Meee A\y - ° Pers Y 4 a bs el La . = Se e | & * 7 af : ‘a : ~ | a =" i " | 3 q Y is "| ‘s ‘ * vy FF Aan y es b = ‘ ‘ PASAY Bs) 1 ie a ee ie ee ‘ a8 = N j } jg | RY ; “ -*, Sy ‘ ‘s S i AX " H| smi. q AY Nee Ry NER Pa\ Pr RS - Y \e 3 d K « xO kd 3 ! ~ i. 4 les E on | sok, Id ‘ \: RS VAT PV Ap pa FE | ean by |i Ay D re ae ace (ED) g S m» \N l fe 4 De : 2 7 be . he a S 1 : = Az WY » ‘i z S/: - VAM) |~ |= |b Po ae RECT an af A ; % 0 e K f = Z @: c ; Ss la ta iz eae zp LLL: he anud. IDIO-L py - Aare) Ue bd : ‘ 4 Py se evr Get a SSS : - —————— ——— fang. Set oe shes THE AMERICAN BOTANIST DEVOTED TO ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BOTANY EDITED BY WILLARD N. CLUTE we LEBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN, Volume XVI JOLIET, ILLINOIS WILLARD N. CLUTE & COMPANY 1910 ce . — CONTENTS CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES. Aggressiveness of Plants, The ...... Willard N. Clute, 39 ‘Eccentricities of Distribution ....... Dr.W. W. Bailey, 100 Flowering Raspberry, The ......... Dr.W.W. Bailey 37 History and Future of Forestry in the United States. . Be Se I A PESOS SEAL Cr as Mary F. Haggerty, 70, 102 Key-to the: Apetalous Dicotyledons..s.:214 0 oa 120 ey covtae WMonocotyledOms oc sae a.5: ae: apip shee acid oonie 26 Key to the Polypetalous. Dicotyledons .............. 88 Key to the Sympetalous Dicotyledons ............... 54 WANALASS UA. or tcroncic, sh ss eo ots ot hag a Dr. W.W. Batley, 69 Plant baits atid) Scales: | ai... 2. seers 3s Mary McGowan, 4 Plants of the Sand-barrens, The.... Willard N. Clute, © 38 Some Rare Vermont Plants ...... Lester A. Wheeler, 65 Some Spring Wildflowers of Alberta..W. M. Buswell, 1 Some Trees of the California Deserts..C. F. Saunders, 97 Teaching Systematic Botany........ Willard N. Clute, 50 Three Examples of Retarded Development Among PCa Ves [shes apes wutisns tS Edwin W. Humphreys, 6 Local Names of Flowers ........ Mrs. Flora Swetnam, 8 REPRINTED ARTICLES. emery Ol AS OCANISe Poa: se dike caus ae sae eee 41 SEMEL IO ENIIGES Tecate ie a aches heats Reka wed meee Me OS 21 PROMO TARY eicra eee eae 21,30, Bo, 140 ee E NES), CY phere GLY ia, .te Sh yeas ba due e 28, 56, 92, 122 EOS AND VWRITERS 3) tect ahect outs bee ok ts 31, 57, 93, 124 NOTE AND COMMENT. Agriculure, Teaching.......... Q5 Aire Blante ly apanes Ch. mass ctoles 84 AThiutissmiracranteccamecmeciee « 55 PIDCHC IR IOLa: MLE se isinclocwhc cas ae Bacteria in the Soil..... eh ce eeels Bentresmebindsmatldt arceicierreci 82 Botany, Practical: -iics «5's, sees LOO Botany,” Teaching 2% 3 es:05s sloiess 53 Botany. bie Use Of... esate: 109 Cabbage, Jingoism and _ the PRICE Ole eictecacteee ei ests As Caltrop, The, in Illinois........ 80 Chemicals Excreted by Plants.. 85 Color of Turtle-head Flowers. 15 Dante's \Wioletace ta 5:ctece cere 76 Dandelions, Getting Rid of....115 PsATOMIS, MOPEOA Ol clase n cis. ere ola ee Dicots,, Monocots jand..s.ceese 24 Dodder, Increase of..... Perea ta Ws Double Sunflowers .....+...... 81 Eucalyptus, Growth of....-.... 10 Flora: The sArctic. ics. go earctets 44 Hracrant VATDUtus 2 serasists sas acres 55 Pane. Cultivation Of.) ./esi 6 ac 96 Fungi, Named Free .......... 79 Punei, Spores: of...0.'2.: Pe 42 Galls on Peppermint.......... 109 Giant Cactus, Growth Rate of..119 Grindelia Squarrosa in New gsr ey obi vison, 6 oes aide Sac 110 MANY LILA ETAS Ee oh cna log ts aintateieies 19 Impatiens Pallida Alba........ 13 Mealaiia, Forms; Of: 6.66.05: was 4D MRSA) ieee tye els cice dole’ sistas 83 Material for Study ...... aceieeLLS Monocots and Dicots ........ 24 Monocot, Use of the Word... 232 Mucor, Growing .......- ais s He 119 Name-tinker, Ups and Downs LMU CMa Saints ola Sicia fel p lava ancien 17 INALUCE SPP lANtIONS Se6i5<.6 om aie e's 47 Nelumbo Stamen, Abnormal... 80 Orris= ROO, 75% 2.) +> + pies sek ced 4? Parasitic: Plants ee eee neers 79 Peppermint, /Galls ane) gee 109 Peanut, Fratting oie.) ene 15 Phlox, A Changeable....3..3..4 84 Pine Seeds as’ Food: 3.255 19 Pine Seeds, Vitality of......... 48 Plant Hairs and Nitrogen..... 48 Planting; Natare’s “02.2 3-2 eee 47 Plant ‘Lore, Ancient)-).:scn 17 Plant “Names;. Early2). 2 oe 113 Plant Products; The Years. 22.016 Plants, Agpréssive® ..), aecesnee 46 Plants in the School Garden...118 Plants; "Parasitic "2: 2u eee 79 Plants; 'Rare, inaCities se eee 12 Plants; Rare Towa. sc. een 114 Plant Species, Number of..... 112 Postage on Specimens........ 14 Roots Hairs isi cco eee eee eee 77 School Garden, Plants in..... 118 Science to Fit the Facts...... 111 Science, The Need of ......... 53 Seeds), Contentsmot.- one eae 83 Seeds, Germination of ....... So‘) Fertility: of thei. ohne 78 Spores of Fungi is. cc ceweeae 43 Stamen, Abnormal Nelumbo... 80 Storing Facts: \snlsee. eee 86 Sub-species, New Conception OE. Be Tie cclevene te eatevedenotove ate eaves 45 Sunflowers, Double “i... 22 81 Teaching, Successtul ity. acne 117 Text-books, High School...... 87 Trees of America and Japan... 16 Trifolium procumbens ........ 14 Tropical Forest, Density of.... 43 Turtle-head Flowers, Color of 15 Varieties: ai. 02 bb cesses lita Weed Immicrants eae eee 116 Wildflowers, Our Unsubdued..112 Wistaria, Flowering of ........ nie Wonderberry Poisonous ...... 18 Woods, Philippine’ -:-n nea 11 VOLUME 16, NUMBER } WHOLE NUMBER 84 FEBRUARY, 1910 | Taz AMERICAN BOTANIST CONTENTS _ SOME SPRING WILDFLOWERS OF ALBERTA - s * ONG | By W. M. Buswell. PLANT HAIRS AND SCALES - - 4 By Mary McGowan. THREE EXAMPLES CF RETARDED DEVELOPMENT AMONG LEAVES 6 “By Edwin W. Humphreys. LOCAL NAMES OF FLOWERS - By Mrs. Flora Swetnam. : | NOTE AND COMMENT - _ SCHOOL BOTANY - | EDITORIAL cael ‘| BOOKS AND WRITERS | WILARD N N. CLUTE & CO. poner ILLINOIS Ghe American Botanist A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BOTANY WILLARD N. CLUTE 33 3 EDITOR SHR > REC RATE, «AUR @ The subscription price of this magazine is 75c a year, payable in advance. {t will be sent a year and a half for $1.00 and two years for $1.25. Remit by money order, bank-draft, stamps or registered letter. Personal cheene must con- tain collection fees. q The first 18 volumes were issued in monthly parts, forming half-yearly volumes. Price per volume, 50c. A full set contains more than 1500 pages, 3000 articles and many illustrations. It is invaluable to all teachers, students and lovers of nature. For price of full sets see advertisements or write for special offers. @ Editors of Agricultural publications who receive this paragraph marked, are informed that the magazine will be sent to them free for one year upon receipt of a copy of their paper containing either a notice of the magazine or quotations from it properly credited. WILLARD N. CLUTE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 209 WHITLEY AVE., JOLIET, ILL. Entered as mail matter of the second class at the post office, Joliet, IIL The Greatest Offers That ever have been made or ever will be made by THE GUIDE TO NATURE EDWARD F. BIGELOW, Editor Arcadia, Sound Beach, Conn. Send for particulars and enclose 10c. if you wish a sample copy THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVI JOLIED IEE FEBRUARYS1910 No.1 NEw Yo CK Soon o'er their heads blithe April atrs shall sing, H thousand wildflowers round them shall unfo/o, She green buds glisten tn the dews of spring, And be all vernal rapture as of old. —Keble. SOME SPRING WILDFLOWERS OF ALBERTA. By W. M. BUSWELL. EAR the big bend of Battle River one of the first flowers to appear it the little pasque-flower. If the Spring is early the first ones are seen early in April but perhaps the next year they will not be seen before the first of May. For several days before the first flowers appear, little balls of gray fur may be seen all over the prairie where the pasque-flowers are starting from the ground. These are soon followed by the pretty bell-shaped bluish, lavender or sometimes pink flowers. They are 3 to 5 inches high, the involucre and stem covered with grayish hairs. As they grow older the flowers grow upward on pedicels nearly as long as the main stem leaving the hairy involucre where it was when the flower first opened. In about a week or 10 days after the first flower ap- pears the prairie is covered with them and the much divided leaves are beginning to appear on the earliest ones. When they are in full bloom the prairie looks like a large flower garden. Later when in fruit, the long feathery tails on the fruit colors the prairie a nearly uniform gray. They are generally called crocus flowers by the people here and I be- lieve the name crocus amemone has been suggested for them 2 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST thus combining the botanical name with the name by which they are commonly known. A few days later the next common flowers appear—two members of the parsley family Peucedanum villosum and P. nudicaule—they do not appear to have a common name. P. villosum is much more common than the other, growing in nearly all bare spots in what is called gumbo soil where very few other plants will grow. ‘The umbel of yellow flowers on stems 3 to 8 inches high from the root resembles the flowers of the early meadow parsnip. There are two or three finely dissected leaves from the root usually spreading out or lying flat on the ground so that the flowering stem stands up above the leaves. P. nudicaule is usually found growing in thick grass along the river, the flowers are white and the leaves much thinner. Phlox Hoodu is another common plant in bloom about this time. These are small, stiff, pale green plants, like a spruce twig, two or four inches high, with numerous small, white, five-petalled flowers. Sometimes there are so many flowers on a plant that they form a thick mat three or four inches in diameter when they are quite showy. The two species of buffaio-berry are in bloom now, but the flowers are not conspicuous, being in small close clusters around the stem, the staminate and pistilate on different plants. On the Canadian buftalo-berry the leaves are the most showy part of the plant at this time, the two rusty- backed leaves at the end of each twig lightly folded together, look like rusty spear-heads sticking out in all directions. Following these, all damp rich spots on the prairie and along the sides of coulees, begin to grow yellow with large patches of the prairie thermopsis (7. rhombifolia) resembling patches of dandelions in bloom as we see them in the East. They are one of the most showy flowers we have here, the plants growing from 4 to 5 inches to a foot high with tri- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 3 foliate leaves and racemes of large deep yellow pea blossoms at the end of the leafy stems. The yellow oxytrope O. campestris is in bloom at the same time, also growing in large patches but much different in appearance, the leaves are pinnate, with about 17 pale green leaflets, the pale yellow flowers are smaller than those of Thermopsis and in a more conipact head on naked stems, but as there are often from 10 to 20 flower stalks on a plant standing up above the leaves they are very showy. The oxy- trope seems to prefer dry stony or sandy banks where the grass is thin, so the two are not often found growing to- gether. In early May the first woodland flowers begin to open and something new is seen nearly every day. We have several different violets here, some of them new to me. The Canada violet was not a new one, but I had never seen them growing as large and in such numbers hefore. Nearly every coulee has one or both sides covered with a growth of poplar, balm and white birch trees with an undergrowth of shrubs of different kinds and the ground is carpeted with Canada violets in bloom until cold weather in the Fall. Nuttalls violet is the only yellow species I have found here, usually growing on banks along the valley. From the time the first pasque-flower opens in the spring until late in the fall there are flowers everywhere, in the small groves of poplar and willow on the prairie and along the river as well as all over the prairie, but there are very few sweet scented flowers at any time. Of the early flowers the sweet coltsfoot is about the only sweet scented species. Through the winter when the trees and shrubs are leaf- less and most flowering plants are dead or merely dry stalks, about the only green to be seen is a large patch of bearberry here and there along the high banks near the river or on the banks of a coulee, nearly always near the top. About the 4 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST middle of May they are covered with little bunches of bottle- shaped flowers which look like small white lamp chimneys with the turned back tops a deep rosy red. These are followed by large red berries, more ornamental than useful, as they are filled with large seeds and are rather dry when ripe. I think there are fewer species of early flowers here than in the East but through June, July and August there are more flowers than I have ever seen in any one place in the Fast, many of them very attractive, especially those of the pulse family and some of the composites. PLANT HAIRS AND SCALES. By Mary McGowan. OST people have doubtless noticed the hairy or downy coating on the leaves, and stems of various plants, but few have stopped to consider their structure, or realized that many are not mere simple hairs as we would naturally sup- pose, but may be foked, branched, many celled, and even with the cells arranged in rosettes to form scales. It is a noticeable fact that plants having such structures aie generally found growing in sunny places. The advantage of the hairs in this case would be to retard evaporation by shading the leaves from the sun. In most cases the hairs also seem designed to protect the stomata or breathing pores from being clogged by rain or dew, and still another advant- age is that they protect the plant from sudden changes of tem- perature. The epidermal hairs are also of use, in another way. Animals seeing the hairy surface of a plant will turn away from it, if they have tried to eat it before and if not they fail to eat very much on account of the prickly sensation produced on their tongues by the hairs. The branched hairs of the Mullein are especially useful to the plant, as it flourishes THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 5 everywhere along roadsides, in pastures, and in the woods and other waste grounds, where it is exposed to injury on all sides. Some of the most interesting of epidermal structures are the scales of such plants as Shepherdia and Deutzia. In those of Shepherdia (fig. a.) the several cells are arranged in a rosette while in Deutzia they are star like and have a toothed edge. Some are five parted, and others eight parted, with rounded points scattered through- out. The geranium has two different forms of hairs, namely the simple (fig. e), and glandular (fig. c). These are not confined to any special part of the leaf. They are inter- mixed. The simple are one celled hairs, with very sharp tips. The others are many celled, and have a globular cell at the tip which is glandular. This cell gives out a fragrant oil that is so familiar to us, when the plant is bruised. The hairs of the mullein are rather more complex than any I have men- tioned because they are not continuous in one direction, but each small hair seems to be jointed to a large central hair, the smaller hairs, six in number, joining the central hair at regu- lar intervals, and forming a circule around it. The tip of the hair is globular in shape, and has one celled hairs projecting from all sides. In the Dame’s violet (fig. h) the hairs are forked instead of single, forming two sharp points. This saves space, and does twice the work of the simple continu- ous hair. The epidermal hairs of the Hollyhock are very symmetrical in shape having five regular parts, radiating from the center, and a sheathlike cell at the base binding them to- gether. The stamen hairs of Tradescantia are the most pe- culiar of all hairs previously mentioned. They are large oval cells joined together forming a hair, and those near the tip are rounded, the whole structure resembling a beaded neck- lace. Joliet, Illinois. THREE EXAMPLES OF RETARDED DEVELOP- MENT AMONG LEAVES. By Epwin W. HUMPHREYS. ARIATION in leaf form is an exceedingly interesting field for study. Even a cursory examination of a plant will often reveal some remarkably shaped leaves. Besides what may be called normal or expected differences in shape, as in the case of the sassafras, mulberry and others, there are often to be found strange and unusual forms. It is to some of these peculiar forms that attention is here directed. The most remarkable of the three examples occurred on the common garden morning-glory. While removing some dead and withered leaves from certain plants in my garden, the leaf illustrated (fig. 1) was found. To one familiar with the seedling morning-glory of this variety the cotyledons are irresistibly called to mind. The figure (fig 2) shows the shape and nervation of the cotyledon, so that the reader may com- pare it with the later, unusual leaf and note their essential similarity. It is because of this similarity that the large leaf is looked upon as a retarded or atavistic form; one which, 6 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 7 though mature and appearing at a later period of growth of the plant, has not developed beyond the stage represented by the cotyledon. On the other hand, its great difference from the normal leaf of this variety of morning-glory may be seen by compar- ing it with figure 3. In this case a single leaf only was involved, though several similar leaves were afterwards found on different plants. Sometimes, however, all the leaves of a given tree or plant are thus retarded As is well known, the first leaves put forth by the seedling sassa- fras are the simple, non-lobed forms, the lobed forms appearing later. This Ste: is also true of the individual branches, on each of which the lower leaves are simple, while those of the median portion, and some- times those of the upper portion also are lobed, though frequently the uppermost zone of leaves is simple. It therefore appears reasonable to consider such simple leaves as may be found occupying the median portion of the branch as retarded forms. A _ splendid example of this kind of retarda- tion is a sassafras tree growing in Bronx Park, New York City. It is between ten and fifteen | feet high and for two seasons has been practically covered with simple leaves. Last season less than half a dozen lobed forms could be seen, while the season before none were found. 8 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST Here, then, is a case in which the retardation was throughout the entire tree and not confined to a few leaves. Similar trees, I believe have been seen elsewhere. The surrounding trees appeared to have the normal arrangement and number, of course in a general way, of lobed and non-lobed leaves. The third case is similar to the preceding, in that all the leaves on the tree were affected. In this instance the tree was a young tulip tree, about fifteen feet high, growing on a rocky hillside in the upper part of the Hemlock Grove, Bronx Park, New York City. The leaves were larger than the average Liriodendron leaf, but were, without exception, much simpler in outline, possessing none of the characteristic lobing. These, too, though comparatively longer, reminded one of the cotyledons. As to the cause of these retardations I can say nothing, though in the tulip-tree it may have been the poor soil, but this reason could not be urged for the other cases. Whatever the causes they probably affected the leaf in its embryonic condition. New York City. LOCAL NAMES OF FLOWERS. By Mrs. FLoRA SWETNAM. OMETIMES when one takes up the study of botany af- ter arriving at a mature age, one is often surprised and delighted to find under a new name the old friends of child- hood. The thing that confuses us and causes us to fail to recognize them when we read one of the common names in some story or magazine is, that many of them have several common names, a different one for each locality, and it is only when we run them to earth in a text book that we exclaim: “Why I know that! it’s a very old friend; grandmother called it so and so.” THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 9 I had never known arbutus by any other name than “rough-leaf” till I was quite grown up. Then a friend sent me a box of it under its proper name and my eyes were opened. But I found one great difference in that growing in New York State, and that found south of the Ohio. The arbutus growing south is not fragrant. Another common flower, called in different localities, dog-tooth violet, adder’s tongue and lamb’s tongue, I found to be often white north of the Ohio, while in Kentucky I have never found a white specimen. ‘There was no difference in other respects. I have never been able to find either skunk’s cabbage or cat-tails in Kentucky, though it is possible I have not looked in the right places. [ had often read in stories about checkerberries, partridge- berries, boxberries and teaberries without having the slightest inkling that it was our old friend wintergreen often called “mountain tea” in the mountains of Kentucky. The wild ger- anium I only knew as “wild alum” so called, probably, on ac- count of the astringency of its roots. And I had read so often when a little girl about the wind flower, and puzzled my brains till I found out later that I had gathered quantities of them as anemones. ) The Prince’s pine I should never have recognized to be another old friend, the pipsissewa, often called “rat’s bane” among the Kentucky people. Neither could I recognize in the name jewel weed, the wild touch-me-not I had gathered in childhood. Another puzzle was toad flax. If any one had asked me if I knew that plant, | should unhesitatingly have re- plied no, until I found another of its common names was but- ter and eggs, and to hear that old time friend, milk weed, called silk grass was more bewildering still. We have in the mountains of Kentucky, the spring beauty, the yellow and purple wood sorrel, wake-robin, butter- cup, evening primrose, crowfoot and the blood root honored 10 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST by some old people with a name I cannot spell. I think that magazine writer who was lamenting that our beautiful wild flowers are slowly disappearmg, would find most of them represented in the hills of Kentucky. West Liberty, Ky. GrowTH OF EucaALyptus.—lIn the December number of The American Botanist there appeared an interesting note on the growth of trees in which was given the time required for various species to reach a diameter of twelve inches. I would like to add to this list, for comparison, Eucalyptus globulus, which has been so extensively planted in California during recent years as to entirely change the aspect of the country. Investigations carried on by the state forester show that under favorable conditions this tree will reach the diameter of one foot in 10 years, while it takes the catalpa 20, the walnut 56, and the white oak 100 years to reach this size. At this ago the eucalyptus will be about 125 feet high and growing at the rate of 15 feet yearly. In the height of the growing season seedlings have frequently been observed to make an average height growth of six inches a day. The most rapid seedling growth noted was made by a tree which in nine years reached a height of 125 feet and a diameter of 36 inches. The E. globulus is the most rapid growing among the eucalypts, and is without doubt the fastest yrowing hardwood tree in the world. For this reason it has been more widely planted in California than all other species combined, although at the present time large plantations of E. rostrata and E. tereti- cormis are being made as they furnish timber preferable to globulus for many purposes. Their rate of growth is also very rapid, under favorable circumstances being but slightly less than that of globulus—IlW. Scott Lewis, Los Angeles, Calif. | NOTE AND COMMENT WANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for th:s department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible after the 15th of February, May, August and November. IMPATIENS PALLIDA ALBA.—I have neglected to report the finding of this variety in this section, but the item regard- ing it in the August Botanist brought it to mind. For several years I have been finding what I take to be the same variety of the yellow touch-me-not that was reported from Pennsyl- vania some five or six years ago, by C. H. Woodward. I have found it at two stations in this country, one in the north- east corner of this township, and the other near Chesterland. Caves.—Orange Cook, Chardon, Ohio. PHILIPPINE Woops.—The newcomer in the Orient is usually surprised at finding that soft woods are not uncommon and that a large part of the timber of the region is of medium or light weight. The popular notion of eastern timbers seems to be that they are mainly hard and heavy, ornamental, fur- niture or cabinet woods. This notion is probably due to the fact that until recent years the only eastern woods which have reached the European markets have been a few of the more valuable ones for furniture and cabinet work; as ebony, rose- wood, satinwood, etc. Most European and American works which mention eastern woods at all, consider only examples like satinwood, rosewood or teak and give little or no account of the wood of the great family Dipterocarpaceae which fur- 11 12 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST nishes much the largest part of the timber of this part of the world. This is as unreasonable as it would be to take a few of the furniture woods of North America, as black walnut (Juglans nigra) or the wild black cherry (Prunus serotinus) as representatives of the woods of the country. In the eastern tropics the woods of the family Dipterocarpaceae are to the trade what the pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks, oaks and beeches are to the trade of temperate North America and Europe. This family, while it supplies many valuable hardwoods, sup- plies also the most widely used soft and medium grade woods: of the eastern tropics. So wide is its distribution and so gen- eral the use of its wood that I believe that all the other woods could be spared from many eastern markets without seriously hampering work or affecting prices.—Philippine Journal of Science. RARE PLANTS IN Citres.—There seems to be a very pre- vailing idea that in order to firid plants worthy of notice, one must go “to the heart of Nature’ or to some other equally in- definite region. It has become customary to neglect the plants near at home as mere weeds and hence insignificant. As a matter of fact, these sturdy intruders, unwelcome though they may be, offer most interesting studies as to mode of life and as to dispersal of seed. We should not be so ready to sneer at the “weed’’—it is a living example of the great law of survival, living on and accomplishing its continuance in an environment where other plants would have failed. From a “plants-eye view” it is a vigorous, virile and successful indi- vidual. The adaptations of root, stem or fruit that thus en- able the plant to survive in face of most vigorous warfare are worthy of more detailed study than is usually given. From another point of view—it is surprising to note what plants may be found where we would least expect them. There is interesting field for “botanizing’”’ even in the heart of Chi- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 13 cago. During a visit there last summer, I found on vacant land adjoining one of the great parks, Cladium mariscoides, Carex Muhlenbergu, Potentilla argentea, and numerous other species which one would hardly expect to find in the heart of a great city. Down-nearer the business centre, on made ground along the lake front I found the rather rare Heleo- chloa schoenoides and Roripa sylvestris. On my return trip, having noticed Dipsacus sylvestris at Joliet I ventured to tres- pass on friend Clute’s botanical hunting ground for some speci- mens of “teasel’”—a weed truly but one I have seen only at Joliet and in central Indiana. Among the rank spiny plants I found also Conringia orientalis. In a neglected back yard nearer home, I found Verbascum phlomoides and Polygonum cuspidatum in most vigorous luxuriance, while along the sid- ings of railway switchyards in the same city were found Alyssum alyssoides and, as a chance visitor—but making the most of its new surroundings——Amsinckia spectabilis—M. P. Somes, Iowa City, Iowa. THE YeEaAR’s Pxiant Propucts.—From the soil and the air, during the last season, the plants culti- wated by man “in the United ) States) have’ built up products valued at the vast sum of nearly nine thous- and million dollars. Corn comes first with a _ value of seventeen hundred million dollars, king cotton follows with eight hundred and fifty millions, wheat seven hundred and twenty-five millions, hay six hundred and seventy-five millions, oats four hundred millions and potatoes half as much as oats. Reducing the increase to daily amounts it is seen that every day of the 120 days during which the corn crop was growing, this single crop added about fifteen millions of dollars to our capital. And all this vast gain of all the crops, began as car- bon dioxide and water in the cells of the plant,—cells so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. 14 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST TRIFOLIUM PROCUMBENS.—For three years I have found the low hop clover upon cur lawn and at one other point in this village. Until three years ago I had never seen the plant though I have been studying the flora of this section for over thirty years.—Orange Cook, Chardon, Ohio. PosTAGE ON SPECIMENS.—It may not be generally known (but to the impecunious naturalist, at least, it is worth knowing), that the Express Companies carry your specimens for half a cent per ounce, as against the one cent charged by U. S. Post. This, whether the destination is Mexico, or Canada, or your next-door town. This route is not only safer and more expeditious, but also allows for any amount of written matter, which, under a strict construction of the postal laws, is forbidden. If any controversy arises with your agent, refer him to ‘Section D.”—Rev. J. Davis, Hannibal, Mo. JINGOISM AND THE PRICE oF CaBBaGE.—In these “pip- ing times of peace’ our martial legislators—who expect to re- main at home in the event of any unpleasantness—are as busily preparing for war as ever. During the ten years end- ing with 1906 our government spent twenty hundred millions of dollars for war and in the same time spent much less than half of one hundred million for the development of agricul- ture and then we are some of us silly enough to wonder at the high cost of living. If things continue in this way much longer we shall have to stop hunting for trouble with foreign _ nations long enough to hunt something to eat for ourselves. The farmer does not need a contribution in cash, being pretty well fixed as it is, but he does need better roads and until he gets them the cost of bringing his products to market will continue to be added to the cost of living. It has been shown by careful investigations, that with improved roads more than 150 million dollars could be saved each year in the cost of THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 15 marketing the crops. In ten years we have spent 180 millions in improving rivers and harbors but not a cent for good roads. Progressive commonwealths have.done something for their own roads so that about two per cent of our roads are im- proved, but we would like to see one or two battle ships traded off for road making machinery. CoLor oF TURTLE-HEAD FLOWERS.—In an article in the American Botanist for August, a writer from Wisconsin says the flowers of Chelone glabra are “decidedly cream colored.” Near my home, in the hills of Central Pennsylvania, these flowers are always pink, being a deeper shade at the tip of the corolla—Nell McMurray, New Washington, Pa.—[The editor can add that while he does not recall any really pink flowers, he has found possibly a majority of the flowers in Southern New York to have the corolla tipped with pink. Doubtelss the locality and perhaps the season may have some- thing to do with it. In this connection it is of interest to note that Chelone Lyoni a plant well known to dealers in wild flowers, has deep pink corollas and is frequently planted for ornament.—Ed. | FRUITING OF THE PEANUT.—Although the peanut is a common and well-known plant, considerable mystery sur- rounds its manner of fruiting, in the popular mind. The blossoms are borne as any ordinary flowers are, but the fruits are found under ground and many imagine that they are sim- ilar to potatoes in the way they are formed. Various other curious views as to their formation are held and there are not a few people who think that after flowering, in order to have peanuts, the blossoms must be picked off and buried about the roots of the plant. Others have an idea that peanuts come from cleistogamous flowers similar to those which produce fertile violet pods. The real facts are these: The peanut 16 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST flowers in the regular way and is either self-pollinated or pollinated by insects. After the flower-parts have fallen the flower stalk lengthens, turns downward and forces the be- ginning fruit into the earth where it ripens. It is easy to make the experiment with the jlant for ones self. Unroasted peanuts may be obtained at the nearest peanut stand. Almost any garden soil will do though a sandy loam is best. TREES OF AMERICA AND JAPAN.—We look in vain through the forests of Europe for such familiar forms as the hemlock, the hickories, the tulip tree, the magnolias, the sas- safras, the tupelo gums, the witch hazel, the Kentucky coffee tree, the yellow wood, the locusts, the catalpa and the liqui- dambar. Strange as it may appear, nearly al of these eastern American forms occur nowhere else in the world save in east- ern Asia, in the more temperate parts of China and Japan where the same or very nearly related species are found. What is even still more striking is the contrast between the Atlantic and Pacific sides of North America. Excepting along the mountain crests where the more or less world-wide boreal plants find a congenial environment the vegetation of the California region is related mainly to the dry plateau lands of Mexico and South America. So far as the trees are concerned, a native of the eastern United States would find himself in more homelike surroundings in the woodlands of temperate China and Japan than on the Pacific slope of his own country. A tulip tree very similar to the one at home, al- most, if not the identical species of sassafras, numeous closely related magnolias, a near relative of the southern yellow wood, the liquidambar, the catalpa the coffee tree the hem- lock and other forms appear as familiar trees in the landscape of China and Japan. ‘This likeness between the two widely separated regions is not confined to the trees alone. The flora at large presents many features in common. The fox THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 17 grape, the poison ivy, the hydrangeas the wistaria the blue cohosh the may-apple, the twin-leaf, the trailing arbutus or mayflower, and the creeping snowberry have each a more or less closely related form in eastern North America and East- ern Asia but are found in no cther part of the world.—Popu- lar Science Monthly. ANCIENT Piant Lore.—The Assyrian King, Sard- anapalus, must have been quite a book-worm if we may judge from his library. Some twenty thousand stone tablets from it have been dug up in the ruins of Nineveh. Those informed in matters of cuneiform script report that the library is rich in lists of plants and directions for their use in medicine and the like. Indications seem to point to the fact that the old Babylonians knew more about plants than their successors the Greeks and Romans. We hope this is a mistake; otherwise the “priority” people will begin to introduce these older names which have been literally dug up. Who knows but what we may ultimately be expected to describe our plants in cuneiform characters instead of the latin now so much in fashion ! Ups AnD Downs oF THE NAME TINKER.—Evidently the nomenclature game is one that several can play at and the fact that nobody knows who has won until the last hand is played adds to the excitement if not to the good feeling of the players. A few years ago, one of our eminent botanists thought a certain ancient volume gave him the right to throw out Negundo as the generic name of the box elder and to re- place it by the outlandish word Rulac. Recently the scholarly editor of the Midland Naturalist has shown that Negundo really has priority under the rules and away goes Rulac and back comes Negundo. This is all very well, except that in the shuffle the Rulac man lost out of the combination and a 18 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST new name takes his place. He will rulac no longer though he may rue Negundo. Another old name caught the editors of the new “Gray’s Manual” napping. In this edition a com- mon wayside weed known as velvet-leaf or butter-print is named Abutilon Theophrasti this name displacing the better known Abutilon avicennae. The joker, in this case was that the name avicennae attributed to Gaertner, while antedated by the name Theophrasti, was also used for the plant by a still earlier writer and so Theophrasti, goes on the scrap heap along with other blasted hopes. THE WONDER-BERRY Portsonous.—According to Bur- bank, the wonder-berry is a hybrid between an African species of nightshade called stubble-berry (Solanum Guinense) and the Pacific coast rabbit-weed (Solanum villosum) ; according to various botanists it is simply an improved variety of the west coast plant, Solanum villosum. The wonder-berry is described as being much like the common blue-berry in taste and quite devoid of the poisonous principle that make other species of nightshade inedible, but there are some that report it tO be poisonous. Allowing the plant to bea real hybrid as claimed by the originator it is possible that both parties to the controversy are entitled to some credit. If it follows the law of hybrids in general about one quarter of the seeds would be expected to produce the characters of one parent, one quarter the other parent and the rest hybrids as before. Burbank claims that the two original species are so blended in the hybrid form that the latter becomes a dis- tinct species but even if the form gives no hint of the parent species, who shall say that the physical natures of the two do not breed true to Mendel’s law. This would account for the fact that such excellent botanists as W. Watson of Kew pro- nounces the fruit poisonous. He may have examined plants that had the rabbit-weed constitution. At any rate. he reports THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 19 the poison solanine, present. On the other hand those who contend that the fruits are innoxious may have had the other variation in hand. PINE SEEDS AS Foop.—To many people in the United States the seeds of the pine seem to have little economic value. Seeds of the eastern and southern pines are two small to be of any value but in the southwest are several species with seeds large enough to form an appreciable source of food. In some sections pine seeds may be regarded about as beechnuts are in the New England and Middle States, but in others they are held in considerable esteem. Gathering pine seeds is a recog- nized industry among certain Indian tribes. In South America the Chilian pine or monkey-puzzle tree (Auraucaria) a plant well known in cultivation in greenhouses on this side of the equator, yields a large amount of food. One tree, it is reported, will supply food for a dozen persons. The cones are six inches or more in diameter and each scale encloses two seeds an inch or more long. Since the cones are borne in abundance the pine seed harvest is of much value. GrowTtH Rincs.—In regard to the growth rings you mention on page 88 of the last volume I have heard what I think to be a satisfactory explanation, though to what extent proved by experiment I do not know. I refer to the “fairy circles” of basidiomycetes and the explanation applies to the plants in question as much, I think. It will be noticed that the circles are larger every succeeding year and it has been said that the plants use up the humus food proper for them and naturally extending outward as the spores are annually dispersed. Starting from a small patch they pass outward every season because the food supply gives out where they were the preceding year. Of course the spores are spread over the whole lawn but the greatest abundance is found 20 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST where the plants are and the adaptation to environment best, hence the reason for the gradually increasing circles. The effect is certainly strikingly beautiful. The circles stand out clearly in a well-cropped lawn some four days after a rain. —J. A. Nieuwland. SPEED OF D1atoms.—Nearly everyone who has peeped through a microscope has seen one or more species of diatoms. The cell-walls of glass most beautifully and delicately marked make them prime favorites with the microscopist, indeed one species of diatom is said to be used in testing lenses. Not- withstanding their glassy cell-walls, diatoms are really plants, though to see them moving about on the slide of a microscope the hasty observer might jump to the conclusion that they are animals. The movements of these plants have often provoked speculation. Though seemingly rather lively it must be re- membered that the microscope magnifies the motion as well as the plant. The progress of the diatom is therefore said to be relatively slow. Just how slow it is has been figured out by T. Chalkley Palmer in the “Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science.” Comparing the diatom, with a man, he finds that to equal the diatom man would have to go at the rate of more than 23 miles an hour and drag with him 2520 pounds of extra weight; or if he should devote the energy necessary to move this weight to locomotion alone, he would have to strike a gait of more than 450 miles an hour. Evidently the diatom is not so slow after all. Gourmet oa A eae SCHOOL BOTANY { eee aye} STUDYING BUDS. What do we expect to accomplish by the dissection of buds in the high school course in botany? Are we after fun- damentals or are we simply “studying buds?’ A good many teachers seem content to assure the pupils that there are three types of buds: the leaf buds, the flowers buds and mixed buds containing both flowers and leaves; but a good teacher will not stop here. The average pupils has an idea that all buds contain flowers and it may require some little effort to con- vince him that the leaf bud is far more abundant than any of the others and that even this does not produce leaves, merely, but a young twig as well. Then there are growing buds and resting buds, the later often with scarcely more protection than the growing buds though usually such buds are well protected by bud scales. If we are after the fundamentals we shall have to show that the bud scales are really transformed leaves or parts of leaves, decide what becomes of them when the buds begin to grow and examine various methods which plants have evolved for protecting these growing points through the winter. A lilac bud is one of the best for showing that the bud scales are transformed leaves. The transition from the scaly parts without to what are clearly leaflike parts within is so gradual that the most stupid pupil can see and understand. In a second type of bud the scales have gone too far on their way to ever be able to function as leaves and when spring comes they fall off leaving a circular scar around the twig. This scar is not noticeable in plants like the lilac in which even the bud scales become leaflike. As an illustration of the 21 = cw) vo THE AMERICAN BOTANIST second type of-bud the horsechestnut is usually suggested, but in many localities a better one may be found in the buckeye. The glue-like covering of the horsechestnut’s bud scales is of interest as illustrating an additional device for protecting from evaporation, but this same sticky substance prevents a proper dissection of the bud by beginners. In addition, the young leaves in the bud are so heavily coated with hairs that it is difficult to make out their parts. This cannot be said of the buckeye. The leaves are downy it is true but not enough so to obscure the parts and the bud-scales are quite devoid of the varnish. Among the curious methods of bud protection, nearly every text cites that of the sycamore or buttonwood in which the bud is said to be protected by the petiole of the leaf. This, however, cannot be said to be a protection to the bud in winter inasmuch as the leaf falls in autumn. It simply pro- tects the young bud until maturity. There are other plants, however, easily obtainable in which the petiole really pro- tects the bud through the winte1. The common red raspberry, the flowering raspberry and the cat brier or smilax may be mentioned as good types of this. In these, instead of the leaf being cut off at the base, a cleavage plane develops at some dis- tance above the bud and when the rest of the leaf falls the petiole stub remains subtending the bud. It is not easy for the teacher to find suitable material to illustrate the arrangement of accessory buds. The red maple is often suggested for the type having the accessory buds be- side the lateral or axiliary buds but this tree is not always to be found nor does it illustrate the phenomenon any too well. The peach, the forsythia and some oaks are usually as easy to obtain and show the arrangement even better than does the maple. For that forin of bud arrangement in which the accessory buds are arranged above the lateral buds, the pipe-vine and Pterocarya are often suggested. A good many teachers are not familiar with these, but just as good THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 23 material for this work may be obtained from vigorous young twigs of ash, walnut, or butternut, the latter by preference. Witch hazel is a fine type of naked bud when it can be obtained, but if it is not at hand, the pawpaw, butternut and many of the viburnums especially the cultivated ones, will do. In this connection it should not be forgotten that there are many buds not protected by bud scales which are not usually named as naked buds but which are essentially such. Buds like those of the catalpa, sumac and ailanthus are, at the be- ginning of winter, scarcely more than mere living points, half buried in the bark of the twigs but later in the season they will show their character. For class work these should not be used if better things can be obtained. Probably the most important facts about buds from the pupil’s standpoint are the ways in which they are arranged on the twigs, what they produce and how and from what they are protected. It is well to emphasize the fact that buds do not protect from cold for the moisture in them is often frozen solid during the winter. Yet nine persons out of ten one meets is sure that the chief use of bud scales is to protect from the cold. In this they draw an analogy from their own cloth- ing, forgetting that the warmth is supplied to our clothing by the heat of the body. That bud scales may protect from sud- den changes of temperature, no one can deny, that their color may aid in warming up in spring is possible, but the real uses of bud scales seem to be to protect from complete evapora- tion, mechanical injury and decay.—C. N. W. in School Science and Mathematics. User oF THE WorD Monocot.—The words monocot and dicot, used to indicate plants produced by seeds with one and two cotyledons respectively have at present, no standing as legitimate words but there seems to be no reason why they should not have. The dictionary allows us monocotyledon and 24 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST monocotyl but frowns upon any further shortening of the words as the writer found to his discomfiture, recently in try- ing to get these words past an argus-eyed proof-reader with a limited knowledge of botany. For some reason the word, monocotyl has never struck the fancy of botanists, but in practically all the laboratories. and even in addresses we hear the shorter, though discredited terms used. When we come to written work however, we nearly always find everything relating to the two great groups of angiosperms mentioned as monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous. It may be permissable to call a plant with one seed leaf a monocotyledon, but it is rather a confusion of terms to write, as we constantly do, monocotyledonous stems and monocotyledonous leaves. Does not the word monocot stem express the same idea with less confusion? We certainly think so and see no reason why teachers should have any hesitancy in using the term both in speaking and writing. Here and there a courageous author—one who is strong enough to dictate to his publishers—has used the word in print and we find such usage by no means confined to those too ignorant to know better. Ruskin uses the word and among more modern instances we may cite the recently published “Nature Study” by Coulter and Patterson. Monocots AND Dicots.—Ask the average student to give the differences between monocots and dicots and he is likely to answer that monocots have seeds with one cotyledon, stems with scattered bundles, leaves with parallel veins and flowers whose parts are usually in threes, while dicots have two cotyledons, stems with bundles in circles, leaves with netted venation and flowers with parts in fours or fives. This will do for a general dis- tinction though there are numerous plants that disregard these boundaries. There are several dicots whose seeds and stem THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 25 structure resemble those of monocots, the leaves of flax, a dicot, are parallel veined, while the monocot arums, yams and trilliums have netted-veined leaves. Several monocot flowers are four-parted notably Aspidistra and Paris. Dicots with three or six parted flowers are not rare. There are numerous lesser differences between the monocots and dicots, however, none of which will hold for all the species in the group, but are nevertheless characteristic enough to be noticed. In the monocot the bundle is “closed” and lacks combium, in the dicot it is “open” and has cambium; in the one the leaf-edge is entire in the other notched; the root-system lacks a tap root in the first, and usually possesses it in the second. Monocots more frequently lack a petiole and the leaves are not cut off by cleavage planes, dicot leaves are just the reverse. The seeds in monocots usually have endosperm, and the cotyledon is terminal, in the dicots the seeds usually lack endosperm and the cotyledons are lateral. Monocots usually store food in the stem or leaves, dicots in the root. Monocots seldom branch, dicots usually do. Monocots inhabit warm and dry regions, dicots can stand more cold. TEACHING AGRICULTURE.—The subject of agriculture should be incorporated into the science work of the high school and not superimposed upon the already crowded high school course—a mistake that has been made often enough that it should begin to be apparent to the friends of agricul- tural education. And for this purpose, only the “principles” of agriculture (or any other vocation) have a right to a place in the course. That all principles of agriculture are scientific principles and as such are the most familiar and available for cultural use is here asserted. Courses of study providing specific methods and practices in the economics of cutivation of particular crops, harvesting, preservation, breed peculiari- ties, care of herds—all being matters of information and skill vo (oP) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST in the vocation of agriculture, have no more place in a general high school course than have the methods and technical phases of commerce, telegraphy, music, photography, pharmacy, as- saying or a multitude of other subjects which the high school course deals with theoretically without aiming to turn out skilled operatives. The advocates of agriculture education in the high school should be satisfied to have accurate instruction given in the general principles including sufficient illustrative practice of the vocation to enable the pupil to master the de- tails in his own peculiar way.