Pee Ss Ee Fait —_————— ‘ <> < = bs hic = : af : mF py Kix, sethe sll AR . cy, Ae Moe ‘ aly 2G. = "4 Hi i WD; OIG Ay CANN THE AMERICAN BOTANIST DEVOTED TO ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BOTANY Ww >= ee 7 EDITED BY WILLARD N. CLUTE wa LIBRARY NEW YORK Volume V ROTANICAL GaRDEN. BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. 1903 ae “= | Pale > J d ) | | 2 | ===>, CONTENTS ~~ Lee CONTRIBUTED.-ARTICLES. Botany for Beginners.... Wallard N. Clute, 6, 2%, 50, 66, 89 ippiaity, pmecarly MMays-Of -...°25 0m. = oa Dr. W. Batley 30 an oguasnes.and Pumpkins be Med on Milk). o.).2. EM Rt eee hh neers nm. oe Dek wr. Baselow wy AO Racston@ile Plant Phe. 2 Ask ea webs, « M. F. Bradshaw + Montumyi tant, a hetllarcestys : 3.6 61s sass O. W. Barrett- . 73 PEA PHS, 1 Wet. hI h.t ula iwe sd oh Dr W Ws Batley 9a 1 eetinnl Niza Cae oy © (2S een leg ae M. F. Bradshaw 88 Fer Mauntine im bitte Falls, N.Y:, Mrs. A. A. DeCoster’ 211 DM@wers Uitned ta Leaves ar.-..).7 8 Willard N. Clute 69 Gander in Oldshashioned: 2.1/2.7 3 Dr. W. W. Bailey i Gleanings from Sea and Mountain .. Pauline Kaufman 85 ETRE GR SE GICP EEA Bi GSR rei Bie a ea a BO SiiGtbert), 239 momilieweed, The W andeting otc Sp. . BR Se Gilbert sao eye otis ihe oan By atoms Nae eet «3 M. F. Bradshaw 111 Orchids of Wellington Co., Ontario, The, A. B. Klugh 106 Peril Ot It OUSESanr as. set. £5 Dr. W. W. Batley 109 Petre: 1 he Detencesol sens: sa! Dr.W.W. Bailey 45 Poison Ivy and its Extermination ..... C.F. Saunders 53 Pollinated, How the Nasturtium is... Willard N. Clute 32 Polypody, Variations in the Common . J.C. Buchheister — 55 amt Viothis.). het Passinouot es lias Pauline Kaufman 10 SCOR OOM CiIMS., b.0% hCacigh oe Ga ar ae > MF. Bradshaw 47 Breda More WDOUb 2 J6 aes: a, 0% 6's: Dr.W.W. Batley 65 Tenderfoot Notes From Southern California......... ge ch C6, BRN Sh RoR ee ea C. F. Saunders 25 pvetkine veer he. O02 62. 02.'. Frances C. Haselbarth 9 Witch Hazel, Dehiscence of the Anthers in .......... Rea ee he ae Roscoe J. Webb 34 REPRINTED ARTICLES. orice ues anid “thes Public. ac ccs cB flats ore whe pes oe wh 3 iShrisemacwirees andel lant -rotection ..”, .. 2... she 116 Ee LOC OES aaa Oe PS 117 PermeMesInOVio te gh So iss ec a Sa wie eee ee aha es Pe eMamisetni Me em er, hes ee Ae are ats bas eae 114 Wiiioimnettremmenm: “UE 2. becca coc wey dee ww bale bw ws 93 CD TIND USI) ee a 18, 40, 62, 82, 102, 122 PGUeeP IDV VIRITERS .. ; ape dlec cs ccc ccf aSict ew eels 20: eA NOTE AND COMMENT. Acorns from the Charter Oak.. 95 Age-anu. Plantse. cose. 9s ie ari 61 Asclepias curassavica Medicinal 80 Buds from Underground Parts 37 Chewing Gum, a Natural...... 59 Chillicothe. hers sc8.c see 97 Christmas Tree Crop... ...-.:. 98 Citrange, Tangelo, Plumcot ...119 Closed Gentian, Color of ...... 3g Clover,Drought and the color ot 46 Coro ProductSivec sss sacnas ee 118 Geanhercy Crop’ J he: ...5. 220% 96 Crossing Orchid Genera ...... 37 Piles Satdersit. 0): eet nee Oe 100 Dangerous Statement, A....... 121 Deer Tongue, Commercial use LEME retercneie oe laya tio Nah bee oer ate vt 97 Elephant’s Ear, Names of, 15, 60 99 Eucalyptus as a Rival to Coal.. 78 Evening Primrose, The Erratic 1» Fern, Japanese, Naturalized.... 36 ELMS aAS WEEGS iy cs b:clecia oo oe 1UL Flowering of the Lakes, The.. 98 Forget-me-not, Growth of the.. 16 Fragrant Shield Fern, The.... 38 Frost and Falling Leaves..... 77 Hawkweed Orange, Common WUCAISLESHOL,.. 2 .2.fec. eee eal Odors, Odd, More About..... 38 Orchids and Symbiosis ....... 81 Painting the Lily ..... na ere 121 Periumeutroty Roots a ssc. eeras yy Perfume of Flowers .......... 7 Pine Trees and Moisture ...... 120 Planning: the’ Garden L725 ..4 ces 100 Poison Ivy in England ....... ai Pollerncads) JMood) | oases cke settee 118 Pollination of Water Plants...119 Roots;"Pestume: front. 25, csi 99 Rose Varieties) 625 cs of... ante o» 24 Sugar Producer, A New...... 95 Telegraph Poles in Fruit .... 17 Thistledowns: : Screen ean 76 Tobacco and, Nicotinuesn seers 95 Transpiration, Devices for Checking... 54 eee 16 Violet. A False. .>..h.. 3 peters 100 Water Plants. Pollination of ..119 Walnuts, How to Hull ...... 61 Water Cresses and Disease....101 Water Pofes ve. accu ete 14 Weed, The Definition of a ... 39 Weeds, Utility Willow, Bark for Smoking 16, 60 Witch Hazel Valuable........ 104 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST oe v. BINGHAMTON, N. Ve, JULY, 1903. eal THE OLD FASHIONED GARDEN. BY DR. W. WHITMAN BAILEY. HERE is scarcely need to describe an old-fashioned garden, for nearly every one knows it at sight. It is still to be found in out of the way villages, and even some old cities of New England. Phlox is generally in it, and stocks and gilly-flowers; yellow marigolds sun themselves through the summer days, and coreopses stray out of their borders while the weeds leap in. There are great tall hollyhocks standing like grenadiers onduty, and there is a sweet-pea that has been loved by generations of old maids. Bless those maiden aunts, from Betsy Trotwood down! How delicious are their apples and cream, how crisp their doughnuts, and how quaintly orthodox their advice ! But we have, after the example of our first parents, strayed from the garden. Let us return to the humble flowers. Shakspeare himself has been before us, for here is “a bank on which the wild thyme grows,”’ and here is “sweet marjoram,’’ the pass-word of Lear, and Ophelias’ pansies, and rosemary and columbine. Here are ‘‘cow- slips tall” and ‘“‘eglantine,’’ and all the good old English names. We have read that Shakspeare, who was no bot- anist, makes mention of about one hundred and fifty plants; a goodly number for a medizval herbarium. That the weeds and wild flowers had a place deep down in that human heart of his, who can doubt ? The china asters take us back to the time when we were no taller than they, and quite as care-free. The cam- omile makes us squirm with its pungent odor, just as it used. We never liked the double dahlias; they are so very o) THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. precise, but here they are not withstanding. It is fortun- ate that no flower nor man either, for that matter, is out- side the pale of human sympathy. Sunflowers flourish in an old-time garden, and upon them we find the dainty yellow-birds pecking at the nourishing seeds. We wonder if these flowers do turn to the sun, or whether that isa love-sick fable of Tom Moore’s. We do not despise the sunflower, although he is a somewhat shabby fellow, and swells into premature magnificence. Did not Captain. Cuttle deem it worthy to present to Mr. Dombey ? Mint, lavender, horehound, lemon verbena are here, all sweet smelling and pleasant. In the afternoon the four-o’clocks open their red and white or yellow blossoms, the “marvel of Peru’’ furnishing at one time, maybe, a nosegay for the Incas. Vervain and larkspur, monkshood and fox-gloves, are usually found together with lovage and spurge. Of roses, we need not speak; every old garden is full of them; red, white and yellow. Even those well beloved plants are subject to capricious mutations. What can surpass the old familiar blush rose that used to grow by the arbor in our garden? We can see it after this lapse of years, and it’s pretty neighbor, the sweet-brier, with a breath like that of a sleeping babe. If in our list we have failed to mention anybody’s fav- orite flower, it is an unintentional omission. We would grieve no plant lover; if we cannot meet on any other common ground, we can harmonize in the garden. There are few plants in which the effects of cultivation are so marked as inthe common pansy, the Viola tricolor. In it’s wild state, and, indeed, as we find it in old gardens, it is a small, parti-colored violet, not always particularly pretty. Careful treatment as to soil and judicious eradi- cation of the smaller and less beautiful forms, year after year, selecting seed from the most vigorous specimens, have worked wonders, until now we have the innumerable varieties which gladden the hearts alike of rich and poor. One can hardly go anywhere now-a-days where he THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. $4 will not see the heart’s-ease or pansy. The latter name is a corruption of the French “‘pense’e,’’ thought, though why, in the language of flowers this modest violet should come to have such significance, is past finding out. It has, however, been attributed to the nodding or drooping attitude of the flowers suggesting contemplation. The sentiments attaching to flowers often seem quite forced and fanciful even to the riotously imaginative; it 1s im- possible even to guess their origin. Speaking of old gardens, some years ago we visited Salem in midsummer. Next the quaint old house in which we sojourned was an abandoned garden of a rich estate. Wholly neglected in the absence of the owner, all sorts of plants, both weeds and exotics, had sprung up simultan- eously. Here could be seen the golden stars of coreopsis, the white and crimson tints of hollyhocks with errant bees encamped therein, the tropical bloom of yucca, misty sprays of red and white spireeas, blue columbine, lark- spurs, monkshood, and no end ot pansies. Perhaps in the long ago, Alice Pyncheon herself gath- ered pansies in this garden. Nothing is young in Salem. Who knows? We mused long and deep as we wandered through the tangle, thmking of gable-roofed houses, witch craft, the famous White murder, and many local incidents. The plants grew with a rich luxuriousness, which, under cultivation they might not have attained. For us the confusion was more charming that the set beds of foliage plants one now sees everywhere, very prim, very harmon- ious, but certainly not natural. We are so pre-Raphelite asto admire Nature. She weaves her mats much asdo the Persians, without much apparent thought of the result. She does not ask whether such and such colors will blend or contrast, but simply puts them together. Should we attempt to imitate either the oriental or the Good Mother, the chances are that we might have to chronicle a conspicuous failure. There is perhaps a subtle design under a kaleidoscopic effect. The colors exhibited by pansies are most extraordin- 4. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ary. Some are as near black as flowers can be. The rich- est purples are common, with clear yellow, intense violets, lavenders, tender dove-colors, rich maroons and browns. On the lower petal which in the violets is hollowed behind into a nectar-bearing spur, they can be usually seen, when the ground tint is not too dark to obscure them, the so- called “guiding lines” to which old Sprengel first called at- tention. He claimed for them a significance which science has of late re-affrmed, maintaining that they serve as so many clues or lines of direction to assist insects in finding the nectar. Providence, R. I. THE CASTOR OIL PLANT. BY M. F. BRADSHAW. sheen I lived at the North Pole—which I can easily point out to explorers should any really care to find it—I had a hobby for gardening, and had a very fine garden during the short summer time, for you know there are many plants that adapt themselves to great extremes of climate and to very short seasons of work. I grew everything that would grow there, and tried vast num- bers of plants that would not. Now one of my strongest desires was for a sub-tropical corner, and my experiences in that line would fill a book—a pathetic, not an amusing book to me. Among the things I tried was Ricinus communis and my success was not atall bad. The seeds always came up and some seasons the plants grew a foot or two high, and one never-to-be-forgotten summer they got away above my head. I was a proud gardener then. Now I live in the sub-tropics where almost anything can be culti- vated. I still admire my old love the Ricinus though I do not cultivate him any more as he seems better adapted to roadsides and creeksides than a garden; besides his size would unfit him for refined plant society. Botanists give only one species, but I must say then it has two very different suits of clothes. One is green all THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 5 over, stem, leaf and seed pods; the other is mostly a dull, dark red, stems, young growth, and underside of leaves, while the racemose clusters of seed pods are of the richest crimson, Ricinus is more than beautiful; itis grand. Thegreat leaves are shaped like a star, rich, dark green and glossy onthe upper surface and red or purplish underneath in the red species. The racemes of pistillate blossoms are as thick as a man’s wrist, with the small, scarlet flower set on the apex of the big seed pods, the small, cream-colored staminate flowers on the same stem just below. The stamens are in great clusters and bear a quantity of fine, dry pollen, but are avoided by insects. I have heard it said that a Ricinus plant by a window will keep all flies away from a room, but I am rather skeptical on this point. The plants are pollinated by the help of the wind, however, and are anything but the feeble, delicate things I used to nurse in the cold climate; they grow sturdy and strong and wax tall and broad, keeping on year after year, till they are veritable trees. It is said to be a native of Africa and so must have been introduced here, but I never saw anything with a more at-home air and a wider grasp of territory. It is never weedy looking, as how could it be with those mag- nificent leaves ? and is always quite the aristocrat in what- ever neighborhood it is pleased to locate. Besides looking grand, those leaves have some odd characteristics: the edges are sharply serrate, and each tooth has a minute cup, and on the base of the ribs and along the leaf stems are little warts. These serve to sup- ply the leaf with water, instead of the usual hairs. A wilted leaf will become perfectly fresh if the serrate margin is put into water, without the petiole. Even the seeds are exquisite. They are the size of white beans, a glossy, dark gray, dotted all over with white, and I have seen long chains of them, made by the children, that anybody might covet. Some day I am going to have a Ricinus tree just out- 6 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. side my kitchen window so that maybe the smooth prose of everyday work will be broken up now and then by a ripple of poetry. Orange, Cal. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—IV. POLLENATION. Notwithstanding the many curious and beautiful pat- terns of petals and sepals that plants have evolved, it is certain that for the purpose of producing seed these are unnecessary. All any species seems to need is a set of pistils to contain and nourish the young seeds, and a set of stamens to furnish the pollen that quickens them into life. The transference of the pollen from the stamen to pistil is called pollenation, and plants have many nice adjustments of parts for this purpose. At first glance it would seem a very simple matter for a flower to become pollenated when there are plenty of stamens surrounding the pistils and closetothem; and so it would be if flowers were always pollenated by the near- est stamens. But it turns out that many flowers are pre- vented in one way or another from using their own pollen. For instance, there are many flowersin which the stamens and pistils mature at different times; that is, when the stamens are shedding their pollen, the pistils in the same flower have not grown sufficiently to make use of it, or vice versa. In such cases pollen must come from another flower. Examples of this may be found in the hollyhock, some mallows, figwort (Scrophularia), and many com- mon flowers. Stillothers like the willow-herb (Epilobium), evening primrose, (Oenothera) and bellwort (Campanula) all of which have united ovaries but separate stigmas, have the stigmas when young folded together face to face so that no near-by pollen can reach them. Later they spread out ready to receive the pollen from other flowers. In the bell- wort, illustrated in Fig. 11, the essential organs of the young flower are shown at a with stamens ripe but pistils THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Ue immature At bisshown the same parts, but with sta- mens withering and stigmas ready to receive pollen. The great composite family to which the asters, sunflowers, goldenrods and their allies be- long, make use of this method, but with the following unique modification: In this family the stamens are joined intoa tube by their anthers which open within so that at maturity the pollen falls into this tube. Now at the bottom of the tube lies the pistil but it escapes pol- lenation because its two stigmas are folded face to face. As the pollen is shed, however, the style begins to lengthen, carrying the folded stigmas up through the tube and brushing all the pollen out at the top (Fig. 12a.) Then, the stigmas spread out, (Fig. 12 b.) the stamens are with- drawn into the carolla and the pistils are ready for their share of pollen which comes, of course, from some adja- cent flower. This process may be seen very clearly in the common garden sunflower. The fact that many flowers find it necessary to obtain their pollen from others has given gardeners a hint which they have been quick to improve upon in the production of numerous hybrids. All that is necessary is to carefully pick out the stamens of desirable flowers and then pollenate them with pollen from the blossoms with which it is wished to cross them. It is to be understood, of course, that crossing is possible only with closely related plants. Petunias, for example, could not be crossed with geraniums, or lilies with roses, otherwise there would be no distinct types of flowers. Nature has set her ban on such mixing ENGaetale lence, 312) Ss THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. and if pollen from a flower of a different order happens to fall on the stigma it has no effect. But in plants of the same genus, or in varieties of the same species it is often easy to make crosses, and thecloser the plants are related the easier it is. Still more striking instances of the necessity for cross- pollenation are found in plants that bear their stamens and pistils in different flowers. In such cases it is abso- lutely necessary that pollen be brought from some other flower. A corn-field, at this season, is an excellent place to study this subject. First there is the corn whose stam- inate flowers (the ‘‘tassel’’) are borne high above the pistillate ones (the ear) whose long styles are well known by the name of corn ‘‘silk.’””, Down on the ground sprawl the pumpkin vines whose pistillate flowers are easy to distinguish from the staminate from the fact that they each have a tiny pumpkin below them. The whole gourd family has this peculiarity, and one may see it in the cu- cumber, musk melon, and squash. The corn and pumpkin also stand for two distinct methods of pollenation, for while the corn trusts its pollen to the wind, the pumpkin relies upon insects, mostly honey-bees in our latitude. Other well known plants with flowers in which the sexes are separate are the alders, oaks, birches, chestnuts, sweet-fern, begonias and some of the nettles. There are still other species with stamens and pistils on different plants, and of these the willows, poplars, meadow rue (Thalictrum), hop and hemp are familiar instances. In such cases we have entire plants whose only use to the species is to furnish pollen for others, since they can never set seed themselves. Under these circumstances it is very evident that some agency is needed for transferring the pollen from one flower to another. The wind serves the pines, aspens, grasses, sedges, oaks and others. Most wind pollenated plants are remarkable for producing immense quantities of pollen, for when this is sown on the wind there must be an abundance if no stigma is to be missed. The stig- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 9 mas also are often broad orfeathery to give them the best chance to catch the pollen. When the great pine forests of the Southern States bloom, the pollen is so abundant that it often falls in showers, completely covering the sur- face of small pools, etc. In the case of the eel-grass (Valisneria) water assists in pollenation. Thepistillate flowers grow on long stems and reach the surface of the water, but the staminate have short stems and are often found several feet under water, At maturity, however, the latter break loose from the plant, rise to the surface, shed their pollen and so pollen- ate the pistillate flowers. In tropical countries birds sometimes cross-pollenate the flowers, and in our own latitude the humming birds occasionally perform the same office. Insects, however, are the principal carriers for showy flowers. Lured to the blossoms by attractive colors, pleasing odors and abundant nectar, they may imagine they are being entertained free, but as they sip the honey they become well covered with pollen, and upon a subsequent visit to another flower some of the pollen is sure to be rubbed off against the stigmas while the insect is being covered with fresh pollen for another trip. In in- sect pollenation the sepals and petals play an important part, and in consequence this part of the subject will be dealt with further after we have discussed these additional features. THE WALKING FERN. BY FRANCES C. HAESELBARTH. M* experience with the walking fern, Camptosorus J rhizophyllus, always reminds me of the legend of the man who searched far and wide for the coveted four- leaf clover, and then returned to find it growing at his own door. After a trip to the Berkshire Hills, made for the express purpose of seeing the plant in its native haunts, I returned to find it growing within thirty miles of New York City—nay, even within the limits of my own town. 10 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. A little brook, starting deep and calm among the hem- locks, flows out across the open over a bed of solid gray rock, gradually increasing in force as it flows, until it sud- denly precipitates itself over a steep cliff forming a beauti- ful waterfall some twenty-five feet in height. Here, reach- ing its curious fronds out into the dancing spray, grows ae walking fern. Carefully hugging the sheer wall of rock, minutely scanning every inch of the glen, we at length discovered eight small colonies of the fern. In close proximity were found the graceful rosettes of the maidenhair spleenwort, while sheltered beneatha huge overhanging ledge of rock, so beautifully covered with mosses and lichens as to seem a part of the very wall it- self, was a phoebe’s nest. Early this season, while hunting for hepaticas, my heart was rejoiced by finding a goodly sized new group of the queer, spidery little plants. And while the plants I have found near my own home are neither so numerous nor so beautiful as those of the far famed Berkshires, yet somehow my heart warms toward them with something of the pride of a Columbus approaching the shores of a newly discovered continent, for, are they not my own, did I not discover them ? Nyack, New York. THE PASSING: OF FORTAMORKIS. BY PAULINE KAUFMAN. fet one of our Ballast grounds, situated at the foot of East One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, New York City, takes toll trom every passing vessel and train, so that for years, the number of foreign plants which have here become naturalized citizens, has made it a Mecca for the botanist. Particularly was this so for several mem- bers of the Gray Botanical Association, who passed its merits on to interested acquaintances. Mr. Buchheister was the discoverer of Zygophyllum fabago, a caper from the Cape of Good Hope; andalso of a rare thistle bearing yellow, flowers. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. et The flagman near this place, through his interest, be- came acquainted with everyone seeking treasure, there, and in lieu of a policeman, we told our botanical troubles to him. He it was, who, two years ago, said to me, that after Mr. Buchheister had passed along with his yellow thistle, a man seeing it, said, “‘I’d give five dollars to have found that.” Every one of my trips was gladdened by the fact, that although any number of ragged little boys bathed there, and all sorts and conditions of people came for a breath of air, our capers at the water’s edge still throve, undis- turbed. Last week, while taking Miss Ryon (of New London) to this ballast ground, I told her of all we might naturally expect to find. To our great dismay, there was no sign of the caper, the yellow thistle, another valuable thistle with purple flowers, the patch of poppies, a tiny fumaria and many other good things from both conti- nents. The disappearance of many of these plants is not due to,improvement, the usual apology for wholesale botanical extermination, but to one who knew what he was about. It seems a pity that these plants could not have been left to gladden the hearts of future collectors, who would have been satisfied with a couple of flowers. thus carrying out the precept of our late secretary, Wm. MacDonald, “Of a little, take a little, leave a little.” Among a bunch of flowers, buttercups, daisies and clovers, evidently dropped by a child, were several spikes of a bearded grass as fine as silk. It was new to both of us, and we hunted vainly for the parent plant. I have since come across one similar specimen in an herbarium collection from the west, but could not learn the name. However, my swan will doubtless prove a goose as has heretofore happened. Plants found within a few years, in the ballast region from Port Morris to Hunt’s Point include Sisymbrium so- phia, Thlaspi arvense, (mithridate mustard) rarely natu- ralized, Ballota nigra (black horehound), Marrabium vulgare, (common horehound), Papaver argemone (prick- 11S THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ly poppy), Fumartia officinalis, Tussilago farfara (colt’s foot—in quantity at Port Morris; I have never seen it elsewhere), Lactuca scariola (prickly lettuce), Crepis tec- torum, Matricaria chamomilla, Anthemis nobilis, A.cotu- Ja and A. arvensis (corn chamomile, rare), Asperugo pro- cumbens—still at Oak Point,—Lithospermum arvense, Viola arvense, Agrostema githago, Lychius diurna, L. flos cuculi, Zygophyllum fabago, Potentilla anserina, Reseda Iutea and great numbers of more common species. New York City, N. Y. POLLENATION OF THE SUNFLOWER. BY WILLARD N. CLUTE. |e eeaemor ie works that mention the subject at all say that the sunflower’s method of cross-pollenation con- sists in a tube formed by the stamens into which the pollen is shed, to be later pushed out at the top by the lengthen- ing style, after which the stigmas spread out to_receive pollen from other flowers. But this is only the least in- teresting part of the truth. Happening to examine a sunflower recently, I was struck by the fact that the blooming florets were much taller than any of the others, not forgetting those that had finished blooming. It is not unusual for flowers to icrease in length at the blooming period, but how the sunflower florets were able to shorten up later was what puzzled me. A short examination of a floret, however, solved the mystery and revealed a very pretty piece of plant mechanism by which the short- ening is brought about. It seems that the new florets are taller than the others because the stamen-ring pro- jects above the corolla and the stigmas pro- ject above the ring. In older florets the stig- mas are scarcely longer than the corolla, and it turns out that after the pollen is shed both the stamens and the stigmas are retracted into the corolla THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. als: tube; the stamens by means of the filaments which curve outward ina half circle, and the stigmas by means of an elastic region at the base of the style. The style, there- fore, shortens by shrinking, but the stamens cannot do this and the filaments must bend outward, nature having formed a spherical bulge at the base of the corolla to per- mit this. The illustration shows the corolla laid open, with the stamen ring withdrawn into it. THE BOTANIST AND THE PUBLIC. There is, perhaps, no science which seems to the aver- age man so futile. The name ‘‘Botanist”’ is to those who know least about it, almost synonymous with that ofa ‘“‘mild and harmless visionary.’’ Hedoes noharm to any- body, they would say, and, under their breath, add that he does no good either. Yet this same average man eats vegetable food daily; he drinks beverages of vegetable or- igin, solaces himself with vegetable narcotics, depends up- on vegetable textiles for many of his clothes, uses wooden articles for all manner of purposes; he is liable to falla victim to diseases of vegetable origin which he will try to cure by the help of vegetable drugs. Why, if this be so, (and the average man can hardly be ignorant of it), does he take so unfavorable a view of the student of those or- ganisms which are the very mainspring of his life? I can- not help thinking that the botatists are in a measure to blame. In the past, perhaps, more than now, they have entrenched themselves behind a barrier of terminology and make little endeavor to show that many of the terms are in themselves an evil. Accordingly the conclusion is that the botanist sets store by repulsive trifles and 1s, therefore, worthy of contempt.—Professor Bower in Jour- nal of the Pharmaceutical Society. oy us Note and Cormrment. : OC WaNTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. SQUASH VARIETIES.—Country Life in America for July gives an illustration of a pile of squashes containing 110 distinguishable varieties, all the product of a single cross- bred squash. When nature can make so many varieties in a single generation it would seem well for the deseribers of ‘new species’ to go slow—they may only be varieties, after all. ANOTHER Mosguiro PLANT.—British nurserymen are advertising Ocimum viride, one of the basils, as a plant that will drive away mosquitos, and thus prevent malar- ial fevers. It is described as unquestionably a blessing to mankind and seeds are offered at about $1.25 per packet. If this plant will really drive away mosquitos, there are many people who would consider immunity cheap at the price asked, though it may seem to the majority that this particular blessing comes rather high. WaTER PoreEs.—The number of facts in botany that even the student is content to accept on hearsay is sur- prising. Take the stomata for instance. We all know what stomata are, and the offices they perform in the economy of the plant, but who, except those who have taken a course in physiological botany, have ever seen them? Even less familiar are those curious modifications of the stomata called water pores. These latter are usually situated on the border of the leaves at the termin- ation of the veins, and under certain circumstances exude drops of clear water. Water pores are very plainly to be seen in the leaves of the garden nasturtium (Tropz#olum) and if one will examine them early in the day, before the sun has drunk up the moisture, he may see the tiny glob- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 15 ules of water on the edges of the leaves where the veins terminate. The same phenomenon may be seen in the primrose, fuchsia, Canterbury bell and many others. A simple lens is all that is necessary ts see the water pores, but acompound microscope will be needed to make out their structure. NAMES OF THE ELEPHANT’S EAr.—That plant which in cultivation is usually called elephant’s ear (Caladium esculentum or Colocasia esculenta) has many other names in various parts of the world. In Porto Rico it is called bleeding heart; in Jamaica, coco; in Barbados, eddo and in the French West Indies, taya. It may be added that in Polynesia it is the well known taro and forms a staple article of food. THE ERRATIC EVENING PRIMROSE.—It was a species of evening primrose that gave DeVries his most abundant data regarding the origin of new species, and the same versatile trait appears to be present in other species of the genus. The common evening primrose (Oenothera bien- nis), for instance, has provided the editor with a puzzle that is still unsolved. The specific name was given the plant under the impression that it requires two years to round out its life, but there is a mistake, somewhere, for a large number of plants have been noticed this year, that have sprung up from the seed and produced flowers and fruit like any other annual. Other more provident speci- mens in the same ground instead of blooming have been laying up plant food all summer in a thick root ready for next year. There isa great difference in the two strains when they blooin, forthe annual kind has short stems and few blossoms, quite noticable in contrast to the strong stems of the biennials, often ten feet high. The annuals, too, donot usually develop the red color in the stems. The plants are undoubtedly of the same species and will con- tinue to be until some disciple of De Vries gets hold of them, but the question as to why they differ in the amount of time necessary to fruit remains unanswered. 16 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. For ExcHANGE.—Dr. Rensseler J. Smith, of Metona, San Bernardino County, California, wishes to exchange seeds, bulbs and herbarium specimens of the plants of his region for others. GROWTH OF THE FORGET-ME-NoT.—A friend took a root of the forget-me-not (Mvyosotis) and put between two of the stones that curbed the farm spring. E’er the season was half gone, it festooned the sides to the very water’s edge, and the blooms were twice the size of those growing in the garden.—Mrs. A. E. Goetting, Cincinnatti, Ohio. WILLOW BARK FOR SMOKING.