced paper of the evening on “ Botanizing on the Headwaters of the Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers” * was then presented by Mr. Stewardson Brown. The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides. Adjournment followed. Percy WILSON, Secretary APRIL 28, 1909 The meeting was held at the New York Botanical Garden, with Dr. Tracy E. Hazen in the chair. Sixteen persons were present. The minutes of the meeting of April 13 were read and approved. Dr. William A. Murrill, chairman of the cryptogamic section of the committee on the local flora, made a report in which the following suggestions were submitted : (1) The publication of keys and lists of local species for field use; (2) the preparation of a map of the territory included ; (3) cooperation with other botanical clubs within or bordering on this territory ; (4) cooperation with the field committee in the selection of suitable places for excursions and the care of cryptogamic material collected on these excursions ; (5) the use of a given space in Torreya for notes upon and additions to the local flora; (6) a joint meeting at an early date with the phan- erogamic section of the committee on local flora. Mr. Norman Taylor, chairman of the field committee, reported the results of a post-card vote on the continuance of the Club’s field meetings as follows : Non-committal or equivocal (mostly out of town members)...............-. 38 Hor total discontinwan Coy ack caxcc accor se ccenwe cence lee eae eit cay caval eaasemuanies 9 For discontinuance during July and August only.................scecee scenes 20 BOL PeKIMANent CON MAN CCE deena meets te sere sscenecite beser ace cenecsen 28 Motalmumber ofvotesineceiviedescacsscsecess secesusemmeiinersieuescessscecnices 95° * Mr. Brown has promised an illustrated paper based upon this lecture for later publication in TORREYA. 126 In view of this showing, it was decided to continue the field meetings through July and August, as usual. On motion, the Club voted to endorse the application of Miss Winifred J. Robinson for a grant of $200.00 from the Herrman Fund of the New York Academy of Sciences. The scientific program consisted of a discussion of “The Cac- tuses of the West Indies” by Dr. N. L. Britton. The speaker referred to the distribution of cacti in the West Indian Islands and the regions inhabited by them; these are mostly on the southern side of the larger islands, where the rain- fall is very low and where these plants are very abundant, certain portions of the southern side of eastern Cuba and of Jamaica being actual cactus deserts. On the smaller islands the cacti grow less abundantly and mainly at low altitudes. The genus Rhipsalis forms an exception to the general xerophytic distri- bution, its species growing on trees and cliffs in relatively moist regions. Southern Florida contains several species similar to some of those growing on the Bahamas and in Cuba or identical with them. After a preliminary description of the plants the meeting adjourned to the propagating houses of the New York Botanical Garden, where specimens of living cacti, including nearly all the known species of the West Indies, were exhibited and described. Percy WILSsoN, Secretary UT IEIO) INCAS RIRS INO, Wis, MOINS CIC EXCURSIONS The chairman of the field committee has started a series of field numbers to be used on the days that the Club holds its ex- cursions. These will run continuously during the entire season. Those members who care to number their collections in accord- ance with this set of field numbers will have the opportunity to collate specimens thus numbered with notes which will subse- quently be published in Torreya. It is planned to publish all the determinations of special interest, but no attempt can be made to print the determinations of the common and widely dispersed plants. NormMAN TAayLor, Chairman OF INTERPST) LO TEACHERS COLLEGE ENTRANCE BOTANY In School Science and Mathematics for February Mr. Franklin T. Jones, of Cleveland, Ohio, opens anew the discussion of high school work for the college boy and for the boy who is not going to college. Some entrance papers (September, 1908) are given and the question is asked, ‘‘ In what respects would a teacher do differently in preparing students for these examinations than if he were giving them what he considered best in preparing them for life ?’’ While some claim that the best preparation for life is not accepted by college people as the best preparation for college and that teachers are forced to eliminate the vital part of the various subjects in order to fill college entrance requirements, Mr. Jones pertinently asks: ‘‘ Are not such assertions more or less preposterous on the face of them? Are we, as teachers, ready to confess that we cannot do pretty much as we please in shap- ing the details of our courses, and that, with such freedom, we are therefore (if we accept the judgment of some of our highest educational authorities) really making failures of our chosen work ? Is not our practice and our theory better than it was even ten years ago, and are we not on the up path rather than the down ? It seems . . . that it is about time for us science teachers to champion strongly what we are doing, or else as we have almost perfect freedom to do, on our own individual initiative, change to the best thing.” The examination questions given in botany in this particular case are far from indicating a desire to demand preparation along a line that is ‘‘ far from life”’. ENTRANCE EXAMINATION IN BOTANY Columbia College, September, 1908 Notre, — Time: Two hours, ten minutes of which will be devoted to an oral exami- nation. The certified notebook on the laboratory work must be submitted at the examination. 5 1. What structures of the leaf are of advantage in photo-synthesis? Explain in what way each one is of service. 2. What is the cause and mechanism of the curvature of tendrils ? 128 3. How is the root protected against injury? How does it absorb materials from the soil? What other functions does it perform ? 4. Make a sketch of the important stages in the life of a fern, labeling the various parts. ; 5. In what respects does the seed of a Monocotyledon usually differ from that of a Dicotyledon ? 6. Mention the agenciesthat promote the distribution of plants, with illustrations of the adaptive features. What factors control the association of plants upon the earth ? 7, Give the characteristics of six families of seed plants that you have studied. Popuiar Science Monthly for March contains an illustrated article on the influence of radium rays on a few life processes of plants by Professor C. Stuart Gager and a history of botany at St. Louis by Dr. Perley Spaulding. The April Popular Scrence Monthly is a Darwin number with numerous well-written articles on Darwin, his theories, and his relation to the various sciences ; the one dealing directly with botany is by Professor N. L. Britton. The Review of Reviews for April has several illustrated articles of botanical interest: one on soil erosion in the south by W. W. Ashe, a second giving the “truth about dry farming” by C. M. Harger, and a third on saving America’s plant food by G. E. Mitchell. An article on the existence of non-nitrifying soils is to be found in Sczezce for March 26. The authors, F. L. Stevens and W. A. Withers, report that 44 per cent. of the samples tested in North Carolina failed to nitrify, thus showing that all soils have not the power to convert organic or ammoniacal nitrogen into nitrate nitrogen, z. é., to nitrify. Science, for April 16, describes a series of large tanks now being constructed at Cornell University. They are specially de- 129 signed to help solve the problems related to soil productiveness, such as: effects of the continuous use of large amounts of min- eral fertilizers upon the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and upon the bacterial flora and bacterial activity ; changes that occur in a series of years when soils gradually deteriorate or improve ; effect of different methods of soil treatment upon the loss of lime in the drainage water ; loss of potassium and other substances occasioned by manuring with lime; loss of soluble salts caused by clean cultivation; extent to which soils under field conditions are renewed by accession of the lower soil to the plowed surface. Professor Otis W. Caldwell, of the University of Chicago, has an article on ‘‘The Course in Botany” in the January School Scrence and Mathematics. The whole article is well worth read- ing by all teachers of botany. A suggestive full-year course is suggested for high schools. The principles that, according to Pro- fessor Caldwell, should determine the course will be seconded by all. They are: (1) ‘The materials selected for use in the course should have appreciable significance to the students. . . . This appreciable significance may be found in a knowledge of practical use of materials, a general understanding of life problems, appre- ciation of the aesthetic aspects of plant life, desire for knowledge, or a knowledge of the basis of agriculture or other industrial pur- suits. (2) The materials:must be of value for general knowledge by the public. There is a general culture value in knowing plant life, and the time has come when knowledge of the activities of plants and the part they perform in modern life is a part of the body of knowledge people must have in order to be properly in- telligent as to their environment. (3) The materials of the course should be organized into a series of natural sequences to make possible the development of the problem-solving attitude of mind, and to carry this series long enough really to give some facility and efficiency in thinking.” 