—Josiah Main, University of Tennessee. KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF THE MONOCOTYLEDONES. The beginner frequently has considerable difficulty in naming his plants by the use of modern keys,, because of the strictly scientific character of the latter. It is the aim of the maker of a key, to put into such descriptive terms as shall make the identification of a plant certain from the key alone, and while this is a prime requisite from the point of view of the scientist, a more general key which shall gradually sift out his plants is likely to be more useful to the botanizer who recognizes his favorites quite as much by their color and habitat as by more scientific characters. We have therefore prepared a key to the monocots based upon the more obvious characters of the plants, and one which makes even a simple lens superfluous. If this meets with the favor of our readers, we hope to issue keys for othe: divisions of plants. The key is strictly dichotomous or forked. Of each two lines, one is the opposite of the other. Lines which do not end with a family end with a number which refers to two other lines farther down the page. The letters and figures in parenthe- sis after each family indicate the pages upon which the families will be found in the latest editions of Gray’s Manual and Britton’s Flora. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST Ore ts very small without true leaves. Aquatic. Lemnaceae. (G. 259. B. 232) ts larger, leafy (2) lowers in a dense head or on a spadix (8). Perianth colored, conspicuous. Flowers yellow. Flowers white. Xyridaceae. (G. 262. B. 235) Eriocaulonaceae. (G. 261. B. 236) Perianth inconspicuous or wanting. Spadix on a scape or in a spathe. Spadix spike-like. Araceae. (G. 257. B. 229) Submersed or floating plants. Marsh plants, erect. Flower clusters cylindrical. Flower clusters globular. Naiadaceae. (G. 69. B. 40) Typhaceae. (G. 67. B. 38) Sparganiaceae. (G. 67. B. 39) owers not in dense heads nor on a spadix (4). 4 Flowers surrounded by husk-like scales. Stems solid, sheaths entire. Stems usually hollow, sheaths split. 4 Flowers with conspicuous perianth (5). 5 Ovary inferior, perianth adherent (6). 6 Stamens one or two; flower irregular. Anthers one-celled. Seeds solitary. Anthers two-celled. Seeds many. 6 Stamens three or more; flowers mostly regular. Leaves net-veined; plants climbing. Leaves parallel veined; not climbing. Perianth woolly on the outside. Perianth not woolly. Cyperaceae. (G. 171. B. 158) Gramineae. (G. 86. B. 61) Marantaceae. (G. 304. B. 288) Orchidaceae. (G. 304. B. 289) Dioscoreaceae. (G. 297. B. 281) Haemodoraceae. (G. 296. B. 278) Flowers dioecious or polygamous. Flowers perfect; terrestrial. Hydrocharitaceae. (G. 85. B. 59) Stamens six. Amaryllidaceae. (G. 297. B. 278) Stamens three. Alternate with the inner segments. Opposite the inner segments. 5 Ovary superior; perianth free (7). 7 Calyx and corolla unlike in color. Carpels several, distinct. Carpels three united. Leaves three or more, in whorls. Leaves alternate. Stigmas three. Epiphytes. Stigmas united into one. 7 Calyx and corolla colored alike (8). 8 Leaves net-veined. Flowers dioecious, six-parted. Tridaceae. (G. 299. B. 281) Burmanniaceae. (G. 304. B. 289) Alismaceae. (G. 80. B. 53) Trilliaceae. (G. 279. B. 273) Bromeliaceae. (G. 265. B. 288) Commelinaceae. (G. 264. B. 239) Smilaceae. (G. 279. B. 275) Flowers perfect, six-parted. Trilliaceae. (G. 279. B. 274) 8 Leaves parallel veined (9). 9 Styles and often the stigmas united. Flowers greenish. Flowers colored. Regular; stamens six. Irregular or with three stamens. 9 Styles and stigmas three, distinct. Ovary three-seeded. Ovary six or more seeded. Juncaceae (G. 267. B. 244) Liliaceae. (G. 279. B. 260) Pontederiaceae. (G. 266. B. 242) Juncaginaceae. (G. 79. B. 52) Melanthaceae. (G. 279. B. 254) CG ee ORAL aes =e» eA With this number we begin a department devoted to school botany which, though intended primarily for teachers, we hope will be of value to all students of plants. The ordin- ary botanist—by which we mean the person interested prin- cipally in collecting and exchanging—rarely realizes how much he is affected by the botany taught in schools. We are all desirous of seeing the tribe of botanists increase, if only for the satisfaction to be derived from the knowledge that our favorite study is a popular one, and we must therefore be concerned with the subject matter and extent of the botany courses in the schools. Not until recently has botany been taught by the laboratory method, unless we dignify by that name the pulling to pieces of a few flowers in the class-room, and in possibly a majority of schools in America botany is still taught “out of a book.’”’ Good botanical teaching by the laboratory method is not without its difficulties and it is our aim to remove as many obstacles of this kind as possible from the path of the young teacher. To this end we solicit the notes, queries and suggestions of the large number of teachers among our readers. see a 3 During the past few moaths we have been hearing a great deal about a deficit in the postal service of the govern- ment, and the effort that is being made to remedy matters in future. The proposal to make up the loss in other depart- ments by raising the mailing rate on magazines has met with very decided objections, not only by the magazines concerned but by the reading public as well. As is well known, maga- zines regularly published go through the mails at the rate of one cent a pound, but over in Canada the same magazines are carried at the rate of a quarter of a cent a pound and there is 28 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 29 no deficit either. The deficit in our own service is due to many causes among the foremost of which are the cost of the rural free delivery, and the expence of carrying an immense amount of matter for the government free. But deficit, or not, one thing is certain. If the rates are raised on maga- zines every reader will have to pay more for them. If you think you are paying enough as it is, you should call the at- tention of your representatives in house and senate to the fact. Ae SP ort During the past nine years, no less than twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty-one periodicals in this country have suspended publication, and there are only about six thousand left. Those who are of the opinion that maga- zine publishers constitute a majority of the millionaire class may ponder these facts with good results. If the life of the publisher was bound up in his magazine, as his interests are, magazine publishing would be placed by life insurance com- panies among the extra hazardous occupations along with handling dynamite and flying air-ships. Anybody who would like to try publishing, however, will find that there is nothing especially difficult about it. A magazine is a good deal like an air-ship. All you have to do is to make it go and keep it up and beware of too much wind. kK *k * Probably most of our readers are familiar with the name, at least, of the Open Court Publishing Company, of Chicago. The company was formed some fifteen years ago for the pur- pose of publishing books on Philosophy, Science and Relig- ion. The nature of the works published do not ensure for them a very extensive sale, bui this does not worry the com- pany for it has an endowment fund of one million dollars! In considering the publication of a book, then, this company need not be influenced entirely by the likelihood of its becom- ing one of the “six best sellers.” If it merits publication it 30 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST is published, and if the public does not know enough to ap- preciate it, so much the worse for the public. It is to be re- gretted that somebody with means does not see the oppor- tunity to do something handsome for the world by capitaliz- ing the scientific press in much the same way. In fact we feel sure that the time will come when this will be done. The be- quests of wealthy Americans for schools, hospitals, churches and libraries run into the tens of millions annually, and while small amounts may be given to endow various phases of re- search work in science in the colleges and Universities, not a cent goes toward the work of making science understandable to the common people, though our commercial greatness as a nation depends largely upon agriculture and that in turn upon botany and zoology. The spread of a knowledge of plants and animals is handicapped by a lack of adequate means for its dissemination. The botanical magazines especially are failures financially. The editors serve without pay and the contributors write with no thought of remuneration. Good work of any kind is seldom done with the thought of reward in mind—a piece of work well done is reward enough to one in love with his work—but the tact remains that the knowledge of plants is likely to spread slowly if left to the efforts of un- derpaid botanists. We need an endowed magazine or pub- ishing company that shall issue meritorious works on botany whether the public is yet ready for them or not. A properly endowed magazine could make plant study so attractive that practically every child would become an enthusiastic plant student. er ge The Chicago Academy of Sciences has recently issued a bulletin on the Higher Fungi of the Chicago Region by Dr. W. S. Moffatt. This forms part of the natural history sur- vey of the region by the Academy. It contains keys to the species and genera of Hymenomycetes found in the region with descriptions of the species and 24 excellent plates from photographs. BOOKS AND WRITERS. The tribe of Burroughs and Thoreau, of Bradford Tor- rey and Wilson Flagg has gained a new recruit in the person of Winthrop Packard whose two graceful volumes ‘Wood- land Ways” and “Wild Pastures,” recently issued by Small Maynard & Co., add a new note to the literature of out-door life which has been growing a trifle catalogue-like of late. One finds in these books no directions for knowing either beast, bug or blossom and yet they deal with all three from the viewpoint of one who loves undissected nature and is alive to its varied phrases. Both books have been inspired by the wild nature in the vicinity of Boston—sights, sounds, and happenings in the bird and insect world, that have doubtless been seen, time and again, by other observers, but never be- fore recorded by one with a talent for seeing the unusual in the commonplace. The strict scientist may find the books a bit too fanciful, the language a trifle too flowery, and he may complain that nothing especially new is given to the world in their pages, but to one who loves nature for its own sake, such chapters as “Brook Magic,” “Waylaying the Dawn,” “The Frog Rendezvous,” “The Pond at Low Tide,” “Thin Ice” and “White-faced Hornets,” will recall many pleasant days spent afield and prove most enjoyable reading. The price of each book is $1.25. Nearly everybody who knows birds is also familiar with the various helps to their identification issued by Chas. K. Reed, Worcester, Mass. For several seasons the ‘“‘Bird- Guide” in two tiny volumes devoted to the land and water birds respectively, has been 2 prime favorite with many students and there has recently come to join the group a “Flower Guide’ built on the same general lines. The latter has as a sub title “Wild-flowers east of the Rockies” but in a 32 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST book of its size, only the more showy species, of course, could be outlined. There are upwards of 200 flowers illustrated, however. The reviewer feels bound to say that while the convenient size of the guide will make it useful in the field, it lacks much of the artistic finish of the bird guide and the poorly colored drawings and rather inaccurate outlines de- tract in great measure from its usefulness to the beginning student. On the other hand, the habit of the more showy flowers make their identification comparatively easy. In any event, the booklet will do its share toward popularizing flower study. The price of any of the guides is 50 cents. The Universal Scientific Alliance of Mexico has began the publication of a monthly magazine of Natural history en- titled ““Boletin del Comite Regional del Estado de Durango.” The first number is dated December Ist, 1909 and is edited by Prof. Isaac Ochoterena. It contains several articles on the botany of the State of Durango as well as other matter. There seems to be a wide field for such a magazine in Mexico, and those in the United States who read Spanish will be interested in it. It is published at Durango, Mexico. THE BEST WORKS ON FERNS OUR FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 333 pages. 225 illustrations. Eight colored plates. Contains the only il- lustrated key ever published, and a full account of all the ferns of Eastern America. The species can be identified by the illustrations, alone. More copies of this book are sold annually than of any other. Price post paid, $2.15. THE FERN ALLIES OF NORTH AMERICA, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 250 pages, 150 illustrations, eight colored plates. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in Their Haunts”, containing a full account of the scouring rushes, club-mosses, quillworts, selaginellas, water-ferns, etc., etc., in North America. Seven keys to the species, A check list with synonyms. The only book on the subject in the English language. - Listed in the New York State Library list among The Best Books of 1905. Price post paid, $2.15. SPECIAL OFFERS Either volume and a year’s subscription to American Botanist....$2:50 Either volume and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes) ..10.00 Both volumes to one address... ........2cc cece ccccscsesecenccees 4,00 Address all orders to WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Joliet, IMinois 60 YEARS*\ EXPERIENCE’ Methods in Moss Study Price $1.25 _. Of the several books which I have written, none appear to be better appreciated by the public than _ this little book on Mosses, which is intended as a . text book for beginners. These very attractive plants may be found at all seasons, but there is no ' better time than late winter and early spring. Send Trace MaRKs | for circular. C.J. Maynard a ot 7 DESIGNS — ; West Newt M vv CopyRiIGHTs &c. : _ 447 Crafts St. est Newton, Mass. Anyone sending a sketch and description may Quickly ascertuin our opinion free whether an invention is probably patentable. Communica- tions strictly confidential. HANDBOOK on Patents sent free. Oldest fail for securing patenta, ar The Bryologist © -2eSe cee ee The Bryologist begins its thirteenth Scientific FAimerican, " A handsomely illustrated weekly. T.argest cir- _ year and volume with the January culation of any scientific journal. Terms, $3 a number. The Index to the first ten MU red e (0: aad edt vay, Naw York ; arg x 0 36 1Broadway, ew or _ volumes is now ready, price one dol- A LU Sed Pa Rea LLL EE bd, i lar, this is necessary for the best use aS _ of the journal, although each year has - separate index. It is the only journal MOUNTED FERNS FOR SALE in English devotec exclusively to the The undersigned offers several _ ™osses, hepatics and lichens. Send hundred well mounted California for a sample copy. Subscription one and other ferns for sale. For dollar a year. Address Mrs. Annie prices, address . 4 _ Morrill Smith, 78 Orange Street, DR. R. J. SMITH 4 Brooklyn, New York, Milpitas, Santa Clara Co., California a >, Laboratory ‘Maoial a Botany : FOR pee HIGH SCHOOL = BY WILLARD No CLUTE (00a) ae The leading characteristics of this new ‘and in many ways unique laboratory tet botany are (1) its presentation of a connected study of evolution in the plant — world; (2) its method of thorough and suggestive direction for both teacher and C pupil; (3) its concise yet adequate lists of questions for answer in notebooks am after actual field or laboratory investigation; (4) its clear and accurate outlines ee of the specific subjects. ida): In addition, it contains a glossary of difficult terms in each section, a ay Ni for outdoor work with trees, outlines for a study of floral ecology, and tables. tye of the principal families and larger groups of the plant world. ; The practical value of the book is assured by the fact that it is written by a high-school teacher and has been used, in outline, for six years with marked — success in one of the largest high schools in the United States. It is absolutely — flexible and can be condensed or extended by individual teachers at any y, poing i without detriment to the work, 4 GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS Boston New York Chicaga London Atlanta Dallas Columbus) | San Franciecs Darwin and DeVnies. 4 De Vries has put the finishing touch upon Darwinism and his famous «hada tion theory is certain to claim a place equal in rank to the Darwinian theory it- self. Everybody who expects to understand current scientific literature must Pi have a knowledge of how species are supposed to originate by mutations: be a the only book which goes exhaustively into the subject is SPECIES AND VARIETIES—Their Origin by Mutation i ea ree a é 2 en ety BA ear Ree - ge net Beng Dy By Hugo De Vries. Octavo. 853 pages. $5 postpaid. Two years prnacriptine, to. AMERICAN BOTANIST given free with each order. . Less expensive but none the less important is PLANT BREEDING—Comments Upon the Experiments of Burbank and Nilsson By Hugo De Vries. Octavo $75 pages. $1.70 postpaid. Sent with a full net of : AMERICAN BOTANIST for $6.50. Willard N. Clute & Co, JOLIET, ILL. rhe: % Ti _ VOLUME 16, NUMBER 2 WHOLE NUMBER 85 MAY, 1910 =J > et ear LARre ze eyes Sore: (ese Races < : Ce The AMERICAN BOTAN IST CONTENTS THE PLANTS OF THE SAND BAR. TREN eh i aay os Sha By Willard N. Clute. THE FLOWERING RASPBERRY - 37 By Dr. W. W. Bailey. THE AGGRESSIVENESS OF PLANTS 39 By Willard N, Clute. CENTENARY OF A BOTANIST NOTE AND COMMENT - SCHOOL BOTANY - - - _ EDITORIAL BOOKS AND WRITERS a WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. JOLIET, ILLINOIS Ghe American Botanist A QVARTERLY DEVOTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BOTANY | WILLARD N. CLUTE 33 3 EDITOR Se RP G The subscription price of this magazine is 75c a year, payable in advance. It will be sent a year and a half for $1.00 and two years for $1.25. Remit by moncy order, bank-draft, stamps or registered letter. Personal checks must con- ; tain collection fees. , @ The first 13 volumes, were issued in monthly parts, forming half-yearly | volumes. Price per volume, 50c. A full set contains more than 1500 pages, 3000 _ afticles and many illustrations. It is invaluable to all teachers, students and lovers of nature. For price of full sets see advertisements or write for special offers. @ Editors of Agricultural publications who receive this paragraph marked, are informed that the magazine will be sent to them free for one year upon receipt of a copy of their paper containing either a notice of the magazine or quotations from it properly credited. WILLARD WN. CLUTE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 209 WHITLEY, AVE., JOLIET, ILL. Entered as mail matter of the second class at the post office, Joliet, Ill. The Greatest Offers That ever have been made or ever will be made by | | 4 EDWARD F. BIGELOW, Editor Arcadia, ener ‘Beach. Conn. Send for particulars and ‘ies 10c. if you wish a sample copy FLOWERING RASPBERRY .—/tubus odorvatus. ety rid THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVI JOLIET, ILL., MAY, 1910 No. 2 ’ Tis like the birthday of the world When Garth was born in bloom; She light is made of many dyes, She air is all perfume. Shere’s crimson hues, and white and blue; She very rainbow showers Have turned to blossoms where they fell And sown the Garth with flowers. — Hood. THE PLANTS OF THE SAND BARRENS. By WILLARD N. CLUTE. F the three groups into which the botanist divides the plant world on a _ basis of habitat, the meso- phytes are by far the most abundant and least at- tractive. As the name indicates they are the middle plants—those exposed to no extremes of moisture or dryness—and, like people whose existence moves along in well ordered ways, the story of their lives is likely to be humdrum. If we read biography we wish an account of stirring adventures, successful campaigns and difficult tasks accomplished. It is much the same with plants. There are many species among the mesophytes, the plants of our meadows, stream-banks and woods, well-worthy of notice but for real interest we must turn to the hydrophytes of xero- phytes. Here we have plants of extremes and like all other living things, when in extremity they are likely to do the ex- traordinary. The hydrophytes are water plants and the varia- tions they show us are mainly due to their attempts to cope with too much moisture. It is usually easier, however, to get along with too much of a good thing than not enough, and we LIBRA NEW Y BOTAN GARD 34 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST find this exemplified in the xerophytes or drouth plants which for ages have been taught in the hard school of experience to husband by all the means in their power the small amount of water which they may suck up in their arid habitats. Among them we find the most attractive and interesting of plant forms. In many regions, one may find representatives of all three groups. If any are lacking it is likely to be the xerophytes for these are true desert plants. It is not necessary, however, to have a desert, in order to find examples. A ledge of dry ex- posed rocks will furnish conditions quite comparable to those of the ‘desert and prove inhospitable enough to the few mosses, lichens and annuals that may endeaveor to maintain life upon them. A region of sand dunes, is also one of the best in which to study the xerophytes. A number of the typically desert plants are, of course, lacking, but the remainder are still so characteristically drouth-plants that it is not difficult to look at them and imagine a real desert. The sand dune region is interesting, too from another cause. Usually between the hills of sand are held small depressions containing water in which a typically hydrophytic flora abounds, and we thus have the two extremes of vegetation side by side with few if any of the intermediate plants. An interesting feature of a sand-barren floras is the dis- tinction that the soil makes between the so-called “calci- philes” or lime-loving plants and the “calcifuges’” or those that do not grow well in calcareous soils. It is a difficult matter to find representatives of the great heath family in lime-stone regions, and a still more difficult matter to make wmported heathworts thrive in such soils. It is from this cause that one cannot have thrifty rhodendrons in some lo- calities. The absence of sphagnum bogs and their replacement by sloughs and swamps is also influenced by calcarous matter in soil water. But in sandy and clayey regions the heaths THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 35 abound; in fact this has been so thoroughly impressed upon even the popular mind that dry and sterile regions are usually called heaths. Typical heath plants in the Northern States are the kalmias, wintergreens, huckleberries, blue-berries, deer berries, andromedas, arbutus an'd bear-berry. In the bogs of such regions we find another set of heaths that may still be said to be drouth plants though their roots are immersed in water. This is due to the fact they find it difficult to absorb moisture from the bog water. Thus while their relatives on the sand hills are in a physically dry soil they are little better off for their habitat is physiologically dry. Some of these are the leather-leaf, marsh rosemary, cranberry, snow-berry, and some of the huckleberries and laurels. It is not unusual to find considerable stretches of both sand and bog in which few things grow except heathworts. Another distinction made by the soil is due to the absence of certain minerals necessary tc plants. Sandy regions are us- ually lacking in nitrogen compounds and only such plants can thrive in them as have special means of obtaining the essential nitrogen. In the moist places we find the pitcher-plants, sun- dews, butter-worts and bladder-worts setting their seductive traps for insects, and on the sand hills are a multitude of legumes which have gone into partnership with bacteria that are able to obtain nitrogen from the air. These latter are among the handsomest plants of the sand-barrens and include the lupines, baptisias, tephrosias, partridge-peas, vetches, and the like. Sand-barren plants, like xerophytes in general, have numerous ways of retaining moisture, once it is in the plant. The majority spread the minimum leaf surface to the air, and the cactus goes altogether without leaves, such starch as it needs being made by its thick stems. A great number of plants are covered with hairs which very effectually retard evapora- 36 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST tion, and such plants as lack a hairy covering will be found to have placed their dependence upon a thick epidermis or a dense coating of wax or “bloom.” Turning to the water plants we find a complete absense of these protective devices, an addi- tional proof of the soundness of our theory. The roots of our sand plants extend for long distances under ground, often going straight down for many feet. It is one thing to admire the handsome plants of the barrens, and quite another to dig them up for transplanting. A few trials even in soft sand will convince the botanizer eager to culti- vate these plants, that it is far better to try to secure plants from seeds than to dig them up. It is likely that even a sand barren is never as dry as it looks. Not so very far beneath the surface there is a moist layer, and this is slow to evaporate be- caue the soft sand at the surface acts as a mulch and breaks the chain of capillary moisture that would otherwise rise. Some of these sand-plants, then, are not so much plants that can live without water, as they are plants that have learned to go deep for their supply. Shallow-rooted plants cannot hope to compete with them. Not the least of the charms of sand plants come blossoms. Plants with insignficant flowers are the exception. Whether it is due to the habitat, or to the necessity of bidding high for the visits of insects, certain it is that showy flowers most abound where conditions are most unfavorable—on mountain tops, in the desert, in arctic regions and the like. As with men, it seems to require a certain amount of trial to de- velop their best points. Added to this the generally lessened leaf surface and the under populated soil, makes each blooming plant stands out like a bouquet. One has but to call to mind that magnificent plant the butterfly-weed, or the bracted baptisia, or the lupine or bird-foot violet to understand what is meant. The barrens are probably always more floriferous THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 37 than other regions when once they begin. The desert not only blossoms like the rose but beats the rose to it. It may be with a square mile of violets, an endless cloud of lupines, the yellow suns of the rock-rose, and Agoseris or long banks of hud- sonia or the golden aster, but in any event the result is to out- shine other regions. Next to the sand-barrens in the matter of flowers come the prairies. At certain seasons they crowd the barrens close for supremacy. It is not given to every botanizer to have easy access to both regions but some are so fortunate. A very few miles from where this is written, an arm of the true prairie extends eastward over the Niagara limestone until it en- counters the sand dunes at the southern end of lake Michigan, bringing hydrophytes, mesophytes and xerophytes into close juxtaposition. Here in certain directions the flora changes more in going five miles than it would in going five hundred miles in other regions. Since both prairie and barren are of low altitude many of the flowers of mountain and ravine are absent, but they can well be spared in view of the other at- tractions which the region affords. Joliet, ll. THE FLOWERING RASPBERRY. By Dr. W. W. BatLey. T is the experience of every wood-lover that the thought of certain plants is potent to recall special localities upon which the mind loves to dwell. In turning over the sheets of his herbarium, the attention of the botanist is always ar- rested by the portrait of some favorite plant, “the shy Lin- naea”’ perhaps, or the alpine sandwort, and at once he is borne into dreamland as by the magician’s carpet. Home objects vanish; he is once more in deep odorous woods or well above the clouds upon a New England mountain top. 38 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST One of the plants all powerful to summon up half sleep- ing memories of loved spots and dear companions, is the flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus). Growing as it does on our lower mountains, like Wachusett or Monadnock, the Catskills and Hudson highlands, or around the bases of some of the higher ones like the White Mountains, it is naturally as- sociated with scenes of uncommon beauty. To the writer it recalls his childhood home, West Point and fond recollections of those long departed. When one lands at Highland Falls about a mile from West Point, his attention is arrested by a stupendous cliff upon the summit of which is perched Lady Cliff Academy—a Catholic girls’ school. The road up to the village is embowered in beautiful shrubs and trees and her- bage. There grow magnificent tulip trees and native lindens, birches, maples and other deciduous trees. There too, one sees the bladder pod, with very pretty flowers in spring, followed later by the inflated pods that children love to pop. Lower than these, appearing as bushes three to five feet in height, are the flowering raspberries with ample, maple-like leaves and corymbs of rose-purple flowers—resembling, and almost as large as, wild roses. The stems and petioles are clothed with interlaced rufous hairs and the flowers are succeeded by large, red, attractive-looking, but poor, insipid-tasting, berries. The plant seems to satisfy itself when it produces such showy flowers. The black raspberry or thimble-berry shows the op- posite condition. One can scarcely find the flowers but the fruits are large and luscious. In the far West grows another species strikingly like Rubus odoratus but with white flowers. It is R. Nuttallu. The thought of it always brings back to me my first day’s botanizing on the Sierra Nevada. It was when I was with the U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel under Clarence King. We went into camp at Alta on the western THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 39 slope and near the highway over the mountains. Near us was a tremendous gorge full of all sorts of herbaceous plants and magnificent trees. Columbines, larkspurs and the like were abundant. It was a forecast of the flower-garden I was to meet still higher. With Robert Ridgeway, the ornithologist I explored this gorge and took a bath in the icy stream which gave a part of its water to a rushing flume. - In the Franconia Valley of New Hampshire I Renee the flowering raspberry is gay along the beautiful road to the Profile House; also up the path to Eagle Cliff on the Mt. Lafayette trail. So, one after another, the beautiful scenes return to me, as I look at a herbarium shect of Rubus odoratus. It is sur- prising how charming a dried specimen can be when it is as- sociated with far off memories of lovely scenes and dear com- panions. It blooms again, as we look at it, with all its com- panion plants. Providence, R. I. THE AGGRESSIVENESS OF PLANTS. By WILLARD N. CLUTE. NY theory of evolution 1aust of necessity include the idea of a struggle for existence; otherwise there would be no incentive for plants to develop the thousand and one mar- velous adaptations that look toward the preservation and per- fection of those best fitted to survive; but we must not too hastily conclude that this struggle for existence is always be- tween plant and plant or even between the plant and its insect and fungous foes. There are numerous areas where little if any struggle of species with species seems to go on. In certain swamps, for instance, the irises, cat-tails, sedges and the marsh and sensitive ferns form communities which are apparently 40 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST dominated by a live and let-live policy. Their habits of life are such as not to interfere with one another, while the nature of the habitat is such that other species cannot come in and start trouble. The protection afforded many species of plants by their habitat is a subject that usually does not receive the amount of attention from plant students that its importance warrants. In some instances as in sand-barrens, there is room for many more plants than occur. The plants that are found in such regions are thrifty enough and the only reason that sand bar- rens are not more thickly populated seems to be the difficulty experienced by similar plants in getting started. The same is in a measure true of water plants which have nothing to fear from an invasion of the plants on the shore. We may never know exactly how important the varying soil characteristics are in determining the habitats of plants, but that they are often the chief factors in the spread of cer- tain species cannot be doubted. We are frequently at a loss to account for the aggressiveness or the lack of this quality in plants, unless we attribute it to the soil. There is probably not a single species of plant that, in a locality exactly suited to it, would not run out any other species. It is not mere aggres- siveness in plants that, in a wild garden, determines which species shall survive and which shall perish. Change but the soil conditions and many of the dominant species would soon disappear. In planting a border of wild things we set but a single sprig of some things and soon have it in plenty, while other species, growing luxuriantly enough in the locality from which we brought them must constantly be attended if we would have them live. Since aggressiveness in plants is thus seen to be so largely a matter of soil and location, the intelli- gent gardener will exercise more than the usual amount of thought in the selection of a proper place for planting a new THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 41 specimen. On a south bank it may persist and spread; on a northern slope it may dwindle and die. Its aggressiveness is not a matter entirely of constitution and heredity but rather of soil and situation and plant neighbors. CENTENARY OF A BOTANIST. Attention has lately been directed to the unusually large number of eminent men whose centenaries have been celebrated in 1909. To the list might be added Dr. A. W. Chapman, the botanist. Although he lived aiost of his life in a comparatively inaccessible place, and was personally known to but few peo- ple, he was for a long time the leading botanist in the South, as his contemporary, Dr. Asa Gray, was in the North. At least three biographical sketches of him have been published, but a brief outline of his life may be of interest to some of your readers. Of English ancestry, he was born in Southhampton, Mass., Sept. 28, 1809. In his twenty-first year he graduated from Amherst College, where he had already displayed a de- cided talent for botany. The following year he moved to Georgia, where he spent four years, mostly teaching. He be- gan the study of medicine in the office of a physician in Geor- gia, and received the decree of M. D. at Louisville, Ky., in 1836. From Georgia Dr. Chapman went to Florida and practiced medicine, first at Quincy, then at Marianna, and finally at Apalachicola, where he spent the last fifty-two years of his life. Within a radius of 100 miles of Apalachicola, there are many species of plants which do not grow anywhere else in the world, and the meeting with these on his professional trips and holidays was doubtless a great stimulus to Dr. Chapman’s botanical work. Very few botanists had visited 42 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST those parts before, and many of the plants were unknown to science at the time he first saw them. At first he sent his novelties to Northern botanists to be studied and described, but the number finally became so large and the need of a manual of botany to cover the Southeastern States as Gray’s “Manual” did the Northeastern so evident, that in 1860 he published a “Flora of the Southern United States,” a work of over 600 pages, which remained the standard for the territory it covered for many years. Supplements were added to it in 1883 and 1892 to incorporate the notes and specimens sent in by botanists all over the South, as well as Dr. Chapman’s own subsequent discoveries, and finally a completely revised edition was published in 1897 in the author’s eighty-eighth year. In these four books he described about 100 new species of plants, most of which were discovered by himself in Georgia and Florida. But for his extreme modesty and conservatism he might have described many more. The number of species discovered by him and described by others would probably bring the total of his discoveries pretty close to 200, a record which has seldom if ever been equaled in the North Temperate Zone. One genus of plants and at least a dozen species bear his name. ~Orris Root.—The orris root so familiar to lovers of perfumes should really be called iris root since it is made from the roots, or rather rootstocks, of several species of iris, espe- cially Iris Germanica the common blue flag of the gardens and Iris Florentina a white variety. It is reported that the root has to be dried and preserved for some time before the fra- grance is fully developed. The freshly dug plants have no fragrance. NOTE AND COMMENT WaNTED.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible after the 15th of February, May, August and November. DENSITY OF THE TROPICAL ForEsT.—In temperate reg- ions forty or fifty different species of trees is considered a good showing for the woodlands of a county or even larger area, while the trees themselves grew so scattered that plenty of light can sift down to the forest flcor. In the tropics there is a de- cided difference. A writer in the Philippine Journal of Science states that in a piece of forest a little more than two acres in extent there was found, by actual count, eleven hundred and sixty trees representing eighty-five different spe- cies. These trees were all over twelve feet high and no account is taken of other vegetation. In such a forest, one must keep for the most part to the beaten path and cannot wander at will in search of botanical specimens. SPORES OF FuNGI.—The spores of fungi, as with spores in genera, are very minute. This is doubtless a design to fa- cilitate their dispersal since they are cast upon the wind and may float about for a long time before coming to rest. It is commonly known that they are very numerous, but just how numerous, few have any idea. A recent work on the fungi gives some most astonishing figures on this head. The com- mon field mushroom produces two thousand million spores, 43 44 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST but this performance is quite put in the shade by some of the shelf fungi which produce five times as many. The world’s record for spore prduction seems likely always to remain with the giant puff-ball (Lycoperdon giganteum). A specimen of this enterprising species about twelve inches in diameter has been estimated to produce seven million million spores. Some of the larger specimens known must contain no less than 2(,000,000,000,000 spores. Some other fungi may shed a million spores a minute and keep this up for several days. In view of this immense production of spores, the wonder is that fungi are not more numerous than they are. Suitable places for growth, however, are not very numerous and the same in- vestigator reports that the chance of a spore alighting in a favorable place for germinaticn is about one in 1,000,000,- 000,000. Tue Arctic FLrora.—In exhibiting two recent collections of plants from Greenland and Ellesmere Land to the Torrey Botanical Club, Dr. Rydberg brought out several interesting facts relating to the flora of those ice-bound regions. There are about one hundred and fifty different species of plants north of the Arctic Circle and with the exception of the grasses and sedges, all of these are dicotyledons. One other monocot, Tofieldia palustris, is found in northern Greenland. Twenty-six families of plants are represented. Nearly all the plants are perennials with low and densely tufted stems and thick rootstocks. There are probably not half a dozen annual plants in the flora, and the woody species are scearcely more numerous. Of course there are no trees but there are several shrubs or rather bushes; among them the dwarf birch (Betula flabellifolia), three willows (Salix groenlandica, S. anglorum and S. herbacea), the crowberry (Empetrum mgrum), a blue- berry (Vaccinium uliginosum microphyllum), Cassiope tetra- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 45 gona and Diapensia lapponica. Most of the shrubs belong to the great heath family (Ericaceae) and several other members of this family extend nearly to the Arctic Circle notably marsh rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), Mountain heath (Phyllo- doce coerulea), Labrador tea (Ledum decumbens), Lapland rose bay (Rhodendron lapponicum), trailing azalea (Chamae- cistus procumbens) and Cassiope hypnoides. More than three fifths of the plants are circumpolar, that is, they are found in all lands that extend into Arctic regions. NEw CONCEPTION OF A SUB-SPECIES.—If one is not too intimately concerned in the battles of the species-makers, there is not a little amusement to be obtained from the curious claims that are often made to bolster up shaky “species.” All such will be interested in the following note from Muhlen- bergia in reference to a prairie sunflower. “An Illinois botan- ist, some years ago, finding some differences in pubescence and intranodal separation among the sunflowers referred to Helianthus occidentalis, considered these of sufficient import- ance to require the segregation of a part under the name of Helianthus Illinoensis. Quite recently, another student, by careful observation, was able to demonstrate that this segre- gate was simply a condition. due mainly to hydrodynamic causes. He discovered that plants, which in spring and early summer were HZ. J/linoensis, were at the time of blooming and fruiting, simply H. occidentalis. Most botanists, having es- tablished this fact, would have contented themselves with re- ducing the segregate to synonomy and noting under the spe- cies its variations under certain conditions. In the present case, however, the investigator ‘proposes that these plants should bear the name Helianthius occidentalis tllinoensis, comb. nov.’ It would be more in accordance with the facts that they should bear that name ‘in the spring and early summer’ but 46 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST that in the fall they should be called simply Helianthus oc- cidentalis. It seems, then, that there are botanists who hold that a species and a sub-species may grow from the same root and on the same stem, at different seasons; may, indeed, gradu- ally pass from one category to the other as the year rolls by. What boundless possibilities do such conceptions open up. What a multitude of plants must be provided with sub-species. The case is especially strong for those trees which have very different juvenile and adult foliage. In fact, why is not the bean of early spring showing only its cotyledons a good sub- species of the very different plant which later in the season, under the stimulus of nutriment moisture and light succeeds it at the time of blooming and fruiting? AGGRESSIVE PLANTS.—It seems to me that we too often err on the side of making phenomena more simple than they really are. Plants are vastly more complex organisms than our formulated ideas recognize. Many of their phenomena completely baffle us. For example, I might mention what has been called aggressiveness in a plant namely, its ability not only to occupy and maintain the soil but to spread and crowd out other plants. This is particularly evident in plants intro- duced from one country into another. Thus nearly all our weeds are of Old World origin. ‘The same is true of our permanent meadow and pasture plants, where ability to oc- cupy and hold the ground against weeds is essential. In this respect our American grasses and clovers utterly fail before the foreign immigrant. Some other striking instances of the great aggressiveness of an immigrant may be cited. The in- troduced English violet is said to be one of the worst weeds in Mauritius; American cacti are becoming a pest in South Af- rica; the marvelous vigor an/l spread of the American water weed (Elodea) under European conditions is well known. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 47 Several explanations of these and other phenomena have been advanced. The commonest one is that the plant is introduced but its fungous and insect enemies are not. Therefore the plant is released from all handicaps as it were and can exer- cise to the utmost its inherent energy. A second and related explanation is that every plant becomes held within limits by the competition of other plants in its native land and very often in the new environment the native plants do not have an equal restraining influence—because they have had to contend with a different set of competitors. A third idea is that any organ- ism with the ability to spread at all becomes more energetic through the constant mixing of blood of the advancing popula- tion. All these ideas are interesting, but difficult if not impos- sible of experimental proof. The last suggestion receives some support from the fact that many weeds and other organisms run out after they have ceased to spread. The recent examples of the Russian thistle and the prickly lettuce are familiar cases. Such phenomena may be due wholly or in part to in- crease in enemies, but in many cases like the two cited there is not one iota of positive evidence. I think we ought to give such phenomena more consideration as they reveal traits in plants that transcent all our sterotyped and inadequate theories. The old gardener often treats his plants as if he regarded them as sentient beings. Perhaps we err in considering them too much machines.—C. V. Piper in Science. Natures PLANTING.—When planting our flower gardens we rarely plant as thickly or mix things up as thoroughly, as Nature does in her wild planting. A writer in the Garden Magazine notes that in a single square foot of prairie sod he found five shooting stars, one purple rudbeckia, six spikes of phlox, three wild hyacinths, one aster, five clumps of blue-eyed grass, two clumps of yellow star-grass and one clump of bird’s- 48 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST foot violet besides other unrecognized weeds. Certainly plants can grow and thrive under conditions that would be thought anything but ideal in a flower garden. From what we know of selective absorption by plants it seems likely that a variety of plants have a better chance of growing in close proximity than a pure stand of a single species. Possibly we could plant our flower gardens in this way with good results. VITALITY OF PINE SEEDS.—It is well known that various species of pine in the Western United States retain their cones and seeds for a number of years after the seeds are mature. Sometimes these cones remain on the tree for nearly twenty years. The question having arisen as to the vitality of the seeds in such aged cones, several experiments have been made in order to settle the matter. J. C. Blumer experimented with six thousand seeds and found the older seeds not only as viable as the younger ones but more so. Out of three thousand from ten to thirty years old, 40% retained their vitality, while of a similar number of seeds les than ten years old, only 31% grew. The advantage of this prolonged vitality is that it gives the trees a distribution in time similar to the distribution in space of other trees. A forest of such pines may thus be repro- duced in a locality more than thirty years after the last living specimens have disappeared. PLant Harrs AND NiTrRoGEN.—We have many theories and some facts to account for the uses of plant hairs but no- body is sure that we have arrived at a correct solution of the problem. Plant hairs may prevent the clogging of stomata by rain or dew, or they may absorb water on occasion; they may protect from evaporation by shading the leaves, they may afford a partial defence against sudden changes of tem- perature and they may protect in a measure from the attacks THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 49 of grazing animals but whether these are their principal uses we cannot be sure. Recently botanists have been asserting that the epidermal hairs of many plants are useful in obtain- ing free nitrogen from the air. Up to very recent times we have been taught that practically all the nitrogen iu plants is taken from the soil in the form of nitrates but the investiga- tions of several Old World botanists put a new face on the matter. It has been known for some time that forest soils steadily gain in nitrogen content from the decay of the leaves of trees which seems to give additional evidence in favor of the new theory, but further investigations must be made before the idea is likely to be accepted by botanists. ForMs OF KaAtmiaA.—When one begins the intensive study of any species of plant there seems to be no limit to the number of forms that may be discovered. These forms are of interest to the breeder and the student of evolution and if not seized upon by the species-maker to further complicate the nomenclature of the subject, are worth taking into account. Practically any species of plant may be shown to have these forms; even the nearly inflexible calico bush (Kalmia latifolia) has several that bear latin names. Polyptala has partly double flowers, alba has white fiowers, rubra has deep pink flowers, fuscata has flowers with a broad brownish purple band inside, Myrttfolia has small leaves and forms a dense and compact bush, and obtusata has obtuse leaves. These, of course are mere variations from the normal and even their describers had no idea that they are distinct or permanent forms. Anyone who chooses may describe a similar set of forms of other plants. So long as all our plants are not thus divided the study of botany, wil not be greatly hampered by the added names and a few species-makers may derive enjoyment from the results. 