—According to the At- lantic Slope Naturalist the Indians of the north-western * United States used the dried bark of the red willow for smoking, either alone or mixed with tobacco. Unfortun- ately the magazine does not state the species of willow from which the bark is obtained. It is commonly sup- posed that the bark of the silky cornel (Cornus sericea) was smoked by the Indians under the name of kinnikinnik, but this does not seem well anthenticated. More data is desirable. DEVICES FOR CHECKING TRANPIRATION.—The summer along the coast of the Bay of Naples is long and dry, and the plants of the region have been obliged to develop various means of checking the evaporation of water from their tissues in order to exist there. A writer in the Bot- anical Gazette in discussing the flora, lists thirty-six of the common species with their means for hindering trans- piration. From this it appears that one of the principal factors is the absence of stomata from the upper surface of the leaves. A large number have leaves of this nature while a still larger number have leathery leaves or leaves that are hairy or downy. Among other devices in this line niay be mentioned minute leaves, orleaves that fall off in summer, leaves that are more or less vertical, leaves with glossy epidermis, or with stomata sunk in pits, or containing atomatic substances. Many of the plants mentioned possess several of these characteristics. The THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. I root systems of most of these plants are extensive. In some cases the roots weighed nearly twenty times as much as the trunk and branches and were evidently used for storing water. TELEGRAPH POLES IN FRuitT.—Over 1,000 miles of tel- egraph poles in full fruit may be seen in Uganda. The wires are strung from a species of fig tree which has ex- traordinary powers of vitality even when detached from its own roots.—Gardening World. PERFUME OF FLOWERS.—Recent investigations have shown that the perfume of flowers is often increased by growing under colored glass, that some plants are fragrant only at night and others only in hot sunshine, that the seasons affect odors, and that temperate climates are more favorable than tropical ones.—Gardening World. Nor Any For Us.—The Gardening World, comment- ing upon a recent article regarding poison ivy in THE AMERICAN BoTANisT says, ‘‘It is astonishing to what ex- tent this shrub is grown in America, for it grows rankly upon walls and fences bordering the country roads for miles. The article does not state whether these have been planted or have grown there naturally but we should im- agine they have been planted for covering the walls and fences.’ To this we hasten to reply that the poison ivy, like the crow and house sparrow, thrives in America in spite of the efforts of farmers to exterminateit. Our walls in country districts are made of rough stone loosely put together, and the ivy runs riot over them as well as spreading into the grass on their borders. It is one of the commonest plants of eastern America, being found from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The foliage is brilliant in autumn, and the fact that the plant is not poisonous to most people, or at least that few people are annually poisoned by it, probably accounts for the lack of more de- termined efforts toward eradicating it. NIB DWI PDD I OOOO Cony o Ee eirerrme OOS" i a ae Along with the remittance of a tlew subscriber, re- ceived recently, was this comment: ‘Your little journal is fraught with interest from cover to cover and you don’t need a dictionary to look up every word.” This moves us to observe that botanical publications are like living things in that they pass through periods of youth, matur- ity and old age. If one looks through the files of any journal of this kind, he will be impressed with the fact that as it increases with age it becomes more and more technical; imdeed, until it does begin to be technical it is often thought to be immature and there is a considerable number of readers who will have nothing to do with it. THE AMERICAN BOTANIS?, however, is issued tor those of any age who retain a youthful spirit and it is our inten- tion to always keep it free from technical matters—to make it a journal for those who love flowers, rather than for the dry-as-dust sort of scientist who studies but does not love them. We shall endeavor to present items that are new and interesting, but whatever age the magazine attains, a dictionary will not be necessary in order to. comprehend it, % * % If artyone has the idea that publishers of botanical journals are getting rich, he may ponder the statement of The Plant World, which after an existence of nearly six years announces in the July number that it is giving more than it can afford, and adds that it is unreasonable to ex- pect the supporters of the journal to maintain it at aloss. *# Pi % Although two-thirds of the subscriptions of THE AMERICAN BoTANIs¥ expired in June, we have since received just two orders to discontinue. This we consider a re- markable showing for any journal, much less one still in its infancy, for there are always a few discontinuances to THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 19 be expected in subscription lists. It is probably unneces- sary to add that we shall try to justify this kind of en- couragement. * = * It is pleasing to note the increasing number of botan- ists who decline to upset well established plant names in deference to the much lauded rule of priority. Thus Dr. Grout in his recently issued ‘‘Mosses with Hand-lens and Microscope”’ says, ‘‘The principle of priority has been al- lowed great weight, but usage also has its claims and a name long in commen use has not been discarded unless convenience and clearness seemed to demand it,’’ and in the “Algz of Northwestern America”’ by Professors Set- chell and Gardner the authors hold that ‘‘A name which has been recognized for a quarter of a century or there- abouts is to be considered fixed and not to be unsettled simply because another may have been proposed earlier, but hitherto neglected for good or even for no real rea- sons.”” The strong common sense in such utterances will commend itself to all botanists who have the good of the science at heart, though the changing of names will pro- bably continue to appeal to a certain class who have all to gain (inthe matter of personal prominence) and nothing to lose, by such word tinkering. * * * Botany does not consist entirely of dry facts as some novices seem to think. There is considerable fun to be got out of it if one only knows how, as may be shown by the new and highly diverting pastime that has originated in connection with the genus Crat@gus. In any other genus one would not think of founding species upon such trivial- ities as the color of the anthers or minor differences in the pubescence or rotundity of the fruit, but assuming that these individual peculiarities are of specific importance, it gives a waggish species-maker a chance to tickle the van- ity of every acquaintance who ever cut a shillaiah from a hawthorn thicket by naming a species afterhim. As soon asthe news goes out that the hawthorns of any particular 20 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. region are being studied, we feel that now we shall soon know for certain who are the botanical worthies in the vicinity; forthere are always enough new species found to allow one for each and leave a few over. It is the height of the young collector’s ambition to have a species named in his honor and it must be exceedingly pleasing to him to know that the hawthorn genus has been found to be elas- tic enough to make this possible. In time to come one will only have to take down his botany and turn to the volumes on Cratzgus to find a complete botanical direc- tory, but we must insist that this scheme will never be complete until some method is found for adding the ad- dress of each person who figures inthis botanical diptych. BOOKS AND WRITERS. Mr.J. Horace McFarland, well known for his excellent photographs of botanical subjects has prepared a ‘‘Book of Trees’’ which is to be issued in the fall by the Outlook Company. It will be, of course, profusely illustrated. In June Dr. A.]. Grout published the first part of what is intended to be a fairly comprehensive hand-book of the mosses of the Eastern United States. It is entitled ‘““Mosses with a Hand-lens and Microscope” and is prac- tically an elaboration of his earlier ‘‘Mosses with a Hand- lens.’”?’ The new work has the advantage of more and better illustrations, a large number of plates having been reproduced from ‘‘The Bryologia Europea’’ Sullivant’s “TIcones”’ and other sources. The first part, in addition to treating of several families of the mosses, is concerned withsuch preliminary matters as classification, nomencla- ture and the study of mosses. The life history and struc- ture of the moss is thoroughly described and there is a full and well illustrated glossary. In the description of the mosses, their distinguishing characters are printed in italic, a very helpful feature to the beginner. (New York City, published by the author, $1.00.) The Atlantic Slope Naturalist. oF bi-monthly publication, Sub- Sp e ci al N oti ce. scription 30cts. per year. Sample Several vexatious and un- | avoidable delays, after most DR. W. E. ROTZELL, of this number was in type S have made it impossible to. NARBERTH, PA, _ issue earlier. The August number will follow shortly, copy free, Address, and we hope to have the Sep- The Fern Collector’s Guide| tember number on time. THIS book is designed to be taken into THE PUBLISHERS. the field with the student. It tells how to identify ferns, and. where to find them, -with lists of ferns. inhabiting various sit- uations euch as dry cliffs, wet woods, ete. | - = It gives directions for preparing ferns for the herbarium, has a fully illustrated key BOTAN ICAL WOR KS to the genera, complete glossary, and a ; list of ferns with blank pages for making AND HOW TO SELECT THEM. notes. Price in cloth, 50c. With A meri- Tells how and what to select, with a list can Botanist one year, $1.35... Address, of. books. -Free for the asking... WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Binghamton.N.Y. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Fern Literature | For=—=> The Fern Student. There is nothing in the world that will keep the fern student so well informed about his specialtr as The Fern Bulletin. Every _ issue contains 32 pages of valuable matter. Among the prominent - features of the magazine are the portraits of fern students, the in- - dex to current literature relating to ferns, and the fern floras of the states. In this latter series the fern flora of each State in the ‘Union is presented. You want that of your own State for the lo- -calities of rare species given, and those of other States for compar- ison. 75 cents a year. With the American Botanist one year $1.50. - Send forsample. Address The Fern Bulletin, = Bingbamton, W. Dp. Handbooks of Practical Gardening. Under the General Editorship of HARRY ROBERTs. Iflustrated, Cloth, 12mo, $1.00 net per volume. Each volume presents a practical monograph on its subject, well illustrated. THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With selections also on Celery, Salsify, Schorzo- nera, and Seakale. By Charles Ilott. Together with a chapter on their Cooking and Preparation for the Table by the General Editor. THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By H. W. Ward, author of ‘‘My Gardener.” THE BOOK OF BULBS. ByS. Arnott, of Carsethorne, near Dumfries. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE. By H.H: Thomas. Together with chapters by the ee Editor on the History and Cooking of the Apple, and the Prepar- ation of Cider. : THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By G. Wythes. With chapters by the General ; Editor on the History and Cookery of Vegetables. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY. With chapters on the Raspberry, Black- berry, Logan Berry, Wineberry and allied fruits: By Edwin Beckett. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By Rev. E. Bartrum. THE BOOK OF BEES. By Charles Harrison. Other volumes in preparation. Write for a complete list of the series to * JOHN LANE oer evenuze. NEW YORK | Guide to Taxidermy. One hundred pages. Full of valuable |! ag] : i “E50 information, with complete instructions i how to prepare and mount _ J —~—= Birds, Animals and Fish. =~ A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL ‘NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS WITH PRICES OF THEIR EGGS, SKINS, AND MOUNTED SPECIMENS; ALSO AN EX- HAUSTIVE LINE OF ORNITHOLOGISTS’, OOLOGISTS’ AND TAXIDERMISTS’ SUPPLIES, VALUABLE INFORMA- TION. FOR THE AMATEUR, RECEIPTS, ETC. i i 35 Cents Postpaid. i CHAS. K. REED, 102 UNION ST., F 2 WORCESTER, MASS SS | A | I | 1 A A WoL. 5 AUGUST, 1903. © No. 2. THEAMERICAN BOTANIST. CON THN TS. ‘FERN-HUNTING IN LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. 21 =. =. Mrs. H: A. DeCoster. /TENDERFOOT NOTES FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, - - - - - 25 CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—V, JTHE EARLY DAYS OF BOTANY. Dr. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. OW THE NASTURTIUM IS POLLINATED 32 WruuarD N, Cuore. | DEHISCENCE OF THE ANTHERS IN THE f WITCH HAZEL, - ---. = = - 84 Roscor J. WHBB. THE WANDERING MILKWEED, - BE. 8S. GILBERT. NOTE AND COMMENT, EDITORIAL, - - - BOOKS AND WRITERS, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. THE AMERIGAN BOTANIST A MONTHLY JOURNAL FOR THE PLANT LOVER. Issued on the 15th of each month. WILLARD N. CLUTE, ; . EDITOR. RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. 10 Cents a Copy; 60 Cents a Volume. $1.00 a Year Two Volumes. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS BEGIN WITH THE VOLUME, WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Publishers, Binghamton, N. Y; Entered at the Post Office at Binghamton, N. Y., as Second Class matter, Aug. 22, 1901. The American Botanical Club, Is an association of Botanists and Botanizers for mutual assistance in the study of plants. All plant lovers are invited to join. For constitution and further particulars address the Secretary, MR. J. - C. BUCHHEISTER, Griffins Corners, Delaware Co., N. Y. * The annual dues are 50 cents. Members who send 75 cents additional to the a ne $1.25 in all— will receive THE AMERICAN BoTanist, free. NSSssssssssssy AAA A Are Zr Ar 232722732 SPSS SPSS SSS poe DODO e The Best Book on Ferns. You want the best—the book that will enable you to most easily name the ferns and the one that will tell you the most about them, afterward. The claim of Our Ferns in Their Haunts to this title is based upon the following: It has more pages of text than any other fern-book. It has more illustrations—225 in all. It has the only illustrated key to the genera. It has the most complete glossary. It contains alist of all the species east of the Rocky Mountains and north of Florida. It gives full life-histories of each. It gives all the common names and all the scientific synonyms. It includes all the folk-lore and curious superstitions. It contains all the poetry of ferns. It is especially full in re- gard to rare species and species that are much alike. It is written in untechnical language. igh Sethe em PRICE $2.15 POST PAID. With a year’s subscription to THE AMERICAN Boranist, $3. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Pubs., Binghamton, N. Y. < LS5:5555555 SS SS SSW 2222 Zz: A AS: SSSsSsSsSsSse SESESESS Zee CHARLES OD. PENDELL, PRINTER, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. NI : ¥V BOTANIC GARDEN THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Vow.. V. BINGHAMTON, N. Y., AUGUST, 1903. No. 2. FERN-HUNTING IN LITTLE FALLS, N. Y. BY MRS. H. A. DECOSTER. |T seems rather strange, now, as I look back, that my interest in ferns was first aroused bya curious-looking plant which I did not know was a fern at the time, but which had, on the underside of its leaves, heavy brown lines of what I had always heard called ‘‘fern-seed.”’ Of course I had seen and known ferns, or thought I knew them, for years. Their delicate beauty meeting me ‘‘when e’er I took my walks abroad” had been part of the pleas- ure of my woods rambles; but the depth of my ignorance will be apparent when I admit that I divided them allinto three classes: brakes—ornamental and often quite pictur- esque in autumn, but coarse, and not desirable for carry- ing home; maiden-hair—dainty and beautiful always whether in the woods or in the house; and ferns. Under this last head was included everything else fern-like that I found in woods, swamps or meadows. Every autumn I filled several plant jars and a dish for the dining-room with native ferns, learning by the slow but sure method of experience that certain ones, most feathery and attractive in October, were sure to be gone before Christmas; while others, less dainty in appearance, kept their freshness almost unchanged until spring. Then, one day inlate February, I tooka walk through the woods on the North Hill and seeing several clumps of bright green rubbery leaves I went back the next day to dig up a few to replace such of mine as had succumbed to the combined influences of coal gas and furnace heat. It was while looking for these ferns that Imade a discovery. Several huge rocks were almost completely hidden under 22 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. mats of tresh green. Long, narrow, dark-green leaves grew ina sort of rossette from the very rock itself, so it seemed, for when I took hold of a plant and gave a little tug it allcame upin my hand and there was the rock, bare but for a sprinkling of leaf-mold. One curious thing that I couldn’t make out at first was the way those leaves tap- ered. They narrowed very gradually from the base until they reached a point where it seemed the most natural thingin the world that they should stop. But they didn’t stop. They went right on tapering until they could get no narrower and then they curved over toward the rock, making tiny green arches all bending outward from the center of the plant. When you see aplant doing anything unusual you can always find a reason for it if you look long enough. I looked and looked and finally found aleaf which had gone down into the moss and from its point sprang a little baby plant which ‘‘favored”’ the parent sufficiently to re- move my last doubt. Perhaps I had felt it in my bones at the time for I was more delighted than surprised and fur- ther search brought tolight several other plants still fast- ened securely to the parent leaf. I took one of the best specimens home with me and showed it to every one who came in. No one knew what it was or had ever seen its like before. I had no book on ferns to consult, but finally bethought me of two volumes of Torrey’s ‘‘New York State Botany” banished to the peaceful seclusion of the garret because the terms used therein were asGreek to me. Once these books had saved themselves from a banishment even more remote than my attic by showing a fine plate of “giant St. John’swort”’ (Hypericum pyramidatum) when every other flower-book that I knew had been looked through in vain. So to the attic I went, lugged the two heavy volumes down-stairs and began my search. Of courseI found my plant, luckily, as in the previous case, there was a plate andit WAS a fern, a walking-leaf fern, or as the book further asserted, Asplenium rhizophyllum. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 23 I found too that the description of those ferns marked “rare” tallied very closely with specimens I had found in the woods about home; even the walking-leaf was raised above its neighbors by the mark ‘‘not common.” Right in the nick o’ time, the very next week in fact, I received a notice ofthe publication of Mrs. Parsons’ “How to Know the Ferns.’”’ I have the harmless habit of writ- ing in my books the date when they became my property ; and I noticed in ‘‘How to Know the Ferns’’ the date is writted March, 1899. Since the date at the bottom of Mrs. Parsons’ prefatory remarks is March 6, 1899 I could not have lost much time in availing myself to the oppor- tunity to “know the ferns.”” I could hardly wait for April and May to bring them back. Before the weather was sufficiently warm to warrant any tender baby fern in pushing up through the ground I had found and named several of the hardiest sorts by the clumps of last year’s fronds lying flattened against the earth, but still fresh and green. In May and JuneI thought I lived in a fern-lover’s Paradise. Ina sphagnum swamp lying back of the Win- tergreen Woods I found the interrupted fern (Osmunda Claytoniana), the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) and the ostrich fern (Struthiopteris Germanica). In some what less swampy situations in the same woods I found the crested shield fern (Nephrodumcristatum) and Goldie’s fern (N. Goldieanum). Other ferns of the commoner sorts grew there but I mention these as growing in greater per- fection there than elsewhere. On the North Hill where I found my first walking-leat fern I found also the ebony spleenwort (Asplenium eben- eum) and maiden-hair spleenwort (Asplenium tricho- manes). But my best fern-region in point of variety, was Cogoman Woods and the gulf below. In the deep, rich woods I found the narrow-leaved spleenwort (Asplenium angustifolium), silvery spleenwort (Athyrium thleypter- oides) and maiden-hair (Adiantum pedatum) growing in greater profusion than I have seen them anywhere else. Here, too, were fine specimens of rattle-snake fern (Botry- 24. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. chium Virginianum) and ternate grape fern (B. terna- tum). The evergreen wvod fern (Nephrodum marginale) and spinulose wood fern (N. spinulosum var. intermedium) grew to great size here in the rich leaf-mold and the only specimen of Clinton’s wood fern (N. cristatum var. Clinton- ianum) which I have found grew in these woods. In the gulf the bulblet bladder fern (Cvstopteris bulbifera) fairly covered the rocks in some places, reaching out its long feathery fronds toward the little water-fall that almost disappears in midsummer. The fragile bladder fern (C. fragilis) grows on the rocks above the falls but is less common than C. bulbifera. On the opposite side of the gulf, just within the border of the woods, is a small patch of broad beech fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera). Be- tween woods and pasture the hay-scented fern (Dicksonia pilosiuscula) and the New York fern (Nephrodum nove- boracense) make great beds of soft gray-green. The brake fern (Pteris aquilina) grows on the open slopes of the pas- ture and the lady fern (Athyrium filixteemina) borders the woods and grows among the stones of the tumble down wall. Most of these ferns were found in my first summer’s fern-hunting. On the top of the Roll Way, an almost per- pendicular wall of rock which shuts in the valley on the south, I found my first little oak fern (Phegopteris dryop- teris) covering the shady knolls under the silver birches, and, lower down, where the rock formation is like that of the North Hill, were similar patches of walking fern. Down along the River Road, in the swamps, the marsh fern (Nephrodium Thelypteris) grows abundantly, and east of the city, on the long stretch of barren rock called the Burnt Rocks, my first specimen of rusty woodsia (Woodsia Ilvensis) were discovered, growing side by side with saxifrage in crevices of the rock. I had looked in the Wintergreen Woods and in several other likely places for royal fern (Osmunda regalis) but I never saw it growing untila bird-watching expedition led me far over the Burnt Rocks and into a marsh beyond. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 25 Here I stumbled upon a few clumps with the fertile fronds in fruit and marked the spot as holding the only royal ferns in the vicinity. The next summer, however, in a cedar swamp on the Lansing Farm,a little below the city, I found O. regalis almost aS common as O. cinnamomea and O. Claytoniana. The common polypody (Polypod- ium vulgare) is less common than its name would imply; it grows in profusion where it grows at all but I find it in very few places as compared with the other common ferns. The Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) grows in the woods everywhere. My next find was a small station of slender cliff brake (Pellza gracilis). It was June when I discovered them and both fertile and sterile fronds were at their lovliest. I was one of a picnic party, but I happened to be alone walking along the edge of a creek and looking for ferns on the shelving rocks above my head. Suddenly I spied something new, a bed of ferns unlike anything I had seen before. They were so exactly like their picture even to the background they had chosen that I knew them at once. The last fern on my list was added last year, the little grape fern (Botrychium simplex). I tound itin three quite widely separated localities but always in the same soil and with the same general surroundings. Little Falls, N. Y. TENDERFOOT NOTES FROM SOUTHERN CALI- FORNIA. BY CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. HE world is so accustomed to hear of California’s big fruits and vegetables that perhaps the botanical tourist from the modest East should not be surprised to find plant families which at home he knows only as herbs, represented in the Land of Sunshine by shrubs, and shrubs correspondingly by trees. The evidences of this fact have contributed entertain- ment to many of our outings in southern California. The 26 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. first to attract our attention was a small tree of Santa Catalina Island which we noticed in January covered with a profusion of white blossoms. At the same time it was fruiting, and its bunched carpels numbering from three to six or eight or more and resembling the fruit of small peonies, betrayed its family position. It proved to be Crossosoma Calitornicum, a woody cousin of our eastern buttercups and anemones. In the canons of the San Jacinto Mountains we found in March another species ot the same ranunculaceous shrub, C. Bigelovii, with smaller purplish blossoms and purplish fruit. The little New Jersey Tea of the east that hugs the ground by the wood’s edge, is represented in California by dozens of species, many of which are shrubs as high asa man’s head and several are even arboreal in their propor- tions. The poppy family which is associated in eastern minds with its herbaceous members, the garden poppy, the celandine and the bloodroot, developes in California a stout shrubby genus—the tree-poppy (Dendronecon rig- ida) whose compact bushes, sometimes six or eight feet high, and starred over with large golden flowers, are con- spicuous sights on the hillsides of their choice. The heath tribe which in the Middle and New England States area lowly race, or at most, as in the rhododendrons, shrubby growths, include trees on the Pacific Slope—such as the exquisite madrons which Bret Harte has enshrined in worthy verse, and at least one species of the manzanita, own cousin to the creeping bearberries of the New Jersey Pine Barrens and the alpine tops of northern mountains. Another of these arboreal daughters of Hesperus, for which our eastern education had not prepared us, was the elder. The Southern California species is Sambucus glauca—so named probably from the frosty bloom on its dark blue fruit—and although it is frequently only a large shrub, it is quite as often a strikingly beautiful tree, as- suming many varied and picturesque attitudes of growth, so that a grove of it reminds one of an old apple orchard. The monkey flower, too, had a surprise for us, in a shrub- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Ok by species three to six feet high. So, too, penstemon, the familiar beard-tongue of numerous species in the east and middle westis sometimes a shrub in southern California— notablya species with fat yellow blooms that adds beauty to some of the desert regions. The California branch of the waterleaf family, also. tends to shrubbiness, and in- cludes one of the most famous of Pacific Coast medicinal plants, the Yerba Santa, or holy plant (Eriodyctyon glu- tinosum). Its bitter, aromatic leaves are highly esteemed in the domestic pharmacopoeia as the basis of a home- made cold cure. Pasadena, California. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—V. THE PETALS. The petals are really the wrappings of the essential or- gans and when present are always found in acircle around the stamens and pistils. From the fact that the blossoms of many successful species are without petals, we know that they are not necessary tothe plants’ existence. They are therefore of secondary importance. They may serve to protect the delicate essential organs from cold and wet ; they are helpful in obliging visiting insects to approach these organs ina way that will most surely effect cross pollination, while their bright colors are of service in at- tracting insects to the flowers in the first place. Not only do the petals protect the essential organs in the bud, but even after the flower has expanded it is not uncommon for them to close again upon the approach of cold or threatening weather as does the adder’s-tongue (Erythronium Americanum) the purslane and the scarlet pinpernel (Anagallis arvensis). A great number like the poppy, dandelion, bloodroot and hepatica close at night, while others close for a certain time in each twenty-four hours, though not always in the evening. Of these the morning-glory, four-o’clock, evening primrose, goat’s- beard (Tragopogon) and catch-fly (Silene) are examples. The petals are usually the most noticable parts of the 28 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. flowers being in shape like small leaves though far more delicate in texture and usually of some other color than green. Ofall the organs they areleast likely to vary from the radical number. In five parted flowers the stamens may be several times five and the pistils less than five, but the petals are nearly aiways of the proper number. Taking a single petal it is not difficult to understand how petals may have originated from leaves. There is an expanded portion which corresponds to the leaf blade and is called the Jamina, and a more or less stalk-like base which corresponds to the stern but which in petals is called the claw. Like the filament of the stamen and the style of the pistil this claw is often absent. Petals have many forms but possibly a major- ity have a shape that may be des- cribed as roughly heart-shaped. Such are found in the buttercup, Fic.13. Forms of Petals geranium, violet, cinquefoil (fig. 13 a Nasturtium, b Cinquefoil, b) apple and rose. Inthe buttercup c Catchfly. the outer margin lacks the notch of the heart, in the mallow the notch is very evident, while in certain chickweeds and the pink family in general (fig 13 c) the notch is so deep that the petal is nearly cut in two, and the beginner often imagines he has found a plant with ten petals. Other petals may be linear, as in the witch hazel; in fact Nature has about as many patterns for petals as she has for leaves. In some flowers an added beauty is given the petals by their being beautifully fringed. The fringed gentian owes nearly all its popular. ity to this, and the starry campion and mitrewort though less known are equally well ornamented. Petals may increase by ‘‘doubling”’ as it is called until we have such flowers as the cultivated rose, buttercup, anemone and hollyhock. In such cases it is usually not a real addition of more petals by the flower, but a trans- formation of organs already existing, usually the sta- mens. In completely double flowers both pistils and sta- mens are absent, but in their places are petaloid objects THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 29 which show by many signs that they are the transformed and deformed essential organs. It is perhaps for this rea- son that the botanist has no special fondness for double flowers. Most wild plants occasionally show examples of partial doubling, and it was from such sources that the gardener obtained his first hint of double flowers. The water lily is a noteworthy illustration of this showing in every blossom a complete gradation from petals through organs that are half petal and half stamen to the true stamens. The hepatica and rue anemone sometimes have one or more whorls of extra petals while the yellow pond lily (Nuphar) and the purple clematis (Atragene) usually have several rows of short petal-like scales at the base of the stamens. From facts such as these Grant Allen formulated the theory that all petals were originally de- rived from stamens, though the more natural inference would be that they were derived directly from leaves. Nearly every color known finds its counterpart in the petals of flowers. The most common are yellow and white, while red, blue and violet are less plentiful in the or- der named. While this is true for plants as a whole, there are also seasonal variations. In the North Temperate Zone, at least, early spring and late autumn have the greatest proportion of blues, while mid-summer is given over to yellow, orange and red. It has been attempted, with considerable success, to show that there has been an evolution of color. The more primitive forms of flowers are nearly always yellow or white and the most special- ized, blue and violet with orange and red flowers between. Some striking instances which are taken to indicate this evolution are found in white flowers which fade toward the next higher color (pink) as in the white trillium and certain evening primroses; while the flower buds of white flowers are often pink tinged as inthe apple and the wind- flower. Again, blue flowers often have pink buds as the lungwort (Mertensia). It is found, too, that in all flowers having more than one color, the more primitive color is 30 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. nearest the center. Thus the morning glory has a blue or pink border but a white center; the bluet is blue on the margin, white within and yellow in the center. A large number of other examples may be found by anyone who will look for them among our common blossoms. THE EARLY DAYS OF BOTANY. BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. T was in seeking for simples to cure or palliate the wounds of war or ravages of disease; in groping among the plants of forest, field or mountain that the early physicians became acquainted with such crude facts as originally constituted botanical science. Toxicology, too, cherished a much too intimate relation to botany and to medicine. A knowledge of poisons often carried with it a great, though perhaps secret, political power. It was sometimes the part of prudence to decline invita- tions to the afternoon teas or evening banquets of the olden time. This, however, was not an unmixed evil. The experience gained from the experiments in diplo- macy, these subtle acts of the ancient bosses, was, it is true, a terrible experience; the elimination of undesirable citizens or ambitous opponents, was a terrible power to exert; still, it served to add to the sum of human know- ledge. What were found to be deadly drugs in large doses, might, in small ones, prove to be potential cures. The so-called herbalists tried almost every plant asa remedy. It was nothing to experiment upon a slave; vivisection was not confined to guinea-pigs and rabbits. These early students formed into decoctions, tinctures, elixirs and liniments the plants or parts thereof, that they considered beneficial. Incidentally they learned much about vegetable structure, physiology and relationship. They were compelled to systematize—and hence gave us our first ideas of taxonomy. They, of course, saw that some families or genera of plants contained more potent members than others and were, in consequence, naturally led to look for properties in newly discovered individuals THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. BL of such groups. Thus to-day we look for useful plants among the nightshades, the crowfoots and the great groups of Rosaceze and Leguminose. These old writers published elaborate works, often, it is true, disfigured by gross analogies but at times show- ing close and patient observation and even profound eru- dition. Their drawings are still our marvel and envy, de- spite the fact that imagination often played with them most extraordinary pranks. The evolution of geese from barnacles wasnot the least marvelous of these deductions. We must not forget the impulse given to research by the attempt to find an “elixir of life.” In the chase after this will-o’-the-wisp, many philosophers spent their lives. However, they did not live in vain. As astrology was to the true science of astronomy; as alchemy was to chemis- try; so was this search to botanic medicine. The elixir was elusive and still remains unfound, but by the roadside on which it was sought, were discovered facts that have enriched mankind, relieved uncounted woes, and added in- finitely to the resources of science. The pursuits of savage tribes of our own day throw light upon the advance of the race. We still see them seeking simples and ascribing virtues to inert weeds. Probably at the very dawn of human knowledge there be- gan to be an acquaintance with the properties of plants. A few unhappy experiments would serve to indicate a poison; a chance cure to exalt a specimen into a panacea. Even fetish worship must not be disregarded in this con- sideration. We can easily see how such a plant as the poppy, relieving pain, or inducing sleep might come to be indued with sacred functions. A seer, a necromancer, a practiser of physic, priest, prophet or even rain-doctor became among these tribes a ‘“medicine-man.’”’ Such isthe fore-runner of the physician. As knowledge was, for ages, reposed in the priesthood, we find ritual and incantation associated even with legit- imate practice. It was but a step from such ceremonies to the claim of miracle. Often, no doubt, such foolery ex- oe THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. erted a certain hypnotic influence for good. The practi- tioners soon learned to play upon the credulous. Have they ever now ceased todo so? Consult any city news- paper for advertisements of quack-medicines, clairvoyance etc. A curious survival of ancient and later medieval study, remains in the so-called ‘‘doctrine of signatures.” If a plant had kidney-shaped leaves it was good for reinic disorders. Pulmonary complaints would be cured bya plant of which the leaves were tubercular; hemorrhages by a red-juiced plant like blood-root. It is queer to find this notion abiding even now in certain rural districts. Providence, R. I. HOW THE NASTURTIUM IS POLLINATED. BY WILLARD N. CLUTE. T is not necessary for the botanist to go to distant countries in search of things strange and new in his line; there are plenty still to be found here at home. Take the garden nasturtium (Tropzolum), for instance. This showy member of the geranium tribe, is so common in cul- tivation as to be known to everyone at sight and yet, how many could tell whether the blossom is designed for cross-pollination or the re- verse, and if the first, how it is brought about ? In certain families of plants, such as the orchids, mints, fig- worts, etc., the specialized and irregular blossoms indicate at a glance that they have been modified to secure cross-pollin- ation by insects. But it is not every insect that can reach the nectar such flowers secrete. They cateronly to those insects that they can use to advantage and so get their pollen properly transferred with the minimum amount of waste. But the nasturtium blossom is more nearly regular than THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. oo these and at first sight seems to be one of those flowers like the buttercup or rose that is run wide open, offering its favors to any bee, bug or butterfly that may chance to pass, and notparticular about the way in which its pollen is transferred. This, however, is not really the case. The blossom bears unmistakable indications that, in its tropical home, at least, it has certain good friends among the insects, whose visits it desires and whose services are promptly paid for. Thelong tube formed by the sepals on the upper side of the stem and containing nectar at the bottom could only be designed for the use of some insect witha proboscis long enough to sound its depths; and we may be sure that any insect for which these sweets are reserved is of value to the plant in the transferrence of its pollen. The flower has also set up guides tothis well of nectar, printed so plainly that even the greatest blunderer among its desirable winged visitors ought to be able to read and understand. On the two upper petals are fan-shaped streaks of darker color which point downward to the spur, and the inside of the sepals also have lines trending in the same direction. Nor has the flower overlooked the machinery neces- sary to give and receive the pollen, for the eight stamens project forward about in line with the claws of the three lower petals and as they ripen, one after another rises up in front of the entrance ready to dust with pollen all who enter. After the stamens have shed their pollen, the style and stigmas, which up to this time have lain unnoticed in the depths of the flower, grow forward and take the posi- tion occupied by the stainensin turn. They are thus ad- justed for brushing the pollen-covered insects that come from other flowers and so cross-pollination is effected. But there are other smaller insects with a taste for sweets or even for pollen that, lacking the means to reach the depths of the spur, would not visit the flower in the right way and so only waste the pollen. These the flower has apparently tried to fence out by the line of erect 34 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. bristles across the inner sides of the three lower petals, and has also tried to throw them off the trail by- three false honey-guides one on each petal that lead nowhere. The nasturtium evidently desires the visits of insects large enough and strong enough to disregard these bristling petals and who willenter the flower directly from the front. That it is successful in this, a few minutes observation in the flower garden will show. In this part of the world the principal visitors are the bumble-bee and the humming-bird, both of which ap- proach the flower in the proper way and doubtless are the chief agents in the transfer of the pollen. Butterflies, al- though equipped for getting the nectar, apparently seldom attempt todo so. Various small insects, however, have a liking for the pollen, but they seem never to find out the direct way toit. They always alight on one of the lower petals and wander about trying to get through the fence. Many give it upto try elsewhere, but others, crossing over to one of the two upper petals find themselves close to the feast. These clamber over the stamens and may be seen to literally scoop the pollen out of the anthers and stuff it 1n- to the pockets with which some of theirlegs are fitted. In this way they probably often help to dust the pistil with pollen and while wasting some and carrying away more may be of some benefit to the flower, though in less degree than the nectar loving bee who does not stop to eat pollen. DEHISCENCE OF THE ANTHERS IN THE WITCH HAZEL. BY ROSCOE J. WEBB. ARLY in October, during one of my rambles, I noticed ~“ that the witch hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana) had begun to blossom and picked some flowering branches to carry home. Most of the flowers had just opened and many of the anthers had not yet dehisced. It is well known that the anthers of this plant open by means of lids, which, differing from those of many plants whose THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 35 to stamens have them, open forward, thatis, inward towards the center of the flower. Cutting off one of the stamens for closer inspection under a magnifier, I was interested to observe that, caused by the warmth or dryness of the air in the room, ina short time the anther cells began to dehisce. First one lid slowly raised itself and began to swing forward on its hinge, then the other, until in a few minutes both lids had opened widely and stood back to back, each having com- pleted a half-circle of revolution. There would have been nothing particularly noteworthy about this had it not been for the fact that it was not thelid alone that moved, but that the pollen contained in each cell came out on the lid of the cell, leaving the cell itself, perfectly empty. This was true with all the anthers I examined, both those which had opened naturally and those which I caused to open. Sometimes both lids would rise together and swing rythmically forward, sometimes one would be more or tess in advance of the other. This is doubtless a device for aiding in the pollination of the flowers. The pollen is thus moved forwards and placed in a very ex- posed position, so that any insect which comes to the blossom can hardly help getting some of it on its legs or proboscis and thus, if it visits another flower, effect the cross-tertilization that the plant desires. Garrettsville, Ohio. THE WANDERING MILK WEED. Beeson Clie Bib Rake T isa midsummer morning just at sunrise and the south- ern side of this thick grove of basswood, ash, maple, etc. lies in deep shadow, wet with dew. Between the beaten path and the tall trees the ground is overgrown with masses of strong plants two feet or more high and the airis filled with a pleasant smell which might be called a fragrance though close at hand it is less agreeable and has a suggestion of a potent bitterness. It is the Indian physic or wandering milkweed (Apocynum androszemifo- 36 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. lium) of the dogbane family to which the European “myrtle” or periwinkle (Vinca minor) with its trailing vine, evergreen leaves and violet flowers belongs. The oleander is another but the order is mostly tropi- cal. There are rubber yielding trees and many a splendid flower among its species though it is a suspected tribe often or generally poisonous. It youare not familiar with the ‘‘fire on the mountain”’ (Euphorbia heterophylla) you do not know what Nature can do in the line of rich green- ery but these leaves in many opposite pairs on long red tinted branches are noticeably fine in this way, smooth and deeply colored. The clustering flowers of thick sub- stance remaining a long time without change have a deep flve parted cup of purest white lined and stained witha beautiful tint of red; many a worse plant is carefully cul- tivated. It is a strong perennial but is not aggressive. Its long slender rouud red pods growing in pairs full of winged seeds are often seen above the snow in winter and the seeds must fly with the winter wind year after year but it does not spread. Its long running roots send up stems here and there but on the whole its narrow habitat here is the same as that of forty years ago. Arkport, N. Y. ty ae eae ie Note and Corarment. e —eeeEeS WANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. A JAPANESE FERN NATURALIZED.—Mrs. A. P. Taylor has recently found the Japanese climbing fern (Lygodium Japonicum) often erroneously called Lygodium scandens, growing wild along a ditch in southern Georgia. DROUGHT AND THE COLOR OF CLOVER.—In the spring we had a period of drought which seemed to effect the common white clover by making much of it (indeed nearly THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ar allin this locality) show very pink blossoms. Has that point been noticed in other localities ?—E. W., Morris- town, N. J. CoLor oF CLOSED GENTIAN.—Probably there is no plant inthe American flora with flowers of a deeper, dark- er more glowing blue than those of the closed gentian (Gentiana Andrewsii). We see only the outside of the corolla, for it never opens, but the color is so rich that it is very conspicuous among the green leaves. Bups FROM UNDERGROUND PARTS.—A subscriber in Riverton, N. J. asks how plants like the pleurisy root (As- clepias tuberosa) are able to send up new shoots from any small portion that happens to be left in the soil. The ex- planation is, that plants under stress of circumstances are often able to produce buds on any part. Thus the roots of the Asclepias being still in full vigor, may send up new stems when the originalones are removed. There are sev- eral plants that regularly produce buds on their leaves, as the walking fern and the Bryophyllum, while most trees and shrubs may send out new shoots from latent buds under the bark. There are also underground portions of plants that must be considered inthe nature ofstems, such as the artichoke, potato and ground-nut (Apjios), and these, of course, may send branches up into the air. Cases are not wanting, also, in which roots upon coming to the surface take on all the functions of stems. An instance of this will be found on page 115 Vol. III, of this magazine. Crossinc OrcHID GENERA.—The orchids are usually regarded as a very ancient family of plants and one rather on the decline at present. The different species are very distinct and do not intergrade in endless variations as certain other plants do. Thisfact has been cited as further evidence of the antiquity of the orchids on the supposition that all intergrading forms have had time to die out. Under these circumstances it is remarkable that species of different genera may be crossed with ease. According to the Journal of Horticulture various species of Epidendrum 38 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. have proved fertile when crossed with species of Cattleya, Sophronitis, Lela, Schomburgkia and Zygopetalum. Other genera that have produced fertile crosses with the genera above mentioned are Brasoavola, Bletia, Oncidi- um, Colax and Batemannia. Still more astonishing is the fact that American and Old World species of different genera are readily crossed. This puts the facts concerning hybridization in a new and unexpected light. THE FRAGRANT SHIELD FERN.—I have found the fra- grant shield fern (Nephrodium tragrans) at Drums Notch near Andover, Me. Gray speaks of it as at St. Croix Falls and northward. As there is a fall at Drums Notch, I have always associated the species with falls in a mountainous region.—E. W. A SAPONACEOUS FAMILY.—Several species of Ceano- thus in the West produce a lather when rubbed up in water and Mr. C. F. Saunders, who has been experiment- ing with them in California, recently asked the editor of this journal if our family New Jersey tea, Ceanothus Amer- icanus, possessed the same properties. The editor did not know but immediately set out upon the trail of this in- formation. At the time the plant was just going out of bloom and the blossoms, of which a quantity were gath- ered, gave no indications of soapy qualities. The young fruit, however, yielded better results and a fair lather was obtained from a single handful. The saponaceous matter seems to reside in the covering of the seed capsule and the persistent base of the calyx. More Asout Opp Opors.—Speaking of odd odors, of which your June issue has something to say, you would be endlessly entertained by the malodors of this California flora. It seems as though almost every wild plant that one finds in the semi-arid regions has a pronounced smell. The ubiquitous white sage (Audibertia polystachya) fam- ous for its honey making qualities, has so strong an odor of camphor that a dog running through the chaparral where it abounds, will bear the smell of it in his coat for THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 39 quite a while. The foliage of the California bay (Umbell- ularia California) reeks with the odor of bay rum and to smell it for afew minutes will develope headache. Over in the San Jacinto Canons we came across an asclepiad (Sar- costemma heterophylla) which for vileness of smell beats anything vegetal that my nostrils have so far en- countered—a sort of sublimated essence of stale garlic and onion, like the smell you generally encounter in the entry of a third rate boarding house multiplied by a hundred— so we got into the way of calling it “the third-class board- ing house plant.’’ Sodocommon names arise.—C. F. Saun- ders. [The probable explanation of the strong odors poss- essed by plants in arid regions, is doubtless to be found in the fact that certain oily secretions help them to resist evap- oration. These oils would therefore be likely to abound in plants of dry regions, and as most of them are strong scented, the plants would naturally give off the same odor.—ED. | THE DEFINITION OF A WEED.—I have been interested— and somewhat preturbed (mildly) as to the definition of a ‘‘weed’’ and I have struck upon three definitions. The botanist’s: A weed isa plant out of place. According to this a rose plant would be a weed in a cornfield. The gar- dener’s: A weed is a plant which grows unbidden, and in- sists on surviving under no matter what adverse condi- tions. You may expose the roots or give other unfavor- able conditions and it insists on living and doing what it ean to make it unpleasant for the plants you wish to raise. The popular: A weed is a plant of spontaneous growth. In some cases the three are in accord, in others they are at variance.—E. W. a i Eesteriat. — LN It is our wish that every subscriber to this magazine who is preserving the back numbers may have complete files and tothat end offer to replace free any missing num- bers if requested to do so at once. As the supply of cer- tain issues is nearly exhausted, this offer holds good only until they are gone. Look over your files and make your requests now. % * % Doubtless many of our readers noticed that the words pollinate and pollination used several times in the July number were invariably spelled pollenate and pollenation. This is not due to any desire on the part of this magazine to establish a new way of spelling but is to be charged to the compositor who mistook the i in these words for an e doubtless reasoning that if pollen is spelled with an e, pol- lination should be, also. In the hurry of getting out an already delayed number, the proof reader overlooked the mistake, but it did not escape our eagle-eyed readers. We are glad, however, to have such excellent proofs that the magazine is closely read as are these letters calling our at- tention to the error. Weare not sure but what it would be agood plan to make an intentional slip, now and then, just tosee if we are still holding the attention of our read- ers! * * * In the spring and summer of 1902, the valley in which this journal is published, received daily rains for nearly four months. This year the weather went to the other extreme anda drouth of fifty-four days was the result. In both cases great damage was done to wild as well as cul- tivated plants. The drouth was especially hard on the early spring flowers as it occured when they were perfect- ing their corms, bulbs and rootstocks for another season. In many places the adder’s-tongues (Erythroninm) with- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. AL ered before completing their season’s work. Many other plants died outright. At first glance such extremes may seem wholly inimical to plant life, but a more careful sur- vey appears to indicate that occasional trials of this kind are beneficial to vegetation 1n general by weeding out the weaklings. Plants thatcan endure being nearly drowned one season and nearly scorched the next ought to be proof against anything other seasons may have in store for them. BOOKS AND WRITERS. Floral Life for August appears under new editorship, John Habberton, author of ‘‘Helen’s Babies’’ and other well known works having succeeded S. Mendelson Mee- han. Bee keeping is so nearly allied to gardening—each be- ing in its widest sense somewhat dependent upon the other—that it is no surprise to find ‘““The Book of the Honey Bee’’ among the handbooks of practical gardening from the press of John Lane. This new book is by C. Harrison and treats the subject of bee keeping in all its phases, describing the making of hives, the arrangement of the Apiary and the marketing of the honey as wellas the general care of bees. The book is uniform in style with those that have preceded it in the series, and is well illus- trated. (New York, John Lane, $1.00 net.) . The whole subject of variation in plants and animals seems to be one that biologists know comparatively little about. In recent years, various experimenters, have been amassing a great number of facts on this subject, some of which have become familiar to botanists through the ex- periments of DeVries with the evening primrose. In Dr. H. M. Vernon’s new book on “Variation in Animals and Plants”’ we are given an up-to-date presentation of all sides of the subject. The book is divided into three parts, entitled ‘‘The Facts of Variation,’’ ‘“The Causes of Varia- tion” and ‘Variation in its Relation to Evolution” respec- 42 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. tively. In the first part the measurement of variatior. chiefly from the mathematical standpoint is considered to- gether with discontinuous and correlated variation. In Part II the effects of temperature, light, moisture, salinity, food, ete., upon developing organisms is discussed, this part constitutitg the bulk of the 400 pages in the book. The third part treats of the action of natural selection on variations. An immense number of experiments are de- tailed, the book in this respect being one of the most com- plete to be found. All students interested in systematic botany will find much food forthought inits pages. (New York, Henry Holt & Co.) The completion of Dr. John K. Small’s ‘Flora of the Southeastern United States,”’ which covers the region from North Carolina to Arkansas and Texas and south to the Gulf, adds a most remarkable volume to the botanical literature of America. Manuals we have had, heretofore, that made species of many mere forms, but in none has the division of species been pushed half so far as in this. It is the author’s belief that any plant possessing a single per- manent distinguishing character no matter what that character may be is entitled to specific rank and he has apparently kept this precept wellin view during his work. However much we may differ from him in our opinions regarding various features of the book, it cannot be denied that the work hasbeen most carefully and conscientiously done. It is safe to say that never in the history of Ameri- can botany have the plants of any region received more thorough study or more accurate description and the author is to be congratulated upon the completion of so stupendous an undertaking. While students of our south- ern flora are thus greatly indebted to Dr. Small for his ex- act delimitation of the forms it contains, it may well be questioned whether, owing to the absence of anything to indicate which are, and which are not, species in the recog- nized sense of the word, the book will ever supplant Dr. Chapman’s excellent and less elaborate flora of the same region. It will probably be impossible for a novice using THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 43 this book to identify the plants he may find. For instance, there are 184 species of Cratzgus given, while other books name less than fifty. In the key for separating these one frequently finds such expressions as ‘anthers pink’’ or ‘anthers yellow”’ as the sole distinction between species. Since the hawthorns bloom for only a few weeks, it fol- lows that Dr. Small’s key, or rather Mr. Beadle’s is of use only once a year! It seems absurd to claim 184 species of hawthorns for the Gulf States, but we are told that the species given are based upon material in the Biltmore her- barium, only. Along with this inclination to split up re- cognizable species, is a similar tendency in the treatment of genera. Where one genus was once enough we now have several often apparently selected with a whimsical regard for assonance as Oxalis, Ionoxalis, Monoxalis, Lotoxalis, Xanthoxalis and Paronychia, Anychia, Odon- tonychia, Siphonychia, Anychiastrum. If narrowing the generic lines will facilitate the study of plants, no one will begrudge the author these new ones; but no such excuse can be shown for changing the names of several orders which have the authority of universal use for existing. What is gained by substituting Opuntiacez for the better known Cactacee? Or Frangulacee for Rhamnacee ? These seem over refinements prompted by a regard for form rather than for substance. In this book the well known Umbellifere, Labiata and Scrophulariacez are discarded and in their places one finds Ammiacez, Lamia- cee and Rhinanthacee. Juggling with the names of the orders 1s a comparatively recent practice, but the possibil- ities for changes are numerous. It has not beenlong since Leguminose gave place to Papilionaceze but now this is superseded by Fabaceze. Some idea of the immense amount of change this book would introduce into the bot- any of the South may be gleaned from the fact that in ad- dition to a large number of new genera and species there are more than six hundred new combinations of generic and specific names. It is fairly well printed, though it is manifestly too great an undertaking for the company 4.4. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. who did the work. The book is too large for class and field use, since it contains nearly 1,400 octavo pages and weighs about six pounds, but as a work of ref- erence it will be invaluable to all southern botanists. It is to be hoped that the author will some day give us a smaller volume, in which the less important segregates from older species may be indicated in some way. (New York, Published by the Author, 19038, $3.60 net.) A new fern book that fills a place between popular handbook and scientific manual has just been issued by Dr. C. E. Waters. It is entitled ‘‘Ferns’’ and covers prac- tically the same ground as the popular books, but witha chapter on fern photography and a key to the species based on their stipes, added. There is, of course, another key based on the usual characters for identifying terns. Up- ward of 200 illustrations are given, all from photographs, among which is a series of illustrations of the sori en- larged. These latter are especially good and form a unique feature of the book. In the matter devoted to the species, the technical description is first given after which comes more or less comment, principally from the author’s experience with ferns in Maryland. The nomenclature follows that generally accepted in America and old names are therefore for the most part unchanged. The book is remarkable, however, for the entire absence of citations of authorities for these names. The principal criticism that can be made of the book, is that the author has been very reluctant to give credit for recent work. He has included many forms lately described but has entirely omitted to say who described them, or where they were described, thus preventing the beginner from looking them up further for himself. The book is an octavo of about 350 pages, and very well printed. (New York, Henry Holt & Co., $2.75 net.) The Atlantic Slope Naturalist. A bi-monthly publication. Sub- scription 30cts. per year. Sample copy free. Address, DR. W. E. ROTZELL, | NARBERTH, PA. The Fern Collector’s Guide HIS book is designed to be taken into the field with the student. It tells how to identify ferns, and where to find them, with lists of ferns inhabiting various sit- uations such as dry cliffs, wet woods, ete. It gives directions for preparing ferns for the herbarium, has a fully illustrated key to the genera, complete glossary, and a list of ferns with blank pages for making BOTANICAL WORKS FOR SALE BY WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO.» Binghamton, N. Y. We can furnish any book published on any subject. Send usthe title of the book, name of publisher, and the price and we will send it by return mail. Buy all your books of us, and save letter writing, postage and money order fees. Books ordered at net rate sent by express at purchaser’s expense. TEXT BOOKS. BOTANICAL WORKS AND HOW TO SELECT THEM. notes. Pricein cloth, 50c. With Ameri- . . Hates fne year, $1.85. Address, Tells how and what to select, with a list < ¢ of books. Free for the asking. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Binghamton,N.Y. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. e Fern Literature -For—=> The Fern. Studenf. There is nothing in the world that will keep the fern student so well informed about his specialtr as The Fern Bulletin. issue contains 32 pages of valuable matter. Every Among the prominent features of the magazine are the portraits of fern students, the in- dex to current literature relating to ferns, and the fern floras of the states. In this latter series the fern flora of each State in the Union is presented. You want that of your own State for the lo- calities of rare species given, and those of other States for compar- ison. 75 cents a year. With the American Botanist one year $1.50. Send for sample. Address The fern Bulletin, = Bingbamton, W. DV. THE AMERIGAN BOTANIST A MONTHLY JOURNAL FOR THE PLANT LOVER. Issued on the 15th of each month. WILLARD _N. CLUTE, : “ “ EDITOR. 10 Cents a Copy; 60 Cents a Volume. $1.00 a Year Two Volumes. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS BEGIN WITH THE VOLUME. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Publishers, Binghamton, N. Y. Entered at the Post Office at Binghamton, N. Y., as Second Class matter, Aug. 22, 1901. The American Botanical Club, Is an association of Botanists and Botanizers for mutual assistance in the study of plants. All plant lovers are invited to join. For constitution and further particulars address tbe Secretary, Mr. J. C. BucHHEIsTER, Griffins Corners, Delaware Co., N. Y. *, * The annual dues are §0 cents. Members who send 75 cents additional to the Secretary,—or $1.25 in all— will receive THE AMERICAN BOTAnist, free. NSSLSLRVPSSVBRVAVxry CD00 0 0D Lt Lt 0 Ot Oe 2s Y, \BeSSeseeeseeVSSS SSeS ps The Best Book on Ferns. % You want the best—the book that will enable you to most W easily name the ferns and the one that. will tell you the p} most about them, afterward. The claim of Our Ferns in W Their Haunts to this title is based upon the followmg: It \ has more pages of text than any other fern-book. It has . ) more illustrations—225 in all. It has the only illustrated NV key to the genera. It has the most complete glossary. It WW contains alist of all the species east of the Rocky Mountains ay and north of Florida. It gives full life-histories of each. It W gives all the common names and all the scientific synonyms. WW It includes all the folk-lore and curious superstitions. - It NV contains all the poetry of ferns. It is especially full in re- NY, gard to rare species and species that are much alike. It is NW) written in untechnical language. Ae pan ep ate cy ae SS 4 PRICE $2.15 POST PAID. W With a year’s subscription to Tur AMERICAN BOTANIST, $3. NI, WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Pubs., Binghamton, N.Y < a AnrnNaQ asf ALY ALY FAY he “he A help ay a PA OA ed NSSS SSSS S55 5SS GSS Se SeSseSsseby. CHARLES D. PENDELL, PRINTER, BINGHAMTON, N.Y W THE AMERICAN BOTANIST, Vou. V. BINGHAMTON, N. Y., SEPTEMBER, 19083. No. 3. ime DEFENCES OF PLANTS. BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. EW persons think of the ways in which plants defend themselves against enemies or agressors. The facts are so patent that we fail to notice them. Eight people out of ten have their eyes shut to all natural phenomena. Sometimes we have thought that we shall be held account- able for our neglect; but this is trespassing on meta- p lysics. Even the least observant have had experiences with thistles, briers, prickly-pears and the like. The trouble is that few persons ask the why and wherefore of things. There is a reason for every hair or thorn. The study of these defences is one of the most fascinating branches of botany; a division of that delightful science, moreover, not hedged about with technicalities. Terms are the bug- bears of the beginner; here we have few to deal with. It stands to reason that the flowers and fruits, so im- portant themselves, should bein some way protected. We often find them so guarded by most ingenious contriv- ances. Many plants, like the catch-flys, have bands of sticky secretion atthe nodes. Inthis adhesive matter ants or plant-lice get mired. But suppose it should happen that a blade of grass blown against the stem, acted asa step-ladder to the aggressor. Nature provides for such a contingency by repeating the protection at the superior nodes. A still neater contrivance is isolation by water. Every one knows how in the East, where ants are a crying nuisance, tables are protected against their depredations by immersing the legs in water; or how sometimes a flor- ist will protect a tender plant by setting it’s pot on an- 46 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. other which is half immersed. Now, some species of “‘teasel’”? have the opposite leaves so united around the main stem as to form a cup. This is partly filled with water, which, of course, isolates all the stem above. In our water knot-weed, a plant common to both hemispheres, if the individuals are growing in water, no hairs are developed on the stem. If, however, it happens during the summer that the pond dries sofar as to strand the plants, at once protective hairs make their appear- ance. Great use is made of hairs by many plants. Often they have their points directed in the way of intruders, much like a military chevaux-de-frise. Insects readily pass over them when proceeding, so to speak, with the grain, but are much embarrassed by them when going in the op- posite direction. Wool or down, too, 1s often an effective hindrance to ants, aphides, etc. Slugs are excluded by sharp prickles. Asin the case of law, total prevention is not expected, but a reduction of crime to a minimum. If all the contrivances succeeded we should have the millen- ium. The fearful little spines of the prickly-pear, or bayonet like thorns of other Cactacee, make them formidable tothe largest animal. Nemo me impune lacessit is the motto of the thistle, poetically assumed by Scotland. ‘‘Touch-me- not” is the fighting word of Jatropha urens and many < stinging nettle. ‘‘Don’t tread on me,’ the warning of bur- grass. Look at the prickles of nettle under a glass and see what a fang is here—a serpent-tooth with a poison- gland! Prickles, as in the rattan, and some other plants, often serve another purpose; they aid the plant in climbing. The rattan, according to Wallace, has been found 600 or even 1,000 feet in length. It attaches itself to the jungles and copses by its prehensile hooks. Acrid, poisonous or sticky secretions are much used by plants in their defence. The reader will at once think of many plants provided with such juices—the milk-weeds, spurges, dandelions, celandines, lettuces, hawkweed, pop- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 47 pies and the like. Juice, which when first issuing from a plant is liquid, very quickly hardens. Such is the case with many milky secretions. An ant climbing a stem, punctures the epidermis with his sharp claws, when at once the milk exudes, quickly sets, and holds the intruder an unwilling victim. He will try to cleanse one foot and thus mire others, and often perish miserably where he is first caught. The use of acrid secretions is wellseen in our common tall buttercup, which, until cut and dried, is well avoided by our grazing cattle. Often herds will shun some plant which to us exhibit no obvious cause of avoid- ance; they simply don’t like it. Bad or pungent odors, like that of chamomile, are powerful preventives of ag- gression, In Bell’s ‘‘Nicaragua,’”’ one of the most charming books of natural history travels ever written, we are told ofa species of acacia whichis singularly protected by ants. These live in the hollow stems or thorns, and when the plant is touched or roughly shaken, emerge in swarms for its defence. No doubt their primary object is self-protec- tion; but in repelling their own enemies they guard as well the shielding tree. Indeed,in some species of Myrme- codia from the East, it would seem that the life of plant and ant was so inter-woven that neither could exist with- out the other. Brown University, Providence, R. I. COLLECTING SEEDS: BY M. F. BRADSHAW. OTANY, always interesting, becomes absorbing when one has to search for a new plant. Having become acquainted with the plants of my locality so well that finding a new one marks a red letter day, I was wonder- ing last spring where I would find material for study. One day it occurred to me to collect and study seeds for a special work this summer. While I was considering whether it would not be a lot of drudgery for a very little gain and whether it might not be rather ridiculous to add 48 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. another ‘‘collection”’ to those already in the house, I saw a little editorial note in THE AMERICAN BoTanisT that crystalized my intention. So I began with little interest at first and still with the notion Iwas most likely adding another burden to an over full life; but before long I began making discoveries. Every plant has different seeds, while they keep some sort of family likeness. All of them are pretty and many of them are wonderfully beautiful, seen with a lens. Then the variety of seed vessels and the cunning arrangement of seeds in such infinitely various ways. I had no idea how much of the beauty of flowers went deeper than the surface. Everybody admires them, the artist sees also beauty in the color, grace and pose of the whole plant. But the botanist is going to find more than these; he finds the wonderful structure of the plant inside, and many things hidden from all the world but him. Then it did not take long to fill me with amazement and chagrin to find how many things I do not know about the commonest and most familiar plants. For in- stance, the mustard. We have two species here—which you can’t make anybody believe—and only a botanist knows. They look alike in every respect to an ordinary observer and I am sure I cannot see any difference in their flowers; but I know that Brassica campestris has some clasping upper leaves, and that in B. nigra they all have petioles. Ialso know that campestris comes earlier and that nigra grows larger. In fact, I thought I knew all about mustard, for it grows everywhere in all vacant places and sometimes we drive through groves of it on country roads. But imagine what I thought of myself when I came to gather the seeds and found that B. nigra has along rachis with seeds pods not more than three-fourths of an inch long and a line or two wide, lying close—quite parallel— while campestris has seed vessels two or three inches long, inflated, and standing at right angles to the stem quite like the garden radish. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST, 4.9 And so it has been with many other plants and I find I have a new world to conquer. It is possible in many cases to identify a plant by its capsule andin some families—in all families for anything I know—the seeds look enough alike to tell where the plant belongs. Again there are some of the most clever and wonderful arrangements, noticibly one of our wild flowers of the Hydrophyllacee. It isa slender herb a foot or two high in favorable situations, much branched and very delicate. The flowers are white, something like heliotrope, and the leaves are finally cut more like a skeleton leaved geranium than chrysanthemum, as the name, Ellissia chrysanthemt- folia, implies. Though pretty I never considered it any- thing very wonderful till I thought to collect the seeds. The capsules are globose and have four cells, one round, black, rough seed in each cell and all looking very perfect and complete. You might shellout a quantity and not suspect there was anything further to find, but there are two more seeds. Intwo sides this capsule is alittle thickened and when picked open with a needle we find a seed in each, not like the others, but larger, almost flat, paler in color and shin- ing smooth. Now why this sly hiding away of two extra seeds ? Why not four, I would like to know? Has any other known plant this peculiarity ? Instead of the anticipated drudgery the new pursuit has been fairly fascinating; I am continually finding something new to admire and wonder at, and as for the benefit to a botanist, it is an education. And if you want to find out how many things you don’t know, just try col- lecting seeds. Perfectly cleaned and properly put up in small vials with a slip inside containing name and number, they are lovely, a ‘‘collection”’ to be proud of. I have only begun, not having more than ninty-five kinds, but enough to see, in a measure, the great value of the knowledge I am gain- 50 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ingand enough to make me wish to recommend it to other amateurs like myself who have overlooked this part of the study of plants. Orange, Calitornia. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—VI. MODIFICATIONS OF THE PETALS. Asa general thing the petals are the most conspicuous parts of the flower, in fact their chief use seems to be to attract as much attention as possible. To this end they are usually brilliantly colored with flat expanded blades that show off tothe best advantage. But there are other organs nominally petals that have little in common with these, having taken on such strange forms that even the young botanist would scarcely recognize them. Disguises of this kind seem to run in certain plant families of which the crowfoot or buttercup family isa striking example. Some members of it, like the buttercup, marsh marigold (Ca/tha), anemone, clematis and hepatica are guiltless of the habit but in their relatives, the lark- spur, monk’s-hood, columbine and others, it is very pro- nounced. In the monk’s-hood (Aconitum) the colored se- pals are often taken for petals, for the latter are neither conspicuous nor petal-like. Two of them are hood-shaped on long claws and function asnectaries(fig. 14a.) While the other three are so small and narrow as to scarcely be distinguished from the stamens. Inthe gold-thread (Coptis) the sepals are white and petal-like, while the five Fic. 14. a Nectariferous petal of real petals have dwindled to monk’s-hood, b sac-shaped petal of club-shaped organs that are Dutchman’s breeches, cetubular and usually mistaken for sta- nectar-bearing petal ofcolumbine. mens. Inthe larkspur (Del- phinium) the four petals are united into a spur, while in the columbine (fig. 14 c) each petal forms a hollow horn THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 5 or Spur that bears nectar at the farther end. In the helle- bore the petals are short, tubular and two lipped. In the Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra), of the fumitory family, the two petals are large and sac-shaped (fig. 14 D), APPENDAGES TO THE PETALS. As we have seen, many, perhaps all, the transformed petals are concerned in secreting nectar. Of the same na- ture, also, are many of the appendages possessed by pet- als, such as the scale on the claw of the buttercup petal (fig. 15 b) and the appendages in the corolla of the water leaf (Hydrophyilum). Other appendages, however, are manifestly for different purposes. The scales inthe throat of the corolla of certain borrage-worts, notably comfrey (Svmphytum), forget-me-not (Myosotis) and hound’s- tongue (Cynoglossum) are certainly for keep- ing small insects away from the nectar and pollen, and the folded appendages between the petals of certain Fic. 15. a Crown on petal of pink, b gentians are doubtless scale on petal of buttercup, c one of the for the same purpose. tive lobes with its horn from the milkweed Other appendages of eae likenature may be seen in the outgrowths from the petals of many catch-flys (Sz lene) at the juncture of claw and blade, (fig. 15 a) and in the narcissus where it forms a deep or shallow cup. To such structures the name of crown is given. In the milk- me weed family (Asclepias) the crown (fig. 15 c) is usually the most noticable part of the flower, the petals and se- pals being more plainly colored and reflexed. Instead of a crown or scales inthe throat of the corolla many plants bear tufts of hair or wool. It is a singular indication of the use of such outgrowths to find that when the flowers are upright and likely to be visited by insects from any direction, all the petals bear this tuft of hairs; but in species with flowers facing sidewise, only the lower petals 2 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. upon which the insects naturally alight are thus decor- ated. This is well seen in the garden nasturtium. CONSOLIDATED PETALS. In the least specialized flowers each petal is distinct and separate but one can scarcely walk a rod along a country roadside in summer without finding many flowers in which the petals are variously joined together. Some, as in the flowers of the elder (Sambucus) are only joined at base, others like the partridge berry (Mitchella) and the phlox are joined half way to their tips, while in the morning-glory and petunia the five petals are completely joined and the corolla appears as if made of one piece. However, as in the case of consolidated stamens and pis- tils, the petals are seldom so completely joined as to leave no trace of their union. Indications of this may be found in the number of lobes on the border, and in the markings of the interior. When the parts of the corolla are united at all,it is called a gamopetalous corolla, when it consists of separate petals, it is a polypeta/ous corolla. The gamopetalous corolla may be campanulate or bell-shaped as in the dog-bane (Apocynum) and hare-bell (Campanula), rotate or wheel shaped as in the tomato and star chick-weed (Trientalis), cup-shaped as in the mountain laurel (Kalmia), funnel-form as in the morning- glory, salver form as in phlox, petunia and nicotiana, urn- shaped as in most of the heaths and tubular as in certain honeysuckles. The difference between tubular, salver-form and funnel-form corollas is, that in the first there is no speading border, in the second there is a spreading border at the top of the tube, and in the last instead of tube and border the corolla gradually widens from the base upward. In composite flowers like the dan- delion. hawkweed, lettuce, etc., the corolla is ligulate or strap-shaped. It appears as if it might have once been tubular, but was afterwards split down one side and flat- tened out. We can still see evidences that it is five-parted by the five lobes at the tip and by the longitudinal marks of the union. In the sunflowers. asters and the like, the outer ray flowers are ligulate and those in the center tubular. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 53 Two other familiar forms of corolla deserve mention. One is the bi-labiate or two-lipped in which the corolla is unequally divided with three petals forming one lip, and the remaining two, the other. Illustrations of this are at once called to mind by the snapdragon, toad flax, catalpa, bladder-wort, fig-wort, turtle-head, beard-tongue, mon- key-flower and fox-glove. The second form is called pa- pilionaceous or butterfly-shaped and is most common in the great bean family. The sweet pea is a typical flower of this kind. In such flowers the petals have different names. The broad upper petal is the standard, the two side petals are the wings and the two lower petals, usual- ly form the keel. POISON IVY AND ITS EXTERMINATION. BY CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. N view of the great number of people who are subject to rhus poisoning and who are annually made sufferers from it, does it not seem strange that no systematic effort is made to rid the country of this pest? Itisa plant that serves no good purpose in the world and is distinctly a menace to human comfort. Why then is its existence tol- erated? There would appear to be no physical obstacle to its eradication, if a determined and intelligent move- ment were started to that end. Ofcourse, it would take work, but it grows and spreads most luxuriantly near the abodes of men where effort is most readily expended upon it. Anyland owner whose property now harbors it could, at the cost of a comparatively small amount of time and labor, have it torn down from his trees and fences and up- rooted in his fields; then as the new shoots put up they might be cut off at once, and on subsequent reappearing nipped down close again. A plant that is not allowed leaves to breath withand digest with, must eventually die of suffocation and mal-nutrition, and poison ivy is no ex- ception to the rule. Again it is possible to do something by making use of the aid of other and more vigorous plants that will 54. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. smother it out. A gentleman whom I know intimately and who has an estate near Philadelphia, has seen it erad- icated entirely from a large part of his grounds by the common Japanese honeysuckle. The latter took a fancy to a certain sunny slope where the rhus had been very troublesome and spreading gradually it choked out every vestige of the rhus in the course of a few years. America is a big country and it may seein like a labor of Hercules to get rid of so prevalent a weed, but if the will exists it can, one would think, be exterminated quite as surely as any attractive bird whose plumage the mil- liners desire. Perhaps, too, the aid of legislation might be had inthe shape ofan imposition of finesand penalties up- on property holders who permit the nuisance on their ground. It may be'urged that the public have no say in what a man shall raise onhis own land; but on the other hand it seems unreasonable that people who visit his place on business should be exposed without redress to sucha nuisance, and that the traveling public should be con- stantly subjected to the needless peril of poisoning from the veritable hedges of the plant which through the care- lessness of some land-owners border many of our high- ways. Ita man may be enjoined by law from letting a vicious dogrun at large or from keeping diseased cattle in his herd, why may he not be made the subject of prosecu- tion for permitting the existence and spread of this public nuisance of the plant world ? There has of late been some praiseworthy activity in establishing societies for the protecting of our wild flowers. An equal need seems to exist for a society for the extermination of poison ivy; but to be a live organiza- tion, its ofhcers and board of managers would best be per- sons who ‘take’? poison and know its tortures. Such would realize as none else could, how worthy would be the aim of a society of that kind; and every tellow suffer- er the land over would doubtless be glad to subscribe to the cause. Pasadena, California. VARIATIONS IN THE COMMON LOLLODK. BY Jj. CG) BUCHHEISTER: ARS gain a complete knowl- edge of any fern it is not enough tocollect and to study the type only. Varieties and forms are equally to be noted. Variety hunting is not only a logical and legitimate sequence of the pursuit of species, but is also full of scientific interest. Whether some of such varieties are to be elevated to the rank species or not, has nothing to do withthe case. The ‘‘species makers”’ should not go to ex- tremes, of course, but on the other hand those, who will acknowledge nothing but the type, are wrong also. Acting upon this conviction I began this season an investi- gation of the common poly- pody (Polypodium vulgare) with the result, that I have now a series of interesting forms and varieties, the existence of which was unknown to me, since I had contented myself with the collecting of the type, and imagined that I knew all about this ‘“‘com- mon’”’ fern. All ferns are inclined to fork and to sport otherwise, and I have quite some experience in this line in regard to the Christmas fern(Polystichum acrostichoides) and others but I never knew of what our polypody is capable of until I found such specimensasare here shown. Fronds slightly crenate are frequent, but the form figured in No. 1 is dis- tinctly lobed. Usually the fronds are large while the stipe is short. BiGaele 56 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Figure 2 b represents a form in which the fronds are narrow lanceolate and the pinne short, blunt and round- ed. Figure 2 a is the opposite form. The tronds are broad and the pinne long and taper- ing to an acute point. Figure 3 is the most re- markable variety of all those observed this fall. It might be called variety “‘auritum’’ on account of the conspicuous “ears,’’ the lower pinnz are Je, Bs decorated with. Not only the lowest pair, but often several other pairs above have these remarkable ears. The outline of these fronds is broadly triangular, not lanceolate, with a remark- ably long apex. They do Fic. 2. not grow on the top of ex- posed ledges as does the type, but on low rocks in shady, rather moist and moss grown situations. Finally we have the variety figured in figure 4. They THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ay may be the the variety ‘‘Cambricum,”’ and if not, they are certainly closeto it. I found only these two fronds. They ! seem to be exceedingly rare. \ Although the sori of Polypodium vulgare are among the largest produced by any fern, yet I found them frequently of extraor- dinary size. Often I found them all destroyed by a small whitish worm, the larva of some bug or fly probably, which feeds on the sori, but leaves the fronds ay intact. aR ; Under favorable circum- Bath ee stances this species is a reg- ular “‘tree-fern.”” I have often seen it growing on moss- covered old trees, quite a distance up, or in the crotches of such old trees, where a little humus and a iayer of moss had accumulated. It is an evergreen species but it seems that not all fronds go unscathed through the winter. Under the influence of a severe frost the younger fronds curl up sideways with pinnz inverted and frequently die. Then the pinne decay, the stipes fall down and next sum- mer out of the decaying dead stems a pretty little fungus arises, long stemmed, about two inches high, with a little yellowish pileus, with white lamella. I do not know its name, but I notice it always growing on the rotten stipes of last year’s Polypodium vulgare. Griftins Corners, N. Y. THE JEWEL WEEDS. BY HE. S. GILBERT. N early spring, before all the old snow has gone and only the hardiest plants are beginning to appear—wild leeks, adder-tongues, claytonias and the like—while you see that the grass is greening at least in some places, you may find in damp rich soil along spring runs or near the 58 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. larger brooks many broad-leaved seedlings with smooth rounded seed-leaves very numerous and conspicuous. They are jewel weeds, probably Impatiens fulva for this Species is more common than J. pallida though the latter may be plenty where it grows at ail. The garden balsam and the “every day flower’’ (Im- patiens Sultan1) are of the same genus and thereare others in Southern Asia but we only have the fulva and pallida. I. noli-tangere is found in Europe and John Burroughs states that our fulva is naturalized in Scotland and is spreading fast along certain rivers. The snow or freezing rain may cover these seedlings again and again, the ground may freeze any number of times; it is nothing to these hardy plants. Soon there is a branching bush (it may become five feet high) of most graceful habit and with beautiful smooth foliage forming with its numerous comrades dense thickets all over its chosen ground or standing alone as it may be, covered with lovely and curious flowers, budding and blooming month after month. The young leaves put into water show a quicksilvery reflection and formed one of the di- versions of childhood. Silver leaves, we called them. To explode the ripe pods was another resource of our younger days. Touching the capsules tip carefully with the finger the pod would split and the pices coil up so suddenly that capsule and seeds would all fly to some distanee. You hear them sprinkle all around but the whole pod has van- ished instantly. The garden balsam pod splits and coils in the same way. Very likely it is also explosive in its East Indian home, our paler sun not being able to perfect it. Botan- ists do not altogether agree as to the structure of these singular flowers. The two little greenish leaves above all the rest (really below but uppermost as the flowes hangs from its pedicil) are sepals and the large spurred sac is also sepaline. The orange sac of fulva is richly spotted inside with red-brown, something like the sac of the orchid Cypri- pedium pariflorum while the petals are also thickly spot- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 59 ted. The lemon-yellow flowers of pallida have only a few dark specks. There is not so much poetry connected with these plants as with the violet or a daisy, but that is not their fault; it arises from alack of poets. Tobe sure they have no fragrance which is perhaps a draw-back. Still, they have as much as the daisy does. Some expert hybridizer should try his hand on the jewel weeds. Once started on a career of variation, white, crimson, tiger spotted, and other sorts of flowers of many sizes and forms might be ours. Who will undertake it ? Arkport, N. Y. ~~~ asi) : Note and Corparment. a —y WANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. A NATURAL CHEWING-GUM.—The spruce and the sweet gum are not the only plants that afford a natural chew- ing-gum. On the western prairies the rosin-weed (Si/- phium Jaciniatum) exudes a resinous substance that after it hardens may be used for chewing. Country boys are wont to pull the flower-heads from the plant and to re- turn later for the hardened juice. This same Si/phium is familiar to many by the name of compass-plant and it is probably the species to which Longfellow refers in ‘‘Evan- geline.”’ Its leaves are aslarge as the largest leaves of the burdock. but cut something like an oak leaf. These great leaves are always held aloft with their edges, instead of their sides, turned toward the sun. Those who believe plants possess consciousness might fancy this indicated the plant’s desire not to be overlooked. At any rate it seldom is. Wood says this plant produces columns of smoke in the burning prairies by its copious resin, but such sights are not as common as they were in his day. 60 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. WitLow Bark FOR SMOKING.—Further correspond- ence in The Atlantic Slope Naturalist brings out the fact that the so-called ‘‘red willow” used for smoking by the American Indians, is not a willow at all, but the well known silky cornel or kinnikinik (Cornus sericea). This cornel has purplish twigs, and being found from Maine to Dakota and southward to the Gulf, is doubtless the plant used throughout under the name of willow. One writer notes that when the silky cornel was not to be obtained, the bark of the panicled cornel (C. paniculata) was used instead. NAMES OF THE ELEPHANT’S EAR.—In THE AMERICAN Botanist for July the old and fearful question of the popu- lar names of Colocasia antiquorum esculenta was bronght up again and along with its usual complement of errors we note the interesting statement that ‘in Porto Rico it is called bleeding heart.’’? Now, on the face of it, ‘‘bleeding heart”? does not sound very Spanish-like; besides I have yet to hear the equivalent of the words in Spanish as ap- plied to any plant. The name is properly applied to those ornamental hybrids of Caladium spp. which happen to have the central area of the leaf blade reddish in color. In Porto Rico the edible variety of elephant’s ear is called ‘“Malang’’; it is popularly and erroneously believed to be a variety of ‘‘Yautia’”’ (Xanthosoma spp.). Until Prof O. F. Cook straightened out the matter two years ago, the 15 or more varieties of ‘““Yautia’’ were treated as “‘Taro”’ by nearly all writers. Now let us get this thing correct for once: Colocasia antiquorum var. esculenta is called “Taro” in Polynesia, ‘“Malanga”’ in Porto Rico, ‘‘Cocoes’’ in Jamaica, and ‘‘Eddoes”’ or ‘‘Eddas”’ in the Gold Coast and British West Indies. Xanthosoma spp.are known as “Taya,” “Tanya” and ‘‘Tanier’’ throughout the West In- dies; (it doesn’t make much difference how it is spelled— the sound is surely Negritic if not its origin also); in Porto Rico it is always “‘Yautia,’’ and in South America it is highly respected under several local names. The two genera stand side by side in that aristocratic family of THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. “1 Olt 1,000 eccentric members—the Aracew.—O. W. Barrett, Mayaguez, Porto Rico. [The editor’s authority for apply- ing the name bleeding heart to the plant in question, is Mr. Barrett’s stand-by—O. F. Cook, and since Mr. Bar- rett also notesthat certain forms are called bleeding heart in Porto Rico, this makes a second good authority for the statement. Colocasia and Caladium have often been com- bined as one genus and their separation is a matter of opinion. Therefore it looks as if it might also be a matter of opinion whether the errors mentioned are really errors ornot. As to the Jamaican name, if the way it is printed is any criterion, it can be asserted that it is spelled coco. Certainly both negroes and whites pronounce it as if spelled that way.—ED. ] How To Hu.Ly Watnuts.—Hulling walnuts, as usual- ly performed, is a dirty and disagreeable task, for the juice stains the hands a deep brown very hard to get off. There is, however, a cleaner and easier way of removing the hulls to which Mr. W. W. Ashe has called the editor’s at- tention. It is simply to bore a hole slightly larger in diameter than a hulled walnut, through a piece of maple or other hard wood, and then drive the walnut through it. This not only removes the hulls, but does it quicker then any other way with which we are acquainted. AGE AND PLANTs.—Old age comes slowly to some plants or at least they are slow in appearing aged. Old trees often show plainly the ravages of time, but for an illustration of the phrase ‘‘a green old age’’ there is prob- ably nothing better than the vine. According to The Gar- dening World, there is a vine at Hampton Court in Eng- land that was planted when George III was King, which is still bearing. This year it will yielda thousand bunches of grapes. " Balnorial: | The editor is again away from home. This will ac- count for any delays in his replies to correspondents. All mail requiring his attention will be promptly forwarded if sent to the usual address. % * * The editor knows an entomologist whose knowledge of theinsects of hisown region is excellent, but who, when- ever he writes for publication, invariably selects the spe- cies of Africa or some other equally distant and unknown region for his subject. He has never seen these species ex- cept in collections; but he seems to have the feeling that only objects brought from afar are worthy of being called to the attention of his readers. Unfortunately he is not alone in such feelings. Plant students are fartoo prone to write of things upon which, at best, they can bring to bear only second-hand information. When you start to write, select the subject with which you are most familiar, and do not think that because a plant is common it is well known. Usually itis the other way about. When your article is finished, test it by examining it for ideas derived from books. If there are many of these, you would do well to burn the article and try again. What the public asks of you is either fresh information, old facts in a new light, or both. The day of mere lists and categorical arti- cles has passed, but the beginner is still offering such mat- ter to publishers. If you can only record the number of species found on one of your tramps or the species of some genus in your vicinity, don’t write. Nobody cares tor that. But all have a lively interest in anything new you may have discovered while observing such species. Unde- scribed species are becoming extremely rare in mhabited regions, but undescribed habits of plants and unrecorded facts about them are as abundant as the plants them- selves. ‘‘Do you remember,”’ asks a correspondent, “Show THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 63 in the first place I did not think I could write as I did not know enough about plants? NowI findso many interest- ing things that I believe I could write the whole paper.” Would that there were many more in the same position ! * * * This journal counts itself fortunate in having several friends who take enough interest inits welfare to frequent- ly suggest new ways for making it valuable or advise us in regard tothe course it is pursuing. One of these recent- ly wrote: ‘Did it ever occur to you that some who might subscribe will be afraid they are putting their money into a sinking ship if you say too much about needing more subscribers? I, for one, have had awful luck, and the Boranist is the first plant journal that did not fail the minute it got my money.”’ As to this, we must say that if we have given anyone the impression that we need more subscribers, we have given him an impression far from the truth. This journal was launched with the definite under- standing that it was to fight its own way and not to ex- pect something easy in the way of subsidies. Thus far it has paid its own way and more, for it has twice enlarged in size. No; to keep the journal running at this size we do not need a single additional subscriber but we want about ten times as many. Itis our ambition to make this a much larger publication and we must have more sub- scribers to do it, for under our rulethe magazine must pay asit goes. The publication that starts out with a flour- ish is usually heavily subsidized. If the subsidy holds out untilit becomes established, well and good; if not there is an immediate crash. On the pay-as-you-go plan we do not see how a publication can come to ruin. Therefore the sooner those hesitating plant-lovers realize this and send on their dollar, the sooner will this magazine be able to rival Harper’s in size. We don’t increase the size every time we get a new subscriber, but we do whenever we get enough new ones to warrant it. Moral: Now is the time to subscribe! 64. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. The Society of American Authors has taken up the sub- ject of cheaper postage for manuscripts and as much pres- sure as possible will be brought to bear on Congress, at the next session, in the hope of changing the present un- just rate. In the United States authors now pay the same rate upon manuscripts that they do upon private com- munications, notwithstanding the fact that manuscripts are clearly in the nature of commercial papers and have been so defined by the Universal Postal Union. Other countries recognize the fact that though a manuscript may be in writing, it is not a letter and charge only one quarter of the rate prevailing in the United States. For twenty-five cents a writer in Borneo, Persia, Korea, Zan- zibar or even Terra del Fuego can send a manuscript to an editorin this country but it would cost the editor a dol- lar to remail it to a friend onthe next street. Under what we are accustomed to call less enlightened rule, Cuba, Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, etc. had this lower rate, but the American occupancy has now made the rate the same as we have at home. When we consider that even good manuscripts are often returned again and again, be- fore they are accepted, the burden this high rate puts upon the writers of this country is apparent. It is expected that a bill making the rate the same as in other countries will be introduced simuitaneously in both senate and house at the next session of Congress. It is hoped that all who are interested in the matter will, at the proper time, write to their senators and congressmen about it and that in the meantime they will call the attention of others who might be interested. to the movement. Fur- ther particulars may be had by addressing G. Grosvenor Dawe, Secretary Society of American Authors, 128 Broad- way, New York. * < * A meeting of fern students, which the editor expects to attend, will be held in St. Louis, Mo., during the Holidays, in conjunction with the meeting of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science. A further announce- ment will be made later. wey -(Thé onc-cent pictures are 6 to 8 times this size. Fern Literature -or => The Fern Stutdenf. There is nothing in the world that will keep the fern student so well informed about his specialty as The Fern Bulletin. Every issue contains 32 pages of valuable matter. Among the prominent features of the magazine are the portraits of fern students, the in- dex to current literature relating to ferns, and the fern floras of the states. In this latter series the fern flora of each State in the Union is presented. You want that of your own State for the lo- calities of rare species given, and those of other States for compar- ison. 75 cents a year. With the American Botanist one year $1.50. Send for sample. Address The Fern Bulletin, a Bingbamton, WF. w. The World’s Great Pictures Gold Medal, Paris Exposition i for 25 or more, 120 ONE CENT EACH for $1.00, postpaid. 2,000 subjects. Send 3 two-cent stamps for + Catalogue of 1,000 miniature illustrations and two pictures. Send 25 cents for 25 Art Subjects, or 25 Madonnas, or 25 on Life of Christ, or 25 Landscapes, or 25 Dogs, Kittens and-Horses, or 25 Authors and Poets. or 25 for Children. Each setin a portfolio. Or 13 Pict- ares in Colors, or 5 Extra Size (10 x 12), or Art Booklet-Madonnas. Or 50 cents for 50 Perry Pictures, assorted, or 25 Pictures in Colors, Birds,étc., or 11 Perry Pictures, Extra Size, or Portfolio 25 Pictures, New York Edition, 7x 9. Gems of Art. Or 51.00 for 50 New York Edition, or 23 Ex- tra Size, 10 x 12, or Christmas Set No, 2,12C Pictures 5% x 8,ali in the new Boston Edition. Notwo alike, or 120 Perry Pictures, your own selection from 2,000 subjects. Or The Perry Magazine. Satisfaction guaranteed in every case: Order to-day . You will wishto order again when you see how beautiful they are for Holiday Gifts. . FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS THE PERRY PICTURES bustést month in all the year with us. Send now. —Do not wait until December, the ; ) THE PrrRY PICTURES COMPANY, — box 189, Malden, Mass. ‘ Tremont Temple, Boston. 146 6th he, New York, “SISTINE MADONNA, ("Send all Mail Orders to MALDEN. Handbooks of Practical Gardening, Under the General Editorship of Harry ROBERTS. Illustrated, Cloth, J2mo, $1.00 net per volume. Each volume presents a practical monograph on its subject, well illustrated. THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With selections also on Celery, Salsify, Schorzo- nera, and Seakale. By Charles lott. Together with a chapter on their Cooking and Preparation for the Table by the General Editor. THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By H. W. Ward, author of ‘“My Gardener.” THE BOOK OF BULBS. ByS. Arnott, of Carsethorne, near Dumfries. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE. By H.H. Thomas. Together with chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cooking of the Apple, and the Prepar- ation of Cider. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By G. Wythes. With chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cookery of Vegetables. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY. With chapters on the Raspberry, Black- berry, Logan Berry, Wineberry and allied fruits. By Edwin Beckett. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By Rev. E. Bartrum. THE BOOK OF BEES... By Charles Harrison. Other volumes in preparation. Write for a complete list of the series to JOHN LANE ,Ueteiet, NEW YORK Guide to Taxidermy. One hundred pages. Full of valuable aay information, with complete instructions how to prepare and mount Birds, Animals and Fish.=— i | i | i i 4 !) A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL NORTH AMERICAN 1! BIRDS WITH PRICES OF THEIR EGGS, SKINS, ie | | t : J t | ] | Cea FEF AC A AND MOUNTED SPECIMENS; ALSO AN EX- HAUSTIVE LINE OF ORNITHOLOGISTS’, OOLOGISTS’ AND TAXIDERMISTS’ - SUPPLIES, VALUABLE INFORMA- TION FOR THE AMATEUR, RECEIPTS, ETC. 385 Cents Postpaid. 18 NY A CHAS. K. REED, 102 UNION ST., : “4 WORCESTER, MASS. eC HY | | vot. 5. OCTOBER, 1903. No.4. THEAMERICAN BOTANIST. CONTENTS. ‘MORE ABOUT SEEDS, Dr. WILLIAM WHITMAN BaILey. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—VII, - - 66 FLOWERS TURNED TO LEAVES, = - 69 WILLARD N. CLUre. _CAN SQUASHES AND PUMPKINS BE FED ON MER ee Sais iC aaa ehh OFS AO Epwarp F. BicELow. , THE LARGEST CENTURY PLANT, - 73 O. W. BARRETT. NOTE AND COMMENT, EDITORIAL, - BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. THE AMERIGAN BOTANIST A MONTHLY JOURNAL FOR THE PLANT LOVER. Issued on the 15th of each month. WILLARD N. CLUTE, ‘ z EDITOR. RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. 10 Cents a Copy; 60 Cents a Volume. $1.00 a Year Two Volumes, ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS BEGIN WITH THE VOLUME. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Pubiishers, Binghamton, N. Y. Entered at the Post Office at Binghamton, N. Y., as Second Class matter, Aug. 22, 1901. The American Botanical Club, Is an association of Botanists and Botanizers for mutual assistance in the study of plants. All plant lovers are invited to join. For constitution and further particulars address the secre natys MR. J. C. BUCHHEISTER, Griffins Corners, Delaware Co., * .* The annual dues are 50 cents. Members who send 7 5 ais additional to the Secretary,—or $1.25 in all— will receive THE AMERICAN BoTanist, free. EE Fe Ghristmas Present APB Sh eu May be useful as well as attractive in appearance, but very frequently it isn’t. If it isn’t it soon finds its way to the attic to mingle with the presents of other years. Now why not give some- thing this year that is both beautiful and useful? If you have a friend who is interested in ferns send him ‘‘Our FERNS IN THEIR Haunts.” The 225 illustrations alone will cause him to give ita prominent place among his books, while its comprehensive treat- ment of our ferns, will insure that it will be often consulted. And every time this happens the giver will be thought of with pleasure. Isn’t it worth trying? The book is sent prepaid for $2.15. Order now before the mails become overcrowded. Address, WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., - Binghamton, N.Y. THE AMER] LAN KUTANIST. en v. BINGHAMTON, NG Y,, OCTOBER, 1903. Lisdts NEW YORK MORE ‘ABOUT SEEDS. BOTANIC AI BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. GARDEN WAS very much interested in the suggestive article by Mrs. Bradshaw in the September number of the Bor- ANIST. The writer is correct in saying that seeds are not only fascinating to collect, but are most instructive to study. Amassed perhaps in the first place simply in re- sponse to the individual’s desire to collect—a tendency ap- parently mherent in the race—closer inspection endows them with varied attributes of interest. At Brown University we have quite a large collection of seeds gathered either personally or by exchange, by a former curator Mr. J. L. Bennett. They illustrate a wide range of families, genera and species. They are preserved in bottles with a loose label, easily read in any position the bottle may assume and containing full data. The pre- paration of the seeds often entailed much labor, as in sep- arating the seed from surrounding parts. Indeed, in case of achenes, or where the calyx permanently persists, or when the ovary wall adheres to the seed, this was not done. It would be next to impossible and not specially desirable. The bottles, arranged in drawers, are kept ma con- venient cabinet. This allowsthe arrangement by families. In the case of very large seeds, special drawers must of course be provided, nor would these be bottled. In sucha collection color is perhaps the first thing that attracts attention. Nearly every hue is seen here, pure white, jet black, azure blue, yellow, orange and intense scarlet or vermilion. Some beans and peas, as every one knows, are a brilliant red with a black eye and are strung 66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. together in necklaces. Indeed, among savage tribes al- ways enticed by beads, they are constantly employed as ornaments. No coralcan surpass them in brilliancy. The outer surface or testa of the seed may be smoothand high- ly polished or roughened, embossed or sculptured in many marvelous ways. Then there is along range of seeds pro- vided with wings, hooks, grapnels or other mechanical contrivances to aidin distribution by wind. Of parachute arrangements there is no end, asin the achenes of Com- posite and the seeds of milkweed and Epilobium. These contrivances, alone, will afford months of study. Again, while but four technical forms of seeds are recognized, such as the orthotropous, anatropous, etc., these are constant to their belongings; they help to distinguish or classify large groups of plants. But apart from the shapes to which these long names are applied, each seed has a geo- metric form ofits own. Hence, the fine globular, ovoid, cylindric or polyhedral seeds. The size, too, varies from the cocoanut onthe one side to the dust-like seeds of orchis or poppy on the other. Mrs. Bradshaw is correct in say- ing that any group of seeds will afford profitable study. Much remains to be accomplished, not only as regards the externals, but the anatomy of seeds. If that work is fol- lowed by long, careful observation of the germinating plants, the student may make a useful supplement to the great work of Lord Avebury or the remarkable herbarium of Mr. Walter Deane. Brown University, Providence, R. I. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—VII. USES OF THE PETALS. The beginner in botany will not go far in his studies before he finds flowers that have no petals; and yet these plants with petal-less or apetalous flowers seem to get along just as well as their neighbors whose flowers have petals well developed. The meadow-rue, spurge, Canada ginger, willow, birch and many others thrive and fruit abundantly without petals and one might be inclined to THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 67 wonder why all flowers are therefore not apetalous. Evi- dently the reason they are not is because some of them have found petals useful. It is fairly certain that the first flowers had no petals, but in one way or another a large majority have since acquired them, until now, from at first being merely useful to the plants, they have become so 1m- portant to certain species that they may be said to be ab- solutely essential to their existence. In the closing of flowers at night and in cold or stormy weather, we see how the petals act as a protection to the tender essential organs. The grape seems to require its petals for this use alone, for the corolla never expands. When the flower blooms or ‘‘opens”’ the petals simply fall to the ground. Other flowers seem to need their petals principally for the attraction of insects. They encourage their visits in order to secure cross-pollination and do not spread their many colored petals in vain, for the insects have learned that food is to be obtained at the sign of the brilliant corolla and are sure to visit it. In plants whose flowers are borne in close clusters we may often see indica- tions of plant frugality inthe matter of advertising. Thus in the wild carrot or Queen Anne’s lace, while the great majority of the flowers have small petals, those on the outer edges of the cluster have their petals much increased in size, this advertisement serving the whole cluster. The same feature is noticeable in the hobble-bush (Viburnum lantanoides) though in this case the outer flowers are al- most all corolla. So much vigor has been used up in co- rolla making that the essential organs in these flowers are functionless. A still more familiar example is found inthe great composite family in which the showy ‘‘rays’’ are formed of the enlarged petals of the flowers in the outer circle while the other flowers in the center have small and inconspicuous corollas designed strictly for business. The sunflower, daisy and aster are good types of this. The most important use of the petals, however, is not in attracting insects to the nectar but in controlling their motions while they are getting it. We have seen that 68 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. many flowers ensure that they shall be pollinated by pol- len from other flowers by the simple expedient of ripening the pistils and stamens at different times, so that when their own pollen is ready the pistils are not, or vice versa. Insects going between such flowers must bring pollen at one time and carry pollen at another, but with the aid of petals, the flowers are able todoubie up on the insects and make them fetch and carry at the same time. In the sim- plest forms of such flowers, the petals are formed intoa tubular corolla and the pistils and stamens are of different lengths, some flowers having long pistils and short sta- mens and others the opposite. It will readily be seen that flowers withshort stamens and long pistils could never be self-pollinated, for the stamens could not come in contact with the pistils. Insects must be induced to act as go-be- tweens. When therefore an insect, bent on securing the nectar at the bottom of the corolla, visits a flower with short stamens, the pollen is brushed bya certain part of its proboscis which becomes powdered withit. Whenit later visits a flower with a pistil of the same length as the sta- mens, the latter is sure of pollination. If the insect next visits a flower with long stamens, it receives pollen in just the right place to pollinate the long pistils. Soon, there- fore, its proboscis is likely to have two bands of pollen up- on it and every flower thereafter visited, whether with long or short pistils, is likely to receive its share. The co- rolla closely surrounding the essential organs insures that pollination must occur if the insect secures the nectar. In some of the flowers of this kind there are three different lengths of stamens andas many different lengths of pistils, giving a much wider range of crossing. Other flowers have different means of accomplishing the same result. Many species inthe bean and pea family have pistils and stamens concealed by the keel formed of the twolower petals. When an insect alights on the flow- er the keel is depressed, allowing the pistils and stamens to brush across its body, the one set to obtain any pollen that may be adhering to it, the other to deposit more pollen for THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 69 the use of another flower. In the mint family many flow- ers have stamens and pistils so arranged that they will brush the insect’s back in a similar manner. In these the pistils usually project beyond the stamens so as to sweep off the pollen as the insect enters and before he has been dusted by the stamens in its own flower. These are some of the methods by which cross-pollina- tion is effected, but the variations in the way it is accom- plished are almost as numerous asthe flowers themselves. Many whole books have been written on the subject and to these the reader is referred for further information unless he prefers the more fascinating proceedure of interrogat- ing the blossoms themselves. FLOWERS TURNED TO LEAVES. BY WILLARD N. CLUTE. ‘AST summer, owing doubtless to alack of sunlight and a surplus of moisture, a large number of the garden nasturtiums (T'ropzolum) ceased to produce their showy flowers and we concluded that they had finished blooming for the season. An examina- tion later, however, showed. that they were still doing their best to blossom, but that the flowers. had all re- verted to small green leaves. There were great numbers of these transformed flow- ers, of all degrees of rever- gion, one of the most regular being shown in the accom- panying figure. This still shows a considerable like- ness to the showy blossom. | There were five sepals and five petals, the three lower still retaining the fringe of bristles which they have in the normal flower, but all were of a deep rich green like the VG y 70 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. leaves. The normal ovary is three lobed with a single style, but in the abnormal flowers this was lengthened in- to a three lobed column with three leaf-like tips, showing that the ovaryis really three pistils consolidated into one. The stamens were the only parts of the flowers that did not become leaflike. It is also of great interest to note that the sepals did not form the usual spur and that the whole flower was nearly regular, from which it may be in- ferred that the slight irregularity in normal flowers is of comparatively recent appearance. CAN SQUASHES AND PUMPKINS BE FED ON MILK? BY EDWARD F. BIGELOW. “NATURE AND SCIENCE”’ EDITOR OF THE ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE. HE question, ‘Can squashes and pumpkins be fed on milk ?”” was asked me a few weeks ago. The inquirer explained that the method alleged was to cut a hole’ in the top of the half grown squash and every day pour in all the milk that the squash would hold. At first thought, recalling statements as to this method of forcing abnor- mally large squashes or pumpkins, that I had often heard alleged in boyhood days on a Connecticut farm, I replied to the question, “Yes. It’s some trouble and expense but the result is an astonishingly large squash or pumpkin. I have often ——.”’ But right there I stopped and thought. Have I ever seen the process or results of a squash or pumpkin so fed ? No I haven’t, nor upon further thought, have I known a person who had positively seen it done. But I have heard many farmers and others state that it can be and is done. “Why, of course, everybody knows it!’’ Since that ques- tion was asked me I have made extensive inquiries, per- sonally and by letters, of farmers, botanists, colleges of agriculture and of others. The astonishing result is that over ninty per cent. of all of whom I have inquired, have “known that this can be done.”’ My inquiries revealed a knowledge of the subject close- ly parallel to that of evolution as ascribed by Grant Allen: THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Fal. “Everybody nowadays talks about it. Like electricity, the cholera germ, woman’s rights, the great mining boom and the Eastern Question it is ‘in the air.’ It pervades society everywhere with its subtle essence.’”? So it was with squashes and pumpkins fed on milk. Nothing, seem- ingly, but the moon controlling the weather, could equalit. Only one person, a farmer in Pennsylvania, claimed to have actually had personal experience. But even he said it was ‘‘a neighbor,’ who fed the pumpkin not by cutting a hole and pouring the milk in, but he insisted that the first leaves towards the root should be cut off and the milk poured into the tubular leaf stalk. Helaid great stress on the exact leaf, (not the one on the other side of the pump- kin) and that it must be cut close up to the leaf. Indeed, he went into detail that so flavored of occult performance that it would have been in harmony for him to have brought in something about looking to the north, after sundown, and turning around three times. Several botanists thought that it could be done, but none had tried it notwithstanding the very important bearing it would have on physiologic botany if the interior of the squash ovary or the interior of the stem could di- gest or assimilate milk. Ifit could dothat why not other substances, why not a sort of hypodermic chemical feed- ing. If —but think of the possibilities—and the great im- portance—and yet every one of these botanists had neglected the opportunity of making himself famous! Even the Department of Agriculture at Washington had heard of this but had not investigated it. Here is the letter from that Institution: “Your letter of August 24, addressed to this depart- ment, is at hand. I regret that we have no references at hand to literature on the subject of feeding squashes with milk. I have heard of this practice, but have never seen a squash thus fed. Regretting our inability to help you in this matter, lam, Very truly yours, A. F. Woops, Pathologist and Physiologist. 12 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. One State College of Agriculture thinks it can be done, and writes as follows: “T have never tried the feeding of milk to squashes. I have seen it mentioned for a number of years and have al- ways been on the point of trying it. My impression is that under the proper conditions it can be done with suc- cess. I think that we shall try it ourselves next year. In the meantime I do not care to be quoted in respect to the matter because I do not know.”’ Another is inclined to favor the possibility of the suc- cess of the experiment and writes: “Your inquiry touches upon one of those horticultural stories which seem to lie upon the borderland between fact and fiction. I have often heard of cutting off a leaf or piece of squash vine and inserting the cut end into milk for the purpose of feeding the vine and increasing the growth of the fruits, but I am frank to say that I have never tried it or seen it tried and Ido not know whether there is anything in it or not. On general principles, it does not seem reasonable that it would work. It certain- ly seems unreasonable to suppose that cutting a hole in the squash itself and pouring in milk as suggested would be of use. I should expect it to cause the squash to decay instead of making it grow. However,I should not liketo pass judgment upon the problem because some things which seem unreasonable are, after all, true. I know of no place to find anything written about it. Iam sorry not to give an intelligent answer.” Of the large number of letters and personal inquiries, only one stated positively that squashes and pumpkins cannot be so fed. ' This is from Professor A. G. Gully, hor- ticulturist at the Connecticut College of Agriculture, Storrs, Conn.,and president of the Connecticut Pomologi- cal Society. Professor Gully is not only an acknowledged authority on matters horticultural, but on some other matters, and is a humorist, all of which are self evident by his letter. “Yours of 24th received. I may say you can fatten THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. a pigs, cats and babies on milk. Have tried them all. But there is ‘nothin’ doin’’ when it comes to squashes. It is the old idea of fatting watermelons on sweetened water. It won’t work. It’s all right in stories, but don’t go in horticulture.” When doctors disagree who shall decide? Will some- one please throw a little light. From any point of view the claim seems to me most astonishing. Ifit isa myth how did it come so widely and firmly disseminated in the public mind,—colleges of agriculture, botanists, farmers, even school children, everybody. Ifit is a fact, why is it that so important a matter has not been fully investi- gated botanically ? Why not made more use of in raising prize specimens for fairs? Why? But echo answers, “why” and again, ‘‘why.’’ I await some more tangible reply. Stamford, Connecticut. THE LARGEST CENTURY PLANT. BY O. W. BARRETT. 4 eee common century plant of our northern gardens isa degenerated descendent of a wild agave, or ‘‘“Maguey,”’ as the Mexicans callit. Itisa very slow-growing plant and seldom or never flowers under conservatory treat- ment. Throughout the Southwest Mexico and Central America there are many other species which have more or less the same habit as the cultivated sort, and most of which have leaves from three to six feet long and a flower- stalk from ten to thirty feet high. But here in Porto Rico we have the very largest of all the race. Furcrcea foetida or Fourcroya gigantea, is probably the tallest erect plant which is neither tree nor shrub nor bamboo; and of all the 120,000 species of flowering plants it is quite certain _ that no other possesses a true peduncle forty to fifty feet in length. This plant grows wild on hillsides in the poorest of soil and seems to delight indry and rocky situations where no other plant canlive. Its huge clusters of dark green leaves 14 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. form striking features of the landscape and may readily be detected a mile or more away. Its growth is slow at first and several years may elapse before it gets a good start; but as soon as a “‘head”’ of leaves is formed, growth be- comes rapid and when the leaves have attained a length of about six feet the great flower-stalk begins to shoot up- ward; this stem, which is six to nine inches in diameter where it emerges from the leaves, rapidly attains a height of 30, 40 or even 50 feet. The leaves are flatter and not so thick inthe middle as those of most century plants, while the spines on the mar- gin are much fewer and the point is blunt instead of being prolonged into a savage-looking awl. The true stem is two to five feet highand some nine or more inches in diam- eter. The old leaves at the top of this trunk, atter about one year, turn yellow and hang down, thus even after their death forming a protective covering to the only vul- nerable part of the plant. The flowers are borne on the peduncle in the style of a receme with the branchlets irregularly placed and about two to four feet in length; in shape they resemble the tuberose, though they are over two inches long; the color is greenish yellow with a few pink dots on the outside; the odor is pronounced, but, as may be inferred from the name, it cannot be called fragrant. This queen of century plants is too wise to produce a 40-foot flower-stalk and keep it fresh for a year and still run the risk of failure to mature seeds. No matter how heavy it rains or how few the pollen-bearing insects, it still can abundantly reproduce its kind; in fact 1t seems to have lost faith in seeds entirely, for I have never been able to find a seed-pod on the plant. Scattered along the branchlets with the flowers and even in the axils of the stem, are borne vast numbers of bulbils, or small plants in the form of adventitious shoots. These may be regarded as merely transformed flowers, but since there are no half- way stages and asthe axils are invaribly filled with them, it would seem better to consider them as modified, leafy THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 15 ranches. At first the bulbils are elliptical in shape with the tip quite sharp but as they ripen, if we may use the word, two or three of the topmost leaves lengthen until they protrude two inches or more beyond the point; and so when the little plant falls tothe ground it virtually has a good six months’ start in life already. Since the flowers are few as compared to the number of bulbils, and since they never produce seed, it will bea question of only a few hundred centuries, I suppose, according to the laws of heredity and Darwinism, when this “giant lily” will bear no flowers at all. A 40-foot stalk of only a few inches diameter and carrying 50 pounds or more of bulbils, even when strung with first-class hemp (as it is), is hable to be broken ina strong wind and so be lost the labor of years. To miti- gate this disaster when it does occur, the desperate and dying plant sends out numerous suckers around the point of breakage, and each of these may grow into a goodly plant ifit should happen to be broken off and fall into a favorable spot. But if the peduncle be cut or broken betore it hasseriously drawn upon the plant’s vitality, from three tosix or more small peduncles willsoon start out from the uninjured portion of the stem. The Furcreea gigantea provides itself against all possible disasters. The inside portion of the flower-stem is a soft white pith containmg yellowish “‘strings,’”’ or bundles of the vascular fibres. Pieces of this pith are commonly used by the natives here for razor hones. The fibre is turned to many uses, but principally to the making of cordage and hainmocks; it ranks but little lower than Sisal or Yuca- tanhemp. From being extensively cultivated in the island of Mauritius it has received the market name of ‘‘Mauri- tius Hemp.”’ It is worth about six cents per pound. Thus wins the largest century plant in the strenuous struggle for life in the war of circumstances. Mayaguez, Porto Rico. or Loom Bae | Nete and Cormmraent. aad ee WaANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. THE JACKSON VINE.—Some time ago, a note was pub- lished in this journal asking for the identity of the Jackson vine without eliciting a reply. Chance, however, has made it possible for the editor to answer the question. The Jackson vine is another name for the so-called south- ern smilax (Smilax lanceolata) which is at present very noticable in decorations on festive occasions. At the rate it is being brought to market it would seem that the sup- ply cannot last long. The plant protection societies might find the matter worth investigation. THISTLE-DOWN.—Who of those, to whom the sight of thistle-down is familiar, have ever closely examined it ? Those who have not may find an interesting experience in taking a ripe thistle head and by grasping the tips of the persistent corollas and pappus bristles, carefully pulling them out altogether. As soon as they are released trom the urn-like involucre every feathery pappus begins to ex- pand, the whole mass slowly growing until it occupies many times the space it did when packed away in the in- volucre. This silky pappus is really a transformed calyx as may easily be seen by its position surrounding the co- rolla. It has fifty or more soft bristles, each of which is provided with a great number of silk-like hairs. At the base these bristles are joined into a ring and there is a cylindrical projection at the top of each seed just big enough to fit into this calyx-ring. When the pappus is fully spread, the lightest breath causes it to move away with its depending seed until it finally lodges in some dis- tant spot where the seed drops off ready to form a new plant. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Me Poison Ivy In ENGLAND.—According to the Gardening World out common poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron) is often planted in private gardens in Great Britain. WiiLows Usep mn PHARMACY.