130 NEWS ITEMS The new keeper of the Kiel Botanical Institute and garden is Dr. Ernst Kuster, of Halle. After the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909) is over, the forestry building is to be given to the University of Washington. Dr. Charles E. Bessey, dean of the industrial college of the University of Nebraska, has been made head dean of the University. A biological station is to be established at Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, under the charge of Professor M. A. Brannon of the State University. MiGs Jo TR Johnston, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, has re- cently returned from Cuba, where he has been studying the bud- rot of the cocoanut. Field classes in the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, are to be con- ducted this spring by M. J. G. Jack, for those interested in native and foreign trees and shrubs of New England. The agricultural colleges and experiment stations of Europe are to be visited this summer by Professor F. L. Stevens, of the North Carolina College and Experiment Station. Among the instructors of the Oklahoma Agricultural College affected by the Board’s summary and wholesale dismissal of April, 1908, are Professor O. M. Morris, botany and horticulture, and Professor E. E. Balcomb, agriculture. McGill University at the opening of McDonald College will confer the degree of LL.D. upon two members of the United States Department of Agriculture: Hon. James Wilson, Secre- tary, and Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief Forester. The Luther Burbank’s Products Company which, according to the March Torreya, was to distribute Mr. Burbank’s new varieties, was not successfully launched. Mr. Burbank will still, fortunately, continue the distribution of his new varieties. Dr. George T. Moore, formerly connected with the Depart- ment of Agriculture, has accepted the newly created professor- ship of plant physiology and applied botany in the Henry Shaw School of Botany at Washington University at St. Louis. The Marine Biological Laboratory, situated at Woods Hole, Mass., gives the usual six-week courses beginning June 30. The courses in botany are in morphology and taxonomy ; each course requires the full time of thesstudent; the fee is ¢50: The laboratory is open the entire summer to investigators. Professor George L. Goodale, of Harvard University, with which institution he has been connected for more than thirty years, will retire this June from active service. Mr. Oakes Ames, for several years actively connected with the Harvard Botanical Garden, has, since the resignation of Professor Goodale, been made director of the Garden. The George Washington Memorial Association is initiating a movement to erect in Washington a great memorial building in recognition of George Washington’s expressed desire to promote institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. The building “will contain a great hall or auditorium and rooms for large congresses’’ besides ‘‘ rooms for small and large meetings, office rooms and students’ research rooms.’ A James Fletcher memorial fund is being collected by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. The suggestions as to the form it shall take are a fountain, a statue, and a bust or portrait in appropriate places in Ottawa, and a bursary at some Canadian University. Contributions may be sent to the Secretary-Treas- urer of the memorial committee, Mr. Arthur Gibson, Central Experiment Farm, Ottawa. The University of Colorado is going to establish a Summer laboratory for botany and zoology at Tolland, Colorado. The laboratory will be in charge of the regular instructing staff of the university, and there will be courses in elementary biology, plant anatomy, plant taxonomy, and ecology. The location of the laboratory, altitude 8,889 feet, will allow students to study con- veniently the plants and animals of all the different life zones from plains to alpine heights. 132 The bronze memorial tablet reproduced below has been placed in the New York Botanical Garden fern herbarium, which, as a tribute to Professor Underwood, is to be called the Underwood Fern Herbarium. BARIUM = OK yi GUS UNDERWOOD. = TKSYOV? = TORREYA AND NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year 1909 Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as ‘the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to ew sub- scribers of either journals and also is not open to members of the American Nature-Study Society, of which Tne Naturp-Stupy Review is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms may be credited as member’s fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68th Street New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (1) BULLETIN A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text and 40 full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, 14 shillings. Dulau & Co., 37 Soho Square, London, are agents for England. Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. : Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two Gols each ; Vols. 28—35 three dollars each. Ginele copies (30 cts.) will be furnished only- wher not breaking complete volumes. a : (2) MEMOIRS The Memos, established 1880, are published at irregular — intervals, Volumes 1-11 and 13 arenowcompleted; Nos. rand _ 2 of Vol. 12 and No.1 of Vol. 14 have been issued. The sub- scription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. The numbers can also,be purchased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application. (3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York, 1888, Price, $1.00. Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY Vol. 9 July, 1909 No. 7 TORREYA A Monruty Journat or Boranicat Notes anp News EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY JEAN BROADHURST JOHN TORREY, 1790-1873 CONTENTS. The Type and Identity of Dryopteris Clintoniana (D. C. Eaton) Dowell: RAVPHAC ABENEDICT J o75 sexs ssnieee uate As Sdanilencide ds anh caiiee Mrataepoeds Heel oss evga nee nh bed 133 Amber in the Laramie Cretaceous: T. D. A. COCKERELL ..:..00.00. ceccesee eecee ct 140: Some Moulds from Pennsylvania: DAVID R. SUMSTINE,.........i.0..c0cceeeecoeceeace 143 Shorter Notes: A ew wames BAO. WV OOLON At iva s230 ont kn ab dots ve vaeue swans teh oa cieoy oak dale sy necobreh tee 145 AEM Ceping 77 Spruce; |EAN BROADHURST. sch cds:c.0as iusenesvasciudoet Sega boxed Sahm 145 Reviews: West and West’s Monograph of British Desmidiaceae: JosrreH A. GSMA oa Ss taahias loc cea panint ss aor apne te abay c cue aa vices wind OTE EHE cic Pas aibh TORS seep embcnidcmab eat 146 Proceedings of the Club: WRwaar? BUA, ELON Be iets LIV ROO ARN lina aes Fay 146/ IL LRILETEStO LO 3A CACIOLS 627 T ik de lone tds De tea To cee Dols ec Sol eheea ober Sate PES dSatiats 149 PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB At 41 Norru Queen Srrent, LANCASTER, Pa. BY THe New Era Printinc Company {Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter } THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB , President HENRY H. RUSBY, M.D. Vice-Presidents EDWARD S. BURGESS, Pu.D. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A,M., M.D. : Recording Secretary PERCY WILSON Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City ' Editor, > Treasurer MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, PH.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, Puar.D. Botanical Garden, Bronx Park een » College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St. New York City New York City Associate. Feditors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M., M.D. TRACY ELLIOT: HAZEN, Pu.D. JEAN BROADHURST, A.M: WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, Pu.D: PHILIP DOWELL, Px.D. CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, A.M. ALEX. W.) EVANS, M.D., PH.D. HERBERT M. RICHARDS, S.D; ~ Torreya is furnished to subscribers in the United States and ‘Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To ° subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City ‘banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only -for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL Cuius, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to JEAN BROADHURST Teachers College, Columbia University New York City TORREYA Ak July, 1909 Vol. 9 No. 7 THE TYPE AND IDENTITY OF DRYOPTERIS CLIN- TONIANA (D. C. EATON) DOWELL * By RALPH CuRTISS BENEDICT The problem as to the type and identity of Dryopterts Clhin- toniana (D. C. Eaton) Dowell is concerned with two questions : first, as to the material on which the original material was based ; » second, the identity of this material. In a recent paper attention was called to the fact that some doubt exists regarding both these questions. As noted at that time, the material in the Yale herbarium identified by Eaton as his Aspidium cristatum var. Clintonianum, comprises two specimens of Dryopteris cristaia x marginalis as well as several sheets of what is now known as D. Clintomana, but does not include any- thing collected by Judge G. W. Clinton, in whose honor the fern was named, and whose collection was cited in the original description. Through information contained in a letter from Mr. G. E. Davenport to Miss Margaret Slosson, it was learned that the original ‘‘ Clinton” fern had been deposited in the Museum of Natural Science at Springfield, Mass. Thanks to the courtesy of the Springfield Botanical Society, in whose care the specimen was placed, an opportunity was given to examine it, together with a letter of Judge Clinton’s concerning it. The letter —said by Mr. Davenport to have been written to John Lewis Russell — reads as follows: ‘This Asfzdium troubled me. I could not reconcile it with A. Goldianum and it seemed a wide departure from A, eristatum, So I sent it to Eaton. Prof. E. answered that he had received it from divers botanists who labelled it A. Goldianum, but that he regarded it as a form of A. cristataum. (No. 6, Vol. 9, of TorrevA, comprising pages 109-132 was issued June 1, 1909. ] * Tilustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. 133 134 At my instance, he named it cristatum v. major —this accounts for label (in pencil) a—the filling up is his. He afterwards to my surprise and gratification, named the form for me in the Manual, and so I also furnish the label marked 6.—G. W. C. See sheet no. 2 for label 0.” Sheet no. 1 with label ‘‘a”’ and the letter just quoted is shown in Figure 1. Sheet no. 2 is doubtfully the same as the other, and as Professor Eaton did not see it, need not concern us in the present nquiry. Both sheets— according to Mr. Davenport’s letter — were left by Mr. Russell to Mrs. M. L. Owen, who afterwards deposited them with the Springfield society. At the time the description was first published — 1867 — Prof. Eaton had for comparison (presumably), in addition to Judge Clinton’s specimen, the following sheets, which with three later collections are to be seen in his herbarium to-day in the var. Clintonianum cover : (without name) ‘Serpentine quarry, New Haven, Connecticut. 1855. Oct. E. | = Dryopteris cristata x marginalis|.” “ Aspidium cristatum, Swz. var. Clintonianum. Hudson Co., Nove Caesarez, in paludubus coll. D.C. E. 1862—6—16.” “ Aspidium cristatum, Swz. v. Clintonianum, D.C. E. Newark, N. J. Wm. Prower — 1865.” “ Aspidium cristatum —Sw.