2 ———EE E (= are (Gr BOTANY TEACHING SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. HE teaching of systematinc botany may easily get into a rut, although there are sufficient variations in the way it may be taught to give the teacher some choice of the rut into which he may fall. The objects in teaching this subject at all are three in number: to make the pupil familiar with the names of our plants, to teach him something of relationship and the use of a key, and to develop in him some of the ability to judge and compare that is essential in any walk of life. To the writer it seems rather a waste of time to spend any consider- able part of the school year in memorizing definitions, and ex- ceedingly foolish to set the pupil at such purely mechanical tasks as “‘analyzing”’ flowers. If the pupil has had no previous contact with plants, a part of his time may be well taken up with a study of seeds, stems. roots, leaves, flowers and fruits, but not with the end in view of learning the descriptive terms that may be applied to them. He needs first of all to know what these organs are for, and how they work. The technical terms needed for systematic work can be learned in two or three days, and if not the pupil has a glossary which he can consult. An ideal pre-requisite to a course in systematic bo- tany is a thorough study of the plant as a living thing. The ability to make good herbarium specimens is a thing to be desired, but this ability :s not fostered by a miscellaneous collection of tops secured in the effort to get fifty different flowers. The pressing and mounting of these plants is waste time—“busy work’’—such as the teachers in the lower grades 50 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 51 are wont to give their children to keep them quiet and out of mischief. Here and there in your classes a real botanist will develop who will learn to press plants with your assistance or in spite of it. Only such needs to be encouraged to form an herbarium. Usually flowers are abundant during only the last few weeks in the term and the temptation is always great to crowd the work in order to secure as many flowers as possible. This seems to be a mistake. Too frequently teachers fail to interest the pupils in the flowers themselves, the securing of the scien- tific name apparently being the end and aim of the pupil’s en- deavors. This doubtless accounts for the fact that nine- tenths of our botany students cease the use of a manual as soon as school is out. It is very desirable, after the name of a plant is learned, to investigate into its habits a bit; to discover what insects pollinate it, how its seeds are distributed and _ its methods of attracting insects and other guests. Unusual effort should be bent upon the task of convinc- ing the pupil that the end and aim of the course is not the se- curing of the specific name. Some,—nay many—are never convinced and find the index always more attractive than the key. Others there are who disdain all help from index or classmates and take pride in working out the plants for themselves. These may be early separated from the rest of the class and allowed to go it alone. Usually at the end of the season they will be found far ahead of the work required of the rest. From pupils such as these come the real botanists. How to convince the searcher of the index that the key is better is often a difficult matter. Certain schemes, however, may help to hold him to his work. He may be required to write out the main heads of the key as he goes along as a guar- antee that he has really named his plant by that means. Another feature that needs to be discouraged is the copying ris) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST or that invariably goes on by the weaker students. When one is sure of the name of his species, it is often surprising how rapidly the information diffuses through the class. One way to overcome this is to require the name of the given flower, when found, to be written down on a slip of paper and handed in, and the slips not corrected until the end of the period. In this way the pupil is taught to rely on himself and if he is marked according to his work, he may be induced to become an independent student. But the teacher’s work is only half done if the pupil is left with a slavish dependence upon either key or index. He should early be taught to recognize plant relationships. Many of these he has recognized without a botany—the violets, um- belifers, and composites, for instance—and he should soon be able to recognize with equal ease, the crucifers, legumes, lilies, borageworts, roseworts, mints and many others. It is not ex- pected that he will keep the characteristics of the small families in mind, but he ought to have a sufficient knowledge of plant- relationships to perceive the great families to which they are allied. Lastly a good manual is essential to a first class course. No pupil should be encouraged to neglect the weeds and other plants with inconspicuous blooms by giving him a book con- taining only the showy flowers. He needs a book that he can depend upon, one that he knows contains his plant which may be run down by a careful search. How discouraging it is, after a long and honest effort, to be told that his species is not in the book, next time he will doubtless draw this conclusion at the first indication of difficulty. By the use of a complete manual, and a sensible course, he may be turned out an intelli- gent botanist instead of a mere repository of latin terms that will be forgotten as soon as school is out. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 53 THE NEED OF ScIENCE—The physician, the scientist, the engineer, etc., must acquire the necessary knowledge and skill in the course of his special studies. The jurist ,the philologist or the theologian who has not acquired these ex- tremely important elements while at school, will later find no opportunity for getting them and run the constant risk of aton- ing for his shortcoming through unpleasant or even danger- ous experiences with his own person. What naive ideas on matters of hygeine, chemistry and physics ‘does not one meet with in the lives of jurist and tinguists. There is here evident a serious defect in our choice of the educative material in the schools and in the application to the needs of civilized life. Science teaching in the high school is demanded, not for the training of those who are to enter scientific professions, but for the training of just those who do not select a medical or scientific course—Max Verworn in School Science. TEACHING Botany.—lIt is no easy matter to teach high school botany well. Unless the instructor knows a good deal about plants; what they are, how they are built, what they do, and how and (partly) why they do it, and knows fairly well what his pupils are seeing and what they are thinking about, he will accomplish little. Most of us have known dozens of botany teachers but we could count the superemely successful ones—in school or college—on the fingers of one hand. If the time should ever come when most secondary schools are will- ing to devote at least a year to botany, to give all reasonable facilities to teachers of the subject and in turn to demand of them as adequate preparation as is required of a teacher Latin or geometry in a first rate fitting school, we would surely find that the educational value of botany is greater than most of us have ever ventured to rate it—Prof. J. Y. Bergen, in School Science. 54 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF THE SYMPETALOUS DICOTYLEDONES. 1 Stamens more numerous than the corolla lobes (2). 2 Stamen filaments distinct. Flowers perfect; style one. Ericaceae. (G. 626. B. 692). Flowers seldom perfect; styles four. Ebenaceae. (G. 648. B. °721) 2 Stamen filaments more or less united (3). 3 Stamens ten or fewer. Filaments united into two equal sets. Fumariaceae. (G. 416. B. 437) Filaments united into a split tube around the style. Leguminosae. G. 500. B. 523) 3 Stamens more than ten. Filaments united into a tube about the styles. Malvaceae. (G. 566. B. 617) Filaments united only at base into one or more sets. Calyx free from ovary. Trenstroemiaceae. (G. 570. B. 523) Calyx adherent at least at base. Styracaceae. (G. 649. B. 722) 1 Stamens fewer than the corolla lobes or of the same number (4). 4 Ovary inferior, adherent to the calyx tube (5). 5 Stamens cohering by their anthers. Flowers in an involucrate head. Compositae. (G. 770. B. 889, 913) Flowers not in a head. Corolla regular; flowers imperfect; vines. Cucurbitaceae. G. 764. B. 881) Corolla irregular; flowers perfect; herbs. Lobeliaceae. (G. 768. B. 887) 5 Stamens entirely distinct. Leaves alternate; flowers regular. Campanulaceae. (G. 765. B. 883) Leaves opposite. Stipulate or verticillate. Rubiaceae. (G. 746. B. 860) Exstipulate. Ovary two to five celled. Caprifoliaceae (G. 754. B 869) Ovary one-celled. Stamens two or three. Valerianaceae (G. 761. B. 876) Stamens four. Dipsaceae (G. 763. B. 880) 4 Ovary superior, free from the calyx tube (6). 6 Flowers irregular (7). 7 Ovary deeply four-parted. Leaves opposite, stem square. Labiatae. G. 690. B. 779) Leaves alternate, stem round. Borraginaceae. (G. 679. B. 766) 7 Ovary entire (8). 8 Four ovuled, four or fewer seeded. Verbenaceae. (G. 688. B. 776) 8 Many ovuled several or many seeded (9). 9 Trees, shrubs or vines. Seeds not winged. Ericaceae. (G. 626. B. 692) Seeds winged. Flowers violet-colored. Scrophulariaceae. (G. 717. B. 818) Flowers not violet colored. Bignoniaceae. (G. 740. B. 850) 9 Herbs. Leafless parasites. Orobanchaceae. (G. 739. B. 848) Leafy, not parasites. Fruit one-celled; leaves at base. Lentibulariaceae. (G. 736. B. 845) Fruit more than one celled. é Seeds borne on hooks. Acanthaceae. (G. 742. B. 853) Seeds not on hooks. Corolla imbricate. Scrophulariaceae. (G. 717. B. 818) Corolla valvate or plicate. Solanaceae. (G 712. B. 809) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 55 6 Flowers regular (10). 10 Stamens two; shrubs. ‘Oleaceae. (G. 650. B. 723) 10 Stamens more than two (11). 11 Opposite the corrolla lobes. Trees or shrubs. Sapotaceae. (G. 648. B. 720) Herbs. Styles five, ovary one-seeded. Plumbaginaceae. (G. 643. B. 719) Style one, ovary many seeded. Primulaceae. (G. 643. B. 713) 11 Alternate with the corolla lobes (12). 12 Shrubs and trees. Style none. Aquifoliaceae. G. 554. B. 602) Style one. E Fruit a four-seeded drupe. Verbenaceae. (G. 679. B. 766) Fruit a many seeded capsule. Ericaceae. (G. 626. B. 692) 12 Herbs (18). 18 Ovary one (14). 14 One-celled. Ovules one. Nyctaginaceae. (G. 375. B. 382) Ovules several. Leaves cleft or lobed. Hydrophyllaceae. (G. 676. B. 762) Leaves entire. Flowers in spikes. Plantaginaceae. (G. 743. Flowers not in spikes. Gentianaceae. (G. 654. - . 856) . 428) 14 Two or more celled. Plants leafy at base only. Plantaginaceae. (G. 743. B. 856) ‘Plants with leafy stems. Ovary three-celled. Polemoniaceae. (G. 673. B. 756) “Ovary two-celled. Leaves -opposite. Loganiaceae. (G. 652. B. 726) Leaves alternate. Stem twining. Convolvulaceae. (G. 668. B. 749) Stem not twining, Seeds four. Borraginaceae. (G. 679. B. 766) Seeds many. Style one. Solanaceae. (G. 712. B. 809) Styles two. Hydrophyllaceae. (G.\°676. .B. 762) 13-Ovaries two, or one deeply four parted. Stigmas not connate. Borraginaceae. (G. 679. B. 766) Stigmas connate. Petals convolute. Apocynaceae. (G. 661. B. 737) Petals valvate. Asclepiadaceae. (G. 663. B. 740) ‘FRAGRANT ARBUTUS.—!In reference to the statement in a recent number that arbutus (Epigaea repens) is not fragrant in the South, Mrs. G. W. Sirrine, writes that in the vicinity of Greenville, South Carolina, it is delightfully fragrant. EDITORIAL The plant collector or flower lover is rarely con- cerned about the kind of botany that ‘ taught in the public schools but it would be well for him to keep in touch with such matters if only for the view it gives him of his own part of the science. Botanical science has broadened so rapidly that any one of half a dozen divis- ions of it may now engage the attention of the student for a lifetime. As a consequence educators are not at all agreed as to what is best to teach as “‘botany” in the High School. The teachers range all the way from those who teach the science for the purpose of “developing, strengthening and disciplining the intellect” without regard to what the pupils may learn about plants. to teachers who endeavor to give the pupil a good knowledge of plants anid at the end of the course to leave him not only with the ability but inclination to continue the study. = ae It scarcely need be said, however, that botanical in- struction in the schools, is not intended to make botanists of the pupils. Rather it is to give them a knowledge of the underlying principles of the science. It would surprise many a plant collector to find how small a part the collecting and identifying of flowering plants plays in real botanical teach- ing. Time was when “botany” meant simply learning the names of the parts of a plant, the “analyzing”’ of a few flowers and the making of an herbarium of a certain number of speci- mens. This no ‘doubt accounts for the assumption by many plant collectors that because they can identify plants they are botanists. In the days we speak of, laboratory work in botany was scarcely known in the high school and field work, aside from gathering flowers had no existence. 56 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 57 When the reaction from flower analysis came, the ma- jority went in for physiological and morphological botany, until this side of the subject 1n some institutions, became as much over done as was the other. Pupils left school after a course in botany with certain ideas about plants it is true, but incapable of distinguishing a dandelion from a daisy or of finding out how to do so. To them the wonderful features of plant life were so much vegetation and nothing more. Seen " There are teachers. however, who still insist that the boy or girl who has had botany in school should be able, later in life to recognize noxious weeds at sight, to make a botanical specimen that can be identified by the nearest agricultural ex- periment station when they turn to it for help, to know a poisonous plant from a harmless one, and last but not least, to be familiar with the more noticeable species of herbs. shrubs and trees in their vicinity. The need for such knowledge is urged not solely upon the grounds of utility, though utility alone is sufficient, but because of the simple delights that an acquaintance with the flowers adds to life. ey ee BOOKS AND WRITERS. “Who’s Who Among the Ferns” is the title under which W. J. Beecroft has issued a series of drawings of our native ferns with short discriptions of their form, range and time of fruiting. The book is a small 12mo. intended for use in the field, and is published by Moffat, Yard & Co., at $1.00 net. Many of our readers still remember with pleasure the regular visits of Meehans’ Monthly and regret its untimely end. After the lapse of some years the house of Meehan has again entered the publishing field. This time it is an excellent monthly publication named Meehans’ Garden Bulletin. This is evidently designed primarily to augment the sales of the Meehan nurseries, but its pages contain a wealth of practical THE AMERICAN BOTANIST or wm ( information on gardening subjects that everyone who loves plants will be glad to have. It was begun in September 1909 and is edited by S. Mendelson Meehan. We wish the maga- zine all success. A series of booklets, each devoted to a single tree species, has been begun by Sarah W. Maury. Three numbers devoted to the Beech, the Gingko and the Holly respectively have al- ready appeared. These are small square volumes bound in at- tractive stiff covers and quite appropriate for use on arbor days and the like. Each is well illustrated partly in color and the text sets forth the merits of the subject in an interesting way. We shall welcome a full series if as well done as the early numbers. The booklets are published by the John Lane Com- pany, at New York, at 30 cents each, postpaid. Fernow’s “The Care of Trees in Lawn and Park” recently issued by Henry Holt & Co., bear some of the ear-marks of a book made to order. The author says in the preface that it was due largely to accident that it was compiled and elsewhere in the book, authority for various parts are disclaimed. After a careful reading of the book, however, the reviewer finds little that needs apology. The author is professor of Forestry in the University of Toronto and thoroughly informed on his subject and aside from a rather halting literary style, has made a very good volume. About two-thirds of the nearly four hundred pages are devoted tu the diseases of trees, whether caused by insects, fungi, soil conditions, or due to obnoxious eases, electricity or mechanical injuries. and the improvement of trees by fertilizing, pruning, etc. The remainder of the book is taken up with lists of trees and shrubs commonly planted with notes on their habitats, appearance and other characteristics. There are upwards of one hundred illustra- tions. The book sells for $2.00 net. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 59 The J. B. Lippincott Company has selected certain parts of Prof. Scott Elliot’s “The Romance of Plant Life’’ to form one of the books in their ““Wonder Series” under the title of “The Wonders of the Plant World.” Since the book is of British origin and intended primarily for British readers it will be of less value on this side, nevertheless the amateur botanist, interested in the curious things about plants will find much to his taste in the book. Such titles as Flowers, Forests, Scrub, Deserts, Activity of Vegetables, and Story of the fields, will indicate its scope. The text is very well written but the facts detailed seem in many cases rather jumbled together. The book covers about 150 pages and sells for 75 cents. The names of Hilgard and Osterhout on the title page of a work devoted to “Agriculture for Schools of the Pacific Slope” is sufficient guarantee that it is both scientifically accu- rate and up-to-date. It must be the reviewer’s task to discuss the arrangement and scope of the book. In this there is much to commend. The early chapters discuss the plants needs and how they are satisfied, the origin of the soil, cultivation, propagation, grafting, etc., and then follow others on insect pests, plant diseases, field crops, and the like. Farm animals are briefly discussed, forcasting the weather is explained and some attention is gives to forestry. Even human physiology comes in for some pages. At first glance the book seems rather too extensive for a season’s course, but it has been the de- sign of the authors to give more than is needed for a single course and allow each teacher to select such parts as are suited to the locality. The one thing that militates against the use of this book in schools is the fact that the text is entirely descrip- tive with no directions for pupil or teacher for practice work. If agriculture is to be introduced into our public schools, it should be the aim if every teacher to get as far away from “book-farming” as possible. It cannot be denied that the be- 60 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST ginner must have books that describe many of the things with which he will later become familiar in practice but the mere recitation of a text relating to agriculture is not agriculture in any worthy sense. It is to be hoped that the authors, who are especially fitted for the task, will later give us a manual for practical work to accompany their excellent text. The book contains more than two hundred illustrations making it fur- ther attractive to the young student. Since the main features of agriculture do not vary much with the region, all who are interested in any phase if the subject will find this a very use- ful book. It is published by the MacMillan Company at $1.20 net. As the diseases of plants have become better known there has grown a need for an authorative book on the subject. This has now been supplied by B. M. Duggar’s “Fungous Diseases of Plants.’”’ The book is one of the most complete and satis- factory volumes that we have seen. It begins with nearly fifty pages devoted to culture methods and the technique of handl- ing and staining. This and the next few pages on Physiologi- cal Relations will be chiefly of interest to the student and in- vestigator but the remainder of the book, some four hundred pages is a practical treatise in the diseases of plants in which each form is discused with regard to its occurrence, symptoms, the fungus that causes it, and methods of control. Copious citations of literature of the subject make it easy for any who desire to go fully into any phase of the subject. From the book we learn that plant diseases are caused by a vast number of fungi coming from all the classes of these plants. The as- comycetes and the fungi imperfecti furnish by far the largest number of organizations causing diseases in plants but the basidiomycetes are not far behind. The bacteria supply a com- paratively small number of harmful species. The book is well and extensively illustrated and written in a style that any THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 61 farmer can undertsand though it is thoroughly scientific is every respect and is designed to serve as a text book for uni- versities and colleges. A host index renders it possible for the student to readily discover the nature of a given disease in his crops. The volume is published by Ginn & Co., at $2.00. The question of the fertility of the soil and how to main- tain it is one of paramount importance to every farmer and therefore to the rest of us who depend upon the farmer for food. In recent years the theory that there is in most soils a sufficiency of the chemicals needed by plants for all time, has been stoutly argued and as stoutly combatted by those who be- lieve that soils can be worn out and must be improved by fer- tilizers. A notable contribution to the discussion is “Soil Fer- tility and Permanent Agriculture” by C. G. Hopkins well known for his work in soil chemistry at the Illinois Experi- ment Station. Dr. Hopkins is on the side of those who advo- cate the improvement of our soils by fertilizers and takes no uncertain stand on the subject. In his book he goes very ex- tensively into the chemistry of soils, the sources of plant food and crop requirements, and draws his conclusion in favor of fertilizers. Much space is also given to detailed accounts of soil investigations in this country and abroad and the factors in soil fertility are carefully analyzed. However much the two schools may differ, as to the effect of fertilizers, they agree in this, that good crops cannot be grown indefinitely on any soil without them. Whether they are needed, as Dr. Hopkins contends, to supply an actual lack in the soil, or whether, as his opponents assert, they are useful to plants only as they en- able them to neutrolize various toxic elements in the soil, is a question that apparently canrot be decided at present. If manures are necessary to keep the plant food in the soil at its highest state, it is difficult to account for the fertility of most virgin soils, while the fact that certain plants are undoubtedly 62 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST toxic to certain others when grown in their vicinity seems to bear out the contention that one of the functions of fertilizers is to neutralize these toxic elements in the soil. Be this as it may the present book is a very clear and comprehensive ac- count of Dr. Hopkins’ investigations and conclusions and must be taken into account by all who are concerned in improving the land. It is an octavo of more than 650 pages and is pub- lished by Ginn & Co.. at $2.75. Beecroft’s “Who’s Who Among the Wildflowers’ is another little volume designed to aid the beginner in naming the commoner wildflowers. It arranges the plants according to color and presents a succession of drawings with brief de- scriptions of the plant its range and time of blooming. Part of each descriptive page is reserved for notes. Many of the drawings are evidently taken frim other works but many serve the purpose of giving an idea of the flower. The lack of any popular information about the different species represented will be felt by those who are desirous of knowing more about the plant than its mere name indicates. The book, however, costs less than other works of similar nature and will doubtless be welcomed by many who are interested in the wild flowers. The book is published by Moffat, Yard & Co., of New York, at $1.20 net. Often in turning the leaves of the seedman’s catalogue we have wished for a book that would tell us of these garden flowers much as the popular flower-guides tell us of our com- mon wildowers. It is with special delight, then, that we turn to the newly issued “Our Garden Flowers” by Harriet L. Keller only to find with regret that the author has failed to perform her self-imposed task successfully. Garden flowers in abundance the book contains. but the very flowers of which we know least and would fain know more, are missing. For THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 63 instance, the common yellow and the orange day lilies (Hemerocallis) are described but not a wort is said about the copper-colored relative of these, or that later lemon lily of August. Cases of this kind could be multiplied indefinitely. On the other hand, we find described such insignificent weeds as the chickweed, mallow, and purslane, and garden vegetables like the beet and spinach. For the sake of more flowers we would willingly dispense with the vile weeds and well known pot-herbs. We hope the author, or someone else will have another try at this subject. So far as the book goes into the subject, however, it is excellent, having much the appearance of other popular manuals with the important features of leaf and flower indicated with more or less matter of a general nature following. The reviewer likes the book but regrets its incompleteness. As it is, it runs to 550 pages and nearly 300 illustrations. It is published by Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. The authors of “The School Garden Book,’ Messrs. Weed and Emerson, define the school garden as any garden in which a boy or girl of school 2ge is interested. By this defini- tion they have an extensive field from which to cull the mater- ial for their book and while they have presented us with a use- ful reference work destined to be consulted frequently by the young gardener it can in no sense be considered as a practical manual of gardening for schools. After an introduction of some twenty pages addressed primarily to the teacher there are twelve chapters named for the month beginning with Sep- tember. In these, in addition to the discussion of flowers that are usually common in such months, or are planted then, there is more or less matter on preparing the soil, selecting seed, cotyledons. structure of flowers and the like. This part is largely descriptive and still appears to have the teacher in view. The concluding pages contain a series of garden exer- 64 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST cises for pupils in which they are directed in the work of plant- ing and cultivating plants, and required to draw various parts, make records of their growth and write up their experiences. The book can scarcely be used as the basis for the school gar- den course but it will offer many helpful suggestions. The book is published by Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. The “New Manual of Rocky Mounain Botany” by Coulter and Nelson is likely to prove most satisfactory to the great majority of botanical students. It is practically a new book, having been entirely re-written, but the treatment is es- sentially that of the earlier volume. It is perhaps unadvisable for one not familiar with the Rocky Mountain flora to pro- nounce upon the treatment of species and varieties. The fact that the author, notwithstanding somewhat radical views, has reduced to synonony nearly eighteen hundred species indicates that, at least a middle course has been followed. The nomen- clature is according to the Vienna rules ensuring something like stability to this phase of the work. There are also excel- lent keys to all the genera and species placed at the beginning of each genus where they should be and not scattered among the descriptions of species. Unusual features are the placing of the common name at the end of the description of the spe- cies and the citation of the place of publication of all the spe- cific names. The book, like the earlier one is published by the American Book Company. THE BEST WORKS ON FERNS OUR FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, $33 pages. 225 illustrations. Eight colored plates. Contains the only il- lustrated key ever published, and a full account of all the ferns of Eastern America. The species can be identified by the illustrations, alone. More copies of this book are sold annually than of any other. Price post paid, $2.15. THE FERN ALLIES OF NORTH AMERICA, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 250 pages, 150 illustrations, eight colored plates. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in Their Haunts”, containing a full account of the scouring rushes, club-mosses, quillworts, selaginellas, water-ferns, etc., etc., in North America. Seven keys to the species. A check list with synonyms, The only book on the subject in the English language. Listed in the New York State Library hst among The Best Books of 1905. Price post paid,-$2.15. SPECIAL OFFERS Either volume and a year’s subscription to American Botanist.. ..$2.50 Either volume and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes) ..10.00 Bothivolumes to one! addressii ei xc eas en eo sweets aed wterenciaie's 4.00 Both volumes and a year’s subscription to American Botanist..... 4.50 Both volumes and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes)....11.50 Address all orders to WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Joliet, Illinois - Methods in Moss Study i Price $1.25 _ Of the several books which I have written, none _ appear to be better appreciated by the public.than _ this little book on Mosses, which is intended as a ‘text book for beginners. These very attractive _ plants may be found at all seasons, but there is no | better time than late winter and early spring. Send Ni ‘for circular. C.3 Maynard 447 Crafts St. West Newton, Mass. _ The Bryologist The Bryologist begins its thirteenth year and volume with the January number. The Index to the first ten < volumes i is now ready, price one dol- " Jar, this is necessary for the best use : of the journal, although each year has _ separate index. It is the only journal : in English devoted exclusively to the a ‘mosses, hepatics and lichens. Send _ for a sample copy. Subscription one - dollar a year. Address Mrs. Annie Morrill Smith, 78 Orange Street, a eae New York. 60 YEARS" gz EXPERIENCE Trave MARKS | DESIGNS. q CopPYRIGHTS &c.' - Anyone sending a sketch and rosin | Hoot may. quickly ascertuin our opinion free wk sete mg an invention is probably patentaple: tions strictly confidential. HANDBOOK on Patents ay free. Oldest agency for securing ego \ Patents taken through Munn & petatva special notice, without charge, inthe Scientific American. , A handsomely illustrated weekly. Targest clr. . culation of any acientilic journal. Terms, $3 a year; four months, $L Sold byall newsdealera. MUNN & (0,26 18rondway, Hew York Branch Office, 625 F 8t., Washington, D. GQ, MOUNTED FERNS FOR SALE The undersigned offers several hundred well mounted California and other ferns for sale. For prices, address DR. R. J. SMITH Milpitas, Santa Clara Co., California Laboratory Manual of Bouts FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL BY WILLARD N. CLUTE The leading characteristics of this new and in many ways unique laboratory ye botany are (1) its presentation of a connected study of evolution in the plant world; (2) its method of thorough and suggestive direction for both teacher and ~ pupil; (3) its concise yet adequate lists of questions for answer in notebooks after actual field or laboratory investigation; (4) its clear and accurate outlines ah of the specific subjects. In addition, it contains a glossary of difficult terms in each secHon: a key for outdoor work with trees, outlines for a study of floral ecology, and tables i of the principal families and larger groups of the plant world. The practical value of the book is assured by the fact that it is written by a P high-school teacher and has been used, in outline, for six years with marked — success in one of the largest high schools in the United States. It is absolutely Ht flexible and can be condensed or extended PY. individual teachers at any ro Oy without. detriment to the work. GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS Boston New York Chicago London Atlanta Dallas Columbus San Francisco Darwin and DeViies De Vries has put the finishing touch upon Darwinism and his famous P< tion theory is certain to claim a place equal in rank to the Darwinian theory it- self. Everybody who expects to understand current scientific literature must. i | have a knowledge of how species are supposed to originate by avani pe iv the only book which goes exhaustively into the subject is SPEOIES AND VARIETIES—Theit Origin by Mutation = By Hugo De Vries. Octavo. 853 pages. $5 postpaid. Two years subscription tena AMERICAN BOTANIST given free with each order. Less expensive but none the less important is PLANT BREEDING—Comments Upon the Experiments of Burbank and Hess. By Hugo De Vries, Octavo 375 pages. $1.70 postpaid. Sent with a full act of AMERICAN BOTANIST for $6.50. Willard N. Clute & Co. a ; JOLIET, ILL. | VOLUME 16, NUMBER 3 WHOLE NUMBER 36 || ——_ AUGUST, 1910 The AMERICAN BOTAN IST CONTENTS SOME RARE VERMONT PLANTS -_— 65 By Leston A. Wheeler. | PARNASSIA ie eters ater Amann By Dr. W. W. Bailey. THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FORESTRY IN THE UNITED SEAR AS, Ua rek SCS SR ak aia FONG ag By Mary FE: Ey NOTE AND COMMENT - - +. 77 P SCHOOTBOPANW) (0.3) oy 2k" al gg _ EDITORIAL x i Digs Wes ak ay | BOOKS AND WRITERS WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. _ JOLIET, ILLINOIS | Ghe ‘Ain ones Botanist A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND. ECONOMIC: wae WILLARD N. CLUTE 333 EDITOR @ The subscription price of this magazine is 75c a year, payable in advance, 4 ft will be sent a year and a half for $1.00 and two years for $1.25. Remit by money order, bank-draft, stamps or registered letter. Personal checks must cone tain collection fees. @ The first 18 volumes were issued in monthly parts, forming baleen i - volumes. Price per volume,.50c. A full set contains more than 1500 pages, 3000 articles and many illustrations. It is invaluable to all teachers, students and lovers of nature. For price of full sets see advertisements or write for special offers. @ Editors of Agricultural publications who receive this paragraph marked, are informed that the magazine will be sent to them free for one year upon receipt ~ of a copy of their paper containing either a notice of the magazine or eG tari Gas from it properly credited. WILLARD N. CLUTE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS — 209 WHITLEY AVE., JOLIET, ILL. Entered as mail matter of the second class at the post office, Joliet, ILL Here, then, isa “different” magazine of | HOW TO FREE SUBSCRIPTION A Outdoor Inspiration | OBTAIN and a little monthly visitor of outdoor Ki interest in New Deter nan J H mie G Ul D ee 4 Picturesque; Che Sketch Book TO NATURE of Rature and Outdoor Life arate ss hl) ! Send $3.00 for ST. NICHCLAS to be Redoleat of field and sky, bearing | nisiled one year to some boy ‘or girl, its message of the open air—of green | and THE GUIDE TO NATURE will fields, fern-filled woodlands and silent. | be sent one year free per ‘ella hills, . stately trees. and wayside combination .offer: flowers, sketched in prose, poetry and | iltustration, St. Nicholas (o0e yeat) $3. 00 A quarter brings it to you on three For Young Folks” : months’ trial; try it, you will become | Phe Guide to Nature 1. 00 interested. Por Men and Women i ee Get this monthly chart of the heart- — , beats of nature. There is ozone in wi) ot, $4.00 every page, and it nicely fits the — Both one year for only $3. 00 Bs pocket. | It is finely printed and con- tains original drawings. Address, — Arthur E. Vogel | ‘| money orders payable to Publisher THE SKETCH BOOK | Agassiz Association, Arcadia: Sound Beach, Com, . he Manchester, N. H. Please write Siler particulars, en 4 Ne Address and make all “checks and 3 Mi PICKEREL WEED AND BURR REED IN COLD POND. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVI JOLIET, ILL., AUGUST, 1910 No.3 “Summer ebbs, each day that follows Js a reflex from on high, Sending to the darksome hollows isan RY Where the frosts of winter lie,” WwW YORK SUTANICAL —Wordsworth. GARDEN. SOME RARE VERMONT PLANTS. By Leston A. WHEELER. (je morning the latter part of July with my faithful horse I left our Townshend home and drove up through the beautiful valley of West River to Jamaica. Here we met our friend, and proceeded on, over the hills, to Cold Pond, a fair sized sheet of water lying in a remote corner of the town. West River valley is not only beautiful but it is interesting, especially to the botanical student, as along its shores are to be found some of the rarer Vermont plants. Here is seen in great abundance burnet (Poteriwm canadensis) which is found no- where else in the state, so far as the writer knows, sand cherry (Prunus pumila) found elsewhere only in the Lake Cham- plain and Connecticut river valleys, billberry (Vaccinium caespitosum) reported from Washington and Mt. Mansfield’s Chin, and tubercled orchis (Habenaria flava) common only in favored haunts. We left our horse in a friendly barn at Winhall Station and took our press, vasculum, kodak and lunch and tramped the remaining mile to our destination. We were delayed somewhat at the depot by several railroad immigrants among which were carpet weed (Mollugo verticillata), tumble ‘mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), and sand _ spurry = iw que GN ™ 66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST (Spergularia rubra) a Vermont rarity being found only in three other places in the state up to the publication of the “Flora” in 1900. We found the road to the pond much better than we had been led to expect. An old farm at the end of this road was being “‘hayed” by some men who kindly directed us to the pond lying hidden in the woods near by. As we came out on the shore at the “landing” (iz an old log or two and a half submerged boat might be so termed) we stopped for a few minutes to take in some of the beauties of the scene as well as to plan our visit further. The pond is of an irregular pear shape with a sharp bend near the neck so that the smaller end lies toward the south while the larger end, from which flows a small stream, lies to the eastward. There is no inlet, the bogs about its shore showing it to be fed by springs. The day was fine and not uncomfortably warm, with a fresh breeze keeping the water in almost constant motion and causing it to sparkle enchantingly in the sunlight. The deep shadows under the overhanging trees on the shore were in pleasing contrast with the shining open water while the surrounding forest-clad hills formed a beautiful background for the picture. Various aquatic plants about the landing arrested our at- tention. Pickerel weed (Poniedera cordata), although by no means rare to the state, was new to me and I was much pleased with its beauty. It is growing in this pond in considerable abundance in company with burr reed (Sparganium). Lobelia Dortmanna was common in the more gravelly portions; this being the third pond in Windham county where I have seen it. The others are Grout pond in Stratton and Sunset lake in Marlboro. Floating heart {‘Nymphoides lacunosum) was common; also the yellow pond lily (Nymphara advena). Well out from the shore where they were literally “rocked in the cradle of the deep” were the beautiful, fragrant blooms of the white water lily (Castalia odorata). Neither water shield THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 67 (Brasenia peltata) nor Potamogeton were common in this pond. There being no serviceable boat at hand we decided that a tramp around the shore gave the greatest promise of suc- cess and this plan we proceeded to carry out. We found a path nearly all of the way near the shore which we followed, pausing now and then, as some plant especially attracted our attention, or to take a picture. It would make a long story, as well as an uninteresting one to attempt to enumerate all of the plants which we saw on our way; therefore with the mention of a few of the most prominent ones I will leave to the imagination of the reader the task of filling up the many interstices of that stroll in the woods near the water’s edge. The pink lady’s-slipper (Cy- pripedium acaule) showed by its many scapes what it had been ~ doing in its own allotted season while the large purple fringed orchis (Habenaria fimbriata) gave one almost perfect spike and many that were in various stages of fruitage. HZ. clavel- lata was very abundant and showed some of the largest blooms that I ever saw; but of the tall white orchis (H. dilatata) we saw not one. Among the ferns we saw Nephrodium crista- tum and its variety Clintonianum as well as an abundance of Osmunda, Onoclea, etc. There was quite a quantity of wild calla (Calla palustris) along a portion of the shore. A few plants of Rosa blanda were fuund at the southern end of the pond. The most noticeable shrubs were the swamp pink (Rhododendron nudiflorum), the mountain holly (Nemo- panthus mucronata) with its crimson berries in great profus- ion, and the blueberries (Vaccinium pennsylvanicum, V. vacil- lans and V. corymbosum) ; the first on a dry knoll opposite the landing where we ate our lunch among the remains of old camps. In the bogs around the outlet we found quite a quan- tity of the small cranberry (V. oxycoccus). As we approached the eastern end of the pond after lunch 68 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST we startled up a pair of herons who manifested their displeas- ure at our intrusion of their private dining room by hoarse croakings as they flew to their forest home. When we ar- rived at that part of the shore from whence they had taken their departure we found the mud well covered with their tracks where they had been searching for the fat tadpoles which abounded all about the pond in the shallower water. About the lower end are small bogs which proved pro- ductive ground for us. Here was the pitcher plant (Saracenia purpurea) and sundew (Drosera rotundifolia and D. longi- folia) the latter being collected for the first time by either of us as it is not generally common in Vermont although Wind- ham county seems to be the most favored portion in this re- spect. Pogonia ophioglossoides was abundant in the sphagnum but we looked in vain for signs of its companions the Arethusa and Calopogon. ‘The seven angled pipe-wort (Friocaulon articulatum) was found here among many other marsh loving plants. The most important find of these bogs, if not of the day, was the yellow-eyed grass (Xyris montana) which was not only new to us but so far as the writer can learn is new to the state. The first colony we found was small but a_ few minutes later we found another bog where is was very plenti- ful over a small area. The hour for departure came far too soon to permit of anything like a thorough study of the plant life about the pond for as we were far from home we had to leave early; so with a good-bye shot with the camera we wended our way back to the haunts of men. As I was driving down the valley after leaving my friend at Jamaica I saw, just as the dusk was beginning to lower, a doe with her two spotted fawns beside the road and as they did not seem afraid I stopped and watched them for a few moments. The beautiful scene seemed to give a parting blessing to the day’s pleasure. Townshend, Vermont. PARNASSIA. By Dr. W. W. BAILey. HE plants of the Saxifrage family, to which old Dios- corides gave the name of grass of Parnassus, well de- serves its divine title. It is easy to fancy it growing on the heights affected by the gods on the border of cloud-fed ponds. The beginner who first discovers its large and showy flowers in late autumn, thinks at first that he has found a new anemone. ‘The five white petals, veined with delicate green or yellowish lines, suggests that genus. Examination, however, shows that our plant, unlike an anemone, has both calyx and corolla, the sepals sometimes slightly united at base. Within the petals and at the base of each is a cluster of sterile filaments tipped by glands. These secrete no nectar, but Kerner tells us they deceive flies into approaching them and thus getting dusted with the pollen of the five neighboring proper stamens which is then borne to the pistils of other flowers of the same species. Some of our many young stu- dents might do well to study any of our four species keeping this matter in view. Parnassia Carolimana, the one with which the writer is acquainted, blooms at the time when the fringed gential is pre- valent and the maidens’ tresses (Spiranthes cernua) fills the air with its delicate fragrance. The species palustris occurs also in Europe while P. asarifolia is restricted to the high mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. This pretty genus seems to intensify the feeling one has of the very heterogeneous character of the Saxifragaceae. It includes shrubs like Ribes ani Philadelphus, herbs with soli- tary flowers like Parnassia and others with definite panicles like Hleuchera and Saxifraga. However, unlike they may be in special features, there is, queerly enough, something ever designative about them. One rarely makes a mistake when, at first glance he exclaims—Sarifragaceae! Providence, R. I. 69 THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. By Mary F, HaGcerry. N primeval times, ages before the discovery of the Western Hemisphere, there was but one forest on the American Continent, extending from sea to sea over one third of all the land. But during the glacial period when North America was covered with ice as far south as the latitude of Cincinnati, all the vegetation under and adjacent to this icy mantle was killed, and though growth started again after the ice melted and disappeared and though the land was once more occupied by softwoods and hardwoods, the continent was no longer covered by a stretch of continuous woodland. There were now three main forests—the great eastern forest which embraced all the land east of the Mississippi, and in some places much west of it; the forest of the Rocky Mountain Region and the smaller mountain ranges of the great basin; and the Pacific Coast Forest all of which united in the northern part of the continent to form a subarctic forest belt. In the eastern forest the trees grew up much the same as before, but in the other forests were many diffrent species, due no doubt to the changes in soil, in climate or in the nature of the trees. On the Pacific Coast eighty different species of coniferous trees were found while all the trees grew taller than the eastern species, had thicker crowns and trunks, and grew iii belts along the slopes of the mountains, instead of in clust- ers in ravines along the mountain sides. All of these three forest areas formed what has been called the “Virgin Forest.” One of the most important factors in the life of a forest is the reproductive power of its trees, dependent primarily on the quantity of seeds which each tree produces. Though the quantity is the first consideration there are so many more sig- nificant ones, that a tree may bear numerous seeds, and yet never reproduce itself. Among these considerations are first, 70 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 71 the quality of a seed for a part of every seed may be unsound, and sometimes the larger part as in the case of the tulip tree; second the difficulty of disseminating, particularly of heavy seeds as walnut, etc.; third, the carrying of seeds to surround- ings detrimental to successful germination, for instance seeds requiring moist soil may lodge upon dry ground, etc. ; fourth, the period before a tree can produce seed, as in the case of the white oak, which does not produce any until it is forty years old; and fifth, the time elapsing between seed years—trees bearing seeds only every three or four years according to spe- cies, habitat, etc. After a successful start seedlings often perish in the flames of destructive fires, under the feet of grazing cattle or in the litter of the forest floor, which their tender roots are un- able to penetrate in their effort to gain the fertile soil beneath. The infant tree, the result of a succssful seedling may decay for want of proper light, wate1 or soil, for the trees in a forest are engaged in a constant struggle—tree against tree—for these essentials and the tree that receives too little or too much of any of them is bound to suffer 1f not to die. Each tree, therefore, to gain these necessities in the proper proportions adapts the manner of its growth and the shape of its branches and leaves; and for this reason we never see two trees exactly alike. However, it is advantageous for each tree at first, that it may receive enough light, to effect by self pruning a bail straight shaft, so that by dropping the lower branches it may expend all its energy in the spreading of its head and trunk. Even if a seedling does overcome the obstacles outlined in the preceding paragraph, and develops into a healthy tree with a broad straight trunk and full crown, the battle is not yet won for there are still many enemies to conquer. We may ask: What enemies has the forest? And the answer is the physical forces of nature, plants, animals and man. Nature, in the form of wind, snow, ice, floods, landslides and lightning i) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST uproots or breaks the trees leaving desirable places for fungi and bacteria—the most harmful of all plants. Animals, such as mice, gnaw the bark of young trees and kill them, birds eat great quantities of seed; insects devour many parts of the tree; and cattle trample upon seeds and pluck shoots. Man how- ever, is the most formidable enemy of the forest for more dam- age is done every year by fire and lumberers than by any other cause. Practically every forest fire is the result of human carelessness. Notwithstanding the number of enemies the forest has, and the losses thereby sustained, it remains one of the most valuable gifts bestowed upon mankind. One of its missions 's the regulation of temperature. We find in large forested areas a total absence of the scorching winds so common on our treeless plains. That like large bodies of water, they lower the average temperature of summer and raise that of winter is more doubtful. They serve also as valuable windbreaks, game preserves, and recreation grounds, services not to be scorned. Another function—perhaps the most important—is the regulation of the water supply, and the prevention of floods and torrents by the gradual feeding of springs and streams. Owing to the shade of the forest and the spongy covering of its floor, the water is hindered from evaporating or running off as rapidly as it would on a barren stretch of land and thus the forests aid in storing water which re-appears evenly and continuously to stock streams, etc. The forests are also the source of such products as wood alcohol, vanilla, turpentine, rosin; and of such industries, as cooperage, furniture making, musical instruments, vehicle manufacture, agricultural imple- ments, car building, railroad ties, telephone poles, and house building and finishing. And as we think of the value of these forest industries—they being second only to agriculture in the United States, the question comes to our minds, can we afford THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 73 to neglect the source of such necessity, comfort, luxury, and wealth? Let us seek our answer from our experience of the past. We shall begin with our ancestors, the settlers of this continent, who were surrounded on all sides by the forest, and who, regarding it as a constant menace destroyed it at every turn. Much that they destroyed, however, was done in a per- fectly legitimate way, for they did not dare to leave the forests standing about their farms and villages for fear of the danger of attacks from Indians and wild beasts. They also needed to make their homes, their articles of furniture and their implements ; and required land for agriculture. We can- not cast any blame on our ancestors, for thus destroying the trees they regarded as dangerous, but we regret that the idea passed from generation to generation and that it carried with it as corallary the delusion that the supply was inexhastible. It is clear that it was the abuse of the first idea that brought us more quickly to the second, and to the stern realization that our forests are far from inexhaustible. The settlers first began to cut timber in the eastern states, then along the great waterways, and in the center of the country and finally in the more northern of the southern states and in all these areas, only the largest and best trees were cut, no provisions being made to protect or reforest the land. At present we are taking from our forests about three and one-half times as much wood as is added by new growth, and two-thirds of all the timber cut is simply destroyed. On the average since 1870 forest fires have yearly cost $50,000,000 in timber and 50 lives. In this country we consume four times as much lumber per capita, as England and three times, as much as Germany. We produce about one-third as much timber as might be grown by careful management. At this rate, and considering the increasing amount of land taken for agricul- 74 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST ture, the remaining supply in our forests can last only thirty years longer, when not only our exports must cease, but also we shall not even have enough for home consumption. Think what such a shortage would mean, and then ask yourself how it can be prevented. There is but one way—by forestry. The term forestry has a very indistinct meaning to the greater part of the American public. Many of the people think that it Is something new on the continent because it has been treated systematically and scientifically only within the past few years. However, they are mistaken, for forestry in this country is not new, it is as old as our human life. It does not have to be in- troduced into the United States, but rather its methods must be reformed. In the beginning, let us have a clear under- standing of what forestry is. “It is not the science or natural history of woodlands nor the science of preserving wood- lands, nor the science of planting trees. It is a combination of these three arts;” it is the art of managing and utilizing for- ests for the greater benefit of all the people concerned, both at present and in the future, and its only end is usefulness. Its principles are the same in every country and are based on nat- ural laws, which are at work everywhere and at all times. Thus, the original part of the whole subject is largely the problem of how to apply these laws to fit the local needs. We turned to it about a score of years ago and have made great progress, thanks to the lessons which we have drawn from the experience of European countries. All countries no matter what their differences in size, climate, population, or industries, have turned to forestry at some period of their development, and it is a curious fact, that with but one exception—England the more advanced nations have arrived first at the necessity of its use and proceeded far- ther in its science. It is practiced with beneficial results in all the countries of the world except China. Until recently our own country ranked nearly with China in this respect, and it THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 75 still lags behind the progressive modern nations in all that re- lates to the protection, preservation and conservative use of the forests. Perhaps the scientific treatment of forestry has reached its highest development in Germany where the problem of in- creasing not only the forest output but also the profits has been solved. The timber lands of Germany are three times better in quality today than before forestry was introduced. In France, the foresters have begun to create the difficult art of controlling the floods of mountain currents, by planting trees. That they have not finished their work is proved by the dis- astrous floods of the past spring, which are said to have arisen from the deforested areas. They have also removed the danger of wandering sand dunes by fixing them in place, by means of huge forests of pine, thus creating a property worth millions. The advance of forestry, and the method's of forestry in the republic of Switzerland are well worth our attention and imi- tation, for they have developed a wonderful type of govern- ment forest policy and demonstrated, beyond contradiction, the great yield in wood and money that forestry may bring :f applied steadily for a number of years. And so the strides which forestry has been taking abroad could be exemplified in all the European countries. In Australia, Italy, Norway, and Sweden, it is well established as part of the national govern- ment. Turkey, Greece, Spain and Portugal give attention to their forests, while England, though she devotes little time to the problems of forestry in her own country, has made great progress in Canada, the Cape of Good Hope and British In- dia. Indeed, in the last country in a little over thirty years, she has created a service of wonderful merit and achievments. What lessons can we learn fiom the success forestry has at- tained abroad? Briefly these first, that forestry pays and pays best where expense is not spared; second, that since it takes so long to repair forest waste, immediate action is ne- 76 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST cessary. Third, that private initiative is not sufficient to pre- vent wastefulness, that the Government must interest itself in forestry and forestry reforms, and fourth, that the prospects for forestry in the United States are remarkably bright. We know success may be attained, because we have no ancient for- est rights or property questions to settle, because we have the experience—bitter in some cases—of other countries to guide us and because our forests have no equal in variety and value in the world. Are we then going to neglect these golden opportunities or have we begun to take advantage of them? [TO BE CONCLUDED. | DAME’s VioLet.