—According to the Gar- dening World it is only certain species of willow whose bark yields the salicin of the shops. Experiments have shown that in England the best yield of this product was from Salix triandra, S. purpurea, S. rubra and S. decipiens. A SEED PROBLEM.—Happening to examine some seed- pods of Baptisia lencophzxa recently, our attention was drawn to the fact that the individual seeds are covered over with tiny dots of a resinous substance so sticky that the seeds stick to each other and to the pod in which they are enclosed. Now the question is, Why this resin? Are we to assume that it is a mere by-product, or of some ser- vice to the seed ? Frost AND FaLiinc LeavEs.—Many plant students are likely to think that the frost is responsible both for the color of autumn leaves and for their falling from the tree. This, however,is a mistake. Frost may make some slight changes in the color of the leaves, but the effect of frost on tender herbage is to wilt rather than to color it. Long before there is a hint of frost in the air the trees and shrubs have begun to move from the leaf into the trunk such substances as it can use and at the same time begins the formation of a cleavage plane which when complete will sever the leaf stem from the twig. It thus happens that trees often cast their leaves before there has been a frost while even after several hard frosts other trees still retain a part of their leaves. There is a phenomenon con- nected with this, however, which seems as yet unexplained and that is the way in which certain trees suddenly cast all their leaves. This year, in the region south of Lake Michigan, the night of October 23rd was the crisis. Up to this time many had stood fresh and green but on the morning of the 24th, when there was a heavy frost, every leaf was stripped from them. The Ailanthus became an utter wreck in a single night. The day before, its long 18 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. pinnate leaves spread tothe sun as if it were mid-summer, the next morning all laid in a tangled heap on the ground beneath the tree fallen straight down in the still air. The Catalpa showed a similar condition and it was noticed that the other trees thus affected were species whose centre of distribution isin warmer regions. Has this fact any- thing to do with the case? Ifnot, who can offer an ex- planation? Further observations are desirable. ComMon NAMES OF ORANGE HAWKWEED.—The orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) is a plant not easily overlooked and as a consequence it has accumulated a variety of common names. Although it landed in America as the orange hawkweed, its noxious qualities soon in- duced the agriculturist to re-christen it devil’s paint-brush. According to Gardening World it hasbeen called grim and collier inGreat Britain in allusion tothe sooty appearance which the black hairs on stem and involucre give to it. THE Eucalyptus as a RivaL oF CoaL.—An article in Forest Leaves states that the species of Eucalyptus have a remarkable capacity for storing the energy received from the sun. Experiments in south Africa have shown that a forest of these trees will each year produce twenty tons of fuel per acre. The dry timber is heavier than coal and gives out as much heat when burned. The trees thrive best in hot moist regions and it is asserted that if half the area capable of supporting the trees was planted to Eucalyptus forests, it would yield nearly three hundred times as much fuel per year, as the world now requires. TEMPERATURE AND THE COLOR OF LiLacs.—A writer in Gardening notes that in forcing lilacs for winter bloom- ing it is not necessary to have white varieties to obtain white flowers. Colored lilacs grown in a temperature of 65 or 75 degrees in greenhouses with little ventilation, all produce white flowers. The editor of THE AMERICAN BoranisT long ago pointed out a relation between blue flowers and temperature. Flowers of this color are al- ways most abundant in cool weather, as in early spring THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 719 and late autumn. The blue violets are conspicuous ex- amples, beginning to bloom in the ceol days of early spring and ceasing when the weather becomes warm only to begin blooming again as soen as cool autumn days arrive. In long, moderately cool autumins, like the psat one, nearly all the blue violets began blooming again. Just how color is affected by temperature does not seem to be knownat present. Physiological botanists are hereby ap- prised that this affords a promising field for investigation. THe Genus LonicERA.—More the one hundred and fifty species of honeysuckle (Lonicera) are now known. All are found in the Northern hemisphere, the limits of their southern range crossing Northern Africa and Mexico. The color of the flowers varies from white te yellow, pur- ple and scarlet and the berries may be red, yellow, black, bluish or white. While North America has a fair number of species, northern Asia has more than all the rest of the world puttogether. In an elaborate revision of this genus just published in the Feurteenth Annual Repert of the Missouri Betanical Garden, Mr. Alfred Rehder divides the genus into two sub-genera, Chamezcerasus characterized by flowers in two-flowered axillary peduncled cymes and separate leaves, and Periclymenum with flowers in three- flowered sessile cymes and the upper leaves connate. The first is much the larger and the writer asserts that it can- not properly be divided according to the shape of the co- xolla though most botanists follow this arrangement. Such characters, he says, can scarcely be used to distin- guish sub-sections asit would separate closely related spe- cies. The two-lipped corolla is now regarded as having arisen late inthe history of the genus being a modification due to certain insect visitors. He therefore divides the sub-genus into two sections, one characterized by regular flowers with five nectaries and the other by irregular flow- ers and one to three nectaries. This latter group is again divided, the principal character being taken from the branches which in some species are hollow and in others filled with pith. SO THE AMERICAN BOTANSST- ASCLEPIAS Curassavica MEpIcINAL.—A recently sug- gested remedy for consumption is derived from Asclepias curassavica a milkweed with bright scarlet flowers found wild in many tropical lands and often cultivated for orna- ment in our Southern States. The plant is variously known as red-head, blood flower, false ipecac, Jamaica wild liquorice and swallot-wort and is a common weed in the West Indies. According to Indian Gardening a tinc- ture of the leaves is said to be very beneficial in the first. stages of consumption and further investigations of its re- puted properties are likely tobe made. In this connection. it will be recalled that similar powers have been ascribed. to Asclepias tuberosa one of its common names being: pleurisy root. INSECTICIDES FOR HERBARIUM PEs?s.—The herbarium. beetle (Sitodrepa panicea) and the book louse (Atropos divimatoria) are a pair of pests that unite in making things interesting for curators. It is to guard against their depredations that plants are poisoned, fumigated and keptin close cases. The little brown herbarium beetle isthe greatest of these pests. It devours not only the ten- der parts of plants but even woody stems. Long associa- tion with plants has perhaps given it some botanicalk knowledge, at least it knows how to distinguish between. families and genera. It leaves the sedges, grasses and ferns decidedly alone, but has an overweening fondness for composites, lily-worts and plants of the bean family. Sap- rophytes and plants with milky juice are also in great. favor. The commonest method ot preventing its depreda- tions is by poisoning the plants with corrosive sublimate, the specimens being dipped in the solution. This is objec- tionable because it discolorsthe specimens besides causing thin leaves to curl. It also appears to fail to protect after the lapse of years. Solutions of arsenic are objectional for similar reasons. In view of these facts plants are no longer poisoned in most large herbariums, but instead they are fumigated with carbon bi-sulphide. At the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, the mounted plants are "TAE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 81 fumigated in an air-tight tin box and as an additional safeguard flakes of naphthalin are scattered on the her- barium shelves to prevent the entrance of more msects. In this way they have practically gotten rid of the pests. Since the fumigation method has been found effective, efforts have been made toward securing cases that are practically air-tight so that the plants can be fumigated without removing them fromtheir cases. Thishas result- ed in the installation at the Gray Herbarium of a series of cases made of sheet steel. An extended account of the ex- periments with cases and poisons is given in Rhodora for ‘October. ORCHIDS AND SyMBIosIs.—The comparative rarity of many orchids has been accounted for upon the supposition that the flowers are so dependent upon certain insects for pollination that they seldom set seed, but all who have examined orchid seed-pods know that when the plants de produce seed the seeds are minute and very numerous, and they may have wondered how plants which can produce so many seeds should still be so few in numbers. It now transpiresthat young orchids are most successfully reared if the seeds are sown in soil in which the same or similar species are growing and the reason that the new plants are thus able te thrive is because they form partnerships with certain microbes common on the roots of the older plants. Growers have often induced large numbers of seeds to germinate, only to see them fail later for no ap- parent cause. Their lack of the microbes now seems to be asolution of the mystery. Possibly the same state of affairs exists in nature, in which case the rarity of orchids is easily accounted for. ; ln le te ee eh ee ee ee entomial. C LOL : fs Now approaches the time when the tree-agent with book ot gaudily colored lithographs in hand wanders up and down the earth taking orders for the spring delivery. And as of yore, he will ota certainty unload upon the gar- dening publie many specimens of the few species that con- stitute his stock m trade. One does not need the agent’s book in order to name them, for specimens of the same things may be seen in almost any garden. There are of course the lilac, rose, spireea, honeysuckle, Japan quince, syringa and hydrangea in the north, and an equally well known list for gardens nearer the equator. That the agent is able to dispose of the same things year after year when there are so many equally valuable shrubs that might be planted is one of the mysteries that possibly may never be solved. * % * There is really no objeetion to the shrubs above men- tioned except that they are too frequently planted. A rose ora cluster of lilac blossoms is both beautiful and fragrant but in an attempt to ornament garden or lawn, there is a chance of overdoing the matter by planting too many. One must not fall mto the error made by Nature when she planted daisies, buttercups, dandelions and _ toad-flax. There are corners of the world where these flowers are valued for their beauty, but it is not in the Northern and Eastern United States. A rose garden or a garden devot- ed to varieties of any other shrub or plant can not be crit- icised except when it is attempted to substitute it fora properly embellished lawn. Monotony of any kind is dis- tasteful and even a rose garden may fail to satisfy the average individual. * % * A garden planted tothe shrubs already mentioned can scarcely be characterized as monotonous, but when all the gardens on a street or in a town are planted to the same THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 83 thimgs the effect is decidedly so. A garden in such sur- roundings, planted to other species, is individualized and enhanced in beauty by the contrast. Fortunately, too, the cost of such planting is no greater. There is a long list of handsome flowering shrubs to select from, though, at present, even their names have an unfamiliar sound to many. Among the best may be mentioned species of Cory- Jopsis, Exochorda, Shepherdia, Cotoneaster, Kerria, La- JSurnum, Halesia, Styrax, Buddleia and Euonymus, to say nothing of our own species of Ribes, Rubus, Hamamelis and Cernus. *% % * In Great Britain the rhododendrons, azalias, kalmias, andromedas and other heath-worts are known as Ameri- can shrubs and several species are there cultivated that find scant favor at home. And the British do not stop at our heath-worts but cultivate many another of our native plants. Similarly, they cultivate the plants of Japan, Asia, Australia and other parts of the world. This example might well be followed inAmerica. Tobe sure we are not entirely lacking in these exotic plants, but the cultivating of such species is by no means as general as it should be. * & * Too often, the planter of a garden has a mania for double flowers, but no botanist is likely to plant many of these except for mere decorative effect. When one has come to know the plan of the flower and to understand in a measure why the different parts have the positions and shapes they do, he is likely to resent the gardener’s at- tempt toimprove upon nature by offering more petals and less stamens. Nor does he look with more favor upon any other botanical monstrosity. * = * One of the inestimable advantages of a plantation of uncommon shrubs is the opportunity afforded for study and comparison. Onecan scarcely make a tour of sucha garden without discovering something new. It is like liv- ing ina new country. The garden is of special interest if 84. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. planted to foreign species of genera represented in our home locality. There isthen a chance for endless study in noting their differences. * * * The relation of the flora of Eastern America to that of Eastern Japan isa constant surprise to botanists. Many of the genera are identical and in some cases the species are also, though in general they are enough unlike to be considered different species. Since most of them are hardy in the United States their cultivation offers an enticing field for activity. The various species of barberry, witch hazel, daphne, magnolia, styrax,euonymus and others are especially valuable. * * * These observations have been suggested in part by the receipt of alittle book on shrubs by George Gordon, editor of The Gardener's Magazine. Although not a large book it contains a great deal of information about the best shrubs to plant, the kind of treatment to be given them, their chief points of excellence, the color of the flowers and the countries from which they arederived. Supposed to be devoted to shrubs, it also contains chapters on flowering trees, conifers, other evergreens, bamboos, ete. It is a book from which the planter can gain many a hint. It is published by John Lane at $1.00 net. * * % The fern meeting tobe held in St. Louis, late in Decem- ber, promises to be most successful. Any one interested in ferns may secure a copy of the program by addressing Prof. N. L. T. Nelson, High School, St. Louis, Mo. The Amateur Naturalist | 2 A New Periodical in the Realm of Nature Study HE FIRST NUMBER will be issued January 1st. The magazine will be devoted to the in- terests of those who study the natural sciences from a love of it. While striving to be scientifically accurate it will be untechnical. Every article will be of interest. You surely will want to see the first number. It will be sent on receipt of a two-cent stamp. Send for prospectus giving full particulars. CHAS. D. PENDELL, Publisher, | Binghamton, N. Y. THE PERRY PICTURES The World’s Great Pictures Gold Medal, Paris Exposition J iN for 25 or more, 120 ONE CENT EACH for $1-00, postpaid. 2,000 subjects. Send 3 two-cent stamps for Catalogue of 1,000 miniature illustrations and two pictures Send 25 cents for 25 Art Subjects. or 25 Madonnas, or 25 on Life of Christ, or 25 Landscapes, or 25 Dogs, Kittens and Horses, or 25 Authors and Poets. or 25 for Children. Each setina portfolio — Or 13 Pict- ares in Colors, or 5 Extra Size (10 x 12), or Art Booklet-Madonnas. Or 50 cents for 50 Perry Pictures, assorted, or 25 Pictures in Colors, Birds,etc., or 11 Perry Pictures, Extra Size, or Portfolio 25 Pictures, New York Edition, 7x 9. Gems of Art. Or $1.00 for 50 New York Edition, or 23 Ex- tra Size, 10 x 12, or Christmas Set. No. 2, 120 pictures 5% x 8, al: in the new Boston Edition. No two alike, or 120 Perry Pictures, your own selection from 2,000 subjects. Or The Perry Magazine. Satisfaction guaranteed in every case. Order to-day. You will wish to order again when you > see how beautiful they are for Holiday Gifts. Send now. Do not wait until December, the busiest month in all the year with us. THE PERRY PICTURES COMPANY, BOX 189, Malden, Mass, Tremont Temple, Boston. 146 5th Au , New York. | SISTINE MADONNA, {Send all Mail Orders to MALDEN. (The onc-cent piciures are 6 to 8 times this size. Handbooks of Practical Gardening. Under the General Editorship of Harry ROBERTs. Illustrated, Cloth, 12mo, $1.00 net per volume. Each volume presents a practical monograph on its subject, well. illustrated. THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With selections also on Celery, Salsify,Schorzo- nera, and Seakale. By Charles Ilott. Together with a chapter on their Cooking and Preparation for the Table by the General Editor. THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By H. W. Ward, author of ‘‘My Gardener.”’ THE BOOK OF BULBS. ByS. Arnott, of Carsethorne, near Dumfries. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE. By H.H. Thomas. Together. with chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cooking of the Apple, and the Prepar- ation of Cider. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By G. Wythes. With chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cookery of Vegetables. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY. With chapters on the Raspberry, Black- berry, Logan Berry, Wineberry and allied fruits. By Edwin Beckett. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By Rev. E. Bartrum. THE BOOK OF BEES. By Charles Harrison. Other volumes in preparation. Write for a complete list of the series to JOHN: LANE te cornu Ne Wi VD | Guide to Taxidermy. 21 9 One hundred pages. Full of valuable a i] information, with complete instructions how to prepare and mount Birds, Animals and Fish.=— A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS WITH PRICES OF THEIR EGGS, SKINS, AND MOUNTED SPECIMENS; ALSO AN EX- HAUSTIVE LINE OF ORNITHOLOGISTS’, OOLOGISTS’ AND TAXIDERMISTS’ SUPPLIES, VALUABLE INFORMA- TION FOR THE AMATEUR, RECEIPTS, ETC. 35 Cents Postpaid. CHAS. K. REED, 102 UNION ST., F Fs WORCESTER, MASS. a DE ee I em M1 0) 8 YY bectheellbee be i int it ite VOL. 5. NOVEMBER, 1903. No. 5. THEAMERICAN BOTANIST. CON THN TS. 10 awe {/ GLEANINGS FROM SEA AND MOUNTAIN, 85 CENTS PAvuLINE KAUFMAN. yee EP PAMILY LIK PNDAB Go oar oo 88 M. F. BrapsHaw. COPY | | gorany ror BEGINNERS—VIII, -° - 89 $1.00 YVTHE EUCALYPTUS, - - = +, 91 ie Dr. WinLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. # THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN, aie a's 93 Y R. # NOTE AND. COMMENT, - - - 95-101 f EDITORIAL, - - - - - - = 102 BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. THE AMERIGAN BOTANIST A MONTHLY JOURNAL FOR THE PLANT LOVER. Issued on the 15th of each month. WILLARD N. CLUTE, se ‘ ‘: EDITOR. RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. 10 Cents a Copy; 60 Cents a Volume. $1.00 a Year Two Volumes. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS BEGIN WITH THE VOLUME. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Publishers, Binghamton, N. Y. Entered at the Post Office at Binghamton, N. Y., as Second Class matter, Aug. 22, 1901. The American Botanical Club, Is an association of Botanists and Botanizers for mutual assistance in the study of plants. All plant lovers are invited to join. For constitution and further particulars address the Secretary, Mr. J. C. BUCHHEISTER, Griffins Corners, Delaware Co., N. Y. * _* The annual dues are 50 cents. Members who send 75 cents additional to the Secretary,—or $1.25 in all— will receive THE AMERICAN BOTANIST, free. ; dalla dutobatic da anaaemdane 3 Femerican Botanist Prices. % The American Botanist for 1904 - - - $1.00 “1903 and 1904. - 1.80 ay * 1902,19038 and 1904 2.60 nf 5 1901, 1902, 1903 & 1904 3.00 The full set offered above for $3.00 comprises more than 750 pages and contains nearly six hundred articles and shorter notes on almost every conceivable phase of botany. Special attention has always been given to the uses and habits of plants. No one who wouid learn more »~ A PSF Bo 6 \é (Ey A BZ > os : ad AO . ~ O < 5 O PS Bes ee) SE) OG. Ge OG Ae, Ne + \Aa7 OS SA ele ‘ele Ve GE) SGD SEED S ga about plants should fail to secure afull set. 750 pagesfor <4 $3.00. You cannot get the same amount and variety else- +f where for twice this sum. Write to-day! eA For those who have some of the later volumes and -¥ wish to order others to complete their files we make the subscribers, only. Get complete files while you can! «be The American Botanist for 1901 (half year) $ 45. 4 Ay ** 1901 and 1902 Leo ee af "1901, 1902 and 1903 1.90 a WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Binghamton, N.Y. fete steatesbe sb steateat ata aah aha sah DS SDS CADS COS CODY CDS ODS CGS, GDS, TODS, OY, my, rN, 7 \ a \ yD \ yD Oo A Oe p rN. ve C4 J Oo be \. ale THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. VOL. Vv. - BINGHAMTON, N. Y., NOVEMBER, 1903. No. 5. GLEANINGS FROM SEA AND MOUNTAIN. BY PAULINE KAUFMAN. ee and part of last August were spent at Avon, N. J. Y This place was originally a kind of Chautauqua. Art- ists and students of all branches of natural history used to meet there to teach and be taught. The flora, being a sort of connecting link between North and South, proved of great interest, as alsodid the fauna. Many of the small sea horses (Hippocampus Hudsonius) were at that time taken from the Shark River, but have since disappeared. Some years ago I found ina mound of earth, quite a dis- tance from the river, a great number of what I then took to be dried star-fish, but which may have been earth stars. Though better able at present to identify them, the vari- ous changes in the place prevent my finding their location. Twosummers ago these was, between Ocean Grove and Avon, a fine bog filled with the most exquisite flowers. The swamp grass was jeweled with meadow beauty (Rhexia Virginica), sea pink (Sabbatia stellaris), water lillies, yellow-eyed grass (Xyris), milkwort (Polygala sangui- nea), swamp St. John’swort (EJodes) and water lobelia, while great spikes of the white fringed orchis (Habenaria blephariglottis) stood here and there like sentinels. With red hair bristling, waiting open-mouthed for their victims were hundreds of the thread-leaved sundews with their spikes of rosy, innocent looking flowers. Near- by among the cranberries the small white-flowered Dro- sera Americana helped along the carnage, and inthe water the yellow helmets of the bladderwort just eluded our grasp. This year the lovely bog was a dried up mud- puddle. But the orchids were more plentiful than ever. 86 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Many white tringed beauties fell on the wayside with the grass, laid low by the mower. Among these was one with three branches, each bearing seven flowers and a tuft of bracts. The pale yellow fringed orchis (Habenaria crista- ta) a smaller relative of the white was also quite well rep- resented. The smaller green orchis can be found along the coast, and the gorgeous yellow fringed orchis (H. ciliaris) repays a diligent searcher. In the latter part of August a beautiful specimen of calopogon was seen where many others had been in June and July with their companion the pogonia. Spiranthes or ladies’ tresses were numerous, and the ragged orchis finished the list, though these were plants of earlier flowering species. Of course much ground was covered to bring about this result, and trips were taken from Asbury Park to Bay Head. In one of these trips Isaw growing for the first time the beautiful Sab- batia chloroides, the button snake root with its grey green thimbles and the large cotton grass, aptly called pussy toes, for in the tuft of tanny silk you will find five well sheathed claws. Many young persimmon trees, beach plums, whortle, blue and dangle berries, as well as black berries and raspberries and whole roads covered with cranberries are here found. Golden hyssop, Polygala Jutea and the larger pipewort (Eriocanlon decangulare) were confined to one very small area. The plant most in evidence was the sweet pepper bush. The latter part of August to the middle of September was spent at Griffin’s Corners in the Catkills, a locality new to me, where I was fortunate enough to have our Secretary, Mr. Buchheister, to look tofor guidance. Here, too, the most ubiquitous flower was white—Eupatorium ageratoides. The joy of the season was my finding ona rock on the bank of Portertown Creek a few plants of Linnea borealis. 1 did not know just what I had found, but knew that it was distinct from anything ever found before by me. Mr. B. identified it. So far as I could dis- cover it was a new locality for it. The witch hazels were loaded with flowers, leaves and fruit and gave forth some THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 87 fragrance. Inthis region we found the yew with its beau- tiful coral cups, and became acquainted with the stately teasel, the giant hyssop with flower-heads four inches long. On the rocks back of the house the celandine ran riot and the lovely white violets were blooming all around. The hawkweed brightened the upland slopes and the bee balm was quite frequent and of a beautiful glowing red. New to me were the plants of Hepatica acutiloba, Clin- toma borealis and Calla palustris. The season’s list of orchids was increased by the finding of Habenaria psyco- des, Microstylis, also new, and the larger Goodyera or rattle-snake orchid. The flower-spike looked much like the Spiranthes and I was about to pass it by when, stooping to look at something else, the beautiful mottled leaf caught my eye. The smaller cotton grass also grew in one of the boggy places. It seemed strange that never having found this plant before, mountain and sea should this year combine in showing me two varieties of it. The above are but afew of the flowering plants found. At the sea-shore the poison ivy was everywhere apparent, but in the mountains not a trace of it was seen. The whortleberries on the coast grew on very high bushes, those on the mountain top on branches two inches in height. Now for the ferns. The following, new to me, so far as their native haunts are concerned. Ophioglossum vulgatum (adder’s tongue) we found in wet meadows most of the fruit spikes had, alas, been guillotined—again by the mower, and the leaf looked much like that of the pogoina, but more yellow. Not far from their haunts were Botrychium lanceolatum, B. matricarifolium and B. simplex, but not B. lunaria. Farther on in the woods the splendid ostrich fern, five feet high, met our view. Among its handsome green feathers we found the dark fruited spikes. All the country people call them ‘“‘brakes.”’ In a ravine at High Mount ona limestone cliff, worn by glaciers and at least eighty feet high, we found, after an arduous climb, Pellza gracilis. A single rock in another part of the ravine bore a few plants of the walking fern, 88 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. which, with the rue spleenwort and purple cliff brake (or neck-break as some of my friends called it) I first met in Central Valley, N. Y. On the same rock was the maiden- hair spleenwort. Other finds were the maidenhair, Dry- opteris Braunii, Cystopteris fragilis and bulbitera, oak beech and rattle-snake ferns Botrychium ternatum, the sensitive, hay-scented, Christmas and lady ferns and the brake. All of the Osmundas and several of the Aspidiums had been found earlier in the season. The walking fern with several of the other smaller onesI brought home and planted in alarge tin pan. Pellzahas already succumbed, but I hope that it will reappear and not act like the rue spleenwort which never came back. Has any one been successful in keeping thisfern morethan one year? Plants sent to both Central Park and the Bronx did not thrive for any great length of time. New York City, N. Y. FAMILY LIKENESS. BY M. F. BRADSHAW. HEN we meet with a new acquaintance in a triend’s family are we not likely to look first of all for some likeness? Was ever a baby born that was not declared the image of its father or some other relative more or less re- mote? It is a silly thing and yet do we not all plead guilty ? In plant families we are apt to expect the same, but there are times when we look in vain for any similarity. Careful microscopic investigation willsurely bring to light the family feature but on the surface no one could suspect relationship. I have lately been interested in looking at some of the Euphorbias. First and most familiar is Ricinus Commun- is. This plant is large and tall and handsome; one would not expect to find a cousin growing as a thin mat on the ground, but Euphorbia albomarginata grows thus and its leaves and blossoms are both minute. The color of Ricinus is a dark glossy green with much THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 89 red in stems and the young leaf growth. Euphorbiaisa pale blue green with white flowers dotted along the strings of stems. It is a solid mat, too, a lovely example of leaf mosaic and no earth can be seen through its entire surface; it is sure to be admired by any one unless I ex- cept the gardener who finds it something of a pest. Then we have Croton Californicus growing along the banks of dry streams, an ashy gray, scanty leaved plant which I took for a relative of the smartweed till I exam- ined it. Eumocarpus setigerus or “turkey mullein’’ is another cousin, a dry-weather product, covered with the harshest of hairs, thick and bristly and giving off when touched a most repelling odor. This is low growing, too, yet has stiff stems and branches spreading horizontally near the ground. Then one day I bought a plant called by florists ‘“The Crown of Thorns,’ and of course my first move was to analyze it. The stem is woody and thickly covered with large spines or thorns and were it not for an occasional green leaf and clusters of odd little red flowers, it might be taken for a cactus. Nothing but an analysis could have given me a clue to its identity, and suggest its name Euphorbia splendens. Orange, California. BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS—VIII. THE SEPALS. Last in the list of floral organs, and the least import- ant tothe flower, as a general rule, come the sepals. They are found on the very outside of the blossom, are seldom of any other color than green, and by the uninitiated are likely to be considered as small green leaves. Green and leaflike, they arefor a certainty, but they occur so regular- ly in flowers that we cannot help regarding them as be- longing among the floral organs—especially as they are subject to the same laws of development and may be joined into tubes and cups as petals often are. Moreover, 90 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. while aren is the usual color for sepals, in some plants they are able to become as brightly colored as the petals. Examples may be seen in the lily, crocus, cactus and Caro- lina allspice. In fact the principal difference between pet- als and sepals, aside from color, seems to be that when both are present in the same flower, the sepals are always in the outer whorl and are if anything a trifle coarser in texture. The first use of the sepals is doubtless that of protec- tion. Usually in the young flower-hud they completely enfold the other organs. The magnolia, the bloodroot, the poppy and many other flowers seem to find this the only use for their sepals and as the flowers open they are cast off. Inthe buttercup family—a family famous for its many deviations from the conventional—there are numerous spe- cies that do not bear petals. There is often, however, a whorl of colored floral organs which botanists believe to be sepals. The rule is that when only one whorl of petal-like organs‘is present, the members of it are sepals. One may find such a state of affairs existing in many species of clem- atis, the hepatica, the anemone and the marsh marigold. In the meadow-rue there are no petals though the flowers have colored sepals inthe bud which drop off at blooming time, leaving stamens and pistils entirely unprotected. When petals are not present the sepals are not always colored, as many examples from the pink family show. It is extremely rare that the petals continue to live on after the flower has been pollinated. We are all familiar with the evanescent nature of these organs for when the petals fall we say the flower has faded and commonly think no more about it. From the plant’s point of view, however, the flower may be said to have just started upon a successful career for nowit will ripen its seeds. The pis- tils increase in size to become the fruit, and though petals and stamens fall, the sepals not infrequently continue to live. Examine the ‘‘blossom-end”’ of an apple, pear, quince, huckleberry or rose hip and you will there find the THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 91 tips of the sepals. The apple is, in tact, an enormously enlarged torus or receptacle that has grown up around the pistils, bearing the sepals onits