—v. Clntonianum, D. C. E. Utica, New York. J. A. Paine, Jr., 1865. ‘Low swampy woods.’ ”’ “ Astidium cristatum, Sw. v. Clintontianum, D. C. E. Central Wear Wome, J[o a, leeuine, Jin 1etO5, Of these, all but the first cited correspond to the form now commonly known as Dryopteris Clintoniana. The Clinton label ‘‘a” reads as follows: On xa Colle aa Ve Clinton Aspidium cristatum var. major Please fill up & return Buffalo, New York. Fleight of frond 29 inches The words ‘‘cristatum var. major’ are in Eaton’s writing. The ‘“ Please fill up and return” is in pencil, also the words “ Height of frond.”’ 135 Sener nik vel Pang y & dle 2s Sales ne eee RE aes = se ent. ee ce ee ae ee Sen oo: f Lat ie penvact) & he bu US He hm, A \e ee agate ie oe Oak 5 2 Voce ieee Ge ee Mecaieccek oth : Ey Cone G Wy Carares . h, dab, # focal fe ie Poe hisee hi ghia cred bi Casas Ay WG Kevvarn SY Ge But ng ke: ile pe LG inetas FiGukE 1, ‘The original Clinton specimen. 136 The original description and comment are as follows: “ Aspidium cristatum var. Clintonianum. (In A. Gray Manual of Botany Edition 5. 665. 1867.) Frond in every way larger (2%°-4° long); pinnae oblong- lanceolate, broadest at the base (4' —6' long, 1’ —2’ broad) deeply pinnatifid, the dv2stons (8-16 pairs) crowded or distant, Zuear- oblong , obtuse, obscurely serrate or cut-toothed, the basal ones sometimes pinnately lobed; veins pinnately forking, the lowest anterior veinlets bearing fruzt-dots near the midvein ; indusium orbicular with shallow sinus, smooth and naked. Swampy woods, New England to New Jersey, New York (G. W. Clinton, &c.), and westward. July. Rootstock stout, creeping, chaffy (like the stipes) with large bright brown scales. A showy Fern, unlike any European form of A. cristatum, and often mistaken for A. Goldianum.” As thus drawn, the description is apparently based both on the Clinton specimen, and on other material, presumably that cited above. The Clinton specimen probably contributed the maximum number of pinnulae as given (16) — the other material, the shape of the pinnae, “broadest at the base,” and the mini- mum number of pinnulae (8). Asa matter of fact, the pinnae of the Clinton specimen are not broadest at the base, but are mostly of equal width toward the middle or even broader there. This character, together with the numerous pinnulae—in so- called D. Clintoniana rarely as many as 12-14 — the numerous sori per pinnula (mostly 8-9), and the general cutting relate the original Clinton fern to Dryopteris Goldiana rather than to D. cris- tata or its so-called variety, Professor Eaton’s opinion to the con- trary notwithstanding. Positive proof of this relationship is to be found in the cell-structure of the indusia which are unmistak- ably of the Goldiana type, and not to be confused with those of D. Clintoniana so-called. That the specimen represents straight D. Goldiana is unlikely. It seems more reasonable to consider it as probably a cross, perhaps with the D. Clintontana of recent authors. An illustration of a leaf collected by Mr. Macy Car- hart near Lodi, N. J., and identified as this cross, is included for comparison (Figure 2). Further evidence that the Clinton speci- 13 Heananium OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GAROEN ¢ n » ap of Unger tina Caritonacin bd Meats Javed), inter Tats XY f 31 Macy Chante (fake 7 Zk FIGURE 2. Dyryopteris Clintoniana < Goldiana Dowell. 138 men may be a hybrid is to be found in its sporangia which are nearly all abortive. The few full-sized ones seem to have developed only sterile-looking spores. But whatever the exact identity of the original Clinton fern, it is clearly different from the D. Cintoniana of common usage and the question as to which form may properly bear this name re- mains for consideration. Under ordinary circumstances, the citation of Judge Clinton’s collection together with the fact that the plant was named in his honor would be sufficient to establish as type the single Clinton specimen seen by Eaton and now at Springfield. In the present case, however, the description agrees less with this specimen than with others in the Eaton herbarium. Indeed the origin of the single character which appears to have been derived exclusively from the Buffalo plant—that of the maximum number of pinnulae per pinna—dis open to question. In unconformably divided leaves such as are those in question, unless a minimum dimension is agreed upon beforehand, two observers are likely to arrive at very different estimates as to the number of any given part. Furthermore it is not at all impossi- ble that Eaton may merely have “filled in” the label as re- quested and returned the plant to Judge Clinton, afterwards basing his description on material present in his own herbarium. The facts then seem to justify the somewhat paradoxig¢al treat- ment of rejecting the Clinton specimen as type of Dryopteris Clintoniana, and fixing if possible upon one of Eaton’s early speci- mens of the fern we know now as this species. The rules suggested by the Nomenclature Commission of the Botanical Club of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science in the ‘“ Propositions relating to the amendment and completion” of the Vienna rules and recently published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Club (36: 55-74. 1909) seem appli- cable at least in part, to the present case. Under Proposition 8, No. 3°, is the following statement: ‘In default of an original specimen, that represented by the identifiable figure or (in default of a figure) description first cited or subsequently published, serves as type.” ) In Eaton’s Ferns of North America, Volume 2, plate 66, 159 figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 show respectively a pinna, a pinnule, an indusium, and a spore of “ Aspedium cristatum var. Clintontanum.” The pinna unmistakably belongs to a leaf of the sort ordinarily identified as DY. Chintoniana, but is not like those of Judge Clin- ton’s collection. The leaf illustrated is presumably in the Eaton herbarium to-day, and if it can be determined by the figure, should serve as the type. Rules 1° and 2° are inapplicable owing to the exclusion of the Clinton specimen. For purposes of completeness, an amended description of Dryopteris Clintoniana is here included. DRYOPTERIS CLINTONIANA (D. C. Eaton) Dowell Aspidium cristatum var. Clintonianum D. C. Eaton in A. Gray Manual of Botany, Edition 5: 665. 1867. Rootstock. horizontal, the crown unsymmetrical, with low spreading juvenile sterile leaves, and taller more erect fertile ones, up to 4 feet in length: lamina broadly oblong, acuminate, the pinnae mostly acuminate or long-acute, usually broadest at the base, deeply divided, the divisions oblong, mostly slightly falcate, 8-12, rarely as many as 14 per pinnula (counting those with more than 2 sori, or on sterile or sparsely fertile fronds, those 8 mm. or more long): sori mostly 6-8 per pinnula, the indusia glabrous, with heavy radial ribs, the cells mostly nar- row, the walls all very sinuate. Type in question. The problems in connection with Dryopterts Chutontana are not ended with the fixing of atype. It appears to be in some respects an extremely variable plant, and a study of a wide range of material with a view to determine the limits of this variation is desirable. Its behavior in hybridization also offers an interest- ing field for study and affords moreover evidence as to its dis- tinctiveness in addition to that derived from its own characters, for the hybrids, when compared with the corresponding crosses of D. cristata, maintain for the most part the well-marked differ- ences of the parent forms. But perhaps the best evidence of the distinctiveness is found in the occasional finds of sterile or par- tially sterile intermediates between the two species, the only in- termediates to be found as far as my experience goes. Description 140 of this hybrid is best delayed until D. C/:ztoniana shail have been more carefully studied. Credit for its recognition belongs to Dr. Philip Dowell. In conclusion, I wish to thank Professor A. W. Evans, the Springfield Botanical Society, Miss Margaret Slosson, and Dr, Philip Dowell for favors received in connection with work on this paper. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AMBER IN THE LARAMIE CRETACEOUS * By T. D. A. COCKERELL Recently, with the help of my wife and a number of students, I have been investigating the flora of the Laramie Cretaceous at Marshall, Boulder County, Colorado. This locality produces much of the coal used in Boulder, and has long been known to palaeobotanists, having furnished important materials to Les- quereux many years ago. Perhaps the most interesting thing found is a small piece of amber,+ embedded in the solid rock. It measures about eight millimeters by five and a half, and is trans- lucent orange-brown, darker than Baltic amber. _ It is practically insoluble in alcohol; a small fragment left in it over night was scarcely if at all diminished. In ether it eventually becomes opaque and friable. In Torreya, January, 1907, Mr. E. W. Berry gave a very interesting account of the occurrence of amber in the Cretaceous beds of the Atlantic coast region ; it now appears that this substance is widely distributed in our Upper Cretaceous, and it may be possible that somewhere it will be discovered in large quantities. The discovery of large pieces of Cretaceous amber would be an event of the highest importance, as there seems to be no reason why they should not contain plant remains and insects. Cretaceous insects are exceedingly desirable at the present time, to throw light on the evolution of * Illustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes fund. + In using the term amber for the fossil resin of the Laramie strata, it is only in- tended to imply that it is a transparent fossil resin, with all the appearances of the substance known as amber. It is of course not the product of the same tree as the Baltic (typical) amber; indeed, judging from the accompanying foliage, it is very probably not even the product of a conifer. 141 existing groups; while it is possible that flowers and fruits, could they be found as they are in Baltic amber, would bring about great changes in our conception of some of the Cretaceous genera. The material containing the amber is a bluish-gray rock, full of plant remains, in the immediate vicinity of the coal. We did not find it in place, but were able to examine a large quantity thrown out on the dump of a coal mine a short distance east of Marshall. The principal plants in this rock were as follows’-* Slab containing fossil plants of Laramie age, Marshall, Colorado ; collected by Miss Ruth DeLong and Mr. Ralph Morrill. 