—Those who are familiar with the hand- some cruciferous plant known as dame’s violet (Hesperis) may have wondered how a plant so very cress-like in appearance could ever have been called a violet. The origin of this com- mon name lies very far back in the history of plants. It was given to the plant at a time when flowers were not clearly dis- tinguished and when they were all classed as roses, lilies, violets and the like. At the present day we are familiar with the fact that many plants popularly called lilies are not really so, and the same is true of roses. The word, violet once stood for a certain type of flower and the looseness with which it was ap- plied is seen in such names as dog-tooth violet and dame’s violet. The generic name, Epilobium, means violet on a pod and must have been given through some such ancient concep- tion of a violet as we have indicated since it is not violet-like from a modern viewpoint. The color violet seems to have been named after the word violet had been restricted to the plants which now bear it. In the older view there is nothing incogruous in the term yellow violet. NOTE AND COMMENT WanteEp.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible Hs we a oth oF COS May, August and Nov emiber. sivas fee —Ordinary plants absorb on from the soil by means of their root-hairs—slender one-celled out- growths from the region near the tip of the root. So nearly universal is this that many people are under the impression that all plants possess such structures. As a matter of fact most water plants lack root hairs and even some land plants such as some of the cone-bearers are without them. These lat- ter are usually plants whose above-ground parts do not evapo- rate moisture rapidly. Many plants which normally produce root hairs, do not develop them if grown in water, but this is not true of all land plants and even some species that normally grow in water always bear root hairs. FLOWERING OF WISTERIA.—There seems to be consider- able difference in the flowering qualities of different Wisteria plants. Some produce an abundance of blooms while others treated equally well fail to respond with flowers. Mr. Elwyn Waller reports an old German gardener as saying that plants made from layers or suckers of this vine will not flower, but that flowering plants must come from seed, and asks for an opinion. It is, however, unlikely that any hard and fast rule can be laid down. In general the rules that apply to other plants would be applicable here. Any plant growing in rica soil is likely to be less fruitful than when growing in poorer 77 78 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST ground. Moreover, a cutting taken from an old plant ought to bloom sooner than a similar plant from seed. The horticultur- ist sometimes hastens the fruiting of a young tree by grafting a twig from some older tree upon it. It would seem, then, that a layer from Wisteria should bloom sooner than a seed- ling, but that the position in which it grows has considerable effect. FERTILITY OF THE SoIL.—At first glance the fertility of the soil does not seem to lie in the province of the botanist, but the further investigation is pushed in this direction, the more does it appear to be entirely botanical notwithstanding all the fertilizers that the farmers still considers essential. There are certain chemical elements necessary to any fertile soil, to be sure, but given these no crops will grow without nitrates or nitrogen in some form and since nitrogen does not exist natur- ally in the soil, the supply must result from the action of bac- teria. There is a large class of plants known as legumes, of which the pea and bean are examples, which have formed part- nerships with certain bacteria able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, but the nitrogen used by other plants comes from the oxida- tion of ammonia and other organic compounds of nitrogen ad- ded to the soil. This oxidation is caused by bacteria, which, most people do not need to be told, are plants. But even these atoms have their enemies which must be overcome before they can do their best work. It has recently been discovered that there are immense numbers of one-celled, microscopic animals known as protozoa in the soil and these spend their time de- vouring the helpful bacteria. The problem is to make away with these harmful protozoa. Experiment has proven that this can be accomplished by baking the soil, pouring boiling water upon it, or even by treating it with chloroform or car- bon disulphide. Most of the protozoa are killed by these pro- cesses and large numbers of the bacteria also, but the latter soon increase again and then number seven or eight times as THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 79 many as at first. Thus is another practice of the cultivator placed on a foundation of scientific fact. It has long been known that soil may be rendered fertile by heating, but the reason has only just come to light. Parasitic PLants.—According to Dr. D. T. McDougal, nearly twenty-five hundred species of parasitic seed-plants are known and if it were possible to discover all the species that are partial parasites feeding on the roots of other plants below ground it is certain that the total would be much larger. Among the changes that take place in a plant when it becomes even a partial parasite are a lack of differentiation of the tissues even in the seed and embryo, a lessened development of the shoot and root, a reduction of the leaf surface and dimin- ished production of chlorophyll. If with the parasitic plants we include those which form partnerships with various fungi, and so are not entirely independent, the group would comprise about half of all the flowering plants in the world. Funct NAMED FrRrEeE.—Most wanderers through the au- tumn woods constantly come upon strange forms of fungi clustered on decaying logs, projecting shelf-like from dead and decayed trees or springing from the old leaves on the forest floor. Most of these make good specimens by simply drying in some sheltered place and now that flowers are fast disap- pearing, form good subjects for further study. It is seldom that the novice in such studies can find a scientist willing to carefully identify even the commonest species, but such a for- tuitous condition exists with reference to this group. All that is necessary is to collect several good specimens of each kind, dry them and after retaining a good specimen of each, send the test to C. G. Lloyd, 309 West Court Street, Cincinnati. Give each specimen a number and Mr. Lloyd will report the name of each by return mail. Do not send toadstools; only woody fungi. 80 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST ABNORMAL NELUMBO STAMEN.—We have received from Mr. Wm. Bembower, an abnormal stamen of the yellow lotus (Nelumbo lutea) which he found while examining some flowers of this species recently. In this, the anther, instead of being tipped with a curved projection as is usual ends in two rounded lobes. Whether this is an abortive attempt at a petal, or whether it is simply a slip in stamen making it would be hard to say. In the closely ailied white water lily and yellow pond lily transition forms of stamens are numerous and it is likely that the specimen under discussion has a similar his- tory. In the breeding of double flowers by the gardner, some slight abnormality of this kind is selected and by careful handling may produce the desired form. THE Catrop IN Ivtinois.—During the first week in September the editor found several specimens of the caltrop (Tribulus terrestris) on a railway embankment that borders the Desplaines river at Joliet. This appears to be a very rare plant in America. It is a native of the Old World and only during the last half century has it been known in this country. It was first found on ballast ground near the sea-coast, and later appeared in Nebraska, whither it had evidently been car- ried in some immigrant’s baggage. A few years ago it was reported from Illinois, probably at Chicago, though the exact station does not seem to be known. The Joliet locality is the third inland station thus far known for the plant. Although it is to be regarded as a mere weed, considerable interest at- taches to the plant from the form of its fruits. Each section of the five-parted fruit ends in two spreading points, and when one of the segments fails to develop, as is frequently the case, the resemblance to a maltese cross is very striking. Those who named the plant, however, were impressed by its resem- blance to other and less pleasant objects. Its common name of caltrop refers to those ingenious implements of warfare of the same name, said to have been invented by the Romans, THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 81 which were so arranged that no matter how thrown on the ground one or more spikes projected upward to bother pursu- ing horsemen when an army was in retreat. The Latin name for this implement was tribulus which suggests some of the tribulation it must have caused and has appropriately been taken as the name of the genus. A further and better illustra- tion of the use of the name, tribulus, is found in the specific name for the sand bur (Cenchrus tribuloides). The well- known fruit of this species is a miniature tribulus and to this day bothers the barefoot boy much more than the contrivance for which it was named ever could have troubled the tribes which warred on Rome. DouBLeE SUNFLOWERS.—Two separate and distinct ideas are embodied in our conception of double flowers. In the commoner instance a double flower contains more than the us- ual number of petals due either to the transformation of sta- mens or of some other part, or to the splitting of the initial mass of cells designed to become a petal. It would, however, be just as rational to call a flower with more than the usual number of stamens a double flower, the point is that some or- gan of the flower has been multiplied. This however, is not true of the second phase of what we call doubling and which is well illustrated by double daisies, double sunflowers and the like. Here no additional parts are found. Such doubling con- sists simply in a more luxuriant development of some of the corollas in the flower head. The flowers mentioned all have ligulate corollas in the outer circles and our doubling is simply due to the fact that more of the regular corollas have become irregular and ligulate. If this is really doubling, the dandelion is one of the best naturally double “flowers” we have. The cause of the increase and change in the corollas of composite flowers is not easy to discover. The parent of the well-known garden plant “‘golden glow” grows along thousands of miles of streams and in countless swamps, and shows little tendency to 82 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST vary. Suddenly, however, one plant sported and an apprecia- tive cultivator spied it and the garden plant was the result. Double flowers in this sense are found in nearly all the culti- vated composites. The tendency to “double” seems to be very strong in the wild sunflowers. After a year or so of cultiva- tion one begins to find many half double and double specimens. In the editor’s garden a number of these forms have occurred the past season and we look forward to another summer with some curiosity as to what may be expected from them. Birps AND BerrigEs.—lIf asked to name the shrub upon whose berries the greatest number of birds feed, one would scarcely think of mentioning the elder (Sambucus) and yet, ac- cording to the last year book of the Department of Agricul- ture, no less than sixty-seven different species of birds are known to eat the fruits of this plant. Raspberries come next with 60 species of bird visitors and then come mulberries, dog- woods, sumachs, wild cherries and blueberries. That such fruits should form the principal diet of frugiverous birds is not surprising but we who have tasted many of the other fruits listed on the birds’ bill of fare can be sure that the opinions of man and bird as to what is palatable do not coincide for we find among other fruits eaten china berries (Melia), buckthorn (Rhamus), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos), Christmas berry (Heteromeles), pepper tree (Schinus), snow berry (Sym- phoricarpos), sour gum (Nyssa), holly (/ler), spicebush (Benzoin), juniper (Juniperus), Virginia creeper (Ampelop- sis) and pokeberries (Phytolacca). This information 1s brought out in an article on plants useful to attract the birds. There are lists of the most desirable plants for this purpose for different parts of the country. Those who have extensive grounds and wish to attract the birds should be able, by proper selection of shrubs and trees to be surrounded by birds with- out lessening in any way the appearance of the decorative planting. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST §3 LecumMEs.—The words iegume and leguminosae have very definite meanings in our day, but at the time that the present meanings were crystallizing about the words it might have been quite proper to call an apple or a gooseberry a legume. The word is from the Latin /egere meaning to gather and was long ago applied to various cultivated plants whose fruit was gathered, to distinguish them from those others which were cut down and the desired parts beaten out. Wheat and barley were of course not legumes, because the fruits were not gathered by hand, but beans, peas, lupines and the like, which were taken from the plants in the field, were known by this term. It is doubtless due to the fact that plants with pods predominated in the gathered crops, that the word le- gume has at last come to stand only for plants bearing pods, and to give the name to one of the most useful and handsome of plant families. CONTENTS OF SEEDS.—A seed is sometimes defined as a young plant enclosed in a hard outer covering often with more or less albumen or food. For most plants this definition would hold good. In the common bean, for example, we find at maturity a slender axis, which is destined to be the beginning stem, to which are attached one or more cotyledons and other rudimentary leaves. But this is not always the case. In some plants, such as many Ranunculaceae, when the seeds are ripe, that is, when they are ready to fall from the plant, the plantlet that should be within is represented merely by a mass of undifferentiated cells, and in other plants there are all gra- dations of this up to complete embryos. In those seeds in which the embryo is not well developed, when the seed 1s ripe, the young plantlet continues to develop while the seed is dor- mant. One of the extreme cases is found in the maidenhair tree or ginkgo where the fertilization necessary to begin the embryo plant does not take place until the seed has fallen from 84 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST the parent tree. It is well-known that many seeds will not grow as soon as they are “ripe,” and the facts noted above no doubt account for it. A CHANGEABLE PHLOX.—The editor has had growing in his grounds, the past summer, a specimen of phlox possessing the peculiarity of changing color according to the hour of the day. In the early morning and at sunset, it is bluish purple and at mid-day it 1s a decided pink. This is a real color change and not due to the amount of light. There are many species of flowers known that change color as the age of the bloom changes, such as the white trilltum which turns rose colored as it begins to wane, but flowers are rare that change back to the original color again after the first change is made. The behavior of the phlox mentioned is such as to suggest the action of litmus paper when transferred from an acid to an alkaline medium. Possibly the changes in the flowers may be explained in much the same way. Many plants with pink buds open blue flowers due to the fact that the sap of the buds is acid and that of the flowers is alkaline. It is likely that the activities of our phlox may change the nature of the sap in some way from hour to hour and thus cause the change in color. JAPANESE AIR PLantT.— -During the winter one may often find in the florist’s shops certain bright green feathery sprays that are very fern-like or moss-like in appearance and go by the name of Japansese air plants or air ferns. Investi- gation shows, however, that instead of being either ferns or mosses, they do not even belong to the plant kingdom. They are really colonies of sertularian hydroids—small sea animals allied to the corals and jelly fishes—which, like the corals, build up a common structure to which the individual members are attached. There area great many different species of these hydroids in the shallow places near the seashore and they are THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 85 often washed up by the waves and gathered as sea weeds by the uninitiated. It has sometimes been reported that the Japanese air plant is a sea-weed of the genus Demarestia, but it is certain that the bulk, if not all, of the specimens offered for sale are not sea-weeds. Possibly a variety of sea products are used in this way. The specimens are dried and then dyed a bright green, and of course do not grow, though many peo- ple will be found to assert that they do. We are indebted to Dr. E. F. Bigelow, for the identity of the specimens. CHEMICALS EXCRETED BY PLANTS,—Since plants cannot select the minerals composing the soils in which they grow, 1t must often happen that there enters the plant along with more useful substances, a number of useless or even harmful minerals. Or it may be that the plant, in forming some neces- sary product, will have left over as a by-product, more or less chemical matters that must be disposed of. These are taken care of in various ways. Sometimes they are formed into crystals and stowed away in the cells of the leaf, or they may be isolated in the bark, the wood or in the latex of the plant. Some few plants have the factilty of excreting some of these substances which may be found as incrustations on the surface of the leaves. Various species of the sword fern (Nephro- lepis) excrete lime at the tips of the veins, and A. B. Klugh reports in Rhodora the excretion of salt by a salt meadow grass—Spartina glabra alterniflora. Whether such excre- tions are of benefit to the plants is still a question. Some botanists are of the opinion that they may aid the plant in se- curing water from the air under certain conditions. ee) (ae ee oy SemOoOL BOTANY PRACTICAL Botany.—The matter of botanical instruc- tion in all schools is to a large extent a matter of fashion, and the fashion is usually set by the larger universities where no at- tempt is made to give botany an industrial trend. There has been developed a splendid lot of texts on morphology, em- bryology, systematic botany, physiology, etc., but none of this material has been presented in its agricultural bearing, and consequently the field of botany in agriculture has not been clear. At the present time it has neither direction nor agres- siveness. What we really need to work on is the science of the breeder’s art and the science of the gardener’s art. At present the art is far in advance of the science. In fields where the agriculture art was not highly developed—notably pathology and bacteriology—the botanist has accomplished great things. If we pursue agriculture or ary phase of it without devoting our science to it we can become at most expert farmers. By devoting our science to agriculture and having faith in its potency no man can fortell ‘he outcome—C. V. Piper in Science. Stortnc Facts.—Go to the nearest printer or paper dealer and get a supply of manilla slips cut somewhat smaller than a postal card. Place these where they wil be readily ac- cessible when you are reading and when you chance upon a fact that may later be useful to you jot it down then and there. Give the note a title on the top line that shall indicate its con- tents, add at the bottom the title and page of the volume or magazine from which it was taken and file away for future 86 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 87 reference. When any subject comes up, upon which you want the latest facts run through your notes and you have them. Cards are better than a note-book for the reason that they can be sorted out into subjects at five minutes notice. Those who desire a more elaborate system can get ruled index cards at the nearest book store, but the manilla cards are quite good enough. No teacher is so well informed that he can afford to stop acquiring information about his special subjects, nor can he depend upon his memory to retain everything of value he reads. Hicu Scunoot Text-Booxs.—A second evidence of our confidence in systems is found in the easy insouciance with which university professors proceed to write text-books for high schools. The only qualification the most of them have therefor is a knowledge of their subject, and they seem to re- gard any personal acquaintance with the peculiarities of young people and with the special conditions of high school work as comparatively negligible. In consequence, these books are necessarily addressed to some kind of idealized student, us- ually a bright-eyed individual thirsting for knowledge. This kind does exist but in minority, whereas the real student with which the high school must deal is one of a great mass willing to learn if it must. Confirmation of the correctness of my view that knowledge of students is as important as knowledge of the subject for the writing of a high school book is found in the fact that the author of the botanical text-books, most widely used in the high schools of this country has had only a high school experience. Another phase of our belief in the suff- ciency of systems is found in the utterly impracticable char- acter of many of our books. These recommendations have obviously been worked out in the comfort of the study chair and have never been actually tested in use by their suggestors ; 88 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST yet they are presented in a way to make the student feel that he is either negligent or stupid if he fails to work them. These theoretically constructed schemes for elementary teach- ing and these recommendations of untried and impracticable tasks for students sometimes run riot in company with sweep- ing denunciations of our present laboratory courses and sug- gestions for their replacement by hypothetical field courses utterly regardless of the fact that the former, whatever their faults, have been evolved in actual administrative adaptation to the real conditions of elementary work while the proposed substitutes are wholly untried and in the light of existing con- ditions wholly impracticable-—Prof. W. F. Ganong, in Science. KEY TO THE POLYPETALOUS DICOTYLEDONES.* 1 Shrubs, trees or woody vines. (2). 2 Stamens more than twice the number of petals (3). a) 3 Leaves opposite (4). 4 Stamens on the receptacle Hypericaceae. (G. 571. B. 624) 4 Stamens on the calyx Ovaries several, distinct, enclosed Calycanthaceae. (G. 409. B. 435) Ovaries compound Free from the calyx Lythraceae. (G. 591. B. 648) Adherent to the calyx Saxifragaceae. (G. 444. B. 484) 3 Leaves alternate. (5). 5 Stamens on the calyx tube Fleshy plants Cactaceae. (G. 588. B. 643) Plants not fleshy Rosaceae. (G. 454. B. 490) 5 Stamens on the receptacle (6) 6 Petals convolute in bud Malvaceae. (G. 566. B. 617) 6 Petals imbricate or valvate in bud (7) 7 Ovaries compound Sepals valvate; flowers small Tiliaceae. (G. 565. B. 616) Sepals imbricate; flowers large Ternstromiaceae. (G. 570. B. 523) 7 Ovary or ovaries distinct and simple Petals six, valvate in bud Anonaceae. (G. 410. B. 410) Petals, three to nine, imbricate Climbing vines Menispermaceae. (G. 410. B. 4384) Trees or shrubs Leaves simple Magnoliaceae. (G. 408. B. 409) Leaves pinnate Mimosaceae. (G. 500. B. 527) *The numbers in parenthesis refer to the pages in Gray’s and Britton’s Manuals re- spectively. For keys to other groups, see earlier issues. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST tamens not more than twice the number of petals (8) 8 Carpels one or more, distinct Carpels 2 to 6 Climbing vine Menispermaceae. Tree; leaves pinnate Simarubaceae. Carpels one Flowers six parted Berberidaceae. Flower five parted Leguminosae. 8 Carpels united. (9) 9 Adherent to the calyx (10) 10 Flowers four-parted Stamens eight Onagraceae. Stamens four Cornaceae. 10 Flower five-parted Carpels five, styles five Araliaceae. Carpels two Leaves palmately veined Grossulariaceae. Leaves pinnately veined Saxifragaceae. 9 Ovary free from the calyx or nearly so (11) 11 Stamens opposite the petals and of same number Leaves opposite. Plants with tendrils Vitaceae. Leaves alternate. No tendrils Rhamnaceae. 11 Stamens alternate with petals or different in number (12) 12 Leaves opposite (18) 13 Carpels one or two Style one Oleaceae. Styles two Aceraceae. 13 Carpels three to five Leaves simple Celastraceae. Leaves pinnate Fruit not inflated Sapindaceae. Fruit inflated Staphyleaceae. 12 Leaves alternate (14) 14 Compound Ovary one-seeded Anacardiaceae. Ovary more than one-seeded Ovary three-seeded Sapindaceae. Ovary two-seeded Rutaceae. 14 Simple (15) 15 Fruit drupe-like One-seeded Anacardiaceae. Four to six-seeded Aquifoliaceae. 15 Fruit dry Seeds with an aril Celastraceae. Seeds not arilled Ovary two-celled, two seeded Hamamelidaceae. Ovary three-celled, many seeds Ericaceae. (G: (G, (G. (G. (G. (G, (G. (G. (G. (G. (G. (G, i (G. 5 (G, (G. (G, (G, 410. 538. 411. 500. 623. 89 . 434) 582) 432) 528) 651) 689) 667) 486) 484) 613) 611) 723) 607) . 605) . 609) . 606) 599) 609 ) 581) 599) 602) 605) . 488) 692) 90 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 1 Herbaceous plants (16) 16 Leaves opposite (17) 17 Stamens more than twice the number of petals Pistils many, distinct, simple Ranunculaceae. (G. 392. Pistils three to five somewhat united Hypericaceae. (G. 570. 17 Stamens not more than twice the number of petals (18) 18 Pistils one or several separate, simple Pistils one, petals six to nine Berberidaceae. (G, 411. Pistils more than one Pistils two; juice milky Asclepiadaceae. (G. 668. Pistils three or more Crassulaceae. (G. 441. 18 Pistils united (19) 19 Ovary adherent to the calyx (20) 20 Carpels as many as sepals Anthers opening down the side Onagraceae. (G. 594. Anthers opening at apex Melastomaceae. (G. 593. 20 Carpels fewer than sepals Ovary many seeded; styles two Saxifragaceae. (G. 444. Ovary one-seeded Styles two or three Araliaceae. (G. 605. Style one Cornaceae. (G. 623. 19 Ovary free from the calyx (21) 21 Stamens as many as petals and opposite them Style and stigma, one Primulaceae. (G. 6438. Style one; stigma three-cleft Portulacaceae. (G. 387. 21 Stamens alternate or of different number from petals (22 22 Leaves toothed or lobed Flowers four-parted; stamens six Cruciferae. (G. 418. Flowers five-parted; stamens ten Geraniaceae. (G. 534. 22 Leaves entire Petals and stamens on the calyx Lythraceae. (G. 591. Petals and stamens on the receptacle Flowers irregular Polygalaceae. (G. 538. Flowers regular Two or three-parted Flatinaceae. (G. 575. Five-parted Leaves dotted Hypericaceae. (G. 392 Leaves without dots Caryophyllaceae. (G. 377 16 Leaves alternate or plants acaulescent (23 23 Stamens more than twice the number of petals (24) 24 Stamens on the receptacle (25) 25 Carpels several, distinct or united at base only Leaves not peltate Ranunculaceae. (G. 392. Some or all of the leaves peltate Nymphaceae. (G. 389. 25 Carpls united (26) 26 Petals numerous, sepals four to six Nymphaceae. (G. 389. 26 Petals four to eight (27) 27 Petals five only Convolute in bud; sepals five unequal Cistaceae. (G. 576. Imbricate in bud Sepals five, leaves tubular Sarraceniaceae. (G. 439. Sepals two Portulacaceae. (G. 387. =) 11) 624) 432) . 740) . 473) . 651) . 650) . 484) . 667) . 689) . 713) . 384) . 443) 572) . 648) 582) . 629) » SL) 387) . 411) . 406) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 91 27 Petals four, six or eight Flowers borne singly Papaveraceae. (G. 414. B. 487) Flowers in racemes and spikes Resedaceae. (G. 439. B. 469) 24 Stamens not on the receptacle On the corolla, stamens forming a tube Malvaceae. (G. 566. B. 617) On the calyx Sepals two Portulacaceae. (G. 387. B. 384) Sepals three to five Petals imbricated; fruit simple Rosaceae. (G. 454. B. 490) Petals convolute; fruit compressed Loasaceae. (G. 588. B. 641) 23 Stamens not more than twice the number of petals (28) 28 Ovary adherent to the calyx (29) 29 Style one, carpels two to six Onagraceae. (G. 594. B. 651) 29 Styles more than one Styles two Carpels two; seeds several Saxifragaceae. (G. 444. B. 476) Carpels two, seeds two Umbelliferae. (G. 607. B. 669) Styles three to five or more. Ovary one-celled, sepals two Portulacaceae. (G. 387. B. 384) Ovary three to five celled. Sepals five. Araliaceae.(G. 605. B. 667) 28 Ovary free from the calyx (30) 30 Pistils simple, distinct Five or more Stamens once or twice the number of petals Crassulaceae. (G. 441. B. 473) Stamens more numerous Ranunculaceae. (G. 392. B. 411) Pistils one only. Stamens united into a tube Leguminosae. (G. 500. B. 582) Stamens not united Stamens five Violaceae. (G. 579. B. 633) Stamens more than five Once or twice the number of petals Berberidaceae. (G. 411. B. 432) More numerous Ranunculaceae. (G. 392. B. 411) 30 Pistil compound Four or five-celled Juice sour @xalidaceaen (G. 552) Bs bt) Juice not sour Linaceae. (G. 532. B. 578) Less than four-celled. Two-celled. Stamens six, tetradynamous Cruciferae.(G. 418. B. 443) Stamens four te eight, equal. Polygalaceae(G. 538. B. 582) One-celled. Stamens four to thirty-two, separate. Capparadaceae. (G. 488. B. 467) Stamens six or less. Stamens six, diadelphous Fumariaceae. G. 416. B. 437) Stamens five; styles38to5 Droseraceae. (G. 440. B. 470) It seems about time that botanists in general were again stirred up regarding contributing to this magazine. It is sur- prising what a lot of good people there are who think that the only article worth reading is some extended affair that takes up half the pages of the publication. They estimate the worth of an article strictly according to its length, but it would be just as logical to value our friends in the same way. We have no objection to longer articles when they bear upon subjects in which we are interested, but at this time we wish to make a plea for the less extended items. Some time ago, we endeavor- ed to ascertain the views of our readers in regard to the most desirable kind of article to print, and the replies were over- Whelmingly in favor of the short notes. Not a few people, however, seem to have a vague idea that such notes are some- how beneath their dignity, but this idea may be dismissed. There is doubtless not a reader of this magazine who, in the course of a single summer, does not see many things worthy of record. Anything about plants that 1s of enough interest to mention to your friends would certainly interest a larger audience. We are well aware that the field occupied by this magazine is a peculiar one, and that students of the topics it treats of are none too abundant, but this phase of botany is most vigorous at present and bids fair to be very prominent in future, and we hope to bring out more observations along these lines. To thoroughly enjoy economic and_ ecological botany requires a considerable knowledge of plants in the field and as a result our readers are all thoughtful, well-in- formed people—a class from which we ought to expect a large number of such observations as we have indicated. Now that the long evenings indoors are at hand, we hope to find a large increase in such communications. 92 BOOKS AND WRITERS. Upwards of a hundred mushrooms, puffballs and the like are treated in the “Guide to Mushrooms” by Emma L. Taylor Cole, published by Doubleday, Page & Co. As a collection of careful descriptions of mushroom species, the book has much in it to recommend, but as a guide for the inexperienced we fear the book is likely to be a flat failure. There is no key of any kind, and though the species treated are the more familiar kinds, there are so many others that resemble them that the beginner is never likely to feel certain and if he does, a fairly long list of deadly poisonous species lie in wait for the over confident. We advise beginners not to place too much de- pendence upon this guide. The book, however, is a handy little volume easily carried into the field. It is illustrated with four colored plates and many photographs, scarcely a page of text being without its illustration. In addition to accurate descriptions, the edible or poisonous qualities are discussed and the habitats of the plants given. Notes are also included on collecting and cooking the various species. The price of the book is $1.00 met. We have heard a good deal in recent years, about popu- lar handbooks of the wildflowers but most of them have turned out to be pre-digested scientific treatises designed for the popular taste. Now at last comes a really popular book—one that is written from the public’s view-point, at least—though whether it will be any more popular than the others remains to be seen. In “Wildflowers East of the Rockies’ by Chester A. Reed we have a volume that does not even pretend to de- scribe the plants in scientific jargon. The descriptions are such as we might expect from the farmer or man of affairs who having found a strange plant mentions its noticeable features in order to have it named. And these descriptions really de- scribe, mentioning a hundred and one characteristics of the 93 94 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST plants that the strict botanist never indicates if indeed he knows them. Even the older student of plants may find much of interest in a perusal of its pages though familiar with the flowers it describes. The platits are arranged in the most modern sequence and the great majority are illustrated. The illustrations, however, are distinctly inferior to the text. For the most part they are correct as to outline but very faultily colored. Doubtless they are near enough to the likeness of the plants to aid in identification. There is but one key and this is based on color, and not very accurate withal. As the plants are not arranged according to color the beginner may find some difficulty in using it. It will do him no harm, how- ever, to read the book straight through. There are more than 400 16-mo. pages in the volume which is priced at $2.50 net. It is issued by Doubleday Page & Co., New York. Among the Russell Sage Foundation publications issued by the Charities Publication Committee of New York is a re- cent volume by Dr. M. Louise Greene entitled “Among School Gardens” that will interest all teachers who have garden mak- ing included in their list of subjects to be considered. It not only discusses school gardens in general, but gives directions for garden making that ought to be of service to the novice in this kind of work. A most stimulating part of the book is the account of what has been accomplished in school garden work throughout the United States and Canada. It is an en- couraging sign of the return to sanity in educational matters that the attention of the children is being directed to the world we live in and some familiarity with animals and plants sub- stituted for the overload of foreign languages under which most high school pupils are still staggering. The book abounds in illustrations of actual gardens and their happy owners and thus adds another inspiration to continue the good work. The book is sent postpaid for $1.25. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 95 Grace Tabor and Gardnes Teall say in the preface to their interesting little “Garden Primer’ that it is designed to set forth in the most direct form, but without technicalities the fundamental principles of amiateur gardening in America.” A look at the book shows that they have done even more; for they have set forth the facts in most charming form and made a book that will interest anyone beginning to garden. So far as we have discerned nothing of importance has been omitted that the gardener needs to know. A chapter is de- voted to each phrase of the subject and there are planting tables, spraying tables and a gardener’s kalendar wherein one finds hints regarding the work necessary each month. The book is illustrated by photographs and is published by Mc- Bride, Winston & Co., at $1.00. What Prof. L. H. Bailey has to say regarding matters horticultural is always of interest to a wide circle of readers both amateur and professional. For years “Garden Making” and the “Practical Garden Book” have served as standards for tillers of the soil, and now we have “‘A Manual of Gardening”’ which seems to be a combination of the two earlier works de- signed “‘as a practical guide io the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits and vegetables for home use.” The book has a certain familiar appearance about it due to the use of illustrations from the other books, and to a simi- larity of treatment in the text. As would be expected the author advocates the “natural” manner of planting the home grounds, and believes in the use of our own wild plants for decorations, though attention 1s also given to carpet bedding and other formal planting. The latter half of the book is de- voted to useful information regarding the growing of the plants in lawn garden and the house. The sensible and _ re- freshing way in which the author discusses each subject makes the reading attractive while the information conveyed 96 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST is that which every up-to-date gardner must possess. The book contains more than 500 pages and costs $2.00 net. It is published by Mac Muillan’s. “Agriculture Through the Laboratory and School Gar- den” by Jackson and Daugherty is not a new book, having appeared first in 1905 but that it continues to be a popular text for school courses in agriculture is attested by the appearance of a second edition recently. The book is logical in expecting the student to find out things for himself and carefully worked out directions for experiment are scattered plentifully through the book while the text discusses the subject in general. Ad- ded to the matter of a purely agricultural nature is consider- able material on milk and its care, farm animals, principles of feeding and the like. Following each chapter are references to other works bearing on the subjects. The book will be very useful to young teachers as it wastes no space in mere words. The experimental work will be most helpful. The book is pub- lished by the Orange Judd Company and costs $1.50. THe CULTIVATION OF FuNncr.—In America the only at- tempt at cultivating edible fungi seems to have been directed to- ward growing the familiar mushroom. In the Old World, however, more attention is given to growing other species. According to Scientific American the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is successfully propogated by grinding up ripe specimens with water into a paste which is spread on green hazel or oak leaves and buried in the oak forests. Similar re- sults attended the planting of the craterelle (Craterellus nu- cleatus). It would seem highly desirable that experiments be _ started in this country with a view to producing such fungi as the shaggy mane mushroom (Coprinus comatus) and various puff-balls, especially the giant puff-ball (Calvatia gigantea). The puff-balls keep well, are in good condition for a long time and afford a large amount of palatable food. OUR FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 338 pages. 225 illustrations, Eight colored plates. Contains the only il- lustrated key ever published, and a full account of all the ferns of ' Eastern America. The species can be identified by the illustrations, — alone. More copies of this book are sold annually than of any other, Price post paid, $2.15. . THE FERN ALLIES OF NORTH AMERICA, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 250 pages, 150 illustrations, eight colored plates. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in Their Haunts”, containing a full account of the scouring rushes, club-mosses, quillworts, selaginellas, water-ferns, etc., etc., in North America. Seven keys to the species. A check list with synonyms. The only book on the subject in the English language, Listed in the New York State Library list among The Best Books of 1905. Price post paid, $2.15, = SPECIAL OFFERS === - Hither volume and a year’s subscription to American Botanist.... $2.50 iy Either volume and a full set of Amezican Botanist, (16 volumes) ..10.00 ) ’ Both volumes to one address...............55 regu Ta A ONO Sa 4,00 - Both volumes and a year’s subscription to American Botanist..... 4.50 - Both volumes and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes)....11.50 rol Address all orders to . | WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Joliet, tinois — ‘ Methods in Moss Study a Price $1.25 aK ~. Of the several books which I have written, none appear to be better appreciated by the public than this little book on Mosses, which is intended as a _ text book for beginners. These very attractive ire plants may be found at all seasons, but there isno © better time than late winter and early spring. Send crore. ©.) Maynard - bal DESeNea _ 447 Crafts St. West Newton, Mass. Anyone seiding a sketch and Boe cnpeon may , : : quickly ascertiua our opinion Sree whether an invention is probably patentable. Communica. tions striciiy coniidential. HANDBOOK on Patents sent free. Oidest agency for securing patents. Patents taken through Munn & Co. recelve f ‘ ; The Bryologist special notice, withoay charge, inthe Nt . "The Bryologist begins its thirteenth |. Scientiii¢ Fumerisatt, 7 Ri Mos : as Bae / dsomely illuatrated weekly. Tiargest cir- year and volume with the January be gh le Gee Cn TA eh eh Y number. The Index to the first ten AANA aes Soid by all newsdealers, - ‘wolumes is now. ready, pri MUNN & Co,2¢*erostw=y, Hew York f t & i" if ’ volumes is now ready, price one dol Branch Onice, 6% ¥ St. Washiagton, D.C. 4G 60 YEARS’: EXPERIENCE TrRape MARKS | | DESIGNS. ay. ® ar, this is necessary for the best use Deore gears eh sane ce ene nessa sere eters tivo { of the journal, although each year has kas Pate dee, fe the Galy joiina! MOUNTED FERNS FOR SALE in English devotec exclusively to the mosses, hepatics and lichens, Send r a sample copy. Subscription one . - The undersigned offers several .— hundred well mounted California’ — and other ferns for sale. For) prices, address port i : DR. R. J. SMITH Milpitas, Santa Clara Co., California : ~ Laboratory Manual of Botany. | FOR ae HIGH SCHOOL ja) BY WILLARD NCLUTH 0 a The leading characteristics of this new and in many ways unique ighoratore): botany are (1) its presentation of a connected study of evolution in the plant — f world; (2) its method of thorough and suggestive direction for both teacher and. a pupil; (3) its concise yet adequate lists of questions for answer in notebooks © after actual field or laboratory investigation; (4) its clear and accurate outlines: : of the specific subjects. at In addition, it contains a glossary of difficult terms in each sentient a key for outdoor work with trees, outlines for a study of floral ecology, and tables iH of the principal families and larger groups of the plant world. PERS HG ts The practical value of the book is assured by the fact that it is written by a high-school teacher and has been used, in outline, for six years with RUA success in one of the largest high schools in the United States. It i is sbsolutely < fiexible and can be condensed or extended by individual hiasialuedd at oy Bens without detriment to the work. vi GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS Rea Rex Our >. Chicago London hia Atlanta Dallas Columbus San Francisco irate tag We are offering you at a very low price a new preparation showing clearlyin | thin cross sections the different parts of Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in- the DwDNt: oa if Preparation No. 1 shows the seeds before maturity. No. 2 a section through the fruit. : No. 3 several sections through the stem iene the rings, cells, ete. No. 4 section through point where leaves branch from stem. No. 5 a section through the entire bulb. ! ot The specimens are attached to a transparent glass plate placed within a beau- tiful clear cylinder of Bohemian glass. Neatly labeled and hermetically sealed with special cement. ‘The cap of the jar is evenly coated with smooth red wax, . giving the preparation an attractive finish. Height 13 inches. 4 Price complete as described above $4. 00° a P.G. HOWES : The Maplewood Biological Laboratory. | Stamford, Conn. he ea gaa St ae if / VOLUME 16 NUMBER 4 WHOLE NUMBER 87 -NOVEMBER, 1910 || BOTANIST CONTENTS SOME TREES OF THE CALIFORNIA DESERUG } oii se oe a en eo oe By Charles Francis Saunders, ot ECCENTRICITIES OF _DISTRIBU- TION - - - 100 By Dr. W. Ww. Bailey. THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES (Hee - - - 102 By Mary F. AS _ | NOTE AND COMMENT - - - 109 ESEHOOL BOTANY 04001 6). 447 | EDITORIAL - - - - = 192 ‘BOOKS AND WRITERS “TOUET, ILLINOIS Ghe American Botanist : A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BOTANY WILLARD N. CLUTE 333 EDITOR SP LP @ The subscription price of this magazine is 75c a year, payable in advance, {t will be sent a year and a half for $1.00 and two years for $1.25. Remit by — money order, bank-draft, stamps or registered letter. Personal checks must con- | tain collection fees. ¢ * WILLARD WN. CLUTE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 209 WHITLEY AVE., JOLIET, ILL, Entered as mail matter of the second class at the post office, Joliet, Ill. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. After this date this magazine will no longer be sent to those whose subscrip- _ tions have expired. This is done, partly to comply with postal regulations, and | ' partly to accommodate the few who do not annually renew. Any subscriber who ~ desires the magazine but who for any reason does not wish to send payment at ‘once, may send us notice to continue sending and pay at his leisure, WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. Here, then, is a ‘‘different’’ magazine of Outdoor Inspiration and a little monthly visitor of outdoor interest in New Hampshire—the Picturesque; Che Sketch Book of Nature and Outdoor Life Redolent of field and sky, bearing its message of the open air—of green fields, fern-filled woodlands and silent hills, stately trees and . wayside flowers, sketched in prose, poetry and iVustration, A quarter brings it to you on three months’ trial; try it, you will become interested. Get this monthly chart of the heart- beats of nature. There is ozone in every page, and pocket. It is finely printed and con- tains original drawings. Address, Arthur E. Vogel Publisher THE SKETCH BOOK Manchester, N. H. it nicely fits the OW TO SOUND BEACH, C. NNECTICUT Send $8.00 for ST. NICHOLAS to be _ _mailed one year to some boy or girl, : and THE GUIDE TO NATURE will opray FREE FREE susan THE GUIDE tO UN ATURE be sent one year free per following i combination offer: St Nicholas (one year) $3.00 For Young Folks The Guide to Nature 1.00 — For [len and Women $4.00 Both one year for only $3. 00 . Address and make all checks and money orders payable to Agassiz Association, Arcadia: Sound Beach, Conn. f Please write for particulars. we o_o LYaSAG SAVFOW “‘SVOONA AaaL ee ee Oe ae THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVI JOLIET, ILL., NOVEMBER, 1910 No. 4 “JI look along the dusty, dreary way, So lately strewn with blossoms, fresh and gay,— She sweet procession of the year is past, And withered, whirling leaves run rattling fast Like throngs of tatter 0 beggars, following Where late went by the pageant of a king.” —Kemble. SOME TREES OF THE CALIFORNIA DESERTS. By CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. 1G es of the paradoxes of life in Southern California is the fact that the finest firewood is obtained from the desert. This is mesquite, a superlatively good wood, the sticks often a foot or more in diameter—solid, honest fuel through and through, slow burning like lump coal and leaving very little ash. That it retails in Pasadena at $15 to $17 per cord is un- impeachable evidence of its worth. Few facts strike the visitor to the western rim of our con- tinent more forcibly than this fact that the desert produces any- thing of worth, and especially that trees grow upon it. Yet the tree lover finds very interesting material awaiting him on these arid stretches, which in California, are known as the Mojave and the Colorado Deserts. The latter, so-called be- cause the Colorado River skirts its eastern border, is the prin- cipal home of the mesquite within the state. This is a low, widely branching tree, sometimes half buried in drifting dunes, so that only the upper limbs and feathery foliage are visible. At times two or three old trees are found growing so 98 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST near one another that their branches intermingle and as these are armed with formidable thorns the result is a thicket as dangerous to flesh and clothing as a cactus jungle. The family relationship of the mesquite is with the peas and beans, a fact less evident from the rather inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers that appear in spring than from the bean-like seed pods with which the little trees are later abund- antly adorned. These pods contain a sweetish-sourish pulp when mature, but to the desert dweller their chief value is when they are dried. They then make a valuable fodder for horses and cattle, while the seeds themselves 1f ground make a nutri- tive meal for human food, as the older generation of Indians well knew. Of the same family but very different in appearance is the small tree Dalea spinosa. With thorny, almost leafless branches, it is likely to be passed by the traveler as dead or dy- ing, unless the time be early summer, when it presents a sight he is not likely to forget. It is then covered with myriads of purple pea-like blossoms all the more remarkable because of the hot, parched waste in which the tree grows. I seem to re- member having seen this desert denizen listed in some nursery- man’s catalogue, and it may be that it has been introduced into cultivation. It is certainly worthy of a place in any gar- den, though how it would grow under other conditions than those of its desert home, I do not know. Plants accustomed to the excessive dryness of the desert air will often start well in moister surroundings but are very subject to the attacks of scale and other insect pests. Other trees of this desert of southeastern California are the so-called desert willow (Chilopsis saligna) with a willow- like aspect and whitish mottled flowers like catalpa to which it is of kin, and the palo verde (Parkinsonia Torreyana). The latter, as the Spanish words of its name indicate, is indeed a green tree—green from base of trunk to tip of the highest THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 99 branch. Yet its leafage is inconspicuous, the verdant aspect being due to the greenness of the smooth bark which covers both trunk and limbs. The above mentioned trees grow very scatteringly about the desert, the individuals as a rule far separated from one another. There are, however, at least two other kinds of a more gregarious habit, forming groves of greater or less ex- tent. The more important of these is the stately California fan palm, of the botanical genus Washingtonia named in honor of our country’s first and most eminent president. It is widely cultivated both in southern Europe and in California where avenues are often lined with it and its “fronded heads” make a large element in the semi-tropic appearance of our Land of Sunshine. In the desert it is found in groves about alkaline springs, and is most abundant in or near the mouths of certain canons of the San Jacinto mountain along the desert’s west- ern edge. I have seen it there close to one hundred feet high, the green fan-like leaves clustered at the summit of the slender trunks, which are draped with the reflexed old leaves, hang- ing head downward and forming a protecting thatch or apron. Much less beautiful but quite as striking is appearance is the grotesque Joshua tree, an arborescent yucca of the Majave Desert. The Santa Fe Railroad’s California line passes through a scattered “forest” of these strange growths just east of the San Bernardino Sierra which separates the cast country from the desert. With shaggy, clumsy trunks, con- torted limbs and branches terminating in bunches of stilletto- like leaves bristling in all directions, they seem like trees of a nightmare. The best attain a height of fifteen or twenty feet and in their uncounth way are not unsymmetrical; but gener- ally the branches develop irregularly and present many fan- tastic shapes, such as tridents, rude crosses, columnar clubs, or writhing, upraised arms with clenched fists. The term Joshua tree as applied to this singular yucca, 100 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST dates, I believe, from the time of the Mormon occupation of the Great Basin, but I have never been able to ascertain the reason for it. Perhaps some reader of the American Botanist can throw light on the question. I have always heard it spoken of by the California desert people as “cactus,” but it is truly a yucca. To find a use for the trees, which are very abundant on the Mojave Desert, has long taxed the in- genuity of the inventive. An Englishman who thought he had solved the problem, once shipped a cargo of the trunks to Eng- land and had it made up into paper pulp, and I have read that an edition of a certain British journal was printed on the paper so made. It was not a satisfactory article,, however, and the venture was not repeated. At present there is a factory in Los Angeles which uses considerable of this yucca wood for the manufacture of such articles as surgeons’ splints, book covers, scrolls for wrapping the trunks of young nursery stock, etc: Pasadena, Calif. ECCENTRICITIES OF DISTRIBUTION. By Dr. W. W. BalILey. F, as often happens during the midsummer days, some one brings me for determination a specimen of “woad wax,” the broom (Genista tinctoria), it is my habit to inquire “when were you in Salem, Mass.,”’ or I may extend the inquiry to any part of Essex County. This very pretty legume yellows that whole region as the gorse does certain portions of Great Bri- tain. It has prevailed there very many years. But the ques- tion is, why there only? Why, in these days of rapid transit is it not carried far and wide. As a matter of fact it is not. I have seen stray specimens of it in Little Compton, R. I. and I think once in South Kingston, but why doesn’t it come down in full platoon front to Attleboro, Mansfield and Pawtucket? THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 101 Again, throughout Greater Boston, say in Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and Dorchester, the morning hours of summer are made gay with the splendid blue heads of chickory. It is characteristic of the region. Yet forty miles away, in Rhode Island, this vigorous plant is very local and when found is rarely in any quantity. Echwum vulgare, as far back as my early botanizing, pre- vailed as it still does, in vast abundance about the Fall River railroad tracks and the Wilkesbarre coal wharfs in East Provi- dence. In any other part of Rhode Island and adjacent Mas- sachusetts, it is rare. Yet, so far as we can see, there is no reason why it should not spread along the railway at least to Riverside. All we know is that it doesn’t. A furtive plant may now and then be seen there, and once I found a little patch of it, but this weed which is a curse, I am told, on Staten Is- land and elsewhere in the Middle States, is with the exception recorded above, a rarity. The parsley family, Umbelliferae, shows some queer tricks of distribution. In all Rhode Island, even to Block Island the wild carrot or Queen Anne’s lace is the prevailing weed, a lovely nuisance, everywhere. About Mt. Wachusett it is almost entirely replaced by caraway. Then if one extends his journey to Lebanon Springs, N. Y., he sees neither of these plants but in their place the common parsnip. Every place seems to call for an umbellifer in quantity, but each place as a rule exhibits a different one. There is something curious in these facts if philosophy could find them out. Somewhat similar facts are shown with the mints, Labiatae. In one place, as on Mt. Wachusetts catnip almost solely prevails; in another it is re- placed by motherwort. Both are foreign importations. These matters have long been in my mind but as yet I can offer no explanation of the phenomena. Providence, R. I. THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. By Mary F. Haccerty. (CONCLUDED) The first Government action, which bears any relation to forestry was taken in 1799, when Congress appropriated $200,000.00 for the purchase and preservation of timber lands to supply ship timber for the Navy. In 1822 it authorized the President to employ the Army and Navy to protect and pre- serve the live oak, and red cedar of the government in Florida. In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established and in 1873 Congress passed its Timber Culture Act which gave government land in treeless regions to whomsoever would plant one fourth of his claim with trees. The knowledge that the forests were being destroyed very rapidly, and the work of the different forest associations, which were being formed at this time, led to the passing of the first real forest bill in 1891, which repealed the Timber Culture Act, and authorized the President to reserve timber lands on the public domain. In the beginning this act was met by much just opposition, for though Congress had set apart the lands and their resources, it had made no provision for their use or protection. How- ever, this mistake was remedied in 1897, when a law was passed making it possible to use all the lands and give them suitable protection, and it was this act which created the na- tional forests, or forest reserves. Since 1900 these forests have been carefully surveyed and mapped, and additions are made to them yearly. The increase in 1908 being 17,142,941 acres and that in 1909 26,528,439 acres. The national forests of today consists of about 145,000,000 acres in the United States and 26,500,000 more in Alaska and Porto Rico. Men well trained in the employ of the forest service will, if offered a better position financially, leave the government employ and 102 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 103 work for individuals or corporations, and in this way, the gov- ernment is the means of sending out to all parts of the country, men well trained in forestry. Many people were and are greatly opposed to the national forests because they think they are injurious to the home seeker, to the miner, to the user of the range, to the user of water and to the tax-payer. Let us see if such is the case. Before a national forest is created, all agricultural land, as far as possible is excluded, but if there is any agricultural land so situated within the boundaries that it cannot be cut out, the homeseeker is at liberty to choose such of it as he wishes to apply for. Here, after the usual proceedings, he may spend the remainder of his life, providing he takes the land for a home only. The miner may stake out and develop claims just the same on the national forests as on the public domain, provided he does not take up claims merely for the timber on the land or for other purposes not connected with mining. The man who wishes timber for domestic use or for mining gets all he wishes for the asking, and the one who wishes it for commer- cial purposes may obtain it promptly and at a reasonable rate. There is no chance for a monopoly and the local demand is always supplied first. The government protects the range from being burnt, overcrowded and overgrazed, prevents dis- putes between owners of stock and sees that each owner gets the use of range to which he has the best right; the man having a few head of cattle gets his share of range as easily as the man with hundreds. The use of water is not affected in the least, because the appropriation of water is governed entirely by State and Territorial laws. The tax-payer, instead of being liable to heavier taxes is not so heavily burdened as if there were no forests in the country in which he lives, for they pay the county ten percent of all the receipts from sale of timber, etc., so that we are obliged to admit that instead of opposition, 104 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST there should be hearty co-operation between these citizens and the managers of the national forests. Instead of being an abuse to them, the national forests are of great use. But these are not the only people who are indebted to the Government for the creation and management of forest pre- serves. They are of great value to all the people. First, the management sees that though the wood is used, it is not used up. By wise use the timber is not only conserved but also a better quality of wood is secured by encouraging a new and better growth of all of the useful trees. Second, the forests, which are situated in regions of heavy rainfall are maintained chiefly to prevent the water from running off in de- structive floods, and in the arid regions of the Rockies, to make the best use of every drop of water. They also keep the range in excellent condition by barring out wild animals which would damage the range and by giving to each man his just share. Third, perhaps the greatest service of the national forests is the good use to which all the land is put by preventing monop- oly by corporations—the dangers of which need not be dis- cussed; by preventing or causing a decrease in fires, for since the fire patrol was started, less than one third of one percent of the total area of forests has been burned; by treating cut wood with preservatives to keep it from decaying—67,000,000 gal- lons of creosote and zinc chloride being used for this purpose in 1909; by serving as recreation grounds for a large number of people of the west, and by keeping the game more abundant. The forest officers are in many cases appointed as game wardens in their respective forests. Considering these uses for the briefest period we must acknowledge their value and the necessity of their good management. Let us take a general survey of the management of these forests. Beginning with the guards, we discover that they are men doing summer woork only, to assist in preventing fires and THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 105 $720.00 to $900.00 a year. Next above the guards are the rangers or men who carry out the work on the ground. They have to take care of themselves and their horses under very trying conditions, such as building trails and cabins, and often have to ride all day and night. In addition they must be fa- miliar with lumbering, the sawmill, the handling of live stock, mining and the land-laws. Rangers must have vigorous con- stitutions and be in perfect health. They are paid from $900.00 to $1500.00 a year and are directly under the nearest supervisor who has charge of a national forest and who, there- fore, has a very responsible position, since he manages a pub- lic estate worth millions of dollars. He must have a good knowledge of timber, and lumbering, the live stock industry, land laws and office work but above all he must be able to deal with all classes of men. The majority of supervisors are pro- fessional foresters. They receive a salary of from $1500.00 to $3000.00 a year. Both rangers and supervisors are ap- pointed only after passing civil service examinations and none but competent men, who are able to withstand the hardships of such a position are appointed. Though forestry is not a pay- ing profession, financially, the men who choose it rarely regret the choice, partly because it is wholesome and partly because it is pioneer work. Above guards, rangers, and supervisors is the forest service at Washington, whose work is distributed in districts directly under the Forester and Associate Forester at the Capital. Thus far in this discussion, no attention has been given to any action on the part of the States, in relation to the forestry problem, which might lead one to think that little or nothing has been or is being done by State authorities. However, such is not the case, and to show that the States are and have been interested in this problem, we shall direct our attention first to the declaration of Governors for the conservation of natural 106 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST resources. A committee of five Governors was appointed by a conference of Governors from all the States, which met at the White House in May 1908, to prepare and submit an article relating to our natural resources. The declaration as drawn up by the committee and unanimously accepted by the governors is lengthy but the main clause in it is, “Let us con- serve the foundations of our prosperity.” And what are these foundations, if not our forests and their products? The lines along which the States have been acting are the passing of laws to protect the forests from trespass and fire, and the establish- ment and the promotion by various means of State Forests. The State Laws encourage forestry may be classed under two heads; first those creating forest commissions and state for- esters; and second, those offering inducements to plant forest trees or to maintain forests. The latter have been unsuccess- ful in most cases, and as they were poorly framed were de- clared unconstitutional. At present, the area of the state for- est reserves amounts to 2,999,440 acres with New York in the lead and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin closely following. The States are aided greatly by the forest service, which co-operates with them in making examinations and in outlining policies for their protection and proper use. There are now thirty-six men holding official state positions as foresters, and there are thirty-three state organizations each doing its best to help the progress of forestry in the United States. The forest service extends its help not only to the States but also to individuals and since three-fourths of all our land is in the hands of private parties the real forest problem is to induce private owners to practice forestry. The Government is doing everything possible to promote the practice of private forestry. For instance in 1903, 63 new publications and 102 reprints were made and the names on the mailing lists were in- creased to 750,000. Three hundred and fifty-nine public ad- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 107 dresses were made by members of the forest service, and, 995 lantern slides were loaned or sold to persons outside the ser- vice. Experiments are carried on in conjunction with railroad companies, telephone companies, etc. Plans are made, on ap- plication, for areas of private forests to secure the best finan- cial results—present and future—for the owners; and men have been sent out by the Government to see that the plans are executed in the most advantageous manner. This leads us to the consideration of the co-operation be- tween foresters and lumbermen, a most vital point since the question rests with the lumbermen as to whether we shall con- serve or destroy our forests. Not many years ago, the lumber- man believed the forester was his enemy. In many cases he was justified since the majority of foresters laid such stress on the preservation of our forests that he did not realize that “The principal idea of forestry is the preservation of our for- ests by wise use” or that practical forestry means con- servative lumbering. Do they not see that practical for- estry is a good business investment since conservative lumber- ing pays in the proportion of the value of the second crop and it rests chifly in their hands to make the second crop valuable? It would seem that they did since they are becoming more and more friendly to the principles of forestry and the time will soon come, when the forester and lumberman will work hand in hand. There are four national forest associations—The Ameri- can Forestry Association, The Appalachian National Forest Association, The International Society of Arborictulture, and the Society of American Forests. At the head are such men as the Honorable James Wilson, D. A. Tompkins, General William Palmer, and Gifford Pinchot. These men have the interest of the nation and the advance of practical forestry at heart, and write and make addresses with the view of helping the people realize the great importance of the subject. 108 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST Twelve years ago there were no schools of forestry in the United States and professional foresters were obliged to go abroad to secure their education. But in 1898 such schools were established at Cornell University in New York and Bilt- more in North Carolina. Others have followed in quick suc- cession till today there are twelve in this country which are graduating more and more students every year. This is shown in the following statistics: Years—1901-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09 No. Graduated— 6 -13-20-38-40-45-48-60-72 Sixty-five of these students, or about one-fifth of the to- tal, went abroad to complete their studies. According to Dr. Schenck of the Biltmore School, about two-thirds of the num- ber graduated became professional foresters and the other third abandoned the subject after graduation. When these schools were first established, it was advantageous, to say the least, for the student to complete their education abroad, but today, thorough training may be had at the schools of forestry in the United States. Finally what is to become of the forestry movement in the United States? Has it not progressed rapidly in the past twenty years? Is there not hearty co-operation between the Federal Government the individual states, individuals, lumber- men, and educators? Have we not the results obtained abroad to help us? And are not our forests well worth conserving ? To all of which questions there is but one answer and we can almost see the glorious future forestry is to have in this country. The prospects are all that could be desired but with- out constant faithful care, wise management, and the hearty co-operation of the public, our future cannot hope to be what it should be—bright, prosperous and successful. Hoboken, N. J. NOTE AND COMMENT WANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible after the 15th of February, May, August and November. GALLS ON PEPPERMINT.—On October 16th while botan- izing in a swampy meadow, I saw a great number of pepper- mint plants which seemed to have a single flower bud at the top of the stem instead of a number of flowers around the stem as usual. Every plant bore this central bud. Being convinced that it could not be a flower bud, I opened one and found it was a gall containing two tiny yellow larvae. There were no signs of flowers, past or present on any plant—Miss Pauline Kaufman, New York. THE Use oF Botany.—‘‘Of what use is it all?” The in- quiry is perfectly natural but to it there are three sufficient answers. First, scientific study gives happiness to some people who are as much entitled to their own kind of uplifting enjoy- ment as are those who take pleasure in literature, art, music or the drama; and their preference should receive the same sym- pathy and respect as are accorded the latter. Second, man rises in the cosmic scale chiefly through effort and next after conquest of himself scientific investigation of the world about him offers the most natural worthy and effective field for the uplifting of his powers. Third, the history of science has shown that those scientific discoveries which have resulted in great practical benefit to mankind have been made in the most unexpected places, even in the most unpractical subjects ; and it 109 110 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST is quite impossible to predict where, on the broad surface of expanding knowledge, the next practical development will spring forth. Hence the only logical way is to encourage the advancement of all phases of knowlege—trusting with faith born of experience that sooner or later some result will appear of such value as to pay many fold for it all—Dr. W .F. Gan- ong in The Teaching Botamst. GRINDELIA SQUARROSA IN NEw YorK.—We are yearly finding plants new to this section. Among these, moth mul- lein (Verbascum Blattaria), velvet leaf (Abutilon theophrastt) great ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) and others, formerly absent or very rare, are now becoming plentiful, making so many more bad weeds to contend with. One of my best finds for 1910 in this eastern New York locality is Grindelia squarrosa, the broad-leaved gum plant, whose home is in Illinois, Minne- sota and the southwest. It has not before been reported from New York. I found it on a hillside pasture and it is fully es- tablished, for the colony has many thousand plants, and covers two acres or more—scattering in places, but in others as crowded as it can grow. It looks very pretty with its bright yellow blossoms, and they are plentiful enough to distinctly show the color at a distance of three-fourths of a mile. But it is terribly gummy and soils the hands and everything it touches, and often taking it from the press you can scarcely get the papers away from it, and they can never be used again. How it comes here in quantity no one can say. Perhaps in western grass seed. If so it should appear elsewhere, and it seems strange that it should pass over hundreds of miles of intervening country, to locate here, for its first eastern home. From the way it flourishes and is spreading, it bids fair, at no distant day, to cover the hillsides of New York and New Eng- land as plentifully as daisies and buttercups. I only add that the place where found is 60 miles north of Albany and but a mile from the Vermont line.—F. T. Pember. Granville, N. Y. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 111 VARIETIES.—It is interesting to note that many of the characteristics that we ascribe to varieties are found through- out the plant world and are likely to crop out in the most di- verse places. Among these may be mentioned dwarfs which may appear in any species. Other equally common forms are divided leaves, fasciated stems, white flowered forms, double flowers, thornless forms, smooth forms in hairy species, weep- ing or drooping forms, rose-colored forms of blue or purple flowers, yellow berried forms of normally red or black species, yellow flowers among red flowered forms, and so forth. A little search among the wild plants of one’s own neighborhood will usually yield a variety of such specimens. Most of them come true from seed or may be subdivided in various ways if one desires to multiply the variety. One who has a taste for gardening may find the cultivation and study of such forms a most absorbing pastime. SCIENCE TO FIT THE Facts.—Shortly after the Darwin- ian theory was announced with its implication that everything that exists in nature has been called into existence because use- ful to the organism possessing it, it became the fashion to in- terpret every structure in this light with the result that some very unscientific deductions were made, many of which still linger on in popular works to vex the incautious student. A good example of these interesting misinterpretations is found in the function ascribed to the juice of the milkweed. This, we are gravely told, exists for the purpose of protecting the plant from the depredations of insects. “It has been found that the outer covering of the stem is extremely delicate and that the tiny claw-like feet of insects that attempt to crawl up the stalk will cut through this covering sufficiently to cause the feet of such visitors to become sticky with the milky fluid. This not only discourages would-be pilferers of the flowers’ sweets but makes it quite impossible for them to reach the top of the 112 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST tall stem.”’ This statement is taken from a book published dur- ing the present year. Had the author gone to nature instead of to books for his information, he would have found ants in plenty travelling up the stems, various beetles feeding among the blossoms, and larvae of butterflies feeding on the leaves. NUMBER OF PLANT SPEcIES.—Theophrastus (twenty-two centuries ago) knew about 500 species of plants of all kinds; Linne (two centuries ago) knew 8,551 species; DeCandolle (in 1819) reckoned 30,000 species of Phanerogams, alone; Lindley (in 1845) reckoned 79,837 species of Phanerogams; Duchartre (in 1885) placed the number of Phanerogams then known at 100,000 species, and of Cryptogams at 25,000 spe- cies; Saccardo (in 1892) estimated the known species of plants of all kinds at 173,706; while a very recent calculation by Bes- sey (in 1910) places the number at about 210,000. Our UNSUBDUED WILDFLOWERS.—As a matter of senti- ment we may regret the disappearance of many choice wild- flowers from the haunts of men, but a cold business proposition cannot take sentiment into account and without emotion city building lots are staked out in the midst of many a floral para- dise. The wildflowers are diminishing in the thickly settled portions of our country in spite of our best efforts to the con- trary, but it is comforting to reflect that there are vast areas even close to civilization from which it will be practically im- possible to ever eradicate the flowers. No one who has ever crossed the state of Pennsylvania from east to west will doubt this assertion. The railways wind along in narrow valleys from which rise hills too steep for farming, too steep for pas- turing, almost too steep for climbing and fit only for growing timber. In such retreats the wilflowers will linger on in no fear of extermination. The botanist may penetrate to their haunts but no thoughtless band of picnickers will devastate the landscape, nor will the march of civilization blot out whole THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 113 colonies of rare plants. In all broken country this condition exists; the prairie flora, is the one that is on the way to exter- mination. Already a piece of native prairie is hard to find and the flowers are disappearing before the plow. Earty PLANT NAMES.—It is popularly supposed that Linnaeus was the originator of the binomial system of naming plants and the first botanist to give but two names, a generic and a specific, to each species. This is quite incorrect. Two centuries before the time of the famous Swede there were writers on plants who knew them by only two names which were clearly equivalent to genus and species. The good ex- ample they set was not followed, unfortunately, and it re- mained for Linnaeus to give this method sufficient promin- ence and authority to make it accepted by later writers. Be- fore the day of generic and specific names plants were com- monly designated by a string of Latin words. Thus our com- mon adders tongue (Erythronium Americanum) was called “Dens caninus flore luteo,” the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) was “Filix mas foliis integris auriculatis,’ and the walking fern (Camptosorus rhizophyllus) masqueraded as Phyllitis parva saxatilis per summitates folii prolifera. The wonder is that the world waited until the time of Linnaeus for so manifest an improvement. BACTERIA IN THE SorL.—Most people are fairly familiar with the fact that the soil is by no means a mere collection of dead and inert particles of sand and clay. Billions of bacteria are found in every inch of the surface layers and the soil may be said to be alive in the most literal way. Many of these bac- teria are helpful species engaged in turning decaying vegeta- tion into nitrates for the use of other crops, but others there are in plenty that cause diseases in plants or animals. The bacteria causing plant diseases are among the more interesting. In 114 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST this class are the causes of wilt in various plants, club-root of cabbage, onion smut, scab, black-rot and similar troubles. The germs of these diseases can live in the soil for one or more seasons waiting to infest the next lot of plants that way be grown. Not only are they hard to eradicate when they once get in but they may infect other fields in a variety of ways; from the hoofs of animals or the feet of laborers who visit new fields, in feed or manure, even from tools that have been used in the infested ground. Cases are also known in which the in- fection was spread by rains washing down the germs from higher land. Rare Iowa Piants.—Noting your article concerning the discovery of Tribulus terrestris at Joliet, will say, regarding the fact of Joliet being the third inland station, that this plant has been known from at least two localities in Muscatine County, Iowa for the past twelve or fifteen year and was re- ported by Reppert, Barnes, and Miller in a Flora of Scott and Muscatine Counties published in 1900 (Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci. VITI—p. 210). At that time it was reported from Mus- catine and Fruitland, and having collected it for several years at the latter place I can vouch for the fact that it is still well established. Now I have a new find to record, which may however prove, like the caltrop, to be better established or more widespread than we now think, but if so, I will be glad to know more concerning its distribution. Some years ago I found at Fort Dodge, (Ia.) a plant which, at first glance, I took to be a Rumex but closer examination disproved this without, how- ever, clearing up the mystery. A short time ago in studying a series of Atriplex from Norway, I recognized my mysterious plant and comparison proved it to be Atriplex hortense L. This has, I believe, been reported from eastern ballast heaps, but I have never heard of its occurrence inland.—M. P. Somes, Iowa City, Iowa. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 115 GETTING Rip oF DANDELIONS.—Some apprehensive land- owners are after the dandelions early and late each spring and after a good deal of back-breaking labor digging them out fail to see that their premises are any more free from dandelions than some indolent neighbor who refused to dig a weed. As a matter of fact, the man who refuses to dig dandelions except for “greens” has much reason for his view of the case. Dig- ging dandelions may actually have the effect of multiplying them since the roots can send up new shoots and usually do so, thus producing two or more where the one was originally. Moreover, the open spot left where a plant was dug forms just the right seed bed for new weeds to grow. Possibly the best way to get rid not only of dandelions but other weeds in the lawn, is to feed the grass well, set the lawn mower rather high and let the grass run them out. Most of the weeds that trouble the lawn are such as require an open space in which to spread out their leaves. Letting the grass grow tall obliges these plants to lift their leaves and the mower gets them. Grass can endure this frequent shearing, but the other plants cannot. THE INCREASE OF DoppER.—Many years ago the clovers in the United States were free from dodder (Cuscuta sp.) al- though the botanists were well aware that in Europe clover and lucerne (called alfalfa in the United States) were often attacked by this interesting parasite. Between twenty-five and thirty years ago the first specimen of dodder attacking clover was sent to me, and from that time to the present there has been a notable increase in the amount of dodder in the country. Each year I have my attention called more and more forcibly to the fact that dodder has come to be a very serious menace to the grower of clover and alfalfa. We have here a most interesting example of how a parasite may invade a country and spread with a good deal of rapidity. Apparently 116 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST it will not be long before our clovers and the alfalfa will be as badly infested with dodder as they are in Europe. I might say that not only the regular clover dodder of the Old World has come into this country and spread so rapidly, but at least one native species of dodder has sufficiently changed its habitat to become a serious pest upon the clovers.—Charles E. Bessey. WEED IMMiIGRANTS.—Three years ago in making a garden, the writer had occasion to break up a piece of prairie sod that had not been cultivated for twenty years or more. So far as could be seen, and as shown by adjacent pieces of the same sod, weeds were practically absent, but in the piece of ground broken up all the old familiar species at once appeared to dispute possession with the crops. Some of the most per- sistent of these are burdock, clotbur, plantain, dandelion, shep- herds purse, prickly lettuce, sour dock, curled dock, mullein, thistle, purslane, butter-and-eggs, pigweed, white amaranth, spurge, quack grass, pepper grass, rag-weed, horse-weed, flea- bane, mustard and sweet clover. It would be a difficult matter to say where they all came from. Doubtless many were lying in the soil waiting for an opportunity, others probably were from plants that year after year had grown among the grasses without attracting notice, and still others were probably blown onto the soil from other fields. It is quite likely that any piece of grass-land is thus seeded with weed seeds every year but the grass is too well established to permit them to grow. a SCHOOL BOTANY SuccEssFUL TEACHING.—The measure of the teachers success is the degree in which ideas come, not from him but from his pupils. A brilliant address may produce a tempor- ary emotion of admiration, a dry lecture may produce a per- manent impulse in its hearers. One may compare some who are popularly known as gifted teachers to expert swimmers who stay on the bank and talk inspiringly on analysis of strokes ; the centrifugal teacher takes the pupils into the water with him; he may even pretend to drown and call for rescue. This was the lesson taught me by the great embryologist Francis Balfour of Cambridge who was singularly noted for doing joint papers with his men. An experiment I have tried with great success in order to cultivate centrifugal power and expression at the same time is to get out of the lecture chair and make my students in turn lecture to me. This is virtually the famous method of teaching law re-discovered by the edu- cational genius of Langdell; the students do all the lecturing and discoursing, the professor lolls quietly in his chair and makes comment; the stimulus upon ambition and competition is fairly magical; there is in the class-room the real intellectual struggle for existence which one meets in the world of affairs. I would apply this very Socratic principle to every branch of instruction early and late, and thus obey the “acceleration” law in education which I have spoken of above as bringing into earlier and earlier stages, those powers which are to be actually in service in after life—Dr. H. F. Osborn in Science. ey; 118 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST PLANTS IN THE SCHOOL GARDEN.—The greater part of the school garden is likely to be devoted to growing vegetables and flowers by the children, but no matter how large or small the class may be, a part of the ground should be set aside for specimens of unusual vegetation. In this plot may be grown such specimens as flax, hemp, hops, tobacco, sugar-cane, cotton, sorghum, broom corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, artichokes, millet, oats, barley, cow-peas and many more. A similar plot may well be devoted to plant curios such as clovers with four and five leaves, ‘everlasting’ flowers, albino forms, dwarf forms, cactus, edelweiss, bleeding heart, autumn crocus, four o’clocks, and evening primrose. Room ought also to be found somewhere for a line of shrubbery containing plants of special interest such as the barberry, bladder-nut, hop-tree, silver bell, witch hazel, prickly ash, buffalo berry, papaw, yucca, bitter sweet, burning bush, and gingko. A course in gardening is not alone for instruction and practice in raising vegetables and flowers. Properly conducted it should open the minds of the children to the beauties of all nature and leave them with a lasting interest in things out of doors. MATERIAL FOR Stupy.—There are very few things in the high school botanical course that cannot be studied at first hand and this without recourse to many pickled specimens. As a general thing the young student recoils at preserved material but if fresh material be insisted upon, the teacher should have a definite place in which to collect it, and not be expected to range the countryside for miles around in search of illustrative specimens. Few besides the energetic teacher realize the amount of time needed for collecting; certainly high school boards do not. The securing of proper material should be made part of the day’s work and if the teacher be allowed to take the class on field trips in search of it, during the periods allotted to the study, the results are excellent, since the pupils THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 119 see much more of botany than is represented by the specimens brought back. Most teachers, however, will find it easier to have some place in which to grow their material. If the school has a school garden, one should insist upon a part being devoted to the growing of plants with tendrils, thorns, clado- phylls, and other structures that are needed. Often, however, the teacher will be obliged to grow such things in his home grounds and get his reward entirely from the consciousness that his subject has been properly taught. Grow1nc Mucor.—Everybody who takes up the study of fungi becomes acquainted with the black mold (Mucor) which appears on bread and other food products, but possibly because it is so abundant and ubiquitous little attention is paid to special methods of cultivating it. One of the best schemes we have seen for getting specimens that the dullest pupil can- not fail to see well was originated by Mr. F. A. Houghton. By his method a drop of clear gelatin is placed on a glass slide, some mold spores sown in it and then placed in a moist chamber for growth. Ina short time the mycelia may be seen pushing into various parts of the food material, and the young sporo- phores rising from it. If the specimens are properly cared for they may be examined several days in succession and will give the pupil a better idea of the habits of this mould than any series of prepared slides or living material taken from bread or other moldy objects. GrowTH RATE OF THE GIANT CactTus.—Some investi- gations recently made concerning the rate of growth of the giant cactus (Cereus giganteus) have resulted in some rather astonishing information. Cacti of all kinds are known to be rather deliberate in adding to their bulk and this species is no exception. Specimens less than five inches high are known to be ten years old while the fairly large specimens, running up to fifteen feet or more in height, require at least sixty years to attain this size. 120 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST KEY TO THE APETALOUS DYCOTYLEDONS.* 1 Shrubs and trees (2) 2Some of the flowers in catkins (3) 8 Staminate flowers, only, in catkins (4) Leaves simple; nuts in involucres. Leaves pinnate; nuts without involucre. 8 Both pistillate and staminate flowers in catkins (5) 5 Fruit fleshy, a sorosis. 5 Fruit dry (6) 6 Catkin globular. In racemes; nutlets two-celled. Solitary; nutlets one-celled. 6 Catkins cylindrical or oblong. Ovary many seeded; seeds with pappus. Ovary one-seeded. Ovary one-celled; fruit often fleshy. Two-celled; fruit often winged. 2 None of the flowers in catkins (7) 7 Leaves opposite (8) 8 Fruit a samara. Samara, double, two winged. Samara, single. 8 Fruit not a samara (9) 9 Fruit dry, three-seeded. 9 Fruit a drupe, or druplike. Stamens two. Stamens more numerous. Three; parasitic plants. Four to eight; not parasites. 7 Leaves Alternate (10) 10 Style or stigma, one. Calyx free from the ovary. Anthers opening by valves. Anthers not opening by valves. Calyx adherent to the ovary. Shrubs; ovules two to four. Trees; ovule one. Stamens four. Stamens more. 10 Styles or stigmas, two or more (11) 11 Two, three or four. Fruit a samara or drupe. Shrubs or vines. Trees. Fruit a capsule. Two-celled. Three-celled. 11 Five to nine. Leaves simple. Leaves pinnate. Fagaceae. (G. 337. Juglandaceae. (G. 330. Moraceae. (G. 344. Hamamelidaceae. (G. 452. Platanaceae. (G. 454. Salicaceae. (G. 320. Myricaceae. (G. 329. Betulaceae. (G. 3382. Aceraceae. (G. 557. Oleaceae. (G. 650. Euphorbiaceae. (G. 540. Oleaceae. (G. 650. Loranthaceae. (G. 351. Eleagnaceae. (G, 590. 330) 322) Lauraceae. (G. 418. B. 435) Thymelaceae. (G. 589. B. 645 Santalaceae. (G. 349. Elaeagnaceae. (G. 590. Cornaceae. G. 623. Rhamnaceae. (G,. 561. Ulmaceae. (G, 344. Hamamelidaceae. (G. 452. Euphorbiaceae. (G. 540. Empetraceae. (G. 551. Rutaceae. (G. 537. B. B. B. B. B. 345) 646) 689) 611) . 337) 488) 585) 598) 581) *Numbers in parenthesis after family names, refer to the pages in latest editions of For keys covering the other great Gray’s and Britton’s manuals, respectively. plant groups, see previous issues. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 121 ys (12) 12 Flowers lacking a perinanth (13) 13 Flowers in spikes. Piperaceae. (G. 320. B. 307) 13 Flowers solitary, minute. Stamens numerous, leaves whorled, dissected. Ceratophyllaceae. (G. 389. B. 408) Stamens and styles, one or two. Leaves opposite. Callitrichiaceae. (G. 549. B. 596) Leaves alternate. Podostemaceae. (G. 441. B. 472) 12 Flowers with calyx or calyx-like involucre (14) 14 Ovary inferior (15) 15 Stamens five, style one. Santalaceae. (G. 349. B. 345) 15 Stamens more or less than five, styles various. Stamens six or twelve. Aristolochiaceae. (G. 351. B. 347) Stamens one to ten. Stigmas two. Saxifragaceae. (G. 444, B. 484) Stigmas one, three or four. Onagraceae. (G. 594. B. 651) 14 Ovary superior, sometimes enclosed by the calyx (16) 16 Style or stigma one (17) 17 Ovaries 4 or more, one ovuled. Stamens on the receptacle. Ranunculaceae. (G. 392. B. 411) Stamens on the calyx. Rosaceae. (G. 454. B. 490) 17 Ovary one (18) 18 One ovuled, one seeded. Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Urticaceae. (G: 344. B. 341) Flowers perfect, calyx entire, colored. Nyctaginaceae.(G. 375. B.882) 18 Many ovuled. Stamens four, opposite the sepals. Lythraceae. (G. 591. B. 648) Stamens five alternating with sepals. Primulaceae. (G. 648. B. 713) 16 Styles and stigmas more than one (19) 19 Ovules one to three; stigmas two to five (20) 20 Fruit three seeded. Euphorbiaceae (G. 540. B. 585) 20 Fruit one seeded. Plants with stipules. Stipules sheathing the stem. Polygonaceae. (G. 353. B. 350) Stipules not sheathing. Illecebraceae. (G. 376. B. 387) Plants without stipules. Calyx scarious bracted. Amaranthaceae. (G. 371. B. 377) Calyx naked. Leaves alternate. Chenopodiaceae. (G. 364. B. 368) Leaves opposite. Caryophyllaceae. (G. 377. B. 387) 19 Ovules four or more, styles two to twelve (21) 21 Leaves opposite. Fruit a capsule, four or five valved. Caryophyllaceae. (G. 377. B. 387) Fruit a utricle, circumscissle. Portulaceae. (G. 387. B. 384) 21 Leaves alternate. Fruit a berry, four to ten seeded. Phytolaccaceae. (G. 374. B.381) Fruit dry. Capsule five celled. Crassulaceae. (G. 441. B. 473) Utricle, circumscissle. Amaranthaceae. (G. 871. B. 377) EDITORIAL ,~=—=p G \ \ _——— a Beginning with our next volume we have decided to stop subscriptions at the end of the time for which they are paid. This is not done to avoid being defrauded by those who fail to pay their subscriptions, for as a matter of fact, we have not lost fifteen dollars in this way since we began publication. Most of our subscribers renew their subscriptions very soon after being notified and we think that the small number who fail to do so should not keep us from joining the ever incresing num- ber of publishers who have adopted a modern way of doing business. At the same time the editor is well aware that it is not always convenient to renew as soon as subscriptions expire and personally holds in high regard those publications to which he subscribes that are not insistent upon renewal until he finds time for it. With these facts in mind we are quite willing to extend the time for anyone who for any reason does not care to renew promptly. All that is necessary is to drop us a line instructing us to continue sending the magazine until ordered to stop. Payment may then be made during the year when most convenient. We have a considerable number of such letters on file already and we hope nobody will go without the magazine because they are unable to renew promptly. The subscription price is so low that the cost of renewing is not worth consideration. * * x In his excellent book “The Teaching Botanist’’ Dr. Gan- ong in referring to botanical publications says: “But as to a journal for the teacher and general reader, we have as yet none that even approaches a satisfactory character and the lack of it is another illustration of the weakness of this science on the literary side. Such a journal should be accurate in fact, liter- 122 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 123 ary in tone, artistic in dress, and comprehensive in its scope— having departments of leading articles, contemporary dis- coveries, educational advances, editorial comment, reprints of botanical classics, book reviews, biographical and other news; and it should cover these subjects so systematically that noth- ing of consequence would be missed and no teacher or other person of botanical interests could afford to go without it.’ Dr. Ganong makes the mistake of attributing the lack of such a publication to a weakness on the book side of botany. The real cause is due to a weakness on the pocket-book side. Hav- ing been concerned in the publication of no less than seven dif- ferent botanical publications five of which are still doing busi- ness though far from Dr. Ganong’s ideal, the editor is inclined to doubt whether a magazine of the kind outlined would ever prove successful. Both this magazine and The Plant World started out to become just such magazines but failed to receive the support of the very people supposed to be most interested, and later the proposed Dorfleria has been abandoned for the same reason. At the end of its second year The Plant World had less than 300 paying subscribers and this magazine was not much better off when it completed two years of work. As a matter of fact the botanists of the country seldom subscribe for publications in their line. The institution with which they are connected subscribes for a copy, of course, and they de- pend upon this for their information. Since this magazine has been published we have received nearly ten thousand requests for sample copies, but, alas, our circulation lacks several hun- dred to reach that attractive number. Botanical magazines, like everything else, are subject to evolution, and those that are now doing business illustrate very well the survival of the fittest. The ideal magazine of the botanist can be kept alive just as long as some kind-hearted individual will finance it, but left to itself it has no more chance of surviving than some new “creation” of the gardener under similar circumstances. The 124 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST great mass of the botanically inclined are interested almost en- tirely in collecting and exchanging plants. The philosophical botanists and botanizers must always be few and far between, but such as there are we are pleased to number them among our subscribers. * * x In the not very distant future, this magazine expects to in- crease to forty pages an issue with no increase in the subscrip- tion price. When most magazines enlarge the price enlarges likewise, the editors evidently reasoning that a smaller circula- tion at an increased price per copy is better than a wider read ing at the old figure. Every time we have increased this magazine, which has been several times, the increased circula- tian has made up for the increased cost of making and we ex- pect the same results again. Before we can enlarge, however, we must have a larger amount of contributed articles and notes. There has been a gratifying response to our request in the August issue, but, like certain eminent financiers we still want more. BOOKS AND WRITERS. “The Landscape Beautiful” is the rather hackneyed title for a series of essays on the utility of the natural landscape and its relation to human life and happiness, by F. A. Waugn. Those who take up the book in the expectation of finding it a manual of park and garden making will be disappointed, but the disappointment should be lost in the delight which the book must give to all who take pleasure in the beauties of nature or who believe that the esthetic has a value as well as the practi- cal. There are seventeen essays in all, and they range from a discussion of the weather and the ministry of trees, to the ownership of scenery, the art that mends nature and the land- scape in literature. The author has a keen appreciation of the THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 125 values of the landscape and expresses it in a most attractive manner. The publishers have seconded the author by giving the text an appropriate setting, which is further beautified by fifty artistic reproductions of landscapes from all parts of the country. The Orange Judd Co. are the publishers and the price of the book is $2.00 net. After forty years of teaching Dr. W. J. Beal has retired from the chair of Botany at the Michigan Agricultural College and in the future will reside with his son-in-law Ray Stannard Baker in New York. Though still hale and hearty, Dr. Beal has concluded that at the age of 77 he has earned a rest. May he long live to enjoy it! His services to botany are too well known to need repeating here. He is one of the few remaining examples of the old time field botanist who though quite at home in the laboratory and class-room finds great pleasure among the growing things. Dr. Beal is succeeded by Dr. Ernst A. Bessey, son of Dr. C. E. Bessey of the University of Nebraska. The younger Bessey is a botanist of much promise and has held various important positions under the government and elsewhere, but his fame has been rather overshadowed by that of his distinguished father. Our ornamented shrubs have ever been a difficult problem for the botanizer. Cultivated chiefly for their beauty, they hail from distant lands and other inaccessible regions, and to run them down in the floras of their respective countries re- quires more money, time and labor than the collector cares to devote to them. Nor is the task of assembling the descrip- tions of all these in one book an easy one and in addition to locating the species in the books, it requires great familiarity with the stock of gardener and nurseryman in order to include those entitled to admission. That such a book has at last been made is likely to be the verdict of all who have had the pleas- ure of looking into Apagar’s “Ornamental Shrubs of the 126 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST United States,” published by the American Book Company. This is a real botanical manual of the shrubs with numerous keys such as are found in other manuals, accurate descriptions and a profusion of illustrations but with little, if any, “popu- lar’ information. The descriptions, it may be added, are as untechnical as possible in a work of the kind. Common names are freely used and the methods usual in propagating each species are noted. The shrubs are arranged according to modern ideas of sequence and thus the treatment corresponds to that in current botanical manuals, yet we find many familiar families of the flower manual lacking because there are no shrubs in them, while, the names of various new families and genera call attention to the differences that must exist in the flora of lands having approximately the same climate. With this book in hand a walk in the parks of a great city will have much of the interest and zest that a ramble in the country has for the plant lover. There seems to be no end to the botanical text-books de- signed for use in high school or college. In most of these there is little that is unique, the authors apparently depending for consideration upon their method of treating the subject. One of the latest of these is “Botany for High Schools,” by Geo. F. Atkinson issued by Henry Holt and Company. The book follows the general run in being divided into two parts the first being devoted to the structure and physiology of flowering plants and the second to the spore-plants. In the latter some variations in the arrangement of the thallophytes are noted, the conjugating algae coming before the one-celled green algae and the blue-green forms following the green. In this part also is noted an inclination toward the study of “types” with but a slender thread of evolution connecting them. In thus presenting the subject the author is in good company, for practically all books written by College men take THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 127 the same stand but the high school teacher knows that his pu- pils are little interested in types and that he must have some- thing more than this to keep them interested. That something may well be evolution but the text books seldom emphasize it. The influence of the college is seen again in the use of the entirely superfluous word scutellum for what may as well be named the cotyledon of the corn. No directions for labora- tory work are given though one infers from the text that some- thing of the kind is expected. The author has been wise, how- ever, in keeping such directions out of a text-book. Among errors that a captious critic might note are the careless use of terms as when a seed is called castor-bean on one page and castor oil bean, on the next, the definition of a seed makes no inclusion of the endosperm and though cells are mentioned fre- quently there seems no adequate discussion of the subject in the early parts of the book. It may be noted that the chemical formula given for starch on page 103 might be taken for a proteid. These, however, are minor defects. The book has the merit of being well-written, and the information con- veyed in understandable language and the fundamentals are not obscured by a great number of exceptions. There are also an abundance of good illustrations. Chapters on ecology, plant breeding, evolution, plant societies and economic plants complete the book making nearly five hundred pages. Within the year, the publishers have given us two ex- ceedingly valuable books on the diseases of plants both by ac- knowledged authorities on the subject. First to appear was Duggar’s “Fungous Diseases of Plants” recently reviewed in these pages and now we have “Diseases of Economic Plants’’ by F. L. Stevens and J. G. Hall. This latter book begins with a minimum of introductory matter relating to the origin, symptoms and care of plant diseases, fungicides, sprays and spraying and soil disinfection and then plunges into the task of 128 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST describing the diseases that infest our cultivated plants. Since plant diseases do not vary with the author, the merits of a book depend upon the way the subject is treated. Duggar’s book discussed each disease under the organism that causes it, the present volume treats of the diseases as they are found affecting the various species of plants. No attempt is made to describe the organisms that cause the disease the whole atten- tion being given to the characteristic features of the disease itself and the methods of treatment. In these matters the book is both full and satisfactory. The diseases are treated under such heads as those infecting trees and timber, those af- fecting ornamental plants, forage crops, tropical plants and the like. The attempt of the authors to make a common name for each disease by adding ose to the name of the casual fungus is, in the opinion of the reviewer, scarcely successful. To call dry rot of the potato lasiodiplodiose, for instance does not seem to help matters. The book contains many good il- lustrations and nearly five hundred pages of text. It is pub- lished by the MacMillan Company at $2.00 net. Three years have elapsed since the appearance of Stevens “Plant Anatomy” and now we have a second edition revised and enlarged by the addition of a chapter on evolution and a number of illustrations. Although the book is well. known to students it may not be amiss to call attention to the fact that it takes up botany from the standpoint of the develop- ment and function of the tissues and beginning with the cell shows how it has been modified to form the various tissues found in the plant body. Especially to be noted with approval are the numerous explanatory diagrams of plant parts and the suggestions for additional studies. Though larger than the first edition the price remains the same, $2.00 net. It is pub- lished by Blakiston, Philadelphia. Ghe Newest Books The books listed below have all been issued during the past year. They are from the presses of many publishers, but we can send any of them postpaid upon receipt of the prices given. For other botanical works see our complete list which may be had upon application. When American Botanist is ordered with one of these books it will be sent one year, for 50 cents—a saving of 25 cents. When two books are ordered the magazine will be sent one year for 40 cents. Save money by ordering your books of us. Whldtlowers ast of the Roekres=—Reedee seat. ae $2.65 Who’s Who Among the Wildflowers—Beecroft....... Ula) QumGarden) Ploweis—lWeelem se 3% steers cen 2.15 Whois; Who: Among the Perns— “Beecroft, | o25...2. 0... 1.20 Gude to the Miusirooms— Coley. 1. pee oe ee 110 Diseases of Economic Plants—Stevens and Hall...... 2.20 Eungsous Diseases of-Flants—-Duigeatrn: 5.5.4.2) se 2.00 Care of Trees in Lawn and Park—Fernow........... eile) Ornamental Shrubs of the United States—Apgar ..... ih.) New Manual of Rocky Mountain Botany—Coulter and INGISODY Go. rapegens Berne ope ee ar ache stg ee ee NE 2.50 IB Otaitye = Daileyun Aeet here's. cee §. icin ts paren ao eee mente ome 1.10 Botany for High-Schoots=A tkinsoms.=? 235 2..02 57. 1.25 Amone Sehool\Gardems—-Greene: 2 22 eas iene ss oes es School Garden Book—Weed and Emerson........... ales bs) Garden brimer—t abor andy teal ony ven eno ce eee: 1.00 Mandal oi Gardenime— Bailey) Gar si705> uae say 2.15 Etinciples ot Plant Culttme— Gor) &.-so8e Aeon, soe. 1.12 Blements: ot Aericulttire—W arrem..2.:..2....0.5+-- ke SOM UAB C ietei ly el © DICAI Sa ce Selocy azn wen Sl kglate Aue a we aa is Meachiae Botanist (2ud/Ed_)— Ganong. 7.5... ...-. 1.32 Landscape Gardening Studies—Parsons............. 2.20 landscape Beatttul——Waueln. 2.50 224.862.0555 5 4: Nod) sWianderines=——Packard: sy ie Se oti. ccs es eee ile hs) wR 0% Ct S ADDRESS ALL ORDERS TO WILLARD N. CLUTE & COMPANY JOLIET, ILLINOIS CHE v am FF NAi 1 ’ IG BEN—not an alarm clock, but a clock with an alarm attachment, not a ticker but a restful sleepmeter. Big Ben—a handsome, massive time recorder for the sleep room or _ the =e 0 living room, the writing table or the down-town desk. Big Ben—an admirable piece of clockmanship, the work of the Western Clock Company of ‘La Salle, Illinois. $2.50 Sold by Jewelers only. Three Dollars in Canada. alone. ; af HE BEST WORKS ON FERNS 1° OUR FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 388 ‘| pages. 225 illustrations, Eight colored plates. Contains the only il- lustrated key ever published, and a full account of all the ferns of Eastern America. The species can be identified by the illustrations, More copies of this book are sold annually than of any other, Price post paid, $2. 15, / THE FERN ALLIES OF NORTH AMERICA, by Willard N. Clute. Octavo, 250 pages, 150 illustrations, eight colored plates. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in Their Haunts”, containing a full account of the scouring rushes, club-mosses, quillworts, selaginellas, water-ferns, etc. etc., in North America, Seven keys to the species. A check list with _ synonyms. The only book on the subject in the English language. Listed in the New York State Library list grit The Best Books of 1905. Price post paid, $2.15. a SPECIAL OFFERS Either volume and a year’s subscription to American Botanist....$2.50 Either volume and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes) ..10.00 Both: volumes: to: One AGAGrEsS. os ok ec ees Pol ecw eee cone wsesee 4,00 Both volumes and.a year’s subscription to American Botanist..... 4.50 Both volumes and a full set of American Botanist, (16 volumes) ....11.50 _ Address all orders to WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Joliet, IMinois Songer in Moss Study Price $1.25 . Bi appear to be betterappreciated by the public than * this little book on Mosses, which is. intended as a text book for beginners. These very attractive . plants may be found at all seasons, but there is no - better time than late winter and early spring. Send for circular. C.J Maynard | hy 447 Crafts’ St. West Newton, Mass. ‘ The Bryologist begins its thirteenth rear and volume with the January number. The Index to the first ten Mar, this is necessary for the best use of the journal, although each year has separate index. It is the only journal in English’ devotec exclusively to the ; mosees, hepatics and lichens. Send for a sample copy. Subscription one ollar a year. Address Mrs. Annie Morrill Smith, 78 Orange Street, 3ro0 Nata New. are _ Of the several books which I have written, none yolumes is now ready, price one dol- 60 YEARS", EXPERIENCE. - TrRave Marks | DESIGNS q CopyvricHTs &c. Anyone donahie asketch and escrito. may quickly Fateh onde our opinion free whether an invention is probably pa itnble. Conimunic¢a- tions strictly confiidentizl. HANDBOOK on Patents sent free. Oldest agency for securing patents. | Patents taken throuzh Munn & Co, receive special notice, without charge, in the Scietttific Americatt.. A handsomely illustrated weekly. Targest clr. culation of any scientilic journal. crus, $3 a year; four months, $L Sold by all newsdealers, MUNN & Co.3612raaway, Now York Branch Office, 625 F St., Washington, D.C, 4 MOUNTED FERNS FOR SALE The undersigned offers several hundred well mounted California and other ferns for sale. For prices, address DR. R. J. SMITH Milpitas, Santa Clara Co., California Laboratory Manual of Botany FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL BY WILLARD N. CLUTE The leading characteristics of this new and in many ways unique laboratory — botany’ are (1) its presentation of a connected study of evolution in the plant world; (2) its method of thorough and suggestive direction for both teacher and © pupil; (3) its concise yet adequate lists of questions for answer in notebooks — after actual field or laboratory investigation; (4) its sea and accurate outlines — of the specific subjects. a In addition, it contains a glossary of difficult terms in each section, a key for outdoor work with trees, outlines for a study of floral ecology, and tables — of the principal families and larger groups of the plant world. 5 The practical value of the book is assured by the fact that it is written by a — high-school teacher and has been used, in outline, for six years with marked — success in one of the largest high schools in the United States. It is absolutely — flexible and can be condensed or extended by individual teachers at any point without detriment to the work. GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS Boston New York Chicago London Be yaw Atlanta Dallas Columbus San Francisco : We are offering you at a very low price a new preparation showing cisarke ia’ thin cross sections the different parts of Arisaema triphyllum (ack-in-the-pulpit. . f Preparation No. 1 shows the seeds before maturity. No. 2 a section through the fruit. No. 3 several sections through the stem showing the rings, catia, etc. No. 4 section through point where leaves branch from stem. ; No. 5 a section through the entire bulb. ‘The specimens are attached to a transparent glass plate placed within a beau- — tiful clear cylinder of Bohemian glass. Neatly labeled and hermetically sealed — with special cement. The cap of the jar is evenly coated with smooth red Midee ( 4 giving the preparation an attractive finish. Height 13 inches. Pe Price complete as described above $4.00 P. G. HOWES | The Maplewood Biological Laboratory ’ Stamford, Conn. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST DEVOTED TO ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BOTANY Pormeia EDITED BY WILLARD N. CLUTE we Volume XVII LIBRARY NEW YoRrRK BOTANIC aL GARDEN. JOLIET, ILLINOIS WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. 1911 SS SON Gu CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES. New Species of Phlox. . Willard N. Clute and James H. Knowledge, First Hand ...... 27 Pera sats, Sid ee eles Ser ere Ae Sete ol arabs Cuee ave ahST oy Red aNaL Sue ibs 74 a Stamm HC POPE sk sie apie Neicyel es Miss Nell McMurray 70 EASES Ss aT) AIO Miri cs UR OVO) nm ge re sen ON B. O. Wolden 100 BV de yee Sil MRI 6% 2) 25 coset nal gh sve ty Frank Dobbin 36 MARIS ANt ON a) Mah er cheater Sk Dr WoW Bailey: 38 Experiments with the Nodding Allium, Willard N. Clute +t IMiowetnaloer Wisits i405 inet) eel cnt abe.iet os Dr.W.W. Bailey 98 Proliferation in a Peach Blossom....... A. E. Shirling 40 es WW lla wee x ois ood Sie ie. gees Dr. W. W. Bailey 10 The Flora of the Chicago Plain ..... Willard N. Clute 65 The Smooth or Meadow Phlox...... Willard N. Clute 97 The Spring-flowering Witch Hazel....d. E. Thatcher 44 The Yucca and the Indian ...Charles Francis Saunders Root Punctured by Root ..... Prof. Charles E. Bessey 103 MhetSeapweed.) cae ses wie sas Earl Lynd Johnston — 3 REPRINTED ARTICLES. Beaute Wha rkcviveren cody wept a 0 lactis Diets wel 28 oe oeeas hayetnde 5 Po Pei A TALES eae cares chinies die Meet NaN ol a Al | EL) oy (GW 0 “9.41 DRE RRR SN PO cee ne Se Ra eS EE 28, 58, 92, 124 BOOKS AND VV RIDERS ocd Sad on ok Se oes 29, 60, 125 SCHOOL BOTANY. INCCESSOy AMD IOS, ioe miss sieisieheie i .2 SOL mIveair ally Oimtieu yc staseueees 57 Agricultatal Schools’ ..3...5... 2 Waimes., Changing ><. .0.) ee: 120 Algae, A Simple Method of Naturalists, The Early :.....-. 26 (GEO WAT Rs wrk tes Suclon di 123 Nature, The Lack of Interest in 89 Botany Teacher, Making a....122 Research Work and the Teacher 25 Branches, Dimorphic ......... 91> (Scientific Bent, ThE! 0.0 5: 25 Pall-of the Leal a. 3. sc05 aoe 542 Seed, for Study, A good).c2. ..d2i Information Versus Thought... 24 Stems, Monocot and Dicot...120 NOTE AND COMMENT. Amaryllis, Meaning of ....49, 114 Bidens Becki rac. eee eee 106 IBilerinital Sei ee eas crac eae Ucbets eae b eile 87 Bird-foot Violet Leaves 2:7... 77 Bikdseasm Botanists ere rin cree 48 Bineberry Culture) ..6 205 02.50 116 Cleavage Planes of Smilax ... 82 Clover (Red: Bees jana bis: 117 Color of Flowers, Perfume and 113 Composites, Variations in ..... 83 Coreopsis, Pragnnts: shite fakin: 104 Crops 01 2900; The. te. Seni e 14 Day Lilies, Mythology and the 22 Dogwood, Yellow-stemmed....104 Dying as an Adaptation ...... 12 Elder-Berry, Experiments with 114 Flower tabits, Curious... 2.4) 18 Flowering Plants, Dominence of 110 Forests and Water-flow ...... 54 Biraoranite Geniiansmeanerenees ae 13 BraoranteConeopsismerher eet 104 MiGuitse mle eaves On ussaknicie ieee 22 Fungus, A Paint Eating.) ... 5. 105 Gaillardia, Curious Forms of.. 82 G@ardeniney emis sac siete 118 Centiansweltactant.) ei hen vee at Germination of Seeds -....--. 14 Grascmelulbersian secs aue eee 15 Hawthorn Species of sii s.c.. 20 nhlyacinti. eDISOMOUS: se nee 81 Eby brid: rasopegons ..\. Jecsue AT Iimsech seests. Umpornted) sane. 78 Ivy Leaves,» Changes in....... 78 Reaves (on) siits i oho See 22 ily ice Vovineethens aanee 109 Live Oak, Storage organs of.. 87 Lumbering, Waste in.......... 53 Milkweed, Rubber from the.... 49 Oranges, Freezing Point of... 52 Oxalis, Leaf Adjustments in. “411 Partridge Berries, White ..... 51 Perfume and color of flowers 113 PhloxsaViahiablons mila 17 Plante Houses athensn eae sate 16 Plantsyin: Dry VAI Sree en 15 Plants, Stones Moved by...... 16 Plants, The Radial Type of ... 55 Poison, A Remarkable ........ 19 Poisonilvy: ‘Taste .of.ssna. cone 102 Pollen, The function of ...... nla ty Pollination of the Yucca Pollination, Sprengel and ....113 Radishes, Orientation of ...... 80 Root) Fubercles) oc. ccne eee ot Roots, Drains Clogged by .... 46 Roots, Orientation of Fibrous.. 47 Rosette Plants Rubber, From the Milkweed .. 49 Saltbushes, Decorative ........ 112 Seeds, Gatapitulltyaewerereestireiete alalal Seeds, Germination of ........ 14 Seeds, Government ........... 23 Smilax, Cleavage Planes of... 82 Soap Nut, The Soils) Advantages in Stirring..118 Soil Stemlizing these eee eee 88 Soil, Lhe. Divine e{heicueeoeen 119 Storage Organs of Live Oak .. 87 Struggle for Existence The... 84 Sumac, Relatives of Swamp Vegetation of Japan ... 85 Trailing Arbutus, Cultivating. .107 Tragopogons,. Hybrid 0 3-- a: 47 Trees Injured by Woodpeckers 108 Tree, The Pallestes. eee 85 Trees, The Branching of ...... 81 ‘rees. Vialaablessrr seein 106 Mricotyledons: ei eeietee renee 86 Abitnatoranhieyles Likeineeeka 464595556 108 Tubercles: (Rootecc aoe eee aee 21 Mubers (Grasse. se oreo 15 Varieties, Wild and Cultivated 17 Violet Lacking Petioles, A..... 51 Wahoo, The Southern ....... 52 Water Lily a Monocot, The .. 46 Weed) Crop and) -ceeerceeer ene 55 Wildflowers, Improving the... 19 Witch Hazel, Spring Flowering 13 Wood, Effects of Moisture on 50 Yam, The Wild Gets a Plural.. 18 Yucca, The Pollination of 8.4.5 19 , VOLUME 17, NUMBER 1 _ WHOLE NUMBER 88 FEBRUARY, 191 | Ghe iy AMERICAN BOTANIST |! ’ ELSE EEE LS PS PS ES EE EL EE PE BPO BOPAN® AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.—As a nation we are fast get- ting over the idea that anybody can succeed at farming. The business of getting the most out of the soil in the way of crops, is now known to be a matter of much science, and high schools, colleges and universities are rapidly adding agriculture to the list of courses. In 1908 there were 545 institutions giving such courses, but in the past two years the number has nearly doubled being now 875. Thirty-eight high schools have al- ready introduced agricultural courses and the next few years seem destined to see many more such institutions give atten- tion to this subject. INFORMATION VERSUS THOUGHT.—How do you yourself stand on this question? Is your idea of a good student, that of a good “receptacle?” Do you regard your instructors as useful grain-hoppers whose duty it is to gather kernels of wis- dow from all sources and direct them into your receptive mind? Are you content to be a sort of psychic Sacculina, a vegetative animal, your mind a vast sack of two apertures, one for the incurrent and the other for the outcurrent of predigested ideas? If so, all your mental organs of combat and locomotion will atrophy. Do you put your faith in reading or in book knowl- edge? If so, you should know that not a five foot shelf of books nor even the ardent reading of a fifty foot shelf aided by a prodigious memory will give you that enviable thing called culture because the yard-stick of this precious quality is not what you take in, but what you give out and this, from the sub- tile chemistry of your brain, must have passed through a 24 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 25 mental metabolism of your own so that you have lent some- thing to it. To be a man of culture you need not be a man of creative power because such men are few, they are born and not made; but you must be a man of some degree of centrifugal force, of individuality, of critical opinion, who must make over what is read into conversation and into life—Dr. H. F. Osborn in Science. Tue ScrentiFic Bent.—The man who is born to zeal for experiment or observation can not be put down. He is always at it. Somewhere or somehow he will come to his own. No man ever adds much to the sum of human know- ledge because the road is made easy for him. Leisure, salary, libraries, apparatus, problems, appreciation—none of these will make an investigator out of a man who is willing to be anything else. There is human nature among scientific men, and human nature is prone to follow the lines of least resist- ance. It takes orginality, enthusiasm, abounding life, to turn any man from what is easily known to that which is knowable only through the sweat of the intellect—David Star Jordan in Science. RESEARCH WoRK AND THE TEACHER.—Our science courses are still very imperfectly adapted to their constituen- cies, and we need a study of the reasons and remedies therefor. We have great need for a discovery of better ways of present- ing and demonstrating important matters, for more effective and simpler experiments, for more illustrative methods and materials. Again, the extreme specialization of modern science and the consequent inaccessibility of most of its new re- sults to general users of knowledge make vastly valuable the preparation and publication of such expositions of important botanical subjects as combine literary elegance, pedagogical force and scientific accuracy; and the teacher who does this work well comes very close to the investigator. The com- 26 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST munity needs not only the discoverers of new knowledge whose best environment is the university, but also the interpreters of knowledge whose environment is the college. Again there is a great field for original study in the investigation of local floras from the natural history standpoint. The construction of a local flora in which the plants are not simply listed but also described ecologically, while the whole subject is presented in attractive literary from, would not only realize for the teacher the real value of abstract investigation but it would constitute a work of marked scientific value while fitting perfectly with the work of teaching—W. F. Ganong m The Teaching Botanist. Tue Earty NATuRALIsTs.—These men of the old school were lovers of nature. They knew nature as a whole, rather than as a fragment or a succession of fragments. They were not made in Germany or anywhere else and their work was done because they loved it, because the impulse within would not let them do otherwise than work, and their training, partly their own, partly responsible to their source of inspiration, was made to fit their own purposes. If these men went to Germany as many of them did, it was for inspiration, not for direction; not to sit through lectures, not to dig in some far- off corner of knwledge, not to stand through a-doctor’s ex- amination in a dress coat with a major and two minors, not to be encouraged magna cum laude to undertake a scientific career. The career was fixed by heredity and early environ- ment. Nothing could head them off and they took orders from no one as to what they should, or what they should not reach as conclusions. They did not work for a career—many of them found none—but for the love of the work. They were filled with a rampant, exurberant individuality which took them wherever they pleased to go. They followed no set fashions in biology. Such methods as they had were their THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 27 own, wrought out by their own strength. They were depend- ent on neither libraries nor equipment though they struggled for both. Not facilities for work, but endeavor to work, if need be without facilities, gave them strength and _ their strength was the strength of ten—David Starr Jordan in Science. First HAND KNOwLEDGE.—If you purpose to be a natur- alist, get as soon as you can at the objects themselves; if you would be an artist, go to your models; if a writer, take your authors at first hand and after you have wrestled with the texts and reached the full length of your own fathom line, then take the fathom line of the critic and reviewer. Do not trust to mental peptones. Carry the independent, iniquisitive, sceptical and even the rebellious spirit of the graduate school well down into undergraduate life and even into school life. If you are a student, force yourself to think independently; if a teacher compel your youths to express their own minds. In listening to a lecture, weigh the evidence as presented, cultivate a polite scepticism, not affected but genuine, keep a running fire of in- terrogation points in your mind and you will finally develop a mind of your own. Do not climb that mountain of learn- ing in the hope that when you reach the summit you will be able to think for yourself; think for yourself while you are climbing.—Dr. H. F. Osborn in Science. ¢——\_EDITORIAL_~=—» The consideration of a new postal bill which among other things proposes to raise the mailing rates on magazines has caused considerable anger, anxiety and excitement among pub- lishers generally during the past few weeks. At present the immediate danger seems averted, but still threatened. If the postoffice department was to be judged solely by its effects up- on publishers one would be forced to conclude that its object is to bother them as much as possible. Several recent rulings have been of the kind called class legislation, wherein rules have been made that effects only part of the publications. Thus the ruling that publications sent to subscribers in arrears must pay a higher rate of postage on such copies was not applied to all alike. Monthlies and quarterlies can extend the time of delin- quents only a few months, others have a year in which their subscribers may pay up, and while a majority of publishers now stop subscriptions as soon as they expire, this ruling of the government is, in effect, an attempt to tell publishers how long they may extend credit to their patrons. If an old sub- scriber goes to Europe for a holiday and forgets to pay for the magazine before departing, the publisher must cut him off the list or pay more postage on such copies; if he falls ill and is un- able to attend to renewals, no consideration may be shown him. How this proposition works out is shown by the report for the last postal year, where four thousand two hundred and twenty- nine publications are reported to have died in a single year. Indeed many of these never had a fair start for more than eleven thousand were denied the second class privilege in the past decade. Should congress pass the proposed law increas- ing the rate of postage, magazines generally will simply raise the subscription price to their readers. The proposed law 28 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 29 therefore threatens every one who subscribes for the maga- zines. Readers are therefore urged to watch legislation of this kind and to protest to their senators and congressmen when hostile action threatens. BOOKS AND WRITERS. Readers of this magazine who have followed Dr. W. W. Bailey in his entertaining articles on plants, may have guessed from the manner of treatment that the author is a poet, and such proves to be the case. But those of us who have known of Dr. Bailey’s facility in verse-making for many years were nevertheless surprised at the versatility displayed in the hand- some volume entitled “Poems” that appeared from the press of the Preston and Rounds Company last year. About half the book consists of occasional poems read at various gatherings of his college fraternity and therefore not of general interest, though it is understood that the desire to have these poems in convenient form was the main reason for the appearance of the book. The interest of the botanical student in the book will center in the nearly fifty poems on various phases of nature, and in the additional poems of sentiment and childhood which compose the volume. Dr. Bailey’s favorite flowers are here “embalmed in verse” as some other poet has said. Glancing through the list of titles we find the houstonia, bloodroot, anemone, painted cup, gentian and other common but inspir- ing flowers; in fact Dr. Bailey seldom goes far from home for his subjects, having that enviable quality of being able to find interest in even common things. Only a small edition of the book was printed, and those who hope to get a copy should lose no time in ordering. Any teacher of botany who cannot get his money’s worth out of Ganong’s “The Teaching Botanist” must be a peculiar individual. For ten years or more the book has been a strong 30 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST inspiration toward a better presentation of the subject of botany and the new second edition which has recently appeared will but emphasize this point of view. Not that the reviewer expects all teachers to agree with everything in the book; there are a good many things that teachers who think for themselves may have a different opinion about and the re- viewer himself dissents here and there but the subject is handled in such a common sense way and is so lacking in a spirit of dictation that the few faults are not conspicuous. In the list of publications, an important botanical magazine is not named nor is Howell’s volume on the “Flora of North West America.”” In our opinion a good many improvements could be made in the course of study outlined. We would not defer a study of cells until seeds, roots, buds, and stems had been studied, nor would we use horse-beans and morning glory seeds, while so much better material is to be had. In the out- line for the spore-plants, the “type study’? method is still in evidence though this is fast giving way elsewhere to a study of evolution as illustrated by various species from algae to pines. In the endeavor to make the book a practical monograph on the teaching of botany, the second edition has been greatly ex- tended and contains nearly two hundred pages more than the first edition. Notwithstanding this it sells for the same price —$1.25 net. It is published by the Macmillan Co. A second revised edition of Vinal’s “Laboratory and Field Studies in Botany” has recently appeared from the press of P. Blakiston’s Son & Co., of Philadelphia. This is designed largely for the analysis of flowers such as still persists in parts of New England as an echo of the old courses in botany built upon Gray’s series of text books. While the reviewer fails to find much of value in such a course, he must add that the blanks for this purpose in the book under discussion are both handy and complete. The most valuable feature is found in THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 31 the questions on seeds, roots, leaves and the like that are de- signed to prepare the student for work in analyzing flowers. These are quite suggestive and founded upon right. methods, requiring the pupil to think for himself. The book is bound in paper and costs 60 cents net. The average man, if he thinks of the subject at all, is likely to class the landscape gardener with the man who sods the lawn or spades up the back garden, but appreciative folk know him as an artist who paints his pictures with trees, bushes and flowers on a canvas of broad sweeping greensward. Such a man points to great public parks or less pretentious though no less beautiful private places as evidences of his skill anid his name is associated with the work exactly as is the name of the architect with some magnificent building. In “Land- scape Gardening Studies” recently issued by the John Lane Company, New York, the author, Samuel Parsons describes some twenty masterpieces of his own, among them the rehabili- tation of Central Park, New York, a seaside park at Coney Island, the Russell Sage home at Sag Harbor, and the colonial gardens at Van Cortland Park, New York. There are also plans for cemeteries, playgrounds, private estates, school grounds and other plantings. In discussing each feature of these plans the author explains all the operations needed to bring them to perfection, and those studying or practicing this difficult art will find many helpful suggestions in the book. It is published at $2.00 net., postage 10 cents. A British book by Harold C. Long on the “Common Weeds of Farm and Garden” will make interesting reading on this side of the Atlantic not only for the individuals who take the principal parts in the “Controversy with Weeds” as the, author humorously dubs agriculture, but for botanists as well. An excursion through the book shows that British and Ameri- can weeds are pretty much alike as we can well understand, 32 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST since we caught most of our noxious species from Europe; in fact, a careful examination fails to locate a single native Ameri- can among the bad weeds of Great Britain. Evidently the strug- gle for place among the foreign species is too strenuous to per- mit the fighters among our natives to get a footing. There are more than four hundred pages in the book and every phase of the weed nuisance is thoroughly discussed. There are chapters on the way weeds are spread, and general preventive measures given after which the plants are taken up under such heads as weeds of arable land, improvement of grassland and poisonous plants. The plants are described and the measures likely to eradicate them indicated. With us in America, some of the latter would doubtless be disregarded if we found some of the weeds in our fields; for instance the red poppy, fox glove, heather, pansy, and adder’s-tongue fern are included with the weeds. The very thorough way in which the subject is handled will make this book a very useful one to anybody with weeds to fight. It is issued by the F. A. Stokes Co., New York. Messrs. Ginn & Co., have recently issued “Domesticated Animals and Plants” by Davenport; the D. Van Nostrand Company announce “Ancient Plants” by M. C. Stopes; Stokes have published “Gardens Near the Sea” by Lounsberry; and the Sturgis and Walton Company have issued “Children’s Gardens for Pleasure, Health and Education.” Our Ferns in Their Haunts By Willard N. Clute. A complete and authoritative account of the ferns of Eastern America giving the life history, habits, common names, folk lore and exact scientific descriptions of every species. Special attention has been given to the rare and little known species and to the points for identifying those that are much alike. 225 illustrations of rootstocks, fronds, pinnae, sori, indusia, etc., make everything plain to the begin- ner. An illustrated key enables even the novice to name his speci- mens, There is no other fern book so useful or so comprehensive. Octavo, 333 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $2.15 postpaid. The Fern Allies of North America By Willard N, Clute. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in their Haunts,” and treat- ing of all the allied fernworts of the United States and Canada in the same comprehensive and detailed manner. The only volume in the English language devoted entirely to the scouring rushes, club- mosses, selaginellas, pepperworts, water-ferns, quillworts and the like. . Seven keys to the groups make identification easy. Every species carefully illustrated from authentic specimens. Octavo, 250 pages, _ 150 illustrations and 8 colored ait bound in cloth. Price, $2.15 postpaid. Laboratory Botany forthe High School By Willard N. Clute. A new and unique manual founded upon the inductive method and _designed to make the student think as well as remember. It covers a full year of botany and presents in the second half a connected study of evolution in the plant world. Has a glossary of difficult terms in each section, outlines for the study of trees, floral ecology and other field work, and an extended list of questions intended to ‘make the work of the teacher easy. It is absolutely flexible and may be extended or condensed as the individual teacher is inclined. Full directions for collecting and preserving the materials used. Has al- _ ready been accorded a wide use and is steadily increasing. Individual students wishing to take up the study will find the book invaliayirs Cloth, 177 pages, 75 cents postpaid. The Fern Collectors’ Guide By Willard N. Clute. A small volume of a size to fit the pocket giving the beginner directions for finding and naming his specimens and making an her- ‘barium. Has an illustrated key to all the species, a complete glos- Ps: sary, and a check list of the ferns with space for notes. Cloth, 60 “pages, sent postpaid for 54 cents. The American Botanist or The Fern Bulletin will be sent 1 year with an order from the above list for 50 cents additional. Address all orders to ‘Willard N. Clute and Company Joliet, Illinois. School Science and Mathemat tics The Journal for all Progressive Science and Mathematics Teachers. ily ‘ai ty It gives new ideas and methods of scientific and mathematical instructions — 4 practical articles on the teaching of science and mathematics. Suggestive, illus cts trated descriptions of apparatus, experiments, laboratory equipment and plans. a Short, newsy, helpful notes on the progress in science and mathematics. — ‘Speak — to your teacher, friends about it. Get them to subscribe. Beneeniaone received at any time. Yearly subscriptions, $2.00. SCHOOL SCIENCE and MATHEMATICS 2059 East Seventy-second Place Chicago, Ilinois 2 ae i THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW *, Journal of the American Nature-Study Society) will continue during 1911 its xa i ated | SPECIAL TEACHING NUMBERS of timely interest and san wie January—City Nature-Study - May—Manual of Nature-Study Literature February—Tree Studies September—Autumn Flowers and Werte March—Calendar Studies October—Children’s Pets . . April—Aquatic Studies November—Farm PRHGIEE i December—Health Number | ran ett fp) We can still furnish copies (at 15c) of the most popular i issues of 1910, as follows: } MARCH—Bird Study (with 18 photographs) Ennis APRIL—Garden Number | | MAY—Rural Number (with 2 colored plates of Air Han a ; SEPTEMBER—Insect Studies (copious illustrations, including ‘color plate of American butterflies) pte NOVEMBER—Harvest Studies DECEMBER—Weather ‘Siinaiest SUBSCRIPTION, $1.00 per year (This covers membership in the American Nature-Study Society) Canadian postage 10 cents ental Foreign, a barat copy 15c. H ‘Address: NATURE-STUDY REVIEW, URBANA, ILL. For Boys and Girls: ' Per Year — For Everybody: Puasa a Ab Nature and Science (of St. Nicholas Magazine) $3.00 _The Spirit of Nature Study (222 pes. i), s oa Me For Men and Women: Walking: A Fine Art (164 pgs. ills.) - - $1.50 He The Guide to Nature (monthly, ilustrated) 1.00 Three Kingdoms—the handbook of the a Hid ae ng $4.00 For Plants: Sachs Nutrient Tablets, ner box, postal, 102, For You (to aid and ve aided): / BY For Teachers: Postpaid The Agassiz Association (Poplar Natere se! sy), eet; How Nature a Should be Taught (203 pgs.) $1. 00 For Correspondents (to a af further information EDWARD F. piphetie th i ARCADIA: SOUND BEACH, CON Ee ne et Both for one year, $3.00. Sample of either, 10c. VOLUME 17, NUMBER yay WHOLE NUMBER 89 MAY, 1911 s| AMERICAN & OTANIST _ Devoted to Economic and Ecological Botany ‘CONTENTS THE ROAR WEED 210 i hie hoa BY EARL LYND JOHNSTON a BY THE RIVER'S BRIM Wc sae ‘ BY FRANK DOBBIN Ge DAISIES EOE TG ANA bani UL Berle + BY DR. W. W. BAILEY | PROLIFERATION IN A PEACH BLOSSOM BY A. E. SHIRLING We | POLLEN GRAINS” Beh |). “THE: SPRING FLOWERING WITCH HAZEL Bhs) NOTE: AND COMMENT? -))0 5 ton) ioy BG) “SCHOOL; BOTANNY 0) han ei EDITORIAL Geile fee ee Mz | | BOOKS AND WRITERS - Se ae 20 CENTS A COPY -- 75 CENTS A YEAR WILLARD N. Guy E & COMPANY i JOLIET, ILLINOIS Ghe Aimericn a Botanist. : Devoted to Ecological and Economic Botany PUBLISHED QUARTERLY ‘i WILLARD N. CLUTE 333 EDITOR | SUBSCRIPTIONS.—This magazine is published on the 20th of February, May, August and November. Subscription price: 75 cents a year; $1.00 for a year and a half, $1.25 for two years. Remit by any convenient method. Checks upon small or distant banks must add 10 cents for collection fees. i: BACK NUMBERS.—Volumes 1 to 10 inclusive consist of 6 numbers each, pe volumes 11 to 13 consist of 5 numbers each and all later volumes have 4 numbers. — Price of single volumes 75 cents. When a full set is purchased the price is 50 cents a volume. Those who wish, may buy the later volumes at 75 cents each, — and when an amount has been paid equal to the price of a full set, the earlier volumes to complete the set will be sent free. These back numbers form a per- — fect mine of information for the botanist, the gardener, the teacher of nature study and the general reader. More than 5,000 articles and notes have already been published. WILLARD WN. CLUTE at COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 209 WHITLEY AVE., JOLIET, ILL. Entered as rail matter of the second class at the post ‘office, Joliet, pas Bae 4 ti ‘Here, then, is a ‘‘different’’ magazine of Outdoor Inspiration and a little monthly visitor of outdoor — interest in Picturesque; Che Sketch Book Of ature and Outaosr Life Redolest of field and sky, bearing ite message of the open air—of green helds, fern-filled woodlands and silent hills, stately trees and -wayside f flowers, sketched in prose, noetry and iustration. New Hampshire—the A quarter brings it to you on three months’ trial; try it, you will become interested. Get this monthly chart of ‘tbe heart- beats of nature. There is ozone in every page, and it nicely fits the pocket. It is finely printed and con- tains original drawings. Address, Arthur E, Vogel Publisher THE SKETCH BOOK Manchester, N. H, The Fern Bulletin | For all Students and Lovers of Ferns. This magazine was begun before — there was a single popular fern-book in America and for eighteen years — has covered the whole field of fern- — study. It is a complete record of the — rise and progress of this work and the back volumes contain descriptions x of a large number of the species and _ forms discovered during this period. Among other special features are portraits of all the leading fern students, monographs of various genera, illustrations of rare species _ and varieties and accounts of re- markable ferns from the tropics. Subscriptions 75 cents a year. — First 6 volumes are out of pepe : we offer a set of the next 12 for $7. 