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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,
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Of former volumes, only 24-34 can be supplied entire; cer-
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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OTHER PUBLICATIONS
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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
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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
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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
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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,