4, C, Ficus navicularis Ckll. (vari- able). &, ‘* Platanus’’ rhomboidea Lx, D, ‘‘ Platanus’”’ raynoldsi Newby. , Dombeyopsis obtusa Lx.? (Note the absence of coniferous remains in the specimen. ) 1. focus gaudim Lx. (uncata Lx.). The large leaves are abundant ; possibly much of the fossil wood so common at Mar- shall may belong to this species, but we have made no sections. 2. Phragmites laramianus n. sp.; ?. oenngensis Lx., Tertiary * Since writing the above account, we have found quantities of amber zz ¢he coal at Marshall. Much of it was looked over for insects, but so far without success. None of the pieces is large. — April 26. 142 Flora, pl. viii, f. 1. This is the most abundant species in the deposit. The leaves are broad, and very obtuse at the apex, herein differing from P. falcata Kn. of the Yellowstone Laramie and the living P. phragmites. It does not seem possible to refer this to P. oeningensis A. Br. of the European Upper Miocene ; it is no doubt much nearer to P. a/askana Heer, but Heer’s plant, so far as positively known, had narrower leaves. 3. Anemia supercretacea Hollick. Previously known from the Laramie at Florence, Colorado. First found at Marshall by Paul Haworth. Our specimens run a little larger than Hollick’s, but appear to be otherwise quite identical; the pinnules are entire. The plant may possibly be a variety of Anemia haydenu (Gymnogramma hayden Lx., 1872), which appears to be distinctly different from A. subcretacea (Sap.) Gard. & Ett., as originally figured by Saporta. In the genuine swdcretacea the pinnules are shorter than in faydenwu, and more irregularly and remotely toothed. A. perplexa Hollick seems to me much more like A. subcretacea, differing only in the shorter and more broadly cuneate pinnules. Some of the material figured under A. per- plexa has entire pinnules, and might just as well represent the Marshall plant. No conifers were identified, though a very imperfect fragment in a piece of coarse sandstone may possibly belong to Sequova. Cinnamomum affine Lx. and Juglans leconteana Lx. were found associated at a different place, whether separated by any note- worthy interval of time I do not know. They appear to come from a higher level. | Sequoia longifolia _x., which is such a characteristic fossil of the beds above the coal at Austin’s Bluff, Colorado Springs, has been recorded from Marshall, but we did not find it, unless the dubious fragment just referred to belongs there. UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO. 143 SOME MOULDS FROM PENNSYLVANIA By Davip R. SUMSTINE In the study of the moulds of North America, the following species have been observed in Pennsylvania. An enumeration of these species may interest mycologists. Fischer * divides the Mucorinae (Mucorales) into four families, Mucoraceae, Mortierellaceae, Chaetocladiaceae, and Cephalida- ceae. No species of the second family have yet been found in our state. MucorRACEAE Mucor mucedo Linnaeus This species is widely distributed on horse manure and can readily be cultivated on a decoction of horse manure, on potato, | and on bread. It is seldom found on fruits. Mucor racemosus Fresenius Found on boiled potatoes, on bread, and on horse manure. It can be cultivated on bread and on potato. Mucor piriformis Fischer The specimens referred to this species agree fairly well with the description of Fischer { except the size of the columella and of the spores. In my specimens the columella is pear-shaped 117-150 high and 50-117 » wide at the broadest part. The spores are broadly elliptical, 13-16 » long and 10-13 » wide. _ The spores germinate in the mineral liquid used by Van Tieghem and Le Monnier.t A number of attempts to germinate them in water proved a failure. The plants grew on the dung of deer, were cultivated on bread, on boiled potato, and on cornmeal. Phycomyces nitens (Agardh) Kunze Usually found on oily substances and may be cultivated on ground flaxseed and on cornmeal. % Fischer, Krypt. Flor. v. Deutschland, etc., 175-177. 1872. + Fischer, /oc. cit., 191. + Van Tieghem et Le Monnier, Ann. Sc. Nat. V, Ser. T. 17: Af, sieeh/3}; 144 Spinellus fusiger (Link) Van Tieghem Found on various species of M/ycena. Spinellus macrocarpus (Corda) Karsten This species is also found on species of A/ycena. Attempts to cultivate this and the former species were unsuccessful. Sporodinia grandis Link This is a ubiquitous mould growing on decaying fungi. It has been found on various species of mushrooms. Rhizopus ngricans Ehrenberg This is the most common species of the moulds. It grows on all kinds of decaying vegetable matter. It can easily be culti- vated and assumes very interesting forms. Occasionally several sporangia appear on one sporangiophore. Peculiar thickenings occur frequently in the sporangiophores. The spores germinate in water. Thamnidium elegans Link The habitat of this species is on the manure of the tiger and of the horse. It has been cultivated on orange, on bread, on carrot, in Pasteur’s solution with gelatine. The manure of the tiger was obtained from the Pittsburgh Zoo. Circinella umbellata Van Tieghem et Le Monnier Grows on the manure of the tiger and of the horse, usually in company with 7hamuidium elegans. Cultivated on orange, on bread, and in Pasteur’s solution with gelatine. Chaetostylum fresenit Van Tieghem et Le Monnier This species was found growing among other moulds on an old decaying Polyporus. Pilobolus crystallinus (Wiggers) Tode Rather abundant on horse manure. CHAETOCLADIACEAE Chaetocladium brefelda Van Tieghem et Le Monnier Grows parasitically on other mucors on horse manure. It was also found on Phycomyces nitens growing on flaxseed meal. 145 CEPHALIDACEAE Piptocephalis repens Van Tieghem Very common among other moulds on horse and dog manure. It is parasitic on other moulds. PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA SHORTER. NOES A New Name.—Pentstemon Metcalfei Wooton & Standley, nom. nov. P. puberulus Wooton & Standley, Bull. Torrey Club 36: 112 4 Mr 1909. Not P. puberulus M. E. Jones, Contr. Western Bot. 12: 64. 1908. Prof. A. A. Heller kindly called our attention to the fact that the name P. pudberulus was used last year by Mr. Jones. We had Mr. Jones’ paper at hand at the time of naming the plant but had neglected to examine it for new species of Pentstemon. < E. O. Wooron AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, NEw MExIco A ‘““WEEpING”’ SPRUCE.— Some weeks ago Miss Helen Stewart brought to Teachers College a specimen of a curious spruce tree which was collected about one hundred miles north of Winnipeg. The Indian guides call it the ‘‘ Unknown Tree,” and claim that it is the only one in existence. The tree is described as about sixty feet high, with the lower branches at least twenty feet from the ground; the strikingly pendulous branches are six or more feet long, slender, and themselves but little branched. About the: same time a specimen was taken to the New York Botanical Garden; the rather indefinite description of the locality indicates that the two specimens came from the same place, and possibly from the same tree. Dr. Britton has pronounced it a ‘‘weeping”’ spruce, probably Picea canadensis; the twigs are thicker than usual (due perhaps to its peculiar habit of growth) but the sterigmata indicate P. canadensis. JEAN BROADHURST 146 REVIEWS West and West’s Monograph of British Desmidiaceae. Vol. IIl* In their third volume of the British Desmidiaceae, W. and G. S. West have nearly completed the genus Cosmarium, fifty spe- cies of which were already taken up in the latter part of volume two. In this third volume one hundred and seventy three spe- cies with their several varieties are taken up. and illustrated by thirty plates (65-95), partly colored. The general plan of the earlier volumes is followed: synonymy, description, distribution, and general notes under each species. One new species, Cos- marium entochondrum, is described, also thirteen new varieties. In addition several new forms are described and a number of changes of rank and position made. The figures are excellently drawn and in many cases show front, vertical, side, and basal views of the same specimen. The colored figures show the arrangement of the chloroplasts and pyrenoids ina number of species. In a very few cases varia- tions of ornamentation are definitely shown. The volume shows our great lack of knowledge of the sexual phases of the life history in this group, the number of species with zygospores being but 15 per cent. of the total and in some of these the zygospores are not mature. In a group as variable as the Desmidiaceae this lack of the sexual characters is all the more felt in determining the true relationships of apparently very similar forms. This volume will do much to help the study of this genus, which has been difficult on account of the great number of spe- cies and the scattered literature. JosErpH A. CUSHMAN IOC AMOS Ol Ashe, C10} May II, 1909 The meeting was held at the American Museum of Natural History with Vice-president Barnhart in the chair. Ten persons were present. * West, W. and West, G. S. Monograph of British Desmidiaceae. Vol. III. 1908. Ray Society. Dulau and Co., London. 