50 be postpaid, ra WILLARD N. CLUTE & Co., a Joliet, il. Seine i DOND/D VII —AAANMdVOS AHL UWL B22 Wt THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVII JOLIET, ILL., MAY, 1911 No. 2 In all fair hues from white to mingled rose, Along the hedge the clasping bindweed flowers; And when one chalice shuts a new one blows, Shere’s blooming for all minutes of all hours, Along the hedge beside the trodden lane. Where day by day we pass and pass again. —Augusta Webster THE SOAP WEED. By Eart Lynp JOHNSTON. T is the unusual that attracts our atention. The common things of life, no matter however interesting they might be, are likely to be overlooked every day. An ever-green tree in a never-green environment, our western plains, would call forth comment from a very ordinary person. It is an unusually interesting plant that forms the subject of this article. As the early explorers passed through Colorado they noticed a plant out of harmony with its surroundings. It could be seen on the dry hills and rocky slopes, and, per- chance, in the sandy river bottoms. It was green while its environment was bleak and dry. Fremont, in the report of his trip down the Platte, made mention of it. Early settlers became acquainted with it and knew its name long before they had even heard of the names of the other plants indigen- ous to the same region. It presents a striking appearance with its long, stiff, ever- green leaves, pointed like daggers, growing in a dense bunch from a thick root. The appearance of these leaves gave it 34 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST the name, “Spanish bayonet.” However, locally I find this name rather unknown. “Soap weed,” the name given to it by the Indians, is the name by which it is known here. Yuccas are so familiar, being cultivated in many eastern flower gardens anid parks, that the general characterstics will not be of a great deal of common interest. Yet, for the sake of the few who have never seen them [ shall tell of yuccas as I have begun to know them on the plains of Colorado. They belong to the Liliaceae and number, according to some authors, about twenty species. Our species is known as Yucca glauca Nutt. Although some are tree like plants ours is stemless with the leaves growing in dense bunches from a long, tough, thick root. The leaves remain green through- out the year and have a sort of varnish covering to prevent the escape of moisture. They are two to three feet long, very stiff and tipped with a spine which is supposed to protect the plant. They are quite narrow, scarcely an inch wide and have coarse white filaments along the margins which look and feel not unlike the sisal fiber used in the twine of that name. The fiber of some of the species of the Southwest is used by the Indians as cordage. The white, bell-shaped flowers growing on a flower stalk, two or three feet high, are truly a glorious spectacle. This scape arises from the center of the bunch of leaves, and has the flowers arranged on it in rows, drooping like tiny bells with clapper-like stigmas ready to tinkle in the breeze. Their creamy whiteness standing out against the unvaried vista of the plains always compels one to stop and admire. The flowers are fleshy, anid so hard to dry that I have never suc- ceeded in getting a good specimen for my herbarium. It is said that cattle grazing on the plains are fond of them, hence, its stockade of pointed leaves is supposed to prevent this, but, I seriously question this supposition. The leaves seldom ex- tend more than three feet from the root and considerably less than at a right angle to ite , The jracenieswatessco aan THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 35 above them that cattle can easily get to the bloom. I have been told by cattlemen that when cattle do get to them their milk tastes soapy. What seems to me to be another fallacy is in regarding these pointed leaves as being for the protec- tion of the leaves themselves. Protection against what? What will eat the hard dry leaves anyway? The only thing I know that does eat them to any extent are grasshoppers and a few other insects. Prairie dogs might, but when a prairie . dog can readily eat cacti what good would a single spine on the end of a leaf do if they chose to eat it? The fruit in our species is a hard 6-celled capsule. Some southwestern species have a soft fruit which is eaten by the Indians of that region. The root has the general character- istics of xerophytic plants. It is large, woody, and porous, capable of absorbing much water in the rainy season. It is covered with a tough skin, preventing the escape, into the dry parched ground, of this stored up moisture. It is in the roots that the saponaceous properties are found. I suppose the yucca and its method of pollination has been written about more than any other single plant, and for good reasons too. A plant that has to depend on a single species of insect for fertilization is rather unusual. I believe each spe- cies of yucca has its own species of the yucca moth, Pronuba, to fertilize it. The flowers of yucca have very short anthers that cannot reach the stigmas of their respective flowers. This with the fact that the pollen is rather vascid argues against self fertili- zation. In addition those who have made a detailed study of yucca pollination say the pollen can not be introduced into the stigmatic tube without artificial aid. The yucca moth, in order to preserve her own progeny, comes to the rescue and saves this plant from passing into the ranks of the exterminated by pollinating it. This intelligent little creature, during the hours of nightfall, for she is noctural in her habits, gathers up a load of pollen, all she can carry, and flies to another plant 36 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST where she lays her eggs within the pistil by means of her ovipositor. Here a wonder occurs. It is only when the flowers are young, generally not over two days old, that the pistils are susceptible of pollination. The moth seems to know this and never oviposits in older flowers. As soon as she de- posits her eggs she goes to the top of the pistil and pushes her load of pollen as far into the tube as she can. Ina few days the egg hatches and the larvae feed on the young and tender seeds. Enough seeds, however, are left to perpetu- ate the species. The consideration of this plant and moth with their in- terdependence forms an interesting study. To see the moth at work one will have to do his observing after nightfall and with an artificial light of some kind. When one has observed a few things for himself then let him seek some good authority who has made a life study of yucca and Pronuba. I would refer those who wish to know more on the subject to the Third Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden where they will find a long article by that profound insect authority, C. V. Riley, to which I am indebted for much information. Ft. Lupton, Colo. BY THE RIVER'S BRIM. By FRANK DoBBIN. WALK by the river side is always interesting as one is sure to make some interesting finds. If the stream be sluggish with plenty of mud on the bottom some of the numerous Potamogetons will be found or the long streamers of the eel grass (Vallisneria spiralis) will point the direction of the slow moving current. The submerged rocks and stones may be dark with the long stems of some moss of the genus Fontinalis—possibly F. dalecarlica or F. Novae-An- gliae, or if it be a favorable locality the curious seaweed-like plant, the river weed (Podestemon ceratophyllum) may be THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 37 found closely clinging to the stones where the current is swift. Generally its thick matted branches are full of par- ticles of sand and bits of sawdust and it needs a thorough cleaning before going into the vasculum. At the first glance this plant might be taken for a cryptogam but such is not the case for a closer examination will show it to be a flowering plant. In similar places may sometimes be found the alga (Batrachospermum moniliforme) also clinging to the peb- ~bles in the bed of the stream. When first removed from the water it has a jelly-like appearance but this disappears upon drying. The sand and gravel bars running out from the bank are always good hunting ground being usually well covered with sedges—Cyperus, Eleocharis, Scirpus and the like; while the Scirpus-like rush (Juncus scirpoides) may often be found. On such a bar I sometimes find the small bedstraw (Galium triidum) intermingled with dwarfish Bidens. Such places are also the favorite habitats of the sand cherry (Prumus pumila) which more resembles a dwarf willow than the plums and cherries to which it is allied. If the month be August, looking up or down the stream one may catch a gleam of brilliant color. A flash of purest cardinal red which is not difficult to identify as the cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)—the most brilliant of our north- ern blossoms. Where a brook enters the main stream is a favorable place to search for that more humble relative of the cardinal flower, the brook lobelia (Lobelia Kalmit). On the bank and perhaps leaning out so that it is re- flected in still water, will be the great St. John’s-wort (Hy- pericum ascyron) a plant well worthy of cultivation for its great flowers of pure yellow. Many other St. John’s-worts may be found without difficulty as they are a numerous anid hardy race, liking well the neighborhood of lakes and streams. 38 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST Just outside the willows and alders that border the stream and yet out of reach of the mowing machine are sure to be found several conspicuous and easily recognized grasses. Among them being the wild rye (Elymus Virginicus) and the great nodding rye (£. Canadensis) sometimes five feet in height and having a spike ten or twelve inches in length. The genus Bromus and also Pamnicularia are usually well rep- resented in such places. The burnet (Sangwsorba Canadensis) with its unrose- like spike of flowers though a member of the rose family is a lover of the river bank and here also the searcher after our native orchids may sometimes be rewarded by finding one or the other of the purple fringed orchids (Habenaria grandi- flora or H. psycodes). I was fortunate the past summer in locating a station for the somewhat rare tubercled orchid (Habenaria flava) in the bed of a stream in eastern Vermont. Space and time fail me to tell of all the finds a botanical student may make when strolling “by the river’s brim.” Shushan, N.Y. DAISIES. By Dr. W. W. BAILey. ERY wrong conceptions popularly prevail in regard to the daisy. In the class-room these sometimes assume a tragic form, as when the pupil with youthful temerity, seeks to name a given plant by the index of his Manual. Then, perhaps, name and description are suddenly discovered to be discrepant. The lesson, is, however, a useful one and the victim is very unlikely, unless endowed with great dull- ness or “cheek” to become mired again in the same puddle. The real English daisy, the ““Day’s-eye” of Chaucer, the “Wee crimson tipped flower” of Burns, is a modest little plant but a few inches in height, stemless and with small heads of white, pink or crimson florets. With us in America, it is THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 39 only seen in cultivation either in gardens or on lawns. It makes a neat and pretty border plant. In the United States, the plant usually known as daisy is not this Bellis perennis, but the ox-eye or white weed, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum of science. At the East it is one of the widely spread and pernicious weeds. For all that it is a “thing of beauty and a joy forever.” The French mar- guerite or Paris daisy in some respects is like it, but is shrub- by, from four to ten feet high, more delicate in aspect and hailing from the Azores. It is Chrysanthemum frutescens. Then we have the daisy fleabanes of the genus Erigeron, looking like asters but mainly blooming earlier and with more numerous and delicate rays. The first of these to appear is early summer or late spring is robin’s plantation, but the most beautiful is the Philadelphia fleabane. This is common about the White Mountain foothills and in similar locations throughout the North. Somehow or other, the name “oxeye’’ has been misap- plied to the cone flower (Itudbeckia lirta) a member of the genus to which the parent of the too familiar “golden glow” belongs. These are in no sense daisies, but apart from names, or may be in despite of them, they are among our showiest wildflowers. Cone flower is said to have migrated from the West with hayseed and is steadily extending its range. It has coarse ‘hairy stems and foliage and large orange-colored heads with chocolate cone or disk. It is splendid in cultiva- tion, ever increasing in size, while in meadows as one views it from car windows it spreads a gorgeous and unsurpassed carpet. This plant will illustrate the use of the word weed. A weed is a plant that grows out of place, where not desired or needed or where it is a positive nuisance. It follows that the same plant may be a weed or flower, in the familiar sense, according to situation or environment. In the field the 40 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST “black-eyed Susans’ are weeds to fight; in the garden they are effective flowers to cherish. The little Mayweeds, of the genus Anthems or Maruta may also be called daisies. They are very closely allied to the oxeye and have a pretty sleep habit, when as twilight ap- proaches, they turn down their white rays. They love to hang about old yards and garden paths and really make a handsome bouquet for the indoor vase but their rank cha- momile odor is rather against them. The field chamomile is not so offensive and its lavender rays project straight out from the disk. Providence, R. I. PROLIFERATION IN A PEACH BLOSSOM. By A. E. SHIRLING. PECULIAR case of proliferation in a peach blossom was brought about by an accident to the growing shoot of a budded seedling. In August, I budded a seedling ABNORMAL PEACH BLOSSOM peach in my yard. The next spring, the usual method was followed of cutting off the top of the seedling ‘down to the THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 41 bud. The bud grew but was accidentally broken off when about three inches long. The bud that had been inserted, however, was a multiple bud, having a flower bud on either side of the leaf bud that first grew. After the destruction of this first shoot, the flower buds were stimulated to exert themselves to see what they could do to repair the loss of the leafy stem; but they were up against a difficult proposition; for being merely flower buds, with floral organs already present in embryo, they could not entirely change their nature. The attempt, however, was interesting. One of them opened anid developed sepals that grew abnormally, becoming almost as large as ordinary peach leaves. The petals of the corolla were shrunken anld lacked their normal bright color. The pistil grew into a twisted, dwarfed shoot, while the stamens were abortive. Moreover, the peduncle grew till it was many times normal length. Kansas City, Mo. POLLEN GRAINS. YRIADS, countless teeming myriads, of pollen grains, infinitesimally small in size, extremely delicate of texture, color and shape are formed and, for the most part, lie hidden in the secret recesses of the simple and often de- spised, or the more beautiful and attractive, blossoms with which Nature paints our world with glory. To the naked eye they pass unnoticed; with the microscope they will show their loveliness and individual strangeness of form both of which are so great that one stands charmed and well nigh spellbound before them. Here are tiny structures most won- derfully made, created to carry out the most important func- tions namely the fertilization of their own plant species and consequent propagation of their kind. They are formed within the stamen anthers, mature and die unseen; yet on their brief but essential life’s work we depend for much that 42 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST is exquisite, refreshing, useful and necessary in the plant world. It is when the grains are considered individually, those known to be wind wafted and those borne by insect agency that we begin to realize their wonder. It is very essential that there should be some means by which a wind carried grain should easily catch the wind and we find in numbers and numbers of instances that such grains often possess many sides and angles. In form they are triangular, square, polyhe- dral, hexagonal, octagonal, cubical, filiform cylindrical, ete. So, too, it is extremely light in weight, very thin coated, very smooth surfaced and very dry and powdery. On the other hand, insect borne grains are usually circular, oval, ellipsoid, etc. in form, their coats are marvelously grooved, warted, pitted, furrowed, ridged or covered with most exquisite spins ous projections or excrescences. They are often extremely mucilaginous, owing to wee drops of oil that are secreted, this oil varying in color from cream to yellow and other richer hues. Many grains are pearly white, shell pink, cream, very pale green, lemon yellow, orange, rich red (as in some of the mulleins), deep purple (in arbor vitae), almost black (some tulips), blue (Scilla), brownish black (poppy) and of many other varying tones, the commonest of all perhaps, being deep yellow. Some very pretty and interesting examples may be seen in the following plants: In the hazel a plant in which the stamens are borne in pendulous delicate catkins, each grain is triangular with a thickened portion at each angle: in arbor vitae, another wind fertilized plant, the shape of the grain is almost exactly similar though the coloring is different the latter being purple and the former yellow. In the white stitchwort the “dairy maids” of our spring hedgerows the grain is hexagonal, yellow and very rough coated. In mallow it is circular, having its outer coat (extine) studded over with most exquisite delicate spinous projections and of a deep THE AM®RICAN BOTANIST 43 brownish yellow color. Very choice examples of spinous surfaced grains can be seen in many of the compositae for instance, oxeye daisy, purple erigeron, common daisy, the large white “moon” of our gardens, the marigolds, dandelion, etc., and in the French honeysuckle, Campanulas and countless other plant species. In the sweet scented mimosa each grain is more or less octagonal having its surface covered with fur- rows and intricate striations. In the chickory we find poly- hedral grains, in the beech, oblong and deeply grooved ones, in the plantain they are quite circular, smooth surfaced and pearly white. In the lesser celandine they are circular, yel- low in color, having here and there on their extines small knob-like projections. The garden lupine shows a pretty ex- ample: in this plant each grain is brick-shaped, somewhat rounded at both ends, rather rough surfaced of a fair size and rich orange in color, and in the stinging nettle we find them quite circular in form, very smooth, grayish white in hue and very small. It is interesting to take in one’s fingers a small branch of nettle blossoms and hold it up against a dark object: if the stamens are ripe, that is, are ready to de- hisce and shed their pollen the grains may be seen forcibly ejected every now and then just like puffs of smoke. When this happens in the open air, of course the wind catches the dry powdery grains as they are thrown off from the somewhat pendulous sprays and carries them to some other flower on the same or a neighboring plant. In the cycaids, firs, etc., all of them wind fertilized plants, the grains of pollen are made specially buoyant by reason of their possessing two very small bladderlike pouches or hollow vescicles which act like sails. In all the flowering plants of field down, and hedgerow, copse, woodland, river anid swamp, can these lovely grains of pollen dust be found—perfect little structures, each with two coits surrounding a mass of coarse grandular protoplasm, the life-giving element of all cells with its nucleus and grains of starch, certain fatty matters and tiny drops of oil, all of which 44 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST material enables the grain to perform its functions of fertiliza- tion, once it has escaped from the anther and alighted on the pistil of some plant of the same species. Then it is that the grain sends out a little tube which grows down the pistil till the ovary is reached and the contents of the grain mingles with one of the ovules in the ovary, thus bringing about fer- tilization which in time will cause the ovule to become a ripe seed. In some plants, as in crocus this is accomplished in a few hours; in some plants a few weeks elapse; in the orchids, several months pass; while in the firs and their allies two years pass before development is complete. The work goes on, we cannot see it, but we can see the stamens as they sway versatile in the tiger lily, stand rect, column like, pearly pink or creamy white in the mallow or in countless other positions in all kinds of flowering plants and we can see the grains be- neath the miscroscope and there revel in their many beauties. Perhaps of all the floral structures these wee bodies are some of the most marvelous. Certain it is that for the important issues of life for which they were created they are most deli- cately, most chastely made.—K. E. Styan in Selborne Maga- Zine. THE SPRING FLOWERING WITCH HAZEL. WAS pleased to see in The American Botanist a refer- ence to the American Spring-flowering Hamamelis and am very glad to be able to supply you with a few more particu- lars. As you know, the only other Hamamelis native of this continent is H. Virginiana which flowers in the fall and the discovery of a spring-flowering species is of much interest to botanists and those who cultivate flowering shrubs. This new species was discovered by Mr. B. F. Bush, Missouri, a gentle- man who has been instrumental in introducing many good shrubs. Plants were first sent by him to the Arnold Arbore- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 45 tum in October, 1908. Mr. Bush found this witch hazel in the mountains of North Carolina. At the date of writing (April 4) it is just in full bloom at the Arboretum, quite small plants being well covered, and though not so showy as the Japanese or Chinese species yet it is an exceedingly interesting and desirable addition to our early spring flowering shrubs. The flowers have a deep red center and the petals, about half an inch in length are rich yellow suffused with red. The foliage closely resembles the Japanese H. arborea. In Massachusetts this new Hamamelis is per- .fectly hardy and will, I think, prove a useful addition to our gardens. Owing to the courtesy of Professor C. S. Sargent this shrub has been growing in European gardens for the last two years, from where, I unlderstand, you first heard of it—A. E. Thatcher, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass. [In a later communication Mr. Thatcher writes that the new witch hazel has been given the appropriate name of Hamamelis vernale. Mr. Charles E. A. Hale of Savan- nah, Georgia writes that he has found a witch hazel in full flower in his locality late in January. This is possibly the new species. A curious feature of the general region from which the new shrub comes is found in the fact that it pro- duces several species that fruit out of season as compared with their congeners in the North. One of the grape ferns, Botry- chium biternatum, fruits here in spring, though all its close allies, farther toward the pole do not fruit until autumn and do not, in fact, appear above the earth at all until late June or even July.—Ed. | WaANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for this dep2rtment. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible after the 15th of February, May, August and November. THE WatTeER Lity a Monocot. — It has long been known that a considerable number of plants reputed to be members of the great group of dicotyledons, have many struc- tures that seem to indicate their rather close relationship to that other branch of the flowering plant division known as the monocotyledons. In a former day these plants were ofter regarded as some of the piers of that bridge which was supposed to connect monocot and dicot and they have beet much studied in consequence. Among such plants the water lilies and some of the Berberidaceae are included and Dr. J. H. Schaffner now comes forward with a re-arrangement of plant families which locate the water lilies among the mono- cots and pretty well toward the bottom of the list, at that, since they are sandwiched in between the water plantains and eel-grass families. It is likely, however, that most botanists will be inclined to accept this transfer and some there be who would add the mandrake (Podophyllum) to the same cate- gory. DRAINS CLOGGED By Roorts.—In some cities it is now unlawful to plant the so-called North Carolina poplar along the city streets because of its tendency to fill up drains and sewers with its roots. Numerous complaints of this kind 46 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 47 have been made and most of them refer to this particular tree, but the poplar has no monopoly of such habits and a recent magazine gives an illustration of a mass of pear roots more than sixty feet long and tweleve inches in diameter taken from a tile drain which they had completely clogged. The annual layers on the single root that had caused all the mischief showed it to be only five years old and it was less than an inch in diameter where it entered the drain. Hysrip Tracopocons.—Two species of the genus Tragopogon are familiar to American botanists, one the well- known oyster plant or salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) with purplish flowers, and the other, the equally familiar goats-beard or John-go-to-bed-at-noon (T. pratensis) with yellow flowers. The first, usually cultivated in gardens, has occasionally run wild, the other, of no particular use, has been neglected by the gardener but is nevertheless rather the more wide spread of the two. When this vagabond of the fields meets with its aristocratic cousin of the gardens, hybridiza- tion sometimes occurs resulting in plants with smoky purple flowers and other characters intermediate between the two species. This hybrid is better known in Europe, where it is reported from both Britain and the continent and according to Focke was the first hybrid to be produced for scientific pur; poses, the cross having been accomplished by no less a person than Linnaeus in 1759. Those interested in hybridizing may find these two plants most excellent for experimental pur- poses. ORIENTATION OF FiBrous Roots.—According to Horti- culture an ingenius Jap has discovered that the small roots of turnips, beets, radishes, carrots and the like grow in two straight lines on each side of the main root, and that further these roots always grow in east and west directions, never north and south. All that is necessary, then is to arrange 48 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST our gardens and plantings so that these roots will be able to grow out into the soil between the rows and thus secure the plant food where it is most accessible. Most gardening works suggest that plants do best when planted in north anid south rows but this is reputed to be because the roots of the plants are in this way shaded from the sun and not so easily dried up. Can it be that the Jap has really hit upon the real reason, or is this only another of those superstitions to which those who delve in the soil are so often addicted. At any rate, any of us with a garden should be able to either prove or disprove the proposition this summer. Tue Soar Nut.—In a recent number of the Scientific American E. Moulie, Jacksonville, Florida, has an account of a wonderful soap-bearing tree said to have originated from seeds brought from China by missionaries twenty-seven years ago. Mr. Moulie believes that the soap-nut industry may be made to pay in Florida and the warmer parts of the South and offers seeds free to those who wish to experiment in the matter. The botanical relationships of the soap-nut are not indicated but in this connection it may ‘be noted that soap- trees are not unknown, even in this country. In fact, we have two native species one of which Sapindus acununata, grows as far north as Arkansas. Many other soap trees be- long to the genus Sapindus. Sapindus utilis has long been cultivated in Northern Africa for its soapy qualities, and the Chinese have another species, S. mucorossi valued in the same way. It is possible this latter species that has found favor in Florida. Still another species S. saponavia grows wild in the American tropics. Birps As Botanists.—If anyone whose winter rambles lead him along wet wood borders will take note of clumps of Panicum clandestium he will find the upper sheaths split to shreds while still uninjured at the junction with the dry yellow blade above. A few winters ago the cause of this THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 49 was made known to the writer when watching a flock of chickadees near Takoma Park, a suburb of Washington, D. C. These animated balls of gray and black were having a feast on the big fat grains of the cleistogamous spikelets con- cealed in the sheaths. I have since found occasional clumps of Panicum Boscti also with shredded upper sheaths. Evi- dently the chickadees knew of this character of P. clande- stinum and profited by it before Linnaeus bestowed the name “clandestinum’”’ on the species because of it—Agnes Chase in Rhodora. RUBBER FROM THE MILKWEED.—Several familes of plants, including the dogbanes (Apocynaceae) the spurges (Euphorbiaceae) and the milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae) pretty generally possess a milky juice called latex. In many in- stances this latex contains rubber, and a large share of the commercial product comes from tropical trees and vines be- longing to these families. Even some of our temperate region plants produces rubber but this is usually of such inferior quality and occurs in such minute quantities that it is never likely to appear in market. The fact that the rubber exists, however, is of interest. Recently some investigations have been carried on with the common milkweed (Asclepias syri- aca) and a note in the Ohio Naturalist records that it is a rub- ber producer though the rubber is not of a high grade. Be- sides the rubber, the latex from this plant contains sugar, mineral matter and resin. About 2 or 3 per cent of rubber is yielded by the latex. MEANING OF AMARYLLIS.—A subscriber asks for the meaning of the name Amaryllts which is sometimes applied to a group of tropical American bulbous plants allied to the iris and narcissus. The same group is also known as Zephyranthes and Atamasco but usually amaryllis is added as a common name showing that the plants be- 50 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST came well known under the generic name of Amaryllis before the name-tinker got busy with them. Amaryllis is a Latin word and its equivalent is found in the Greek language, but there seems to be no meaning connected with this word that would make it applicable to these plants. A safer guess is that the plants were named for the Spanish word Amarilla meaning yellow. These plants abound in Mexico and other countries in which Spanish is spoken and it is quite likely that species with yellow flowers sent to Linnaeus as amarilla lilies induced him to give the name of Amaryllis to the genus. The fact that several species have yellow or yellow- ish flowers gives color to the suggestion. If any reader can throw additional light upon this subject we shall be glad to hear from him. ErFrects oF Moisture ON Woop.—The effect of water in softening organic tissue, as in wetting a piece of paper or a sponge, is well known, and so is the stiffening effect of drying. The same law applies to wood. By different methods of seas- oning two pieces of the same stick may be given very different degrees of strength. Wood in its green state contains moist- ure in the pores of the cells, like honey in a comb, and also in the substance of the cell walls. As seasoning begins the moist- ure in the pores is first evaporated. This lessens the weight of the wood but does not affect its strength. It is not until the moisture in the substance of the cell walls is drawn upon that the strength of the wood begins to increase. Scientifically this point is known as the “fiber-saturation point.” From this con- dition to that of absolute dryness the gain in the strength of wood is somewhat remarkable. In the case of spruce the strength is multiplied four times; indeed, spruce, in small sizes, thoroughly dried in an oven is as strong, weight for weight as steel. Even after the reabsorption of moisture when the wood is again exposed to the air the strength of the sticks is still from 50 to 150 per cent greater than when it was green. When, in THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 51 drying, the fibre-saturation point is passed, the strength of wood increases as drying progresses, in accordance with a definite law and this law can be used to calculate from the strength of a stick at one degree of moisture what its strength will be at any other degree.—Forest Leaves. A VioLet LackInG PetioLtes.—Last May I found a group of scattered clusters of unusual violets, growing near the downy violet (Viola pubescens), which they closely re- semble, the leaves, only, differing. To me, a violet leaf with- out a petiole is unique. The downy violet sports a well de- veloped petiole and the freak lacks it. The blade of the freak leaf is narrower than that of the downy. Apparently the pe- tiole has vanished and the stipules are leaving. Traces of the latter are found at the base of the blade, where they are mostly grown fast. The color is paler, the texture thinner, the margin more finely cut and, sometimes, the tip of the deserting stipule remains. The midrib has a kink near its base and the leaves either turn up or down on the stem. One feels like calling it a degenerating downy violet—N. McMurray. [All such strange freaks are worth recording and cultivating. Often sowing the seeds from such plants will bring more of the same form. We trust that our correspondent will keep this plant under notice and find time to experiment with it—Eb. | WuitE PARTRIDGE Berrtes.—There is one thing that may be presaged of all species of plants bearing red fruits: if we search long enough, we are reasonably certain of finding white anld’ yellow forms.The yellow forms are due to a dimin- ution of the anthocyan that gives the red color; in fact, even black fruits are often caused by an over load of this substance. It will thus be seen that there is an easy transition from black fruits to red ones as in the choke-berry (Pyrus) or from red fruits to yellow ones as frequently occur in the holly and moun, tainash. White berried forms are albinos such as may also be 52 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST found in the animal kingdom and are due to a lack of pigment. They may thus be expected to occur in any part of the plant having colors other than green. White forms of the partridge berry (Mitchella repens) have been frequently reported, pos- sibly because they are so widely distributed. The form has been known for thirty years or more but in /thodora for February C. H. Bissell gives the name of Jewcocarpa to it and describes it asa “new form.’ Bissell’s specimens are from Connecticut but others are known from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania. We would be glad to hear of other stations. FREEZING POINT OF ORANGES.—It is generally known that pure water will freeze at a higher temperature than water with various substances in it, and plant juices have been found to be no exception to this rule. Some experiments carried on at Rollins College with oranges and grape fruit showed that the juice of the ordinary orange needs be cooled down to about 22 degrees before it will freeze while the freezing point for both the grape fruit and tangerine is below 23 degrees. In these experiments the juice was extracted from the fruits anid strained before freezing. It is well to remember, how- ever, that it is not always the freezing that kills plants, for the protoplasm of many plants can endure temperatures many degrees below zero unharmed. On the other hand some plants cannot stand a temperature several degrees above freezing. It all depends upon the constitution of the particular species. THE SouTHERN WaHnHoo.—Our southern variety of strawberry bush (Euonymus Americanus) known by us as Wahoo, seems to be of much more slender growth than the northern burning bush. Its habit of growing on stream banks makes it reach up often 4 to 6 feet high and so slim as to look vine-like, its green color adding to the similarity. Not only are THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 53 its “four-sided branchlets” deep green, but the color often ex- tends almost to the ground. Its pods are larger than the smooth ones of the burning bush, are decidedly rough and well colored—crimson—while its thread-like peduncles and the waxy covering of the seeds are bright scarlet. The pods open from three quarters to an inch in width and the seeds are dropping now, in November, most of the lower pods being empty. It is a very pretty bush, in leaf, flower, pod, seed and stem, and is easily cultivated.—F. G. Kenesson, Remlig, Texas. WasTE IN LUMBERING.—According to a recent publica- tion of the United States Forest Service we are still wasting our forest products though well aware that the supply will soon run short. If all the wood wasted in the manufacture of yellow pine lumber, in 1907 had been steam distilled for wood turpentine it would have yielded more than the total production of gum turpentine for that year. If all the waste spruce, hemlock, poplar and cotton-wood in that year had been used for paper making it would have furnished all the paper used in the same time. The wood that went to waste in manufacturing chestnut lumber, if used to make tanning extract would have produced twice as much as was produced by the chestnut cordwood used for that pur- pose. The waste in the manufacture of beech, birch and maple in 1907 was nearly equal to the quantity of these woods used for (distillation while the wasted oak for the same time was twice as much as all the hardwoods used for distillation. Evidently the lumberman needs educating or else investigat- ing. RELATIVES OF THE SUMACH.—In most parts of our country the sumach family (Anacardiaceae) is not of much economic value. A few species are planted in extensive grounds for the tropical appearance given by their long pin- nate leaves, but others such as the poison ivy and poison su- 54 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST mach, though equally decorative have to be ruled out because of their harmful qualities. A large number of the sumach’s allies in other parts of the world are more or less under sus- picion but others are among our most decorative species and the fruits of several are edible. The pepper tree (Schinus mollis) so largely planted in California is a member of this family and the famous tropical fruit the mango (Mangifer Indica) is another. The cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale) also belongs to the sumach family. In flower and fruit, all these species resemble our common sumach in a general way, having clusters of fruit each of which contains a single seed, but here the resemblance ceases for the tropical fruits are larger than peaches. Forests AND WATER-FLOW.—The influence of forest cover on water-flow is of a three fold nature: (1) the mechani- cal obstruction which the foliage offers reduces the amount of water which reaches the soil and lengthens the time during which it can do so; the foliage together with the loose litter of the forest floor also reduces the compacting effect of the rain- drops and the drying effect of sun and wind and keeps the soil granular, so that the water can easily percolate; (2) then the mechanical obstruction which the litter, underbrush and trunks, and possibly here and there moss, offers to the rapid surface drainage of waters, lengthens the time during which this per- colation may take place; and (3) the network of deeply pene- trating roots, live and decayed, offer additional channels for a change of surface drainage into sub-drainage. In addition, ow- ing to the influence on temperature and moisture conditions of the air, together with reduced evaporation, more water be- comes available to the soil, and certainly the fact that the water by ready percolation, is wthdrawn from the dissipative effects of sun and wind must tend in this direction. We should con- sider the protection of our watersheds as much a national prob- lem as the improvement of our water ways, and even more so. —Dr. B. E. Fernow. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST © 55 Tue RapiAL Type In PLANTS.—One interesting differ- ence between the higher animals and plants that was long ago pointed out is that the animals have a fore-and-aft polarity while the plants are up anid down structures. Still another feature of plants dwelt upon by L. H. Bailey in his “Survival of the Unlike” is the circular form that all vegetation tends to take while animals are nearly all bilateral or two-sided. The tendency to spread out in all directions is very strong in plants. Tree trunks are round and branches are given off on all sides; the leaves, parts of the flower and even the seeds in the fruit are for the most part arranged in circular form while in the high- est type of plants, the asters and other composites, the flowers themselves are arranged in this fashion. So characteristic is the rotate form that any deviation from it is at once marked as a specialization and we commonly hold the flowers of orchids and labiates more highly specialized than those with parts regularly arranged. Crop AND WEED.—It has come to be recognized thit there are natural associations of plants and natural rotations of vegetation certainly determined by other thar plaat sood factors. Thusin the Eastern United States, wheat is foll» zed by ragweed naturally while, across the fence, cockelbur and wild sunflowers come in after the corn, the difference ‘n -eze- tation being as sharply marked after the removal of the crops as when they still occupied the land. Analyses of the ragweed, for instance, although it is a shallower rooted crop than wheat, show that it takes from the soil as much of the mineral nu- trients as does the preceding wheat crop. The investigation of Lawes and Gilbert on fairy rings can not be satisfactorily ex- plained by the comparison of the mineral constituents of the soil within and without the rings. Work at Woodburn on the effect of grass on apple trees finds no other plausible exp!ana- tion than that the growing grass produces in the soil organic substances detrimental to young apple trees.—Sciciice. — ———— SCHOOL BOTANY Accessory Bups.—There are few phases of the plant about which less seems to be known than the accessory or supernumerary buds. ‘These usually occur on either side of the axillary or lateral buds or extend along the intermode for some distance above them. The axillary bud is regarded as the one nearest the center of the leaf scar, and this is un- questionably correct for those cases in which the axillary and accessory buds are arranged side by side, but when the buds are superposed, that is, when several buds occur, one above the other, the lowest bud, which in this case would be de- fined as the axillary bud, is often the smaliest and most in- significant of the lot, and since it rarely grows it may well be questioned whether this is a true axillary bud; whether, in fact, accessory buds may not occur on all four sides of the axillary buds and this be one of them. Nobody doubts the oc- currence of such buds on three sides of the lateral buds. A further interesting feature of the accessory buds is the kind of structure to which they give rise. In such plants ; 5 bear the accessory buds on both sides of the lateral bud they ‘n- variably give rise to flowers, as one may easily discover by examining the peach or the golden bell (Forsythia). So far as the writer is aware, there are no flowering plants that pro- duce three twigs above a single leaf scar as woula be the case if such accessory buds formed leafy twigs as the lateral buds do. But in the plants with superposed buds the case is quite different. Here it is apparent that these buds seldom if ever produce flowers. Not only this but more than one of these buds may grow. One has only to search vigorous young twigs of the walnut, butternut or Pterocarya to find 56 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 57 two or more buds showing a tendency to grow and in some cases the buds produce twigs two or three inches long the first year. Clearly such buds are not to be classed with the buds that occur alongside of the lateral buds, and our botani- cal texts need a little revision at this point. There does not seem to be a very definite idea as to just how much the pro- duction of adventitious buds enters into this problem of extra buds at the nodes. If one searches the plants of the world he will be surprised to find buds appearing almost anywhere. Many of these, in fact all that appear at the nodes, are re- _ garded as accessory buds, but who shall say that this view is correct. FALL OF THE LEAF.—lIt is pretty well known that leaves ido not fall because of the frost though the approach of a cold season may be responsible for their being cast off by the parent plants. As a matter of fact, many plants never cast their leaves. Mosses, ferns, and the great majority of monocotyledons such as palms and lilies, do not throw off their leaves. When these structures have served their pur- pose, they wither and droop but remain attached to the plant until decay or the play of the elements have detached them. Most flowering plants however, long before autumn, begin to make preparation for separating the leaves from the twigs. This is accomplishd by a “cleavage plane” so-called, which consists of a layer of brittle cells that grows across the petiole and at the proper time causes it to fall. Before this layer of cells is formed the plant forms a layer of cork cells just be- low the place where it is to form. This often begins as early as June and is manifestly of service in keeping the moisture within the plant when the leaves have fallen. There are two or three layers of cells in the tissue that cuts the leaf off and this begins its growth at the epidemis and gradually spreads across the petiole. Last of all the ends of the vessels carry- ing water to the leaf are plugged with cork, and the plant is ready to enter the leafless condition. EDITORIAL When this issue of The American Botanist went to press we had no idea that we would have the opportunity to re-edit it and add a postcript, as it were; but as it turned out after the magazine had been printed and sent to the bindery a fire broke out which completely destroyed the issue and as the metal from which it was printed had already been melted up, the entire magazine had to be reset at the cost of considerable delay. Since our printing is done by another company, this magazine loses nothing but time in consequence of the fire, but as Franklin used to observe “Time is the stuff life is made of” and we apologize to our readers for subtracting from their lives even so small a part is represented by the failure of this maga- zine to appear on time. At this writing most of the August number is reald'y and barring accidents, will appear as usual while this present number should be out the first week in July. The building in which the printing firm is located has a rather unenviable record for fires. It has required the attention of the fire department eight times in half as many years. Earlier in the present year another fire in this building delayed the ap- pearance of The Fern Bulletin and we begin to feel like adding to our date line the old familiar legend “Providence and the weather permitting.” However, in order to show that there is no ill feeling because of the delay, all our subscribers whose subscriptions have expired might renew at once! ance Se Last month there was passed by the New York State Legislature a bill to incorporate “The Carnagie Corporation of New York” which is authorized to “receive and maintain a fund and apply the income to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge among the people of the United States 58 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 59 by aiding technical schools, institutions of higher learning, libraries, scientific research, hero funds, useful publications and by such other agencies and means as shall from time to time be found appropriate.’’ Just here is where we are in- clined to put up a few lightning rods—or should we now say antennae—for ourselves. If men of means have at last de- cided to come to the aid of struggling agencies for good in the community, we feel sure that among the first to receive such assistance must be those publications that are en'deavor- ing to foster an interest in botany, nature study and the other outdoor pursuits that lie at the very foundation of the material success of this country. The proposition to incorporate this new Carnagie idea however, does not come as very much of a surprise. For some years signs of a growing interest in the spread of useful knowledge has been manifested by wealthy men. As instances may be cited the bequest of about thirty thousand dollars for the upkeep of the Lloyd Library of Cincinnati maintained for the advancement of botanical science, and the founding of a publishing house in Chicago with a million dollar endowment to aid in issuing useful books which otherwise could not be issued because the demand for such matter is still too small to justify its being printed for profit. The general public is not yet alive to the delights and advantages of scientific studies. On this point, Dr. Richard- son in an address delivered at the Minneapolis meeting of the American Chemical Society exprssed himself thus: ‘“Con- sidered by itself, science and the scientific method are the most satisfactory and satisfying things in the possession of the human mind. The unfortunate thing—it can not be classed as a criticism—about science is that it has left the multitude untouched. With the results of science and the scientific method on every hand forming so large a part of our splendid materialistic civilization, nevertheless the great, the over- whelming majority of people are ignorant of the methods, 60 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST the aims and the results of scientific inquiry in daily use and of daily necessity ; of even greater import, the scientific method of thought is not a part of their mental equipment.” One of the reasons why the general public has not a more abiding 1n- terest in real science is doubtless due to the fact that news- paper writers have so long dealt in a fanciful brand of pscudo-science that the facts seem sober and uninteresting by, comparison. To overcome this idea true science needs to be set forth in its best garb, but this cannot be done at present for lack of sufficient support from the public. Should the Carnagie Corporation decide to aid this magazine in popular- izing botanical science our readers may expect something commensurate with the treatment the subject deserves. Meanwhile we shall “go it alone” to the best of our ability. But if we notice the Carnagie Corporation looking this way we shall certainly wig-wag the sign of distress. BOOKS AND WRITERS. The Country Gentlemen of Albany, N. Y. which for more than four score years has been conducted by the members of a single family, father, son and grandson, has passed into the control of the Curtis Publishing Company of Philadelphia. A new publication known as Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany, and devoted to sub-tropical horticulture has made its appearance. Its editor is Prof. C. F. Baker whose experience as an Official of a Brazilian botanical garden, supplemented by much plant collecting in tropical regions, renders peculiarly fitted for the position. The magazine is well illustrated and is issued quarterly at $1.00 a year. The great interest that is now attached to tropical agriculture and horticulture ensures that the new journal will have a wide circulation. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 61 Prof. R. S. Cocks of the Louisiana State Museum has issued as Bulletin No. 1, of the Natural History Survey, a list of the “Leguminosae of Louisiana.” It is more than a mere list, however covering as it does about 25 pages and nearly forty plates. It has been the author’s aim either to refer each species to a good published illustration or to illus- trate it in the list. The distribution and habitat of each spe- cies is given with the common names and _ necessary synonymy, the nomenclature being according to the Vienna rules. Nearly one hundred and fifty species are given, several of them new to science. It is the intention of Prof. Cocks to follow this Bulletin with others devoted to other plant families, which will form a work badly needed in the region, since current manuals have dealt very superficially with the plants which grow there. Among recently issued books of interest to botanists we note “Nature Sketches in Temperate America” by Dr. J. L. Hancock from McClurg & Co., “The Landscape Gardening Book” by Grace Tabor and “Home Vegetable Gardening”’ by F. F. Rockwell from the John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia. Within the past few years discoveries of the greatest importance as regards the evolution of the flowering plants have been made in the realms of fossil botany. Only a short time ago nothing seemed more certain than that the coal measures were formed largely of gigantic ferns and allied plants, now, it is reported, true fossil ferns are somewhat rare, the species once regarded as ferns having quite unex- pectedly turned out to be primitive flowering and seed bearing plants. The discovery of this great group of pteridosperms or cyadofilices as they are variously called has opened up an entirely new vista into former geological ages, and renders very timely Dr. Marie C. Stopes book on “Ancient Plants,” which is issued by the D. Van Nostrand Co., of New York. 62 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST “Ancient Plants” is a very clearly written account of what is known about these plants at present beginning with the var- ious kinds of fossil plants known and the species that occur in coal after which the minute structure of both living and fossil plants is taken up and carefully compared. This fills the first half of the book. The following pages contain the past histories of plant families. These comprise not only the histories of families which still inhabit the earth, but of all those that are now found only in the fossil state, such as Bennettitales, Sphenophyllales and the like. The book is well illustrated, the photo-micrographs of fossil parts being es- pecially good. Though the plants may have lived millions of years ago the cells are plainly to be seen. It will be news, to many that these plants of the far distant past were often more complex than living ones, though with flowers and fruits that seem fantastic in comparison with our own. The price of the book is $2.00 net. “Domesticated Animals and Plants’ by Dr. Eugene Davenport of the University of Illinois, is on the same gen- eral lines as the author’s previous volume on “Principles of Breeding” but is more elementary in character and designed for the secondary school instead of the college. Essentially the same ground is traversed but fewer statistics are involved with the result that we have a volume suited to the intelli- gence of those beginning the study of plant and animal breeding. The early pages are devoted to a discussion of the origin of domestic races and the need for improvement and these are followed by numerous chapters dealing with natural selection, variability, the transmission of characters, heredity, adaptation, and other subjects with which the plant breeder must be conversant. The closing chapters attempt to trace the origin of our domestic species of animals and plants. At the end of each chapter there are a list of practi- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 63 cal exercises which must prove of great value in directing the efforts of the student. Though intended primarily as a text book for schools, the volume will be found to be exceedingly helpful to any who wish to become informed regarding modern methods along the lines indicated. The book is published by Ginn & Co., at $1.25. Prof. Fred L. Charles, editor of the Nature Study Re- view and well and favorably known to lovers of outdoors recently committed suicide at the University of Illinois where he was teaching. As no cause for the rash act is known it is supposed to be due to a sudden fit of insanity due to over- work. Two small worms, inhabiting the waters off the coast of Brittany and neither of them large enough to be seen well without a lens have provided Prof. Frederick Keeble with the materials for an entire book. These worms are known as Convoluta roscoffensis and C. paradoxa the former being dark green and the other yellow-brown. One of the first things that make these worms of interest is the fact that their living is absolutely synchronized with time and tide which, we are told, ‘““wait for no man” and for no worm either for that matter. When the sun is up and the tide out, these worms come to the surface of the sand in countless millions seeming to enjoy the light, but at the first impact of the waters of the incoming tide they immediately disappear be- neath the sand only to appear again when the tide has re- ceded. Prof. Keeble’s studies after many years have shown him that the reason for the peculiar behavior of these worms is to be found in the fact that they possess chlorophyll and that they are, in truth, plant-animals, in which there is a true symbiosis between the worms and certain alga cells that inhabit their bodies. During the early part of their exist- ence the worms feed upon the usual microflora of the sea- 64 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST beach, later they cease to ingest food and live on the pro- ducts of photosynthesis carried on by the alga cells. The book, which is very appropriately called “Plant-Animals; a Study in Symbiosis” is an interesting and well written ac- count of their habits and of the experiments undertaken by, the author to prove, step by step the theories set up in regard to them. The book is from the press of Cambridge University, England but may be obtained of the American agents, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. The price is 40 cents net. Here and there, in response to the demand for a genera] science course in the high school, outlines and laboratory manuals in the subject are beginning to appear. General science, it may be explained, is the name given a mixture of nearly all the sciences and designed to place the pupil in in- telligent contact with his environment. One of the more de- sirable outlines for such a course has been issued by Prof. Percy E. Rowell, of the Gardenia Agricultural high school. This lists nearly one hundred and fifty topics for investigation which are taken from the more familiar phases of chemistry, physics, geology and biology. In most of these there is first a succinct statement of the facts followed by a considerable list of references for further reading. In our opinion it is likely to prove valuable in a course where information is the object desired. No directions for experiments are included so that the teacher who would teach by the experimental method will have to devise for herself. “ADD, THESE TO YouR LIST ‘One Ferns in Their Haunts By Willard N. Clute. A complete and authoritative account of the ferns of Eastern America giving the life history, habits, common names, folk lore and exact scientific descriptions of every species. Special attention has been given to the rare and little known species and to the points for identifying those that are much alike. 225 illustrations of rootstocks, fronds, pinnae, sori, indusia, etc., make everything plain to the begin- ner, An illustrated key enables even the novice to name his speci- mens. There is no other fern book so useful or so comprehensive, -Octavo, 333 pages, bound in cloth. Price, $2.15 postpaid. The Fern Allies of North America - By Willard N. Clute. A companion volume to “Our Ferns in their Haunts,” and treat- ing of all the allied fernworts of the United States and Canada in the same comprehensive and detailed manner, The only volume in the English language devoted entirely to the scouring rushes, club- mosses, selaginellas, pepperworts, water-ferns, quillworts and the like. Seven keys to the groups make identification easy. Every species carefully illustrated from authentic specimens. Octavo, 250 pages, 150 illustrations and 8 colored plates, bound in cloth. Price, $2.15 postpaid. eae Botany for the High School By Willard N. Clute. A new and unique manual founded upon the inductive method and designed to make the student think as well as remember. It covers a full year of botany and presents in the second half a connected study of evolution in the plant world. Has a glossary of difficult terms in each section, outlines for the study of trees, floral ecology and other field work, and an extended list of questions intended to make the work of the teacher easy. It is absolutely flexible and may be extended or condensed as the individual teacher is inclined. Full directions for collecting and preserving the materials used. Has al- - ready been accorded a wide use and is steadily increasing. Individual '- students wishing to take up the study will find the book invaluable. " Cloth, 177 pages, 75 cents postpaid. The Fern Collectors’ Guides By Willard N. Clute. A small volume of a size to fit the pocket giving the beginner . directions for finding and naming his specimens and making an her- barium. Has an illustrated key to all the species, a complete glos- sary, and a check list of the ferns with space for notes. Cloth, 60 pages, sent postpaid for 54 cents. _ The American Botanist or The Fern Bulletin will be sent 1 year with an order from the above list for 50 cents additional. Address all orders to Willard N. Clute and Company J oliet, Illinois. School Science i Mathemati tics The Journal for all Progressive Science and Mathematics Teachers _ is uy af ait It gives new ideas and methods of scientific and mathematical structions " practical articles on the teaching of science and mathematics, “Suggestive, illus- trated descriptions of apparatus, experiments, laboratory equipment and plans, Short, newsy, helpful notes on the progress in science and mathematics, Speak _ to your teacher, friends about it. Get them to subscribe. Supscriptions received f at any time. Yearly subscriptions, $2.00. . SCHOOL SCIENCE and MATHEMATICS 2059 East Seventy-second Place Chicago, Minois THE NATURE- STUDY REVIEW es (Journal of the American Nature-Study Society) will continue during 1911 its ¥ 3 a ‘ SPECIAL TEACHING NUMBERS of timely interest and permanent value | Bi | es a January—City Nature-Study May—Manual of Nature-Study Literature February—Tree Studies — September—Autumn Flowers and ‘Weeds il i March—Calendar Studies October—Children’s Pets ASA ae April—Aquatic Studies November—Farm Studies Be hes a ee i Hs a December—Health Number ya ata ne We can still furnish copies (at 15c) of the most. popular i issues of 1910, as as ollows: af mene MARCH—Bird Study (with 18 photographs) — Lane San naa te ep APRIL—Garden Number © a i fe 3h leis Oa MAY-—Rural Number (with 2 colored plates of birds) Be SEPTEMBER—Insect Studies (copions illustrations, including color plate of American butterflies) — a NOVEMBER—Harvest Studies DECEMBER—Weather ‘Studies: a SUBSCRIPTION, $1.00 per year (This covers membership in the American — . Nature-Study Society) Canadian postage 10 cents extra; Foreign, Boe; Single copy 15c. if t : | Address: NATURE-STUDY REVIEW, URBANA, TLL. ah For Boys and Girls: Per Year For Everybody: i ee Nature and Science (of St. Nicholas Magazine) $3.00 The Spirit of Nature Study (222 pgs. its) fu 00 * a For Men and Women: Walking: A Fine Art (164 pgs. ills.) - - $1. 50. Oy The Guide to Nature (monthly, illustrated) 1.00 Three Kingdoms—the handbook of the a Lhe Th it $4.00 For Plants: i ee ae sf i Sachs Nutrient Tablets, per box, postal, 106, For You (to aid and be aided); 4 For Teachers: . Postpaid The Agassiz Association (Popular Nature sale). How Nature Study Should be Taught (208 pes.) $1.00 For Correspondents 4 write for further hepa ts EDWARD F. BIGELOW . ARCADIA: SOUND BEAGRH, CONNECTICUT { be na 4 Bot for one year, $3.00. Sample of either, 10c. 1 4 ay yj z ie A] Cie . ; ~3 We Mi OL WHOLE NUMBER 90 . "AUGUST, 1911 {|} AMERICAN § | BOTANIST | eae Devoted to. Economic and Ecological Botany x “CONTENTS | sf THE F LORA OF THE CHICAGO PLAIN BY WILLARD N. CLUTE A SUNNY Rs re ean ain AO S pi "BY MISS NELL McMURRAY . "THREE BIG PERENNIAL ROOTS- - - 72 x . ~ . BY ELMER STEARNS ar A NEW. SPECIES OF PHILOX 5305. 05) 1.74 Y sive: ' . BY WILLARD N. CLUTE AND JAMES H. FERRIS NOTE AND COMMENT fa cio edn iGee eae 7g . PSCHOOL BOVARN OS OF ori le oP 2 68 Z PUDORIAL Ci eee yh Vie Sl y¥ BOOKS AND WRITERS - - - - - 9% . 1 roe Ww La _ 20 CENTS A COPY -- 75 CENTS A YEAR WILLARD N. CLUTE & COMPANY ; . JOLIET, | ILLINOIS Cay Lae: ae t eet PAS one ean f ; ny + ne 4 Lea She American Botanist Devoted to Ecological and Economic Botany ! PUBLISHED QUARTERLY WILLARD N. CLUTE 333 EDITOR SUBSCRIPTIONS.—This magazine is published on the 20th of February, May, August and November. Subscription price: 75 cents a year; $1.00 for a year and a half, $1.25 for two years. Remit by any convenient method. Checks upon small or distant banks must add 10 cents for collection fees, BACK NUMBERS.—Volumes 1 to 10 inclusive consist of 6 numbers each, volumes 11 to 13 consist of 5 numbers each and all later volumes have 4 numbers. | Price of single volumes 75 cents. When a full set is purchased the price is 50 cents a volume. Those who wish, may buy the later volumes at 75 cents each, and when an amount has been paid equal to the price of a full set, the earlier volumes to complete the set will be sent free. These back numbers form a pet- fect mine of information for the botanist, the gardener, the teacher of nature study and the general reader. More than 5,000 articles and notes have already been published. a WILLARD WN. CLUTE & COMPANY, Bhd watcha a © 209 WHITLEY AVE., JOLIET, ILL. Entered as mail matter of the second class at the post office, Joliet, X TL Agriculture 9 _ ¥ We should like to send to every reader of The American Botanist who is interested in Agriculture, either as a teacher or as a practical farmer, a prospectus of our three volumes work on AGRICULTURE by Prof, William P. Brooks of the — Massachusetts Agricultural College. These books, devoted to Soils and How To Treat Them; Manures, Fertilizers and Farm Crops; and Animal Husbandry, are conceded to be the best books of the kind on the market at the present time. They have stood the test of theorists and practical men as well and are now used in many of the big schools and colleges where the teaching of Besta bales is ipnee specialty. 4 We should also like to send a copy of our big two hundred and fifty | page catalogue that tells all about the work we are doing in our correspondence school. We offer over one hundred home study courses under the personal instruction and guidance of the very best teachers, leading professors in Harvard, Brown, Cor- nell and other well known colleges. The Prospectus and Catalogue are published: for : free distribution. Write today. The Home Correspondence School _ Department 560, Springfield, Mass. | ¢ rf 5 A it Pade wy ie 3 De aad ag wees — a i So "x ‘ODVOIHD JO ALIO AHL NI NIVTd ODVOIHD AHL JO LYVd THE AMERICAN BOTANIST VOL. XVII JOLIET, ILL., AUGUST, 1911 No.3 THE FLORA OF THE CHICAGO PLAIN. By WILvARD N. CLUTE. HE City of Chicago is located on a nearly flat stretch of country, at the head of Lake Michigan, known as the Chicago plain. This plain is from ten to to fifteen miles in width and once formed part of the floor of a great glacial lake a rem- nant of which still exists as Lake Michigan. Westward and southward the plain is bounded by a broad belt of intermingled sand gravel and clay known as the Valparaiso moraine which formed the shore of the ancient lake at this point, and was, in fact, largely the cause of it, since it held back the waters of the melting ice sheet until they found a way out by way of the “sao” and the Desplaines valley into the Mississippi. At present the plain averages about twenty feet above the surface of Lake Michigan, but it still bears evidences of its re- cent and watery origin in extensive stretches of marsh-land and general lack of drainage. In the parts that have not been artificially drained the few inhabitants regard the rubber boot season as a natural condition to be accepted with the same for- titude that summer drouth and untimely frosts are endured. During the spring rains, extensive “wet weather lakes” may be formed over large tracts that are dry enough in summer to produce a fair crop of hay or in some instances garden crops, but which at this season are impassible to one ordinarily shod. The soil is almost exclusively a deep and impervious clay, though darkened by the decaying vegetation that for many centuries has grown upon it. Here and there one finds sandy ridges or mounds which mark the location of ancient lake beaches, or of shallows in the lake itself. These are covered 66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. with a flora that differs in some respects from that of the rest of the area, but which only serves to emphasize the uniformity of the flora in general. Trees appear never to have flourished here. A few willows and cottonwoods may be found in swampy spots, and oaks have gained a root hold on the sandy ridges, but for the most part, it is a treeless and prairie-like region. There are still many areas of considerable size in this re- gion that have never been turned by the plow and still support a virgin flora unspoiled by the operations of the farmer, save for an occasional mowing. This condition, however, is not likely to last much longer for the city is fast encroaching upon it. The soil is being drained, market gardens begin to appear where but recently the sedges and wild grasses held sway, and an occasional dwelling rising out of the mud on stout posts presages the solid blocks of buildings that are to be. Having had occasion to traverse several square miles of the most typical part of this plain daily during the past spring, it has seemed to me that a few observations upon the flora are worth while before the spread of the city forever makes such notes impossible. Notwithstanding its nearness to a big city on one hand and to a well forested region on the other, it has many characteristics of its own that are likely to strike the visitor as uncommon. As may be inferred from the nature of the soil, the region, is slow to warm up in spring and such species as are common to this and adjacent regions, strongly emphasize the differ- ence in temperature by blooming here from one to two weeks later than elsewhere. That this difference cannot be attri- buted to locality is shown by the fact that when the first flowers open on the plain, the same species not two miles away, but growing on the moraine, are in full bloom. There is a noticeable absence of the flowers of early spring. One looks in vain for such plants as hepatica, bloodroot, adder’s tongue, Solomon's seal, trillium, spring cress, rue anemone, and Canada THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 67 ginger. Even typical marsh plants like the skunk’s cabbage and marsh marigold are absent. All these, and many more are abundant on the moraines but in all the years that they have grown there they do not seem ever to have ventured out upon the plain. Most of these have gone out of flower on the moraine before flowers of any kind appear on the plain. In- deed the region has no early spring flora. While buds are opening and green shoots springing in abundance elsewhere, the plain lies flowerless and passive, reminding one of the en- virons of New Orleans under similar circumstances. The first flower to appear in spring is the cosmopolitan dandelion fol- lowed soon by the mouse-ear plantain and Carex Pennsylvan- ica, For a long time these are the only blossoms to be found, but as they fade, the wild strawberry and one of the blue violets cover the ground with their blended colors. The alliance of the flora is plainly with that of the prairie. This is more noticeable in autumn when sunflowers, blazing stars, compass plants, golden-rods, rudbeckias, asters, and other characteristically prairie plants monopolize the soil, but the likeness is noticeable even in spring in the occurrence of such plants as the shooting star, downy phlox, orange puccoon, Indian plantain, tall phlox and prairie dock. Another feature characteristic of the prairie is the abundance of such flowers as occur at all. When any species blooms, it is likely to become the most conspicuous thing in the landscape. For a time it has the center of the stage and none can fail to note it. The squaw weed (Senecio) that elsewhere may appear in scattered bunches, here covers square miles with a solid spread of yellow that no eastern field of butter-cups can surpass. In another field a yellow of lighter hue interspersed with flecks of orange and scarlet show where the painted cup flour- ishes. Soon these disappear and are succeeded by a wide- spread rosy tint which heralds the blooming season of the tall phlox. In such a region as this violets of several species flourish. The lance-leaved violet forms compact beds, covering 68 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. hundreds of square feet growing so thickly that fifty plants may be lifted by one thrust of the spade. One of the blue vio- lets, with peculiarly attractive wine-colored flowers gives its color to the whole region for a week or more. After one has listed all the plants to be found, he is likely to be astonished at the small number. During the first six months of the year, less than fifty different species have bloomed if grasses and sedges are omitted. here is a uoise- able lack of those species which store up food in underground parts. This in a measure explains why there are no early flowers on the plain, but the question why such species should be absent is quite another matter. Apparently soil, shade and the all pervading moisture are jointly responsible for their ab- sence. The presence of some others is almost equally difficult to explain. The star grass, for instance, which elsewhere is an inhabitant of dryish woods, grows here in the wet grounds, and the purple oxalis keeps it company. Although the region is crossed by several railways the absence of exotic weeds can- not fail to be remarked. With the exception of the dandelion, there are no plants in the list that have come to us from the Old World, though many species of these may be plentiful enough along the railway embankments. In mid summer, the vegetation of the plain, being for the most part shallow rooted, is frequently injured by drouth, while in winter and spring the other extreme is met. This wide variation in the amount of moisture has doubtless played a part in the development of the plant covering of the region, and a closer study of the plants will doubtless discover some with differences of sufficient importance to warrant their being described as new forms. Some of these already noted are now being kept under observation and further notes upon them may be presented at another time. The following list of the species found during the first six months of 1911, is arranged in the order in which the spe- cies were found in bloom. It will be noted that the majority THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 69 are marked either abundant or common. This bears out the implication made that though the flora is extremely limited as regards the number of species, it is at no time lacking in flowers, but on the contrary is more heavily spread with bloom than any other locality adjacent. LIST OF SPECIES. Taraxacum officinale. Dandelion. Abundant. ‘Antennaria sp? Mouse-ear plantain. Common. Fragaria Virginica. Strawberry. Abundant. Carex Pennsylvanica. Sedge. Abundant. Viola Sp? Blue violet. A species near ovata. Very abundant. Pedicularis Canadensis. Lousewort. Common. Oxalis violacea. Purple oxalis. Not common. Houstonia coerulea, Bluets. Common. Claytonia Virgiiica. Spring beauty. Rare. Hypoxis erecta. Star grass. Abundant. Viola lanceolata. Lance-leaved violet. Abundant. Viola obliqua. Common blue violet. Not Common. Viola pedata. Bird-foot violet. Rare. On sand banks only. Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum. Blueberry. Rare, in sand. Vaccinium Canadense. Blueberry. Rare; with the preceding. Commandra umbellata. False toad-flax. Abundant. Dodecatheon media. Shooting star. Not common. Potentilla Canadensis. Cinquefoil. Abundant. Phlox pilosa, Downy phlox. Common. Zizia aurea. Golden Alexanders. Tolerably common. Lithosperum pubescens. Orange puccoon. Not common. Lithospermum angustifolium. Yellow puccoon. Rare. Ranunculus cymbalaria, Celandine. Very rare. Castilleja coccinea. Painted cup. Abundant. Senecio aureus. Squaw-seed. Very abundant. Heuchera Americana. Alum root. Common. Sisyrinchium sp? Blued-eyed grass. Common. Krigia Virginica, Cynthia. Abundant. 70 THE AIMERICAN BOTANIST. Lobelia spicata. Spiked lobelia. Common. Lathyrus palustris. Vetch. Common. Rudbeckia hirta. Black-eyed Susan. Very abundant. Rosa blanda. Smooth wild rose. Plentiful. Oenothera sp? Sundrops. Abundant. Erigeron stringosus. Daisy fleabane. Abundant. Calopogon pulchellus. Grass pink. Abundant. Achillea mullefolium. Yarrow. Plentiful. Iris versicolor. \Blue flag. Common. Polytaenia Nuttallu, Not common. Cacalia plantaginea. Indian plantain. Common. Parthenium integrifolium. Prairie dock. Common. Phlox glaberrima. Meadow phlox. Abundant. Lythrum alatum. Loosestrife. Abundant. A SUNNY CROP. By Miss Nett McMurray. HROUGHOUT the summer the goldenrods have been de- ‘mure and busily storing sunshine; late in the season the sunshine re-appears in their flowers—in hedges, by the road- side and in forsaken fields—making ideal spots for the storing of sunny thoughts in a walker’s heart. The earliest and the latest the smallest and he straight- est, of this group of golden flowers, is Solidago erecta. We may find it blooming from the middle of August to the middle of October. Even so late as the middle of November a bit of yellow may be seen in the tiny leaves that enclose some of the late seeds. The plant is stiff and displays small clusters of pale yellow flowers in the axils of its upper leaves. ’Tis a plain creature but has good lasting qualities. Solidago nemoralis is rather lowly, but full of grace and brightens a field more than any other of these friends. The deep, bright yellow flower-heads are crowded into dense, droop- ing clusters. S. nemoralis keeps S. erecta company by con- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 71 tinuing its blooming after the others have faded, the lowliest keeping their beauty longest. The tall S. juncea is the most graceful and grows in small clumps. The rather pale yellow flowers are in small heads which are arranged in loose, spreading clusters. It blooms early and we are tempted to carry it home though it is most beautiful where it waves above the wild grass in the field. Our most common goldenrod, S. rugosa, is tall, sturdy and forms compact hedges in fence rows and great colonies in swampy fields. The flower cluster is broad and spreading. Only a few of the green-yellow florets are open at one time, making it a dingy goldenrod. When the sunny days of the rank rugosa are past, it often cleverly hides the stately bloom- ing ladies tresses. One wonders at the congeniality of such plants! The flowers of S. graminifolia resemble those of rugosa in color, being green-yellow, dull for a goldenrod. The flat topped flower cluster is a striking feature of this sturdy, com- mon plant. Our white goldenrod, S. bicolor, is more appropriately called silver-rod. It grows in small, scattered clumps and is sometimes tall—though it always has an unassuming appear- ance. The white florets are small and the heads are crowded in short recemes in the axils of the upper leaves. A clump of the handsome, tall goldenrod, S. altissima at- tracts attention when one is across the field from it. The prominent, pyramidal cluster of yellow heads is fluffy, feathery and a bright yellow. Nearly all the florets are open at one time. Why is it fluffy? Because the pistil and stamens extend beyond the corolla and the strap-like corollas are long, narrow and numerous. S. canadensis, somewhat resembling altissima, grows in a large mass in an old field. It is short in stature, has smaller flower clusters and the corolla is a paler yellow than S. altis- sima, ~~ ri) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. The wanderer, S. caesia, lives far from our other golden- rods, in the deep, moist, deciduous woods. The prettiest plants have simple stems, drooping gracefully. One notices at once the tiny clusters of flower heads in the axils of the up- per leaves. Though the heads have few ray flowers, the co- rollas are large and bright, the disk flowers are also few and bright. Each species has its own shade of yellow while in flower and when the gray days have come and the seeds fly away under a fairy sail, each species retains enough individu- ality to distinguish it from its neighbors. These sunny flowers make sunny hours—not alone when blooming in the field. The result of their labor extends far into the cold winter, when sunny thoughts make sunny hearts. New Washington, Pa. THREE BIG PERENNIAL ROOTS. By ELMER STEARNS. IFTY miles south of Juarez, Mexico the Candelaria ranch, owned by the Escobar Brothers of this Agricultural Col- lege is located and this was recently the scene of a few days pleasant work collecting plants for the College Herbarium and for the Mexican Government. I was met at the train by Ca- milo, the manager of the ranch, a typical, thin, wiry Mexican of about 50 years of age, and ready always to help me in any- way possible. The ranch house is about 5 miles from the station. Upon reaching it we indulged in a “regular fare” meal, which you either eat or go hungry :—hbeans, tortillas, and coffee. They make some cheese at this ranch so we had both milk and a white curd cheese in addition. The floor of the dining room is packed dirt, the chairs are benches, in one corner is the cheese press another had a sitting hen, and besides her lay a big brown grey- hound. Another corner was the fireplace where the Senora sat baking our tortillas, while on the beams that supported the dirt THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 73 roof were a number of swallow nests whose owners flew over the table on their trips through the door. Early in the morning we hitched up a span of little, wiry mules and started for Rancheria Mountain, some 10 miles away. The first 5 miles was across about as dry a region as one could expect to see, nothing green in sight except the scat- tered plants of the pretty Jatropha macrorhiza, which the Mexi- cans call “Jicamilla” this name being given for its resemblance ‘to “Jicama”’ a species which is a common food product among them. The plants were in flower and presented a very attrac- tive appearance, everything else being brown and _ parched, since there had been no rain for about a year. We began to dig out the root, which was of about three pounds weight, and was located about 8 inches beneath the surface of the soil. It was no easy matter to get it out. A very good description of this plant is found in “Botany of West Texas,” in Vol 2 “Con- tributions to the National Herbarium.” Passing on a little distance we saw flowers of a pretty yellow color, standing up, several inches above the prostrate plants. This is what is locally called “Melon del Coyote” and is Apondanthera undulata also described in the Botany of West Texas. It has a perennial root of a russet brown color on the surface, which is also located deep in the hard, dry soil. From the summit, there grows a stem of the same scaly brown color and when it reaches the surface of the ground, the regular green stems grow out, branching very freely in all directions. The male flowers are in thick, erect racemose corymbs, and from the axils of the lower leaves while the female flowers are solitary in the upper axils. There may be 10 or 15 bright yel- low male flowers in each raceme, and when they are all open in the morning they present a most attractive sight. The fruit is round, reddish yellow and 7 to 10 centimeters in diameter. Going up into the foothills of the mountain we came upon Maximowicsia tripartita, Var. tenuisecta, this plant has a brownish, scaly and conical root, weighing several pounds, 74 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. buried some 6 to 10 inches below the soil. It took quite an ef- fort to get it out, but I have roots of all three plants growing in my garden. They will, no doubt, all fruit with me. They are all very interesting and might be improved by crossing and made still more useful. Some study has been given the Ji- comilla by a Mexican Botanist of Chihuahua, Dr. Hernandez. After collecting many other plants along the route, we came into the Rancharia Mountains and about the first thing of in- terest, after a good feast on the ripe fruit of Cereus stramineus, which grows in great abundance there, we came upon a part of the mountain where large areas were so well covered with Selaginella lepidophylla that bushels could be gathered. We then sat down to a lunch of tortillas, beans, meat and cold cof- fee and then returned to the ranch, killing a rattler on the way. ANEW SPECIES }OF (PHLOX. By WiLLarpD N. CLUTE AND JAMES H. FErRISsS. Netra the flowers of late spring that make the prairies and woodlands of northeastern Illinois a riot of color, four species of phlox are conspicuous. The well-known sweet William (Phlox divaricata) is first to appear, its favorite haunt being the moist open woods where it thrives in spite of the an- nual cropping by cattle. For long distances it spreads among the trees in unbroken sheets of purplish bloom and it may even venture into the open fields where, however, it comes into com- petition with another species. This latter species is the downy phlox (P. pilosa) a characteristically prairie species with small clusters of pink flowers that are familiar features of open road- sides, railway embankments and sandy barrens but show no tendency to invade the woodlands. Phlox divaricata begins to bloom about the middle of April, varying somewhat according to season, and pilosa usually appears about three weeks later. Late in June, more than a month after divaricata has ceased blooming and a safe distance behind the flowering sea- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 75 son of pilosa, the deep pink flower-clusters of the meadow phlox (Phlox glaberrima) begin to appear in low grounds. This is easily our handsomest phlox with its profusion of large flowers of deepest pink borne at the top of smooth wandlike stems that rise above the grasses amidst which it grows. Until recently this was supposed to complete the list of the native phloxes of this region, notwithstanding the fact that another species has always been present, has frequently been collected by botanists and has been in cultivation for some time. This species has long been confused with pilosa and, indeed, when the plant is studied in the herbarium instead of in the field it is so nearly like it as to deceive the very elect. Never- theless it has characteristics so distinct, albeit they are not of a structural nature, that we unhesitatingly assert its distincness as PHLOX ARGILLACEA N. S. Stems erect, tufted, downy, 18-30 inches high, usually branched above. Leaves light green, downy, especially on the margins, narrowly lanceolate or linear, long pointed, with mar- gins inclined to be revolute, sessile. Flower cluster rather open, many flowered forming a level cyme. Flowers short- pedicelled. Calyx and bracts, glandular hispid the long and very attenuate calyx tips especially so. Tube of the corolla, half an inch or more long, purplish and pubescent on the out- side. Limb white or occasionally pale lilac about half an inch in diameter, its divisions entire, round ended, narrowed below with margins usually revolute, each marked near the throat with two linear, pale lilac nectar guides. Young seed pods viscid. Flowers fragrant. Found in shaded or exposed clay or sandy soil seeming to prefer the former. Oak Forest, Cook County, Illinois and Liverpool, Lake County, Indiana. Flowering season from about June 1st to August 1st. Type in the herbarium of J. H. Ferriss. Although, as we have indicated, the structure of this spe- cies 1s very similar to that of pilosa,anyone familiar with the 76 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. two species as they grow in field or garden has no difficulty in distinguishing them. The new species is well characterized by its lighter green leaves, greater height, less compact flower- clusters, restricted habitat and above all by its pale flowers and later and longer season of bloom. Argillacea does not begin to bloom until some time after pilosa has passed its prime and when in full bloom no flowers of pilosa are to be found. The height of its blooming season is the season at which the first blooms of glaberrima unfold. Argillacea averages nearly twice as tall as pilosa and generally forms more compact clumps sending up a succession of flowering stems. One of the most singular circumstances connected with its distribution is the fact that while many roads and railroads lead from its habitat across the prairie, argillacea declines to venture along them while pilosa is abundant throughout. It is evident that the descriptions of pilosa in the manuals have been drawn to cover these two forms but there is too great a difference in their time of blooming, color, size and habitat to admit of the two being grouped as one species. For some time the plant has been under observation in the garden growing close beside pilosa and in the same kind of soil and under similar treatment shows no tendency to intergrade with it. Albino forms of pilosa, which bloom at the same time as the normal plant and have the same general appearance have also been under culti- vation by us and in no way resemble the new plant except in the lighter color of the flowers. The albino flowers of pilosa are, in fact, pure white, while argillacea appears to always be lilac-tinged, at least as regards the tube of the corolla. NOTE AND COMMENT _Wantep.—Short notes of interest to the general botanist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their shorter botanical items. The magazine is issued as soon as possible after the 15th of February, May, August and November. Brrp-Froot VioLeT LEeAves.—It would not be difficult to induce the student of plants to agree to put the bird-foot violet (Viola pedata) in a genus by itself. It is so unlike the other American violets that it has always occupied a separate section in the violet genus, and it would not be straining matters much if the section itself were expanded into a genus. One of the most interesting and unique of this violet’s characteristics is the way it has of bearing its two sets of leaves. As most stu- dents are aware, the violets are inclined to produce two sets of leaves that differ considerably in appearance. In our com- mon violets, however, one set of leaves succeeds the other gradually, each new leaf having fewer of the characteristics of the early leaves, and more of the characteristics of others to come later. In the bird-foot violet, this succession 1s managed quite differently. When spring has really begun, the bird- foot violet sends up its flowers, accompanied by long-stalked, deeply-cut leaves. These remain on the plant until the seeds are ripe, but since this violet grows in sandy soils exposed to frequent summer drouths, the leaves may entirely disappear during the warmer parts of the year. Late in summer, when cooler weather and more copious showers make a more propit- 10us season, a new set of leaves are produced that are much different from the first set. They are very short stemmed, He 78 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. rounded in outline with smaller and less narrowly divided leaflets. This second set of leaves remains on the plant throughout the winter in sheltered situations and give place to the other leaves in spring. IMPORTED INSECT PEests.—Everyone who owns a garden is fully awake to the harmfulness of our insect pests. It 1s frequently an impossibility to raise certain crops that are the favorite food of such insects. Many of these pests came to us from foreign parts in poorly inspected nursery stock; in fact most of our worst pests are of Old World origin. Among the number may be named the hessian fly, asparagus beetle, hop- louse, cabbage worm, house fly, wheat louse, oyster shell bark louse, pea weevil, gypsy moth, brown tail moth and croton bug. Among introductions from other parts of the world are San Jose scale, Argentine ant, cotton boll weevil and alfalfa leaf weevil. These cause more than a billion dollars damage to cul- tivated crops annually and seem to be increasing in numbers in spite of the means taken to combat them. CHANGES IN Ivy LEaves.—I have never happened to see recorded the fact of such a marked change in shape of the leaf as occurs with ivy whenever it flowers. The change is from the ordinary type to a broadly ovate outline without indenta- tions, resembling in form, though not in color or texture, those of some species of Populus. Whenever leaves of that shape are found on the English ivy, flowers are usually to be found. This season, a similar change in the form of the leaf was noted on some parsley plants which have been persistently striving to flower, and run to seed, and it seems likely that closer obser- vation may show the same thing with many other plants.— Elwyn Waller, Morristown, N. J. (Lord Avebury, in his “British Flowering Plants” alludes to this change in form and mentions Ficus repens as another species of similar habits. In suggesting a reason for such changes, he says: “It 1s important to the leaves to secure as much light and air as possible, and THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 79 when growing on a flat surface the ivy shape enables the leaves to fit into one another and to cover the whole surface. On the other hand the flowering branches grow up into the air. The leaves are arranged round the stem and under these conditions an oval form is more suitable. According to the same writer the interior of the leaf differs according to the amount of light it receives. In the sun two layers of palisade cells are develop- ed under the upper epidermis while in the shade the whole in- terior of the leaf consists of rounded cells. The same thing is said to be true of the leaves of the common dandelion. Ep. ] THE POLLINATION OF YuccA.—The pollination of the various species of yucca by the pronuba moth, although well known is a never failing source of wonder and interest to the flower lover. Here we have a flower whose six stamens are far too short to be of use in pollinating the individual blossom in which they live, and a pistil whose receptive surface is so located that neither the wind nor the ordinary visiting insect is effective in pollination. At this juncture the special guar- dian of the flower, the pronuba moth comes in. Gathering the pollen from the anthers by mouth parts specially formed for the purpose she deliberately flies to another flower, climbs up to the stigmatic chamber and packs the pollen into it with a sort of hammering motion that is plainly visible to the ob- server. Without these ministrations of the moth, the yucca 1s incapable of setting seed and its distribution or spread in the wild state is absolutely dependent upon this, otherwise insig- nificant insect. All this is wonderful enough but not half so interesting as the questions it raises. Back of the way in which pollination is effected lie the speculations as to how this asso- ciation of insect and flower have been brought about. When did the species learn that it could safely trust its continued ex- istence to the ministrations of an animal and how did it happen that the body of this insect was modified at just the right time and in just the right way to be of service to the plant? To be 80 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. sure the insect does not guard the yucca for mere pleasure for before she places the pollen on the stigma she prudently lays one or more eggs in the ovary where the larvae can feed upon the developing seeds, but how did she know that pollination was necessary to seed formation—many a grown up human be- ing does not know that! And even knowing this, how did she discover how to go about the work of pollination? Among the “lords of creation” only a few specialists are familiar with the process. Probably this is the only insect in the world that intentionally cross pollinates flowers. Nature has been kind to the moth also in the matter of dress. She is colored exactly like the stamens and when resting head down in the flower— her favorite position during the day—can hardly be distin- guished from those organs. Just before dusk she begins her self-appointed task and any body who has access to a clump of blooming yuccas may see her at work if they will. Her progeny, fond as they are of young yucca seeds, always leave some to ripen and thus keep up the supply of yucca plants. ORIENTATION OF RapisHES.—A short time ago, Hortt- culture published a story to the effect that a Jap has discovered that the radish and other root crops always put out their lateral roots in an east and west direction, in consequence of which we were advised to always plant such crops in rows running north and south so that the lateral roots might push out into the soil between the rows and thus get more food. A little observation however has shown that the Jap was only partly right. The basis for his statements is simply this: the radish produces its lateral roots in two lines lengthwise of the main root. Sometimes these push out east and west and sometimes north and south. It seems to be merely incidental which way the roots should project; otherwise we should have to give the plant credit for ability to discern the points of the compass,—a thing no plant can do. Even the compass plant turns its leaves under the stimulus of heat or light, never magnetism. Other THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 81 root crops unlike the radish produce their rootlets upon all sides of the tap root and thus a beautiful theory falls to the ground and with it falls the hopes of the farmer who may have been figuring upon greater profits from an educated race of radishes. Poisonous Hyacintus.—Some alarmist among the plantsmen has discovered that among those who handle hya- cinth bulbs there is an occasional case of inflammation of the skin attributed to the irritation caused by the raphides from these plants, and the suggestion has apparently been made in all seriousness that this handsome spring flower be banished from our gardens and the public parks. Whatever may be the effects upon a few persons of handling hyacinth bulbs, it is certain that only a very few persons are thus affected, and it would seem to be about as sensible to abolish hyacinth cul- ture on this account as it would to banish strawberries be- cause a few people break out with a rash after eating them, or to cease keeping bees because an occasional individual is subject to honey sickness. THE BRANCHING OF TREES.—In noticing tree branching during the past winter, with a view to directing children to- ward observation of that kind, calling attention to the most obvious point—the central axis—has seemed to be probably the best starting point. The insistence of conifers on main- taining the central axis to such an extent that if the top has been broken off by wind or another tree falling on it one of the branches of the topmost whorl will turn upright and take the lead; on the other hand with the hardwood trees, there is a tendency more or less marked to split up the central axis until there is practically no main trunk,-of which the elm is the most marked example. Of course next would come the direction taken by the branches as they leave the main stem. Usually a compromise between a tendency to grow at right angles to 82 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. the stem they are leaving and a tendency to grow perpen- dicularly upward. In the hardwoods the white oak seems to be the most successful in driving its lower branches out hori- zontally, which gives a particularly sturdy appearance.—El- wyn Waller, Morristown, N. J. CLEAVAGE PLANES OF SMILAX.—The common green briar or cat briar (Smilax) of low thickets and fence rows is uique in several respects. For one thing it, and the other species of the genus, are the only woody monocotyledons in the Northern States and in some places comes near to com- peting with the yucca for the title of the only evergreen monocot. Late in the year the green briar reluctlantly drops its leaf blades and then we discover that unlike monocots in general it has developed cleavage planes to assist in getting rid of them. It is interesting to know that monocots can de- velop cleavage planes when necessary and still more interest- ing in this particular case to discover that the plane is not developed where the leaf joins the stem of the plant as in most species, but occurs where the leaf-blade joins the petiole and leaves the latter as a short hard stub guarding the lateral bud all winter. It is possible that this protection to the bud is one of the reasons why the petiole is not cut off, but the most important is evidently the fact that the stipules act as tendrils and to cut off the whole leaf would leave the plant without support. Curious ForMs OF GAILLARDIA.—On the prairie of the middle west and extending into Louisiana and Texas grow several species of showy composites that have been introduced into cultivation under the name of blanket flower. Some of the species are annual and others perennial, but from various indications it is likely that those cultivated may be hybrids. At any rate they are among the showiest of our garden plants be- ginning about mid-June to put up large daisy-like heads whose rays are bright yellow at the tips and deep red at the base. The THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 83 disk flowers, also, are brownish red. Many variations of coloring in the ray flowers occur. Some are all yellow but in most the red is very conspicuous. Normally the rays are flat and three parted at the tips, but in the editor’s garden, there has appeared for the past two summers a form in which the ray flowers are replaced by large tubular flowers three- four-or five-parted, with yellow borders and deep red throats. The de- viation is in sharp contrast to the usual form and makes the variants look like a different species. After one has cultivated the wild flowers a while, he loses a great deal of respect for the minute distinctions of the systematist. In the herbarium it may appear that a hard and fast line bounds each species, but in nature it is not so. VARIATIONS IN ComposiTes.—Most persons, whether botanists or not, can recognize the inflorescence of the great composite family at sight. To the uninitiated a dandelion or daisy may be a single flower instead of the compact bunch of flowers with which the botanist is familiar but the general ar- rangement is such that an unfamiliar member of the family is recognized at once. But while a fundamental type is discern- ible in all these flower heads, this is so overlaid and modified by variations of different kinds that the diversity exhibited by nearly twelve hundred species is easily within the limits. At the outset we find the family naturally falling into several lesser groups according as their flowers are all tubular, all strap shaped or a combination of the two. In our southern states and elsewhere in the tropics the section with heads of tubular flowers again divides into species with regular florets and others with two lipped corollas. The members of the compos- itae are practically never double in the sense that we speak of a double rose or butter-cup. All double composites are derived from species that normally have disk and ray flowers that differ in form. In such, the disk flowers may take on the form of the rays, and give us such 84 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. forms as “double” daisies, sunflowers, dahlias, and the like. To these variations in the general form and arrange- ment of the florets must be added the differences that exist ir: the manner of producing seeds. In some the outer circle—the ray flowers—are the only ones that are fertile, in others only the disk flowers bear seeds, while in still others both ray and disk flowers participate in seed bearing. Normally the disk flowers bear both stamens and carpels, but either set may be missing and the same is true of the ray flowers. Another cur- ious thing is connected with their colors. As everybody knows, certain genera may run to yellow-flowered forms and others to blue pink or purple but a single genus rarely contains species with flowers of both colors. In the genera with yellow flowers albinos are rare—who ever saw a white dandelion, or sunflower ?—but in the blue and red flowered genera albinos are common. As might be inferred from their structure, the greatest amount of variation, aside from such qualities as height, hairiness, and leaf forms, is to be found in those flower heads that possess both ray and disk flowers. Here variation may be manifested in the number of rays or in their shape. Quilled forms which after all are possibly reversions to the original form of the flower, are common and when the rays are flat there is often a great difference in their width. Fascia- tions of various kinds also occur. One has only to search the nearest field of daisies, black-eyed Susans, or any abundant composite to discover many of these variations for himself. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXIsSTENCE.—The results of Dar- win’s remarkable work are so widely known that practically everybody has at least a theoretical knowledge of the struggle for existence, but few really realize how important a factor this is in the life history of a given plant. Recently the writer was impressed with this when examining an especially florifer- ous species of mullein of European origin known as Verbas- cum pannosum.