apex. If one examines a rose fruit he will find the rose apple not quite closed at the top and so be able to form an idea of the probable evolution of the apple from some rose-like ancestor. The pulp that surrounds the papery envelope enclosing the rose seeds is a succulent receptacle. In the wild crab the envelope surrounding the seeds is hard and compact, so that the fleshy receptacle separates readily from it. It was formerly believed that in cases like those just men- tioned, the parts called the receptacle were really parts of the calyx. Thus when the parts enclosed the ovary the latter was said to be inferior, while a superior ovaryis one free from the calyx. These terms are still in common use. Like the petals, the sepals assist in effecting pollina- tion. They are often produced into spurs containing nec- tar and may also be of such shape and position as to aid in guiding the insect to the honey-glands. In apetalous flowers with brightly colored sepals they must also serve to attract insects in all of which they show their close relationship to petals. HE. EUCALYPTUS. BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. HE gigantic gum-trees or stringy barks, characteristic of Australian forests, belong tothe genus Eucalyptus of the great family Myrtaceze. Some 150 species of these, at least, have been described. The accounts, however, are most unsatisfactory and the specific discriminations often unreliable from the fact of the extreme variability of ap- pearance assumed by individuals at different ages or peri- ods of growth. Thus the stem, which in youth may be square, later become cylindric or columnar. The foliage, even on a particular tree, may show a variety as great as our sassafras. We may thus find on one plant oblong, el- liptical, lanceolate or scythe-shaped leaves. Australia is, soto speak, their capital; some are found 92 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. in Tasmania anda few extend as far as Timor and Moluc- ca. The botanical name, literally translated, means “well covered with a lid,’ and refers to the box-like, hard, woody fruit, which in flower is covered by the calyx. This eventually falls off as a sort of lid. The trees form vast forests and grow to an enormous height and proportionate thickness. There is little doubt that they dispute with the Sequoias of California, the proud title of King of Trees. Their leaves are of a thick and leathery quality, gray or silvery in color, at least in those we have seen, and thickly beset with resinous glands exhaling the peculiar agreeable and penetrating odor. In the young plants these leaves are always opposite, but as the plant matures, they become alternate, and, by the tortion of their stalks, they present their edges to the sky. Some of my intelligent audience well-read in plant lore, no doubt, are aware that this peculiar feature is quite characteristic of Australian trees and shrubs of extremely various families. Thus, we find the phenomenon exhibited in the Laurels, Myrtles, Acacias, etc. The consequence is amost marked peculiarity inthe appearance of Australian woods. Where, in our forests of equivalent density, one expects and finds broad and grateful shades, in these woods he sees but streaks of shade. It must be remem- bered that Australia isa mostly dry, hot country, and this is nature’s manner of giving to her leaves the least sun- exposure, combined with surface expansion. The flowers, comparatively inconspicuous asis mostly the case with large trees, are axillary, solitary or in clus- ters. As before remarked, the calyx is indurated and sep- arates into two pieces, the upper forming the lid of the capsule. This drops off asa single piece when the flower opens, the corolla still adhering to it. The lower part per- sists and is fringed by a mass of uncountable stamens around its rim. Lindley tells us that trees have been found 400 feet high, by 100 in girth at base. Mind is apalled by such figures. Apply them to our highest chimney or building THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 93 and see how nature dwarfs these works of man! The wood is very strong and durable and applied to a myriad useful purposes. One plank, forwarded to the National Exhibition in 1863, measured 230 feet in length. Through the beneficent and persevering efforts of Baron VonMueller, Australia’s world-famous botanist, the trees have been widely distributed over the world, and planted in malarial regions with apparently great benefit. Thus we hear of them in the Roman Campagna, in parts of Algeria and Tunis, in California, and latterly, in our Southern States. There has been some dispute of the re- sult of which we are not assured, as to the reason of their anti-malarial or prophylactic quality. Some attribute it to their balsamic exudations acting upon the poisoned air; others, to their extremely rapid growth, by which they absorb much of the super-abundant and pernicious moisture of the soil. In both these theories the mosquito appears to be ignored. We often see Eucalyptus plants in conservatories, but with us, few of them are hardy. They do well, however, in California, and may be extended to Texas and the Gulf States. Certainly so noble and useful a genus is worth our very serious attention from whatever view. If the trees can be successfully grown in any of our states or colonies, they are a distinct and most useful addition to our forest treasures. Brown University, Providence, R. I. THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN. The writer of this article has always been a lover of native plants. Not simply because they are native, but because they are quite as beautiful as many of the plants brought here from foreign countries. This being the case, why should we not take pride in our home gardens? Many otherwise intelligent persons are under the 1m- pression that we have few, if any, flowering plants and shrubs that are worthy of cultivation. They have come 94. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. to look upon them as “weeds,” or “wild things,” as if all plants were not weeds and wild things somewhere, and so unfamiliar are they with them that they cannot recognize them when they meet with them outside their native haunts. I remember that some years ago I transplanted a goldenrod from the fence corner of the pasture to a place in my garden. There it grew luxuriantly, and soon be- came a great plant that sent up scores of stalks as highas a man’s head, each season, each one crowned with a great plume of brilliant flowers. It was a sight worth seeing when in full bloom—a mass of floral sunshine, that bright- ened the whole garden. One day, in the fall, an old neigh- bor came along and leaned over the fence where I was at work among my plants. ‘“‘That’s a beauty,” he said, looking at the goldenrod. ‘“‘T never saw anything like it before. I s’pose, now, you paid a good deal o’ money for that plant.” “How much do you think it cost me ?”’ I asked. “Oh, I don’t know,” he replied, looking at the plant admiringly, and then at some of foreign origin, growing near by. The price of these he knew something about, for he had bought some forhis own garden. He seemed tobe making a mental calculation, based on the relative beauty of the plants. Presently he said: “T wouldn’t wonder any if you paid out as much as two or three dollars for that plant. How near right am Te “That plant cost me nothing but thelabor of bringing it from the pasture, where I found it growing,” I an- swered. ‘Don’t you know what it is? There’s any quantity of it in your pasture, back of the barn.” “You don’t mean to say that’s yellow-weed ?” ex- claimed the old gentleman, with a disgusted look on his face. “I wouldn’t have it about my house! There’s weeds enough, as it is, ’thout settin’ ’em out.’”’ And away he went, with a look inhis face that made me think he felt as if he had been imposed upon.—Home and Flowers. =~ ; 7 ~~ Note and @Corament. . ae ~— WANTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. A NEw SuGAR PRopucEeR.—According to several of the agricultural papers a plant has been discovered in South America which produces a considerable quantity of sac- charine matter. It is one of the thoroughworts and is known as Eupatorium rebaudium. From experiments made with it, it is said to yield a sugar many times as sweet as cane or beet sugar. ACORNS FROM THE CHARTER Oak.—Mr. Charles D. Turnbull, 2 Park Terrace, Hartford, Conn., writes that he has recently gathered a lot of acorns from a tree whose parent was the famous Charter Oak of history and offers them to any of our readers who willsend postage. Many will doubtless be glad to obtain such relics of this historic tree. The present tree was planted in Hartford in 1847 and is now a strong and sturdy specimen. Tosacco AND NicoTin.—The alkaloids of plants are usually considered inthe nature of waste products, but an Italian scientist finds that this does not hold true of nico- tin and some others, such as colchicin, an alkaloid of the autumn crocuses (Colchium). Nicotin is not found in the seeds of tobacco but a substance similar to it exists in them. It is found, however, that if one cuts off the flower- ing part of the tobacco plant, there is at once an increase of nicotin in the plant, and it is the scientists’ belief that this nicotin is a substance nourishing to the seeds which was designed to be transformed by them into other sub- stances. Cutting off the flowering parts stops the move- ment of nicotin in that direction and it therefore accumu- lates in the leaves o the plant. 96 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. THE CRANBERRY Crop.—More than a million bushels of cranberries are annually sent to American markets. RosE VARIETIES.—According to The Gardening World, 6,400 different varieties of roses have been produced by florists up to the present and new ones are still being off- ered at the rate of nearly a hundred a year. HooimsprEvK Fruir CULTURE.—The Hooibreuk system of fruit culture is so named from its discoverer, an ignor- ant peasant on the Danube. He is said to have ascer- tained that branches trained below the horizontal produce flowers and fruitin unusual quantity. French papershave recently asserted that in this position the branches act as siphons drawing an increase flow of sap downward re- sulting in greater productiveness. At this rate it will not be long before science will countenance the practice of the old farmer who hung weights to all the branches of his fruit trees upon the theory that the most heavily fruited branches always hung farthest downward. NOMENCLATURE NOT SETTLED.—There are those who will tell you that the nomenclature’ question has been settled for all time, but how far this is from the truth may be judged from the fact that an international botanical congress will meet in Vienna in 1905 for the consideration of this very subject. At present there are three centers in which three different ideals of nomenclature prevail. The first includes the botanists of continental Europe, who hold varying ideas of the subject but seem willing to get together; the second includes British botanists who, with the usual British conservatism, hold to the nomenclature used at Kew and cannot understand why all the rest of the world do not subscribe to it; and the third consists of the radical Americans who insist that we must make a nomenclature of our own without regard to the others. Dr. Otto Kuntze has recently stated that the application of the so-called Rochester Code to the botany of the world would necessitate the changing of nearly thirty thousand names, and in view of this fact, the American idea is not likely to gain much headway. The charge that can be THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. O7 sustained against the British view is that it is behind the times. It would seem, therefore, that the need for an international congress to conside the subject is great and it is to be hoped that the approaching meeting may result in definite geod to the science. Dr. A. Zahlbruckner, Burering 7, Vienna 1, Austria is the Secretary and circu- lars of the meeting may be obtained from him. CoMMERCIAL Use OF DEER ToncuE.—A Florida paper notes that during the past season a single dealer has shipped upwards of 25,000 pounds of deer tongue to New York where itis used to mix with tobacco for its pleasant aroma. The deer tongue referred to, is also called vanilla and isthe Liatris odoratissima of botanists. It grows wild in many parts of Florida and may be had for the gathering. Following the Civil War large quantities of this plant were shipped north but the demand for it final- ly ceased, and has but lately revived. Among other wild products of Florida that are now finding a market are palmetto berries, prickly ash and the seed of Jerusalem Oak (Chenopodium botrys.) THe CHILLICOTHE.—Once more the chillicothe is con- fronting us with its great problem, or so it seems to us, of plant intelligence sufficiently great to tell the time of year. There has been no rain for many months, and even if there had been, it would not penetrate the hard earth to the depth of three to six feet, to where the chillicothe keeps its root. Yet every year at the proper time, the great roots, which often weigh two hundred pounds, send upeach their dozens of vines which grow with almost visible speed for a few weeks, mature the spring ‘‘cucumbers’’ and wither, the root then beginning to prepare for next season. Quite apart from the great mystery of plant life, the fact of growth is the particular mystery of how this huge, shape- less root buried so deeply can elaborate from its own sub- stance the beautiful wonderful life of spreading vines of flowers and a perfect fruit and most incomprehensible of all, how it knows just when the right time of year comes. —New Century Path. 98 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. THE CHRISTMAS TREE Crop.—American Gardening estimates that five million Christmas trees were cut inthe State of Maine this season. THE FLOWERING OF THE LAKEsS.—In many of our northern lakes, about mid-summer, each year, the water becomes filled with small golden globules about the size of a pin head. This phenomenon is called by the guides the “working” or ‘‘flowering”’ of the lakes and in England is known asthe “‘breaking of the meres.’’ The appearance is due to a blue-green alga, Rivularia echinulata which rises toward the surface in such multitudes as to become very noticable. An account of the flowering of the lakes in the Adirondacks: from which the above note is taken, was published in Torreya for October. LaTEx.—Many plants among which the rubber trees are prominent, have a milky juice technically called latex, whose use to the plant is still a matter for speculation. The solution of the problem is also a matter of some com- mercial importance, for not all rubber trees produce this latex, and of those that do, there is, of course, consider- able variation in the amount yielded by different individ- | uals. Rubber is obtained from this latex and if the cause of its production were known it would probably be pos- sible to stimulate the plants to greater productiveness. The problems presented by the latex are discussed at some length in a recent Government publication on the culture of the Central American rubber tree by O. F. Cook. Ac- cording to Prof. Cook, the rubber in the latex is of no use to the rubber tree, and in different parts of the tree, the rubber is often replaced bya substance that hardens upon exposure to the air into a non-elastic resin. Some botan- ists have believed that the latex tubes are reservoirs for the storage of elaborated food materials and others have insisted that the latex is simply a waste product. It has also been suggested that latex protects the tree from in- sects. A microscopical examination has shown that each tiny globule of rubber in the ‘‘milk”’ is surrounded by a thin coating of protoplasm which shows that the rubber THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 99 1s not the mere product of chemical action. Thelatex also varies much with the season, being most abundant and richest during the months of March and April when the > tree is flowering and fruiting. Turning from the rubber trees we find that the production of milky juice or gums is a commen characteristic of desert plants and from this we may assume that protection from drouth is one of the functions of latex, though it may turn out to be one of lesser importance. PERFUMES FROM Roots.—We usually think of scent as residing in the flowers of plants, asin the cases of roses, carnations and stocks,” say Gardening World, ‘‘in other plants it resides in the foliage, as in thyme, balm, mint and various other well-known plants. We now proceed to speak of a very rare instance of the scent emanating from the roots of a plant. We refer to Nardostachys Jataman- si which is a native of the Himalayas and hasbeen valued in India from a remote period as a perfume. Dr. Royle gave it as his opinion that it was the spikenard of the an- cients.”” While this may be a rare instance in which roots furnish perfume of commercial value one must not over- look the orris-root (Jris) in the same connection. Other roots that produce agreeable odors are sweet flag (Acorus calamus), the ebony and maiden hair spleenworts (Asple- nium ebeneum and E. trichomanes), certain dracenas, etc. A complete list of odorous roots would be interesting. Who can add others? NAMES OF THE ELEPHANT’s Ear.—It seems necessary to attack the Editor’s second attack on the names of the elephant’s ear, or Colocasia antiquorum esculenta, and reiterate the previous statement that the eleplant’s ear is not, never has been and never shall be, called ‘“‘Bleeding Heart.’” The Caladium varieties which may have been listed in the States under the whimsical name as “‘bleeding heart” are known in Porto Rico as “ Yautia del Jardin,” for it must be remembered that this is still an old Spanish island belonging to the United States, where English is spoken by only a comparatively few individuals on the 100 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. coast. Therefore it was as real an error to say that the Porto Rican ‘‘Malanga”’ is called “Bleeding Heart” as it would be to assert that century plant is the name applied by the Mexicans to species of Agave. Verily, the perpetra- tion of synonomy is fearfully and wonderfully done.—O. W. Barrett, Mayaguez, Porto Rico. [To all of which the editor is willing to agree. He only quoted a bulletin of the United States Government in the first place, and is glad to be shown the true status of the case. | A Fase VIOLET.—A dainty little plant is Dalibarda repens, yet so little known that its generic title has to servefor acommon name. It belongs tothe Rosacee, but has the aspect of a stemless violet. The flowers, which open about July 7, are white, and are usually borne singly on scape-like peduncles. Its habitat is damp, mossy woods.—Guelph Herald. DALEA SAUNDERSI.—The wanderings of Mr. C. F. Saunders in California have added to the attractiveness of our pages by affording material for various interesting notes and articles, but they have results of greater import- ance. Following upon the news of his return to the East comes the announcement that he has been honored by having a new Dalea named for him by Mr. Parish. The plant was found by Mr. Saunders in the Mojave desert, and to judge from the illustration isa namesake worth having. PLANNING THE GARDEN.—But never set anything in rows. Nature never does that, and Nature is the only gardener who never makes a mistake. Go into the fields and the forests and see how shrubs and plants are ar- ranged there. Here a group, there a group, a result that seems to have no plan back of*it, and yet who can say that Nature did not plan out every one of these clumps and combinations before they came into existence? Try to make your garden look as much like a real wild garden as possible, and the closer you follow after Nature the nearer you will come to success.—Home and Flowers. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. OE FERNS AS WEEDS.—Accorning to The Gardening World the directors of the Highland Agricultural Society in an endeavor to eradicate the common bracken (Pteris auqil- ina) from grazing lands, has offered prizes of $100 for the best horse-power machine designed for cutting the fern, and $50 forthe best hand implement for the same purpose. WATER-CRESSES AND DISEASE.—Two recent outbreaks of typhoid inGreat Britain have been directly traceable to the use of water-cresses from streams polluted by sewage. Water-cresses can be grown in moist soil instead of in water, but the plant has been so abundantly naturalized in waste places in America that almost the entire supply for American markets comesfrom these naturalized plants. Those with a fondness for this plant would do well to as- certain where it was grown before purchasing. Hysrip LoBetias.—Mr. Oakes Ames describes in Rho- dora for December certain hybrids between the great blue lobelia (L. svyphilitica) and the cardinal flower (L. cardin- alis) produced by cross-pollination at North Easton. Sim- ilar hybrids have been reported as growing wild in locali- ties inhabited by the parent species. It is probable that when our flora ts better known many other plants now considered species will turn out to be hybrids. SEED DISPERSAL IN THE Basswoop.—An interesting method of seed dispersion is exhibited in the case of Tilia Americana, the basswood. Attached tothe peduncle (stem of the flower-cluster and later fruit-cluster) at its base is a membranaceous bract in the shape of an elongated wing. While many of the fruits drop off the peduncle early in the season, many remain long after the leaves have fallen. When a strong wind blows, the peduncles are broken off at the base and away goes the cluster of fruit and its at- tached bract. But instead of falling to the ground at the foot of, ornear the parent tree, the bract revolving rapidly round and round keeps the cluster suspended in the air while the wind carries it away, often to distances of two hundred feet and over.—Guelph Herald. OOOO a RSE Or oe et he eee The tardy appearance of several recent numbers of THE AMERICAN BOTANIST can scarcely be more annoying to our readers than itis tous. The removal of the editor to new fields and the delays incident to getting our work adjusted tothe new order of things is entirely responsible ; but now that we have at last got running smoothly we expect to soon catch up again. It would be easier to do this by issuing one or two double numbers, but in our fifteen years experience as publishers we have never issued a “double number” and shall not begin the practice now. Readers may be assured that a magazine will be issued for every month in the year and that we will overtake our dates as rapidly as possible. a % + Itis said that tea drinking is rapidly onthe increase in America, but information regarding teas and tea making seems tobe very meagre. Through the courtesy of Indian Planting and Gardening, Mr. Charles Judge, of Calcutta, has sent usa very complete account of the. subject from which we make the following extracts. * % * The tea plant is a native of sub-tropical countries and grows wild in parts of India. Up to about 25 years ago, most of the teas used in the world came from China and Japan, but when the coffee plantation failed in Ceylon, the planters there took up tea culture and since then, owing to the persistence with which they have advertised their wares, Ceylon tea has become known throughout the civ- ilized world. The tea bushes were introduced from India into Ceylon, and though the Indian teas, grown in the native haunts of the plant, are said to be superior, Ceylon advertisers have thus far prevented the fact from being generally known. An acre of tea will give from 420 to 460 pounds of marketable tea annually. The best flav- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. OS ored India teas come trom the hill districts of Darjeeling, the strongest teas from Assam and the sub-Himalayan districts called the Dooars. The teas produced in the re- gion east of Bengal are of less value and chiefly used for blending with others. * i * There is an idea prevalent that the difference between black and green teas isdue to artificial coloring. While it is not infrequently the case that partly spoiled or off-color teas are thus “‘doctored”’ by the unscrupulous, pure teas that are either black or green are made from the same leaves by different processes. Green tea is the tea-leaf cured and rolled before fermentation sets in; black tea is allowed to ferment slightly before drying, which process makes certain changes in the juices of the leaf and gives the tea a different flavor. Indian and Ceylon teas are all made by machinery which ensures a bright even and clean grade of teas; China and Japan teas, on the contrary, are mostly made by hand and if below the standard, are brought up by the addition of gypsum, indigo, Chinese pink, Prussian blue and various other ingredients best known to the wily Celestial. * * * As in the case of most plants, the greatest amount of the desired principle is found in the young leaves. These are handled separately and known as Orange Pekoe. The next larger leaves are called Pekoe and those still larger, Pekoe-Souchong and so on. The wholesalers know the teas by these names but before they reach the consumer they are blended, each blend being a mixture of various sorts and thus the teas loose their distinctive names. In some blends there may be as many as eight or ten teas. Tea blenders assert that blended teas will give better sat- isfaction than even the best grade alone because the varia- tions in different lots is not so noticable. In England, blenders are said tobe so careful of their blends asto make a study of the water in the districts in which they are to be sold, so that the two will harmonize. 104 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Thetwist given totheleaf in rolling plays an absurdly important part in its taking qualities with the public. It is said that Americans are somewhat disinclined to buy machine rolled teas even of superior quality, preferring the shapes rolled by hand to which they are accustomed. Gun-powder tea is simply green tea rolled into little balls and is a Chinese product. Indian growers are told that they may pay less attention to the quality of the leaf if they will pay more attention to the shape! It is surpris- ing that anyone should prefer tea made by hand by per- spiring Mongols to machine-made tea, no matter whatits shape. The broken leaf is considered to be stronger and therefore cheaper for the money than the entire leaf, but here again, the American refuses to take it on account of its appearance. In England broken Pekoes are said to command a slightly higher price than the whole leaf. * * * The Indian method of making tea isto take two spoon- fuls of dry tea for each cup of tea wanted, and upon it pour boiling water letting it stand from half to one minute. Inno other way can one obtain so much of the aromatic principle and so little of the bitter and astring- ent elements in a single cup of tea. In the usual way of making tea, the water is allowed to stand upon the leaves too long. A stronger tea is obtained by this method, but it has much more of the tannins in it. WircH HazeL VALUABLE.—According to the Hartford Courant, a witch hazel still has been set up at Essex, and the farmers are afforded a market for witch hazel brush. The price received is about $1 a ton if standing, or $3.50 a ton if carried to the mill. One man has contracted to furnish 300 tons of brush. The brush is chopped up into convenient lengths by powerful machinery and is then ready for distillery. In other parts of the country the witch hazel is also being utilized. In Binghamton one ex- tract maker has contracted with a near-by distiller for two hundred barrels of the witch hazel extract. © PrvmcameenccnannenaeoEN, FY The Amateur Naturalist 2 ee A New Periodical in the Realm of Nature Study HE FIRST NUMBER will be issued January 1st. The magazine will be devoted to the in- terests of those who study the natural sciences from a love of it. While striving to be scientifically accurate it will be untechnical. Every article will be of interest. You surely will want to see the first number. It will be sent on receipt of a two-cent stamp. Send for prospectus giving full particulars. CHAS. D. PENDELL, Publisher, Binghamton, N. Y. CO. Prwncnemoerimenmeran gn, SY FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS THE PERRY PICTURES The World’s Great Pictures Gold Meda!, Paris Exposition for 25 or more, 120 (ONE CENT EACH for $1.00, postpaid. 2,000 subjects. Send 3 two-cent stamps for Catalogue of 1,000 miniature illustrations and two pictures. Send 25 cents for 25 Art Subjects, or 25 Madonnas, or 25 on Life of Christ, or 25 Landscapes, or 25 Dogs, Kittens and Horses, or 25 Authors and Poets, or 25 for Children. Each set ina portfolio. Or 13 Pict- ares in Colors, or 5 Extra Size (10 x 12), or Art Booklet-Madonnas. Or 50 cents for 50. Perry Pictures, assorted, or 25 Pictures in Colors, Birds,etc., or 11 Perry Pictures, Extra Size, or Portfolio 25 Pictures, New York Edition, 7x 9. Gems of Art. Or $1.00 for 50 New York Edition, or 23 Ex- tra Size, 10 x 12, or Christmas Set No. 2, 120 pictures 5% x 8, all in the new Boston Edition. No two alike, or 120 Perry Pictures, your own selection from 2,000 subjects: Or The Perry Magazine. Satisfaction guaranteed in every case. Order to-day You will wish to order again when you see how beautiful they are for Holiday Gifts. Send now. Do not wait until December, the busiest month tn all the year with us. THE PERRY PICTURES COMPANY, box 189, Malden, Mass. Tremont Temple, Soston. 146 6th Av., New York. SISTINE MADONNA, =a i (The onc-cent pictures are 6 to 8 times this size. ren Ail aE ORRE Ey De RU Ba Handbooks of Practical Gardening. Under the General Editorship of HARRY ROBERTS. Illustrated, Cloth, J2mo, $1.00 net per volume. Each volume presents a practical monograph on its subject, well illustrated. THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With selections also on Celery, Salsify, Schorzo- nera, and Seakale. By Charles Hott. Together with a chapter on their ; Cooking and Preparation for the Table by the General Editor. THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By H. W. Ward, author of ‘‘My Gardener.” THE BOOK OF BULBS. ByS8. Arnott, of Carsethorne, near Dumfries. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE. By H.H. Thomas.. Together with chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cooking of the Apple, and the Prepar- ation of Cider. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By G. Wythes. With chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cookery of Vegetables. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY, With chapters on the Raspberry, Black- berry, Logan Berry, Wineberry and allied fruits. By Edwin Beckett. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By Rev. E. Bartrum. THE BOOK OF BEES. By Charles Harrison. Other volumes in preparation. Write for a complete list of the series to JOHN LANE , tise tes, NEW YORK | Guide to Taxidermy. One hundred pages. Full of valuable Le s] information, with complete instructions how to prepare and mount Birds, Prnimals and Fish. i i ' i § i q i i 1} A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL NORTH AMERICAN | : BIRDS WITH PRICES OF THEIR EGGS, SKINS, ’ AND MOUNTED SPECIMENS; ALSO AN EX- ! 1 u a : i i 1 i HAUSTIVE LINE OF ORNITHOLOGISTS’, OOLOGISTS’ AND TAXIDERMISTS’ SUPPLIES, VALUABLE INFORMA- TION FOR THE AMATEUR, RECEIPTS, ETC. 35 Cents Postpaid. CHAS. K. REED, 102 UNION ST, 3 5 WORCESTER, MASS. t es SA AR 00 TR 1 YI em — VoL. 5. DECEMBER, 1903. NO. 6. THEAMERICAN BOTANIST. CONTENTS. /THE ORCHIDS OF WELLINGTON COUNTY, CENTS in kia ee ss | [OUR HOT-HOUSES, = - - 109 A ! Dr. WILLIAM WHITMAN Biauy, COPY om Sop see a ae 1.00 VDESTROYING THE. FERNS, ~ - - 112 1. 2PLANT: HAIRS, <0 o- ee 114 A CHRISTMAS TREES AND PLANT PROTEC- PTO 0 8 Soest 118 YEAR. | |/pover's.rERN, - - eas ‘117 NOTE AND COMMENT, - -~ - 118-121 EDETORRAG cree oS ie es he Re oor BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. THE AMERIGAN BOTANIST | A MONTHLY JOURNAL FOR THE PLANT LOVER. Issued on the 15th of each month. WILLARD N. CLUTE, - - ~ EDITOR. RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. 10 Cents a Copy; 60 Cents a Volume. $1.00 a Year Two Volumes. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS BEGIN WITH THE VOLUME. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Publishers, Binghamton, N. Y. Entered at the Post Office at Binghamton, N. Y., as Second Class matter, Aug. 22, 1901. The American Botanical Club, Is an association of Botanists and Botanizers for mutual assistance in the study of plants. All plant lovers are invited to join. For constitution and further particulars address tbe Secretary, MR. J. C. BucHHEISTER, Griffins Corners, Delaware Co., N. Y. * | * The annual dues are 50 cents. Members who send 75 cents additional to the Secretary,—or $1.25 in all— will receive THE AMERICAN BoTanisT, free. RHOWORSA! The Plant World. Journal of the New England Established 1897. BOTANICAL CLUB A Monthly Magazine Devoted to. Plants. eR a MT A monthly journal of botany devoted chiefly to the flora of the northeastern states. Edited by Dr. B. L. Robinson, Messrs. M. L. Fernald, F. 8. Collins, Hol- lis Webster and Edward L. Rand. To all interested in the study of the plants of the eastern states, Rhodora will be of great assistance. It aims to interest the the amateur as well as the professional botanist and is of far more than local value. Sixth year. Price $1.00 per year. Official organ of the Wild Flower Preser- vation Society of America, an organ- ization devoted to plant protection. Illustrated with photographs from nature. Contributions from writers of note. Departments of interest to everyone in- terested in Nature Study. Subscription, $1.50 per year. Sample copy for a two-cent stamp. a (Vol. 1 $1.50) Sample copy on receipt “PHATS ALL.” ofastamp. Address Wm. P. RICH, Business Manager, The Plant World Company, 300 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, Mass. Box 334, Washington, D. C. CHARLES D. PENDELL, PRINTER, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. VoL. V. BINGHAMTON, N. Y,, DECEMBER, 19038. No. 6 THE ORCHIDS | OF WELLINGTON COUNTY, ONTARIO. BVA Bam Kee WG rete MONG the floral inhabitants of our bogs, swamps and woods there are none more interesting or beautiful than those belonging tothe Orchidaceee. During the past summer I paid considerable attention to those plants with the result that I am able to list nineteen species, which while not representing the total orchid-flora of the county gives us a foundation on which to build. To me one of the chief attractions of these plants is the habitat which they affect. It is nearly always the most secluded place in the locality, and on account of the spahagnum through which one sinks to the knees in water, the heat and the mosquitoes it is not the kid-glove botanist or the closet naturalist who is successful in an orchid-hunt. The first orchid to be found was Corallorhiza innata, the coral-root, which was in bloom in a cedar swamp on May 11. It is a peculiar little plant and inconspicuous enough to be easily overlooked. That it is parasitic upon the roots of trees can be at once seen by its lack of chloro- phyll. It had finished flowering by June 16 and the seed was ripe by July 23. On May 23 the first Cypripedium parvifiorum, the smaller yellow lady’s slipper was found in bloom. This orchid is notas common here asits relative pubescens from which it may be distinguished by the labellum being flat- tish above instead of convex, or more easily perhaps byits beautiful scent. It inhabits swamps and damp woods, and has finished blooming by about Junel. Cypripedium pubescens, the larger yellow lady’s slipper is an inhabitant 106 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. of half-shady sphagnum bogs, where it appeared in bloom on May 30 and flowered until June 20. Inthedeep sphag- num in the shade of larches may be found the beautiful Cypripedium acaule, the stemless lady’s slipper, with its large rose-purple drooping labellum cleft down the centre. They were in flower by May 30 and bloomed until June 18. The seeds were ripe by September 22. The commonest and perhaps the most beautiful of our Cypripediums is C. spectabile, the showy lady’s slipper. The half-shady sphagnum bog is its chosen haunt and in some such placesit may be found in great abundance. The flowers on plants growing in shady situations are likely to be pale in color while those in sunny spots are apt to be white, strongly marked above with rose-purple. This spe- cies flowered from June 15 to July 15 and the seeds ripened about September 25. One of the most deliciously fragrant of our Orchidacez is Habenaria dilatata, the tall white bog orchis. Its hab- itat isthe halt-shady bog where it blooms from June17 to July 17 and the seed is ripe about September 25. Though found in considerable quantities in certain localities this orchid cannot be called common here. Habenaria hyper- borea, the tall leafy green orchis, is, as far as size is con- cerned, one of our most variable species as mature speci- mens range from 6 inches to 8 feet in height. Their hab- itat is the open bog, but some specimens here have chosen avery peculiar haunt asthey grow inthe crevices of damp rock. This species flowers from June 19 to July 15, and is one of our commonest orchids. An exceedingly beautiful little plant is Orchis rotund1- folia, the small round-leaved orchis, and its mauve flowers have a most delicate perfume. I found the first in flowers on June 20. This species is decidedly rare, and its haunt is the tamarac swamp witha sphagnum bottom, where it occupies rather a shady situation. Pogonia ophioglos- soides, the rose pogonia, is a flower with a perfume which for sweetness anda strange strong delicacy, is not equalled by any plant with which Iam acquainted. The odor is THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. ; 107 essentially its own and like unto nothing else. This plant preters the open bog, where it came into bloom about June 20, and flowered until July 25. The seed was ripe by Sep- tember 23. So far only two stations are known in the county. At one of these it is very abundant, growing in thousands. Another showy plant of the open bog is Calo- pogon pulchellus. The most peculiar feature of this orchid is the position of the labellum which is uppermost. This is due to there being no twist in the ovary as there is in most orchids. The position of the labellum at once made me curious to witness the pollinatfon of this species, and after much watching succeeded in doing so. The following is the process :—The bee alights upon the labellum, which bends over near the base (three bracket- like ridges prevent it doing so elsewhere) until the back of the bee is in contact with the column. The bee (which is of course upside-down) sips the nectar secreted by the glands at the base of the column. As it withdraws, its back opens the operculum (lid) of the anther, and a pollin- ium (or several) adheres to its back. On visiting the next flower the pollinium slips past the convex surface of the closed operculum, but as the bee withdraws, the pollinium is caught by the slight beak of the stigma and adheres to it, the bee meanwhile receiving another pollinium from the anther of this flower. This species is fairly well distrib- uted and at some stations is very abundant. It flowered from June 22 to July 20 and the seed was ripe by Septem- ber 23. Liparis loeselii, the tway-blade, is a little inconspicu- ous greenish orchid, which inhabits some of our swales and bogs. It bloomed from June 16 to July 1. In the open, quaking bog where Pogoniaand Calopogon abound, another beautiful orchid Arethusa bulbosa, is to be found. It is not present in anything like the same quantities as the two other chief inhabitants of this attractive spot, but is quite common. It chooses the very wettest portion of the bog, where the covering of moss is so thin that as you walk you are always in the middle of a dell some two feet 108 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. deep. This bog I believe to be the basin of an old lake which is now filled with sott watery mud and covered over witha layer of sphagnum and grass. The perfume of arethusa is delicate and somewhat resembles a mixture of roses and spruce. Habenaria lacera, the ragged fringed orchis, attains a great size in this locality, and the spurs are frequently 10 lines in length and longer than the ovary. The odor of this species is almond-like. Itshabitat is open bogs where it blooms from June 26 to July 18. A peculiar little orchid found growing parasitically on the roots of trees in dry woods is Corallorhiza multiflora the many-flowered coral-root. It is scarce in this locality. This species bloomed from June 28 to July 15, and the seeds ripened about September 22. In some of our marsh- es and lowlands grows Habenaria psycodes, the smaller purple fringed orchis. The flowers are very variable in color ranging from mauve, through lilac and violet, to purple. It comes into bloom about July 10. Habenaria bracteata, the long-bracted orchis, is apparently very rare here. It inhabits dryish woods, and appears in flower about July 1. In one open bog in this locality Habenaria tridentata, the small green orchis,is abundant. It blooms from July 15 to 30. This orchid appears to be self-fertil- ized as the pollinia, even in the bud, are never entire, and in some freshly-opened flowers will be found adhering to the labellum as if they had slipped from their sacs. Many of our inconspicuous greenish orchids appear to me to be capable of self-fertilization if the necessary insect does not visit them. In some of our swales grows Spiranthes romanzof- fiana, the hooded lady’s tresses. The perfume of this spe- cies is strongly almondy. It blooms from about July 15 toAugust 5. A little plant with most attractive leaves is Goodyera repens, the rattle-snake plantain. It inhabits cedar swamps with a mossy bottom, and is apparently scarce here. It appeared in flower on July 20 and the seed was ripe by September 25. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 109 There are three ways in which those who delight in orchids can help to maintain their local orchid-flora. One is by always directing people’s attention away from the best orchid haunts; another by digging up such plants as grow in conspicuous situations and are likely to cause the basket-fiend to invade the station; and the third is by thoroughly disseminating the seed. In this latter pro- ceeding I have had great success, sometimes causing a five-fold increase in a year. Guelph, Ontario. OUR: HOT-HOUSES: BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. ‘poo who really love flowers must have them at all seasons. Household plants, however, are a care that we cannot personally indulge in. Hot air, gas, the scaly bug and a legion of evils lie in wait for them. We prefer to let some one else do the worrying and are content to glory in the perfected result. We are on good terms with the florists, perhaps from a sort of fellow-feeling. They are often positive, but then, so are we. Most people who own to convictions are. They tell us a deal that we did not know, and could not, for they practically live with the plants. Generally they are modest and unpresuming. To be sure they misapply names in a way that sometimes gives us the fidgets, but any modern text-book is quite as trying. A busy, hard-working set of men, up early and late they must learn things about these pets of ours that we see only on their good behavior. Maybe some of them reason in an unscientific way, but it is a good deal to rea- son at all. It is still more to have your eyes open to things aboutyou. Aman who acquaints himself with the life history of one plant, has learned a useful lesson. It is connected with the chronicle of all. For professional reasons rather than esthetic, we have for a long time had to visit the conservatories. This formerly even more the casethan now. In winter we were dependent upon them for material. Once in a hot-house 110 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. we are obliged to linger. The tropical air, the warm fra- grance, the lavish color or lush verdancy woo us to re- main. It is good for oneto step out of the sleet and slush into this atmosphere of perpetual summer. Lookat those yellow trumpets of Oxalis. Have they not caught and held the glory of the sun. In it they revel, uncurling their delicate satiny petals only under its influence. See that shell full of Chinese primroses, each flower scalloped and fluted as by an artist. What beautiful leaves they have too! Indeed, enough attention is not paid to leaves, the most variable of plant organs, exquisite often in texture and outline, and veining. Flowers are, at best, evanescent ; but the leaves, in a conservatory, we have ever with us, from the picturesque blades of calla, to the misty foliage of Acacia, or the dream of maiden-hair. We like to cuta lot of them, maybe drawing their details—or studying their details—or studying their structure. There can be no better models for nature sketching. The gardener may tell you that just now there are but few flowers in bloom. Let us see. .There are pinks, rang- ing from pure white through delicate salmon color to yellow and deep crimson. Some of them are deliciously perfumed. There arethe long red, white or pink trumpets of Bouvardia a very wealth of bloom; the pure clusters of fragrant Freesia; the ever lovely and odorous Daphne; the umbels of Pelargonum, and the abundant bloom of Azalea. Take a turn down this low chamber, where the snow is sliding onthe roof above. What is this odor of spring ? Violets? Yes, there they are, nestling in a corner as on some April bank. Nature must have smiled when she made aviolet. She made Yankee ones and for some inscrutable reason omit- ted the perfume loved of Shakspeare. Otherwise their graces are incomparable. What are those bizarre-looking plants airily perched on “‘Coignes of vantage?’ Our guide tells us they are orchids, a family renowned for its odd forms, superb and diverse coloring and marvelous THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. B Np hes mechanisms for securing cross-pollination. Indeed, some look themselves like insects or birds. Occasionally we meet with some rare or unusual flower. Such are always turning up in these days of national expansion. Here we can look at them without fear of the playful Moro of tricky Tagalog. Be gentle with the florists, reader, for they are gentle men from their trade. Noone canlive among flowers and not imbibe some of their purity. Approach these guard- ians quietly—not with ostentation and you will find they can teach you much. Brown University, Providence, R. I. NEW WORK. BY M. F. BRADSHAW. S EEDS are never out of season inthis part of the world and collecting goes on, though not so rapidly as in the summer and fall. They do not lose their interest for me intheleast and I am getting more and more impressed with the amount of knowledge hidden among them which perhaps I never should have gained otherwise. Still new work seems to be one of the wants of the new year, so for me, while leaving out nothing of the old work, I have begun another—if indeed, it is not rather play. A blank book 71% x 10 inches has heen procured and I mean to take one family of plants and make as thorough a study of it as I can, beginning with the seedling plants and going ontothe matured seeds. I shall write it all out even the most common and conspicuous aspects and illus- trate with water color and pen and ink drawings every step of the way. This ought to make a beautiful book and that depends on my skill; as to the usefulness of it, who knows? At least I shall remember the arrangement of every part of every genus and species. My choice of family for this year is the geranium represented here by only four genera: Geranium with two species, with only one of which I am acquainted ; Erodium with three, all familiar ; Dale, THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Limanthes one species with one variety, unknown to me; Oxalis with two species, only one of which I have seen. Not much of a family to work on, but there are many varieties in the garden differing widely. Orange, California. DESTROYING THE FERNS. Those who patronize the florists have no doubt been impressed with the important part ferns play in the make- up of bouquets and other decorations, and have perhaps imagined that the fern fronds were grown in the green- houses with the flowers. Such, however, is not the case. The thrifty cultivator uses all his space for flowers and depends upon Nature for his ferns. Orchids, carnations and roses must be grown under glass but the hillsides of the northern States are covered with fern, that, up to the present, could be had forthe gathering. This has resulted in the development of an extensive traffic in fronds of our native ferns, which is beginning to threaten their existence in the regions from which the supply comes. To prevent the total extinction of the ferns in the Berkshires a measure has been introduced into the Massa- chusetts Legislature requiring that each fern-gatherer in that state have alicense and making other regulations for restricting the collecting. This, of course, has aroused the strong opposition of the dealers. From the Pittsfield Evening Journal ot Jan. 20, we take the following which sets forth the collector’s side of the case. ‘Hinsdale is aroused over the bill that Representative Allen T. Treadway of Stockbridge has introduced into the House of Representatives relating to the fern industry in this country. If this bill passes the House the industry will be killed in Berkshire so say the dealers and they are going to put upa stiff fight to defeat it. Not more than $50,000 worth of ferns are harvested in Berkshire every year and if the business is killed it means that the chief source of income for scores af families will be abolished. As showing the extent of the industry John Abbott of THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. LS Hinsdale buys more than $10,000 worth each year. L.B. Brague does an equally large business and there are sever- al more in and about Hinsdale. It is estimated that more than 100,000,000 ferns are gather each year and put in cold storage at Springfield to be sent broadcast over the country. From all over the country come in the farmers with their great loads of ferns, some of which bring as high a price as $2.50 a load. For the past twenty years dealers in Hinsdale have been in the fern business and they say there has not been the slightest diminution in the supply. All the year up to the time of frost in the autumn, farmers have their entire families out getting ferns; ferns of all descriptions from the delicate maiden-hair to the austere brakes. The roots are always saved and in many cases land that is of no value for other purposes brings in a good revenue from the ferns. The bill provides that the pickers must have a licence to conduct their business and that a certificate must fol- low each lot of ferns from the time they are gathered in the woods of Berkshire until they reach the final purchaser in some large city. This red tape would kill the business entirely, the deal- ers say. Itis said that Mr. Treadway has been prompted in this measure by summer residents of Stockbridge and vicinity. Itis said that Italians coming upto Stockbridge have raised havoc with the beauty of woods in southern Berkshire and hence his wish to save them. A man inter- ested infern gathering said to-day that at least one-fourth of the people of Berkshire are directly interested in the fern: business.”’ When a man owninga piece of land chooses to market the ferns upon it, or to allow others to do so, no one can object fora man may do as he will with his own. If he decided to cut down his woodland, plow up the ferns and sow other crops upon the land, no one would criticise him. But the gathering of ferns from thelands of another with- out permission is quite another matter and the sooner the 114. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. people of Massachusetts and other New England States put a stop to such practices, the better. It is a mistake to think that removing the fronds, even in autumn, does no harm to the plants. Gathering the fronds late inthe year injures the plants less than at other seasons, but it may be safely assumed that so long as the fronds are green the plant has use for them. Here seems to be a good opportunity for the Plant Protection societ- ies to do some missionary work. Any person willing to exterminate our ferns at $2.50 a wagon load ought to be converted. PLANT HAIRS. So great and numerous are the dangers that beset all living plants that they have adopted special means—many of them extremely wonderful—whereby they are enabled the more easily to ward off enemies and grow and propo- gate in safety. Amongst the various natural contrivances to bring about this end there is no doubt that the produc- tion of hairy appendages or outgrowths on the different plant organs certainly plays an important part. Nothing is without its use in Nature, not even the smallest hair or the smallest most tender, most humble plant, each has its own specific duty to perform, its part to play in some definite vital labor. And so we find that there are special reasons why hairs are produced on roots and stems, leaves and flowers, fruits and seeds, whether the outgrowths are dense or sparse, whether conspicuous to the human eye or other- wise. The uses for which they are created are indeed numerous, varied, wonderful and extremely interesting. The presence of a hairy covering protects many a deli- cate leaf of flower-bud from excessive damp or cold as it does also many a matured organ; whilst in other cases or even inthe same, it protects from the too excessive heat of a burning sun by checking rapid evaporation of moist- ure through the stomata or breathing pores thus prevent- ing flagging or evendeath. The beautiful mountain Edel- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 115 weiss with its dense, white, woolly coat is so formed in order that mists or cold may not penetrate or clog the stomata nor the burning sun’s rays do any harm during daylight hours; and in our ownland there are interesting and pretty examples of a similar kind of growth in the case of the wild filago and various species of cud-weed, dwellers in spots where the sun strikes fiercely in the heat of the day. Many climbing plants, such as rnnner bean, hop and wild cleavers, show curious hooked hairs; these act as grappling irons and greatly assist the structure to grow on foreign supports; while a vast number of other species, in order to ward off browsing animals, clothe themselves with a felt or web or hair so dense that to anything attempting to eat it the effect would be most unpleasant and choking. The beautiful great mullein is a good example of this. It has been proved, too, that hairy plants are far less frequently attacked by aphis or plant lice than those that are smooth textured. Browsing animals for the great part, as well as most insects (except snails and a few caterpillars) are kept a bay by means of stinging hairs in the nettles, the burning acrid juice secret- ed by the latter proving extremely disagreeable to any- thing or anyone who carelessly bruises the plants. When hairs are found actually on, or within the flower itself, the fact may be recognized that they are invariably formed there in order to exclude unbidden guests, as ants —small creeping insects being of no use whatever in the great work of cross fertilization, but rather, indeed, injur- ious in sofar as they rob the blossom of its pollen, but fail to convey it safely to any other. Frequently these hairy guards are very dense, forming such an impenetrable bar- rier that certain (and these are the non-welcomed) insects cannot enter, while they offer no hindrance atall to others whose long, thin proboscides can easily thrust themselves between the hairs or deliberately push open the apparent- ly closed doorway. If hairs be carefully examined they will be found to be outgrowths of the epidermal cells and may occur on 116 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. almost any part of the plant. Their structure varies con- siderably but they may be classified as simple (un- branched) or compound (branched) each of which groups may again be divided according to whether the hairs be composed of one or more cells (unicellular or multicellu- lar). A good example of a simple unicellular hair may be seen on the leaf of the geranium and a curious branched multicellular one is found on the deadly nightshade. Sometimes the branching forms quite a miniature tree as in the great mullein——From an article in Nature Study, (England). CHRISTMAS TREES AND PLANT PROTECTION. We commend the following from an editoral in Forest- ry and Irrigation, to all who are concerned for the safety of our forests on account of the cutting of Christmas trees. The publication mentioned is the official organ of the American Forestry Association, and certainly would not countenance anything likely to injure the forests. “This year complaint was heard, especially from the northern cities, that Christmas trees are too expensive to be used as generally as in years gone by. The supply is decreasing. This is a matter for regret. The Christmas tree is a strong accessory to a good home. It isa part of the birthright of childhood and its enjoyment should not be limited to the homes of the wealthy. Undoubtedly there are enough young evergreen trees inthe north tofurnish us indefinitely with Christmas trees if we use them wisely and eke out the supply. The rise in prices means only that the well shaped trees which grew conveniently near shipping points have been exhausted, and that the dealers now have to bear the expense of longer hauls. Here is an opening for thrifty northern farmers. A few pounds of spruce and balsam seed each spring scratched into the ground on the shady side of the fences, or in the open places in the farm woodlot would yield enough Christmas trees after a few years to buy a hand- THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. alakr, some gift for each one of the family. They are already raised at a profit by nurserymen. But the attitude of the sentimentalists who would cut no tree, even for Christmas purposes is equally mistaken. Such persons are a serious hindrance to the progress of real forestry for they antagonize the very men they would like to convert. Let every home that needs a Christmas tree have one by all means for this legitimate use, but cry down indiscriminate cutting and waste inthe woodlands, and prepare for 1914, if you are in a position to do so, by planting a few spruces or firs. The person who is continually using scientific names and who understands their meaning, is apt to decry the use of ‘‘popular’’ names for plants; and indeed itis a ques- if the amateur who uses them is not robbing himself, tor he will often find plants that have no common names and he will be unable to speak of them intelligently. There is no good reason why the Latin names of ferns should not become as “popular’’ as Dahlia, Fuchsia and hosts of others that are in every day use. The writer of popular books is often hard pressed to supply this demand for “easy”? names, and frequently complies by coining a word. An instance of this is seen in a recent work on ferns where Nephrodium simulatum Dav. is spoken of as the ‘‘Massa- chusetts fern.”’ It strikes methis name is particularly un- fortunate; first, because it was not discovered in Massa- chusetts, but at Seabrook, N. H.; secondly, it was brought to notice, as was the hybrid shield-fern, by Ray- nal Dodge, a close student of New England fern life, com- piler of a manual of our New England Pteridophytes, and a goodcollector and observer, a man who has added much to our knowledge of plants in the little time allowed from the busy life of a machinist, and it should rightly bear his name. It is to be hoped that in future this will be spoken of not as the ‘‘Massachusetts,’’ but as ‘‘Dodge’s”’ fern.—A. A. Eaton, Ames Botanical Laboratory, N. Easton, Mass. ew oe i Note and Corsarment. “4 WanTED.—Short notes of interest to the general bot- anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. Corn Propucts.—Indian corn or maize, the last dis- covered of the edible grains, bids tair to become of more value than all the others combined. In addition to its use as food for man and beast, it is the source of alcohol, whiskey, glucose, sugar, starch, dextrine, syrup, glycerine, corn oil and a valuable substitute for rubber. PoLLEN as Foop.—In Baluchistan, according to Indian Planting and Gardening, the narrow-leaved cat-tail (Typha angustifolia) is known as elephant grass, and the pollen is gathered and used like flour in making bread by the inhabitants of Sind and Bombay. A recent analysis showed it to have a high food value as it contained about 47 per cent. of carbohydrates and 20 per cent. of albu- minoids. THE LircHEE.—Occasionally one may find at the fruit stores a certain round nut similar in external appearance to the fruit of the button-wood (Platanus occidentalis). The shell is thin and upon being broken reveals, within, a dark kernel like a raisin in taste and appearance, which encloses alarge dark colored seed. This nutis often called the Chinese nut, but is more properly the litchee (Nephel- ium litchi). Those who have tasted the fresh fruit say that there is no comparison between it and the shrivelled specimens in the stores. When fresh the outer shell is tinged with pink and the interior is full of the jelly-like pulp, whitish and almost transparent. The litchee is a member of the Sapindaceze and therefore a not distant relative of the bitter-sweet (Ce/astrus) and the burning bush (Euonymus). The pulp of the litchee is really an aril comparable to the scarlet pulp of its relatives above men- tioned. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 119 Poisonous Yams.—Yams (Dioscorea) are among the chief foods of the tropics and it is a matter of interest to learn that every variety contains a poisonous alkaloid called dioscorine which acts asa paralyzant of the nervous system. Fortunately this alkaloid is removed by boiling, and as yams are not eaten raw, no ill effects are experi- enced. THE CITRANGE, TANGELO AND PLUMCOT.—Recent exper- imenters, not content with simply hybridizing their plants, have insisted on hybridizing their names also. Thus we now have the plumcot, a cross between the apricot and plum, the tangelo, a cross between the tangerine orange and the pomelo or grape fruit, and the citrange a cross between the orange and an inedible species called the tri- foliate orange (Citrus). It is well known that squashes and pumpkins planted too near together form natural hybrids. Now, the question is, would the hybridizers call these fruits squakins ? POLLINATION O# WATER PLANTS.—Field botanists are familiar with the general method of pollination in water plants like the eel-grass ( Vallisneria) but the details do not seem to be so well known. In the Botanical Gagette for January, R. B. Wylie in discussing the morphology of the ditch moss (Elodea Canadensis) describes its method of pollination very fully. This plant grows under water and its pistillate flowers reach the surface by means of a great- ly elongated floral tube, the ovaries being sessile and some distance under water. The staminate flowers have no lengthened tube and at maturity break loose from the plant and rise to the surface where they shed their pollen. The special interest that attaches to this feature is the fact that just asthe pollen is ripe, the plant gives off oxygen in sufficient quantities to fill the flower and keep the water away from the pollen. Even before the flower rises to the surface the pollen may begin to be shed in the bubble of oxygen. The gas also aids the flower to rise to the sur- face. At the surface the bubble.at once disappears, the sepals snap backward, forming a three-parted float. At 120 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. the same time the rest of the pollen is discharged. The pollen grains are covered with minute spines with enlarged tips and these enable them to float. The recurved stigmas of the pistillate flowers form little hollows in the surface film of the water, and the floating polien grains, drifting into these depressions, effect pollination. PINE TREES AND MotstTurRE.—We are only beginning to understand the causes that determine the distribution of species. An illustration of this is furnished by Prof. B. E. Livingston, who recently stated that in Michigan, if the water content of the soil be 50 per cent. or more, the forest is white pine, but if the moisture was but 35 per cent. Jack pine replaced the white pine. EFFECT OF SHADE ON PLANTs.—At the recent meeting of the Society of Horticultural Science at St. Louis, Dr. B. M. Duggar stated that shade makes the stems of plants longer but weaker, and the leaves larger, thinner and soft- er. It increases the amount of acid in plants, but greatly decreases their content of starch, sugar and dry matter. It does not interfere with the manufacture of protein and shading is, therefore, especially adapted to such crops as asparagus and rhubarb. Utitiry WEEps.—I have been told, by one who has cooked and eaten them, that the young leaves and shoots of the milkweed (Asclepias) furnish a most delicious dish of greens, tasting much like asparagus. Also, I recently read that the young seed vessels of shepherd’s purse (Cap- sella) scattered over a salad, added piquancy to its taste; and that gathered and eaten, as often is agreeable, are a sure cure for indigestion. Will some one try the remedy and report ?>—C.E.P. [Milkweed is only one of the weeds utilized in suburban districts as a pot-herb. The list in- cludes nettle, dock, marsh marigold, horse radish, pig- weed, poke, mustard, solomon’s-seal and probably others. The wild pepper-grass, (Lepidium) is excellent for salads while the winter cress (Barbarea) is so frequently used in spring that it has gained the name of ‘‘poor man’s cab- bage.”’—Eb. ] THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Al “PAINTING THE LiLy.’’—It is interesting to observe how some dealers attempt to improve upon Nature in the matter of the evergreens used for holiday decorations. We have recently noticed in the markets quantities of ground pine (Lycopodium) that had been dyed a most brilliant and poisonous looking green, quite unlike the color the plant has in life. The query arises, were these dyed speci- mens recently collected or is this a scheme to work off old material from which the original color has faded ? LEGUMINOUS PLANTS AND NITROGEN.—It has been buta comparatively short time since botanists discovered that the tiny nodules onthe roots of leguminous plants contain bacteria able to withdraw nitrogen from the air; but the fact that leguminous crops, like clover, plowed under, greatly enrich the soil has been a matter of common knowledge for centuries. In fact, Pliny (about A. D. 80) speaks of it. What the moderns have discovered is simply the means by which the plants