147 Resignations were accepted from Miss Lenda Tracy Hanks, Miss Helen D. Nelson, and Mr. Arthur Smith. The scientific program of the evening consisted of a lecture by Dr. William A Murrill on “ Edible Fungi’, illustrated by speci- mens and by lantern slides. Mushrooms were discussed from the popular side as objects of interest and as valuable relishes. The development and culti- vation of the common field mushroom were briefly described. Poisonous species and their effects were described with care, and comparisons were made with edible species liable to be confused with them. i Fresh specimens of four early species were exhibited: the glistening ink-cap, Coprimus micaceus, which appeared the last week in April; the shaggy-mane, Coprinus comatus, which ap- peared about May 10 (unusually early for this species) ; P/ezro- tus sapidus, a relative of the oyster mushroom, just beginning to appear on old logs and stumps ; and the morel, Morchella, which occurs on the ground in woods during May. Lantern slides were used to illustrate the more important local species of edible fungi, beginning with agarics found on lawns and in fields, such as species of Agaricus, Lepiota, Coprinus, Hy- pholoma, and Marasmius. Species occurring on the ground in woods were next discussed, including Lactarza, Russula, Tricho- loma, Chtocybe, and other important genera of gill-fungi. _Wood- loving forms comprise a number of important species that are abundant and much used, such as Armillaria mellea, Hypholoma perplexum, FPleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sapidus, Coprinus mucaceus, and Collybia velutipes. Other groups of fungi containing edible species, were illustrated by Clavaria, Hydnum, certain tender forms of Polyporus, several species of Lol/etus, and a number of species of Lycoperdon. All species of coral-fungi and puffballs were recommended for food, provided the specimens were tender, young, and fresh. Adjournment followed. ' MarsHALL A. Howe, Secretary pro tem. 148 OF INTEREST TO TEACHERS SECONDARY SCHOOL AGRICULTURE The March number of School Science and Mathematics has an article by D. O. Barto on problems in secondary school agricul- ture which is interesting to teachers of nature study in the grades and to teachers in the high school. The lack of success in the grades is explained as follows: “Tt must not be forgotten that agriculture is largely a science study. It requires some knowledge of the principles of many sciences, and the ability and interest to apply them intelligently. These conditions of scholarship can be expected only in pupils of a certain breadth and maturity of development and compre- hension seldom found in the elementary grades. “A pupil can make little headway in the study of agriculture unless he knows something of physiography, geology, botany, zoology, physics and chemistry. It is not a question of whether he has studied these sciences before he takes up agriculture whether he pursues them as separate subjects or learns them as he studies agriculture... The important thing is that some knowl- edge of these other subjects is indispensable to any serious and effective work in the study of agriculture, and this is a qualifica- tion that can hardly be expected to be attained in the elementary grades. “There is much valuable work that is scientific and agricul- tural that may be done — should be done —in the elementary grades when we have teachers prepared for it. But agriculture is an applied science. It has won its way only by demonstrat- ing to the farmer that it could be made of practical service to him. -As a school study its value and usefulness will largely depend upon the results that can be obtained from the applica- tion of principles of science, and this work will demand a sus- tained interest that young children cannot furnish.”’ With regard to the conditions in the secondary schools much of the above is true, especially where the work is placed in the lower high school years. Mr. Barto, however, gives in this article ‘some encouraging results of work being done in Illinois. 149 A key to the common winter trees about Milwaukee which is not so local as the title indicates appears in the April School Science and Mathematics. The author, I. N. Mitchell, has made the key simple enough for high school pupils. Dr. John M. Coulter has an article on teaching botany in the April School Science and Mathematics in which the current con- ditions are discussed under the headings of the prepared teacher, economic botany, biological grouping, and the point of interest. The April Journal of the New York Botanical Garden contains three illustrated articles which will prove interesting to the general reader: one on the fern collections of the Garden by Ralph C. Benedict, another on East Indian economic plants written by Percy Wilson, and an account of some experiments on the effect of the soil of the Garden hemlock grove upon seedlings by Wini- fred J. Robinson. Viewing the government as a teacher, Mr. L. B. Stowe, in the Outlook for April 17, enumerates the scientific principles demon- strated within the past few years, and gives interesting concrete illustrations. Those of special interest to us are connected with forest and staple crop protection and with improved methods of farming, such as following the contours of the hill in plowing a hillside instead of plowing straight across the slope. The April Plant World contains two papers which were read at the Baltimore meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: one on overlapping habitats as observed in Mexico by Francis E. Lloyd; and another by W. M. Crocker and L. I. Knight on the effect of illuminating gas upon the flowers of both cut and growing carnations, and the losses sustained by florists through defective pipes, even where chemical tests failed to reveal the presence of gas. The University of Colorado has recently issued a botanical ’ number as the first number of its sixth volume of studies. The 150 magazine, which should prove interesting to all botanical students in that region, is illustrated, and contains papers by the members of the biological staff on the ‘‘botanical opportunity in Colorado”, on the mesa and foothill vegetation, especially with relation to physiography and climate, with the distribution of conifers and deciduous trees, and a bibliography and history of Colorado botany. Dr. O. F. Cook in discussing the history of the cocoanut palm says: “It has long been thought that the cocoanut palm presents a perfect example of adaptation to a littoral environment, but this idea is delusive. The tough outer rind which is popularly sup- posed to have been developed as a protection against sea water is really to guard the cocoanut when it falls, and give it favorable conditions for germination. Cocoanuts require a certain amount of salt in the soil, but this condition is satisfied by soils in some interior localities as well as on the seacoast. Considerable sun- shine is also needed. This, however, is met better in arid regions than by a coastal habitat and the care with which the milk is pro- tected would argue in the same direction. Far from being a wild plant the cocoanut does not appear to thrive long away from human beings and in spite of the supposed diffusion of the tree by oceanic currents no instance of the kind is known.” A freak dandelion, Taraxacum taraxacum (L.) Karst., is de- scribed by M. P. Somes in the April American Botanist: “Tn place of the scape which all self-respecting dandelions rear aloft, this ‘freak’ had a stem, amply provided with leaves —not in whorls, if you please, but alternate. The tip of the . flower stalk was bifurcate and bore two heads, rather smaller than the average but perfect in other respects. Near the base of the stem to still further emphasize the abnormality was an auxil- iary peduncle tipped by an immature head. There were several plants with this leafy stem habit and all very similar in the forked flower stalk. The soil was an ordinary black earth quite moist but in no way noticeably peculiar and six feet away in the same soil were normal plants of the same species. A friend, who is 151 somewhat severe in his strictures regarding the activity of tax- onomists and the resulting multiplicity of synonyms, suggests that I describe this form as a new species and call it 7: parado-xa. However it may be of interest to some to know that Zaraxracum taraxacum (L.) Karst. (7. offictnale Weber, T. dens-leonis Desv. etc., etc.) does not always have a scape nor is its inflorescence always a single head.” The April Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club contains a very interesting article by George E. Stone on the power of growth of ostrich ferns (Oxoclea Struthiopteris Hoffm.). Young fronds which forced their way through a concrete (rolled tar and gravel) border, about three inches thick, and so hard that a “heavy stroke from a sledge-hammer makes little or no impres- sion upon it,”’ initiated some experiments to show the great force exerted by the young ferns. A lever, weights, and a round piece of wood ‘of the same dimensions as the undeveloped cluster of fern fronds”’ constituted the apparatus. The pressure required to break through the concrete in ten to fifteen days, the time usually required by the ferns was 264 pounds in Io days and 189 pounds in 13 days, Mr. Stone estimates that the work actually accomplished by the ferns is at least 35 atmospheres, and refers to Pfeffer’s corn root record of 24 atmospheres, and Clark’s squash experiment where a squash developed under a weight of 5,000 pounds, but which, however, represented a cell, pressure of but 2-3 atmospheres. The report of the American Chemical Society, made by the committee appointed to cooperate with the National Conservation Committee, contains some facts of botanical interest, as shown by the following extracts: ‘In forestry also, the influence of the chemist is distinctly felt. The sprays, used for destroying noxious insects, are chemical preparations. The manufacture of wood alcohol is a chemical process, which may be either wasteful or economical. Turpentine is now produced wastefully, but the waste can be diminished by careful refining, and furthermore, the chemist can aid in discovering substitutes for it. Substitutes for 152 tan bark are also to be sought for by means of chemical investi- gations. Another distinctly chemical operation is the preparation of wood pulp for paper making, a process which is now wasteful in the highest degree. It is estimated that for every ton of pulp now made by the sulphite process more than a ton of waste ma- terial is allowed to drain away into our streams. How to make this material useful is a chemical problem, and so also, in great part, is the investigation of other, now useless fibers, which may replace the more valuable wood. The preservation of wood from decay is still another art in which chemistry is predominant. “In preserving the fertility of our land, chemistry has an im- portant part to play. Our knowledge of fertilizers, of the food on which crops can thrive, is entirely chemical so far as accuracy is concerned, and must be applied in accordance with chemical principles. A fertilizer which is useless, and therefore wasted on one soil, may be needed on another. Certain fertilizers, like the Stassfurt salts, Peruvian guano, the Chilean nitrates, and phos- phate rock are limited in quantity, and their future exhaustion must be considered now. What shall replace them in the future ? Already processes have been devised for fixing the nitrogen of the atmosphere and rendering it available for plant food. Salt- peter and other nitrates can be and long have been made from waste materials such as old mortar and animal refuse. The phos- phatic slags have been mentioned in connection with metallurgi- cal processes. These sources of fertility are important, but greater still is the source found in our municipal sewage. The problem of its salvage has been worked out in some localities, but in the United States the people are only beginning to be aroused to its importance. Enormous masses of material, easily available for fertilizing purposes, now drain into our rivers or directly into the sea. Another question, now under investigation, is the possibility of using our common feldspathic rocks in fine powder, to replace the potassium withdrawn by plants from the soil.” TORREYA AND NATURE-STUDY REVIEW Special combined price $1.50 for the year Igo9 Regular price $1.00 each This special offer is good only as long as the publishers of the above journals can supply back numbers of early 1909 issues. In no case will the subscription be extended beyond Decem- ber of this year. The offer is limited to zew sub- scribers of either journals and also is not open to members of the American Nature-Study Society, of which THe Nature-Stupy REVIEW is the official journal free to members. By later sending 25 cents additional to the Secretary of the Society the subscription on above terms may be credited as member's fee for the American Nature Society for 1909. Correspondence relating to above special offer should be addressed to DR. WILLIAM MANSFIELD College of Pharmacy 115 W. 68th Street New York City OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB (1) BULLETIN A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 35 published in 1908, contained 608 pages of text and 40 full-page plates. Price $3.00 per annum. For Europe, 14 shillings. Dulau & Co., 37 Soho Square, London, are agents for England. : Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets. Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols. 28—35 three dollars each. eae Sinele copies (30 cts.) will be furnished only when not breaking complete volumes. (2) MEMOIRS The Memorrs, established 18809, are published at irregular intervals. Volumes I-11 and 13 arenowcompleted; Nos. rand 2 of Vol. 12 and No. 1 of Vol. 14 have been issued. The sub- scription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance. ~The numbers can also be purchased singly. Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City Editor Treasurer MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, PH.D. WILLIAM MANSFIELD, Puar.D. | Botanical Garden, Bronx Park ‘ College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St. New York City f New York.City Associate Editors JOHN H. BARNHART, A.M., M.D. TRACY ELLIOT HAZEN, PH.D. JEAN BROADHURST, A.M. WM. ALPHONSO MURRILL, Pu.D). PHILIP DOWELL, Pu.D. faba CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, A.M, ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D. HERBERT M. RICHARDS, S.D Torreya is furnished to subseribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or | express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only ' for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLuB, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or College of Pharmacy, 115 West 68th St., New York City. Matter for publication should be addressed to _ JEAN BROADHURST ‘ Teachers College, Columbia University New York City AUG 5- 1909 TORREYA August, 1909 Vol. 9 No. 8 REPS AISeiN ihe WES UNDIES By N. L. BrRiTTon Rhipsalis is a genus of leafless jointed cacti, with round, angled, or flat branches and small flowers, consisting of numerous spe- cies, mostly natives of tropical America, but a few species occur in eastern tropical Africa and the widely distributed R. Cassutha grows alsoin Ceylon. In this Old World distribution the genus differs from all other cacti, the family being otherwise American in distribution, except for several Opuntias, which have become naturalized in southern Europe and northern Africa. These African species are of great interest from the standpoint of geographic distribution because they are the only cacti native in any part of the Old World. From the large preponderance of species in America it seems certain that the ancestors of the African kinds must have been transported from the American tropics to those of Africa in past geologic time, and the method of transportation, unless there was land connection between the continents, can only be guessed at. There are many genera im other families of plants common to the American and African tropics, however, and this indicates the probability of former land connection, over which their ancestors might have spread by well-known natural means. The genus was established by Gaertner (Fruct. & Sem. 1: 137. 1788), the type species being RX. Cassutha Gaertn. Adan- son (Fam. Pl. 2: 243. 1763) had previously proposed the generic name //ariofa, for presumably the same species (Plumier, Plant. Amer. 190, p/. 197. f. 2), and this figure is cited by Linnaeus (Syst. ed. 10, 1054. 1759) under Cactus parasiticus, but Linnaeus at the same place, and before his citation of Plumier’s figure, [No. 9, Vol. 7, of TORREYA, comprising pages 133-152, was issued July 1, 1909. } * \\lustrated with the aid of the Catherine McManes Fund. 153 154 cites Sloane, Jamaica, p/. 224. f. 3 and 4, which is a species of Vanilla, probably V. Eggersiana Rolfe. Inasmuch as Adanson did not typify Hariota binominally, and as the type of Cactus parasiticus L.is a Vanilla, it would appear that the name Hariota must be passed over, although it was taken up by Dr. Otto Kuntze (Rev. Gen. Pl. 261. 1891), and the species of A/zpsals Fic 1. 2Rhipsalis Cassutha Gaertn. Near Utuado, Porto Rico. Photographed by Dr. Marshall A. Howe. known to him transferred to it. Through Linnaeus’s blunder of uniting two widely different plants, which he knew only from illustrations, we are apparently prevented from using the name Hariota, and the next oldest available generic name is Rhzpsals. The species of Rhzpsalis are mainly epiphytic, drooping from 155 trees, though sometimes found on cliffs, and they are mesophytes rather than xerophytes, inhabiting moist or wet regions. Some of them bear spines or bristles at the areoles of young shoots, which usually fall away early, leaving the mature plants quite unarmed, but a few South American species bear spines even when mature. Their flowers are whitish, yellowish, or pink, often almost rotate when widely expanded, the perianth-segments few, the perianth-tube short or none; the stamens are few or numerous and shorter than the perianth ; the fruits are globular or oblong, white or yellowish berries with a watery pulp full of small seeds. Three species are now known from the West Indies, which may be classified as follows : Joints terete, slender ( Zurhipsalis). 1. &. Cassutha, Joints flat (Phyllorhipsalis). Joints 4-6 cm. wide; flowers 15 mm. long; berry oblong. 2. &. alata. Joints I-2.5 cm. wide; flowers 6 mm. long ; berry subglobose. 3. R. jamaicensis. 1. Rhipsalis Cassutha Gaertn. Fr. & Sem. 1: 137. 1788 Cassytha filtiformis Mill. Gard. Dict. Ed. 8. 1768. Not L. Cactus parasiticus Lam. Encycl. 1: 541. 1783. Not L. Cactus pendulus Sw. F\. Ind. Occ. 2: 876. 1800. Cactus caripensis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. 6: 66. 1823. Cereus caripensis DC. Prodr. 3: 467. 1828. Rhipsas parasiticus DC. Prodr. 3: 476. 1828. Cactus fasciculatus Willd. Enum. Suppl. 33. 1813. Rhipsalis parasitica Haw. Syn. Pl. Succ. 187. 1812. Rhipsalis fasciculata Haw. Suppl. 83. 1819. Rhipsalts cassythoides G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3: 176. 1834. Rhipsalis dichotoma G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3: 176. 1834. Rhipsalis undulata Pfeiff. Enum. 156. 1837. khlipsalis Hookeriana G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3: 176. 1834. FHlartota parasitica Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 262. 1891. Plant often 1 m. long or longer, much branched, light green, pendent from trees or on cliffs, the branches flexible ; flowers 6—8 mm. long; petals about 4, ovate, obtuse; stamens about 9. [ Ficure 1.] Type Locatity: Not cited. 156 ILLustRATIONS: Gaertn. Joc. cit. pl. 28. f. 1; Hook. Exot. FI. Te). 2, odd. Bot: Cab. 7/365 5" Bot. Magi 20 705enar DC. Pl. Grasses, p/. 59. DistRiBUTION: CuBa: Matanzas (Kugel 767; Britton & Shafer 450); Madruga (Britton & Shafer 758); Calicita near Cienfuegos (Combs 470); vicinity of San Luis, Oriente (Pollard & Palmer 356 ; Maxon 4012). Hartt: Port Margot to Corneil (Nash 228); La Brande to Mt. Balance (Wash & Taylor 1660). Porto Rico: Yauco (Garber 63; Sintenis 3823); between Aibonito and Cayey (Heller 516); near Aibonito (Underwood & Griggs 488). JamAicA: near Rio Grande Ford, Cuna Cuna Trail (Fredholm 3207); Belvidere (Harris 7646); vicinity of Castleton (Maxon 836); Moneague (£. G. Britton 2956). San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia, Vene- zuela, and Brazil. Tropical Africa. Mauritius. Ceylon. The young shoots are often quite bristly, but the mature plant becomes smooth; flowers are sometimes developed before the bristles fall away. In the West Indies the plant has not been observed by me at a greater altitude than about 500 meters. 2. Rhipsalis alata (Sw.) Schum. FI. Bras. 4°: 288. 1890 Cactus alatus Sw. Prodr. 77. 1788. Cereus alas W Cy Prodi 3\2 47.0. lo2. Rhipsalis Swartsiana Pfeiff. Enum. 131. 1837. FHlartota alata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 262. 1891. Rhipsalis Harrisii Giurke, Monats. Kakt. 18: 180. 1908. Pendent from trees and on rocks, sometimes 5 meters long, with several long branches; joints broadly linear, lanceolate or linear-oblong, often constricted at the middle or above it, bluntish at the apex, decurrent below into a stipe-like base, rather fleshy, bright green, about 1 mm. thick, 2-4 dm. long, 4-6 cm. wide, the midvein prominent and stout, the margins crenate-undulate, the lower crenations 1-2 cm. long, the upper ones 4-8 mm. long, the main lateral veins ending in the sinuses ; flowers yellowish- white, about 15 mm. long; petals 10, lanceolate, acutish, the outer slightly longer than the inner, erect and nearly parallel ; stamens numerous, about one half as long as the petals; style slender, about three times as long as the five linear stigmas ; berry ovoid, rounded at both ends, yellow-green, 1 cm. long. | FIGURE 2. | ena = =———_— Schum. ) Sw ( lis alata Rhipsa BiG, 2; Fic. 3. Rhipsalis jamaicensis Britton & Harris. 159 Jamaica: Woodstock, near Newmarket, Westmoreland (477/- ton 1583, Harris 9995); Belvidere, Hanover (Harris 7679) ; Kempshot, Hanover (Sritton & Flollick 2405); Mandeville, Man- chester (Lritton 3751). The plant flowers in autumn. This species has been misinterpreted by authors, commencing with Grisebach (FI. Br. W. I. 302. 1860) and the name a/atus applied to the other somewhat similar plant of Jamaica to be described below. I have satisfactorily identified it from Swartz’s description, and by the aid of a tracing of a type specimen pre- served in the herbarium of the British Museum of Natural History, kindly sent at my request by Mr. A. B. Rendle, and Professor Urban informs me that the Swartz specimen preserved in the Stockholm Herbarium its also certainly this species. The name Rizpsalis alata is to be found incidentally mentioned under Cereus alatus in Steudel, Nomencl. ed. 2, 1: 333, published in 1841, without any description of the plant referred to, and is therefore a hyponym to be disregarded. 3. Rhipsalis jamaicensis Britton & Harris, sp. nov. Pendent from trees, the young shoots quite bristly, the older joints smooth; plant 3-10 dm. long, the main axis angular; _joints 1-4 dm. long, 1-2.5 cm. wide, dull green, about 2 mm. thick, the apex bluntish, the base narrowed into a stipe 1-6 cm. long, the margins low-crenate; flowers yellowish green, about 6 mm. long, the petals about 7, oblong to oblanceolate, not very widely expanding, obtusish; ovary oblong, with a few scales ; stamens 20-24; style much longer than the three oblong stigmas; berry globose, white, 6-8 mm. in diameter. [Figure 3. |] Jamaica: Troy, Cockpit Country (4vitton 577, type); vicinity of Troy (Maxon 2873); near Montpellier (Z. G. Britton 2863); Bath to Cuna Cuna Gap (rittou 3502). In ‘‘ Gesamtbeschreibung der Kakteen.,”’ p. 636, the late Pro- fessor Schumann, erroneously describing this plant as Rhzp- salis alata, refers the Costa Rican Riipsalts coriacea Polak. Linnaea 41: 562, 1877, to it as a synonym. This species is, perhaps, its closest relative, but after growing the two side by side at the New York Botanical Garden, I am convinced that they are distinct. 160 Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden will find the col- lection of Rhipsals in Range 1, House No. 7, of the public conservatories. NOTES ON THE FLORA OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN DELAWARE By CHARLES S. WILLIAMSON So little is known of the flora of central and southern Dela- ware, that the following notes on specimens collected by members of the Philadelphia Botanical Club, during the summers of 1907 and 1908, may be of interest. The first trip was taken by Messrs. Brown, Van Pelt and B. Long on September 21, 1908. Its purpose was to find a good location for the Symposium of 1909. The vicinities of Townsend and Millsboro were visited. The Symposium was held at Georgetown, July 4 tog. The attendance was very small, there being at no time more than five and on the first and last days only two botanists present. There were no formal meetings, but many interesting plants were found. The afternoon of July 4 was spent on ‘the Hammock,” about two miles east of Georgetown. ~ Other botanizing grounds visited in the vicinity of George- town were, Morris Pond, a large mill dam about eight miles east of our headquarters, Milton and the salt marshes beyond, Laurel and Bethel, Rehoboth, and Ellendale. On July 20 Messrs. Van Pelt and Long visited Milford and Ellendale and collected many plants that had been overlooked or that were not in bloom on July g. On August 20 the same gentlemen, with Mr. E. B. Bartram, made a trip to Middletown and Smyrna, hoping to find Alnus maritima within the club limits. In this they were not successful, but they did find several plants that were new to the herbarium. Finally, on August 29 I revisited several of the localities at which we had collected during the Symposium. Pinus Strobus L. Rare, observed only east of Milton. 161 Pinus echinata Mill. Between Georgetown and Laurel. Pinus taeda L. Abundant everywhere. LTaxodium distichum (L.) L. C. Rich. Between Bethel and Laurel ; a number of trees, one at least four feet in diameter. No fruit seen. Chamaccyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. Bethel, Millsboro. Not common. Potamogeton pulcher Tuckerm. Morris Pond. Naias gracillima (A. Br.) Morong. Pond north of Rehoboth. Mill pond at Milford. Lrianthus compactus Nash. Hammock east of Georgetown. Manisuris rugosa (Nutt.) Kuntze. Ellendale ; abundant along railroad ditches and in damp meadows. Hammock east of Georgetown. Andropogon argyracus Schultes. Dry sand, Rehoboth. Mills- boro. Paspalum plenipilum Nash? Georgetown and Ellendale. Amplicarpon Amphicarpon (Pursh) Nash. Ellendale, very abundant. Brachiaria digitarioides (Carpenter) Nash. Millsboro. Sacciolepis gibba (Ell.) Nash. Borders of pond north of Re- hoboth. Millsboro. Chaetochloa magna (Griseb.) Scrib. Near Smyrna Landing. _ Ffeleochloa schoenoides (L.) Host. Smyrna Landing. Sporolobus Torreyanus (R. & S.) Nash. Ellendale. Gymnopogon ambiguus (Mx.) B.S.P. Ellendale. Eragrostis refracta (Muh).) Scrib. In water, east of George- town. Cyperus microdontus Torr. In field east of Georgetown. Smyrna Landing. Cyperus pseudovegetus Steud. Damp soil, Georgetown and Ellendale. Eleocharis mutata (L.) R. & S. In water, common in eastern Delaware. Eleocharis Robbinst Oakes. Morris Pond and Milford. Eleocharis tortilis (Link) Schultes. Ina wood east of George- town. Millsboro. 162 Eleocharis Torreyana Boeck]. Ellendale and Milford. Eleocharis melanocarpa Torr. Ellendale. Scirpus subterninalis Torr. Morris Pond. Rynchospora macrostachya Torr. Milford. Rynchospora axillaris (Lam.) Britton. Ellendale. Eriocaulon Parkert Robinson. Morris Pond, Milford, Reho- both and Millsboro. : Arisaema pusillum (Peck) Nash. Millsboro. Juncus repens Michx. Georgetown, Ellendale, and Smyrna, in ditches. Flelonias bullata L. Milford. Melanthium Virginicum L. East of Georgetown. Gyrotheca tinctoria (Walt.) Salisb. The Hammock east of Georgetown. . Pogonia diviricata (L.) R.Br. One fruiting specimen found July 21, 1908, at Ellendale in a meadow a few hundred yards east of the town. Rather abundantly in bloom in the same meadow on June 21, 1909. Tipularia unifolia (Muhl.) B.S.P. Rather common in a woods about two miles east of Georgetown. In full bloom July 5, 1908. Gyrostachys simplex (A. Gray) Kuntze. Rehoboth; more common than G. gracilis (Bigel.) Kuntze. Gyrostachys praecox (Walt.) Kuntze. Hammock east of Georgetown. Marsh east of Milton. Blephariglottis lacera {Mx.) Rydberg. The Hammock, Georgetown. Populus heterophylla L. Townsend. Myrica cerifera LL. Common around ponds. Fficoria villosa (Sarg.) Ashe. Milton. Alnus maritima (Marsh.) Muhl. Rather common. Milford (in bloom July 20), Morris Pond. West of Bethel and Millsboro mostly on the borders of ponds. Castanea pumila (L.) Mill. Near Noxontown Pond, Middle- town. Quercus nigra L.. Nery abundant everywhere but no fruit seen in 1908. Quercus Michauxi Nutt. Georgetown. 165 Polygonum Careyt Olney. Abundant along roadside east of Georgetown. Polygonum Opelousanum Riddell. Ellendale and Georgetown. Silene alba Muhl. Near Smyrna Landing. Cabomba Caroliniana A. Gray. Milford, in stream flowing through the town. Perhaps an escape but very abundant and luxuriant. Itea Virginia L. Milford. Prunus angustifolia Mx. Between Milford and Ellendale and at Noxontown Pond. Cracca spicata (Walt.) Kuntze. Dry roadsides, Georgetown and Laurel. Stylosanthes riparia Kearney. Near Georgetown. Metbomia viridiflora (L.) Kuntze. Georgetown, Milford and Van Dyke. Metbonua stricta (Pursh) Kuntze. Common in dry fields, Milford, Ellendale and Georgetown. Lespedeza striata (Thunb.)H. & A. Rehoboth and Ellendale. Lespedeza Stuvei Nutt. Laurel (not in bloom), Rehoboth, in bloom. Lathyrus myrtifolius Muhl. Near Milton. Ciitorta Mariana L. Along roadside between Milford and Ellendale. Galactia regularis (L.) B.S.P. Common. Galactia volubils (L.) Britton. Georgetown and Laurel, along dry roadsides. Dolicholus erectus (Walt.) Vail. Georgetown and Laurel, along dry roadsides. Oxalis corniculata L. Smyrna and Ellendale, along roadsides. Linum striatum Walt. Leaves all or nearly all alternate, com- mon east of Georgetown. Polygala cymosa Walt. Very abundant in the hammock east of Georgetown. Along railroad south of Ellendale. Polygala ramosa E\\,_ Very abundant in meadow with Pogonia and along the railroad east of Ellendale. Polygala incarnata . Along roadsides, Georgetown and Rehoboth. 164 Polygala Mariana Mill. Georgetown and Ellendale, in both damp and dry soil. : Polygala lutea L., P. cruciata L., and P. Nuttallii were also common. Crotonopsis linearis Mx. Common in both damp and dry soil, in meadows and in woods at Ellendale and Georgetown. Rhus Toatcodendron L. Laurel, along roadside. Kosteletzkya Virginica (L.) A. Gray. Salt marsh east of Milton, Rehoboth. Flypericum adpressum Bart. Ellendale. Flypericum virgatum Lam. Very abundant in Ellendale, and in the Hammock, Georgetown. Triadenum petiolatum (Walt.) Britton. Milford, Morris Pond and Millsboro. Elatine Americana (Pursh) Arn. Near Noxontown Pond. Some of the plants are very large, forming rosettes eight inches in diameter. Viola Brittoniana Pollard? Rehoboth, leaves very leathery. Rhexia aristosa Britton. Abundant in ditches along railroad east of Ellendale. : Ludwigia sphaerocarpa Ell., L. linearis Walt. and L. hurtella Raf. Abundant at Ellendale and in the Hammock. Georgetown. Myriophyllum pinnatum (Walt.) B.S.P. Morris Pond. flydrocotyle umbellata L. and H. verticillata Thunb. Borders of pond south of Rehoboth. Pyrola secunda L. Milford. Chronanthus Virginica L. Common. Sabbatia campanulata (L.) Torr. In the meadow east of Ellendale. Gentiana puberula Mx.? One clump (not quite in bloom) along railroad south of Ellendale. The rough stems, long calyx and corolla lobes and stamens free, even in the bud seem to designate this species. On the trip of June 21, 1909, a large number of plants, which may be this species, were noted in the meadow with the Pogonia. Bartoma Virginica (L.) B.S.P. and B. lanceolata Small. Ellendale. The latter more common, growing as a twining vine. 165 Limnanthemum lacunosum (Vent.) Griseb. Rehoboth. Limnanthemum aquaticum (Walt.) Britton. Morris Pond and Milford. Apocynum pubescens R. Br. Near Georgetown. Apocynum Millert Britton. Bethel. Asclepias rubra L., A. decumbens L., and A. variegata L. were found near Georgetown and A. verticillata L. at Rehoboth. Acerates Floridana (Lam.) Hitche. Along railroad south of Ellendale. Vincetoaicum hirsutum (Mx.) Britton. Near Noxontown Pond. Physostegia Virginiana (L.) Benth. Roadside east of George- town. Perhaps introduced. Stachys Atlantica Britton. Ellendale. Koelha aristata (Mx.) Kuntze. Dry roadsides, Georgetown. Gratiola sphaerocarpa Ell. Ellendale and Milford. Gerardia linifolia Nutt. Ellendale, and in the hammock, Georgetown. : Pedicularis lanceolata Mx. Townsend. Utricularia guncea Vahl. Millsboro. Utricularia resupinata B. D. Greene. Milford. Abundant. In bloom July 20. Utricularia inflata Walt. Below the dam Morris Pond. Utricularia radiata Small. Common in ditches. Georgetown and Ellendale. Utricularia cleistogama (A. Gray) Britton. In the hammock, Georgetown. Utricularia fibrosa WWalt., U. gibba L., U. subulata L., and U. purpurea Walt., also occurred at Morris Pond. The last was common in the railroad ditches south of Ellendale. Lecoma radicans (L.) D.C. Common especially at Rehoboth. Kuelha parvifora (Nees) Britton. Not uncommon on the edges of thickets at Rehoboth. Oldenlandia uniflora L. Millsboro and Rehoboth. Plants much taller than those found in New Jersey. Galium pilosum punctulosum (Mx.) T. & G. Sandy roadsides Georgetown. Viburnum subtomentosum, Near Noxontown Pond. Lobeha elongata Small? Millsboro. 166 Lobelia paludosa Nutt. Along railroad east of Ellendale. Lobeha Canbyi A. Gray. Very abundant at Ellendale and the Hammock at Georgetown. Lobelia puberula Mx. Georgetown and Ellendale. Chondrilla guncea L. Smyrna Landing. Elephantopus nudatus A. Gray. Sandy woods, Georgetown, Rehoboth and Millsboro. Sclerolepis uniflora (Walt.) Porter. Very common in ditches, Ellendale and the Hammock, Georgetown. Fleterotheca subaxillaris (Lam.) Britt. & Rusby. Millsboro. Very abundant between Georgetown and Laurel. One specimen east of Georgetown. Boltonia asteroides (.) L’Her. Ellendale and Georgetown. Fluchea foetida (L.) B.S.P. One colony in the dune hollows north of Rehoboth. Coreopsis rosea Nutt. Ellendale, Milford and Rehoboth. Plants smaller than New Jersey specimens. Senecio tomentosus Mx. Common, Georgetown, Ellendale and Rehoboth. Carduus Virginianus L. One specimen along roadside east of Georgetown with the Heterotheca; perhaps like that “pine common further west. Specimens of all the plants mentioned, except Carduus Vir- ginianus LL. are deposited in the Herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. GIRARD COLLEGE. THE GENERIC NAME WEDELIA By T. D. A. COCKERELL The receipt of Mr. Standley’s admirable revision of the Al- lionaceae of the United States called up a question as to the propriety of using Wedelia as the name of a genus in that family. Wedelia Loefl., Iter. Hisp. 180. 1758, is clearly a hyponym, since it includes no named species. According to the Index Kewensis, combinations under Wedelia occur in Linn. Syst. ed. 10, 890, but Dr. Barnhart has kindly looked up this reference, 167 and finds that Linné cites Loefling, but does not so much as mention his generic names. In the meanwhile, Wede/ia Jacq., Enum. Pl. Carib. 8: 28. 1760, was proposed for a genus of Compositae which is current to-day, with very many species. Wedelia Loefl., Reise 240. 1766, had an assigned type, the Alhonia incarnata L., but this is several years subsequent to Jacquin’s publication. The type of A/Monia Loefl., L., Syst. ed. 10, 890. 1361 (1759) is A. ziolacea L., as Mr. Standley states. Wedelia Loefl., in the Allioniaceae, is thus left nameless, and Wedelella is herewith proposed. The species, with references to the pages of Mr. Standley’s work (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. XII, part 8, 331 et seq. 1909) are as follows: "~ Wedeliella cristata: Wedelia cristata Standley, p: 331. Wedeliella glabra: Wedela glabra (Choisy) Standley, p. 332. ~— Wedelella incarnata: Wedelia incarnata (L.) Kuntze, Stand- levanes 32) | Dype cfieentts: Wedeliella incarnata anodonta: Wedelia incarnata anodonta Standley, p. 333. Wedeliella incarnata villosa: Wedelia incarnata villosa Stand- ley, Pp. 333- Wedehella tncarnata nudata: Wedehaincarnata nudata Stand- ley, p. 334. I am greatly indebted to Dr. N. L. Britton and Dr. J. H. Barnhart for advice and reference. REVIEWS Walton’s Wild Flowers and Fruits * This practical guide to the wild flowers and fruits follows the earlier popular books in arranging the plants in color groups. — Much time is saved, however, in finding the name of a plant, by the addition of a series of easy and ingenious chart or diagram keys — one for each color group. These keys are based upon such characters as the manner of growth (climbing, upright, etc.) the flower and leaf arrangement, the number of petals, and the presence of thorns, The keys and the flower descriptions are * Walton, G. L. Practical Guide to the Wild Flowers and Fruits. 12mo. Pp. 198. 1909. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. $1.50. 168 framed in the simplest language ; the glossary itself contains but sixty-one terms, and among these are included such common words as annual, head, herb, and stamens. About four hundred flowers and one hundred fruits are thus simply described in detail suffi- cient for identification. Provisions are made for those least learned in botanical terms, and it is possible to trace the flowering dogwood successfully, even if the four large white bracts are considered petals —as they often are by the uninitiated. Some- times it seems as if this simplified method were carried to the extreme ; the flowering dogwood may again be mentioned here, for the keys do not make it possible to find the name if one uses the true flowers, which are surrounded by these white bracts. Objections might also be made to the use of the word sepals for all the perianth parts of some of the Liliaceae. The illustrations add but little to the value of the book, and some (such as the line drawings of the yellow clover, pine sap, and hobblebush) may prove a hindrance. Yet, these are after all minor points. The book is by far the easiest, simplest, and quickest guide to wild flowers. It is so simple that a child of twelve can readily learn to use the keys and name the common flowers of his neighborhood. The book must also prove a boon to the many people who are interested in plants and their names, but who do not have the time and the patience to work over the somewhat technical keys of our man- uals of botany, and to whom simple and compound pistils, pla- centae, and hypogynous or inferior insertions are insurmountable difficulties. High school pupils should be introduced to this popular key, for it may prove the long-desired connection be- tween the work of the school room anda lasting interest in botany. JEAN BROADHURST. ROC BIDIUNGS) Ole Wiss, Ciui08 May 26, 1909 This meeting was held at the museum of the New York Botanical Garden and was called to order at 3:30 P. M. by President Rusby. Thirty-four persons were present. After the reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting, 169 the scientific program was presented, the first contribution being made by the president, Dr. H. H. Rusby, who spoke on “ The Earliest Spring Flowers in the Vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina.” ; The speaker’s remarks were based on observations made be- tween March 16 and March 23 at Summerville, which is about twenty-two miles northwest of Charleston. This town is located upon a ridge, said to be of limestone and elevated only a few feet above the surrounding flats. Most of the country about is covered with pine timber, but there are numerous low swampy places filled with dense thickets formed of various trees, shrubs, and vines. There is also considerable deciduous forest growth intermingled with the pines. By a careful comparison of the state of vegetation there in March with that of New York and vicinity in May, it was concluded that there was a difference of eight or nine weeks this year in the progress of the season, though it is probable that in an ordinary year the difference would be about seven or eight weeks. Summerville is noted for the existence there of Dr. Shepard’s tea-gardens, the only tea plantation conducted on a commercial scale in this country. There are now about 100 acres of planta- tion in productive operation there, from which 12,000 to 15,000 pounds of tea are sold annually. Success has been obtained through an extensive series of experiments with all the known varieties of the tea plant. No attempt is made to compete with the Orient in the cheaper grades of tea but in the more highly prized grades, the Summerville product is already taking a lead- ing rank. The plants collected were discussed and exhibited in groups, the first comprising the earliest-flowering kinds. The yellow jessamine (Ge/semum) was everywhere abundant, forming thickets difficult of penetration and loading the air with fragrance. Grow- ing with it were several species of S7/ax, then sending up their young crisp shoots, which are there known as “ wild asparagus ”’ and are said to be used as a substitute for that vegetable. They have large tuberous rhizomes, collectively known as ‘‘ bamboo brier.”” Some of the more fleshy starchy kinds of these tuberous 170 rootstocks were used as food by the Indians. One of the early- flowering plants was a bloodroot, segregated by Professor Greene from its northern ally as Sanguinaria australis. Hexastyhs arifolia was rather common on sandy slopes. The close-creep- ing Rubus trivialis grows everywhere along the roadsides, with its handsome large flowers scarcely elevated above the low grass. Two strikingly different Houstonias occur, H. minor, which closely resembles 7. caerulea, and Ff. rotundifolia, which has the habit of Veronica officinalis. Thyrsanthema semiflosculare (Chap- tala tomentosa) was of peculiar interest to the speaker on account of its resemblance to related species which he had collected in tropical America. Pinguicula lutea is common on partly shaded wet sand. In similar, though drier places, grew the yellow- flowered Chrysogonum virginianum. The second group of plants discussed included those inhabit- ing low sandy grounds which are perhaps technically swamps, though usually dry. The most interesting of these plants is the at length climbing and extremely variable Vzorna crispa, with its beautiful nearly white or light blue somewhat fragrant flowers. Several handsome shrubs are found in this association and also an Oxalis, which is apparently O. Martiana. The aquatic and semi-aquatic plants observed included, in part, Ranunculus hispidus, Senecio lobatus, Callitriche heterophylla, Cardamine pennsylvanica, and Sarracenia flava. The last is abundant in open grassy swamps and gives thema yellow hue when in full bloom. The shrubs and trees of the region included Malus coronaria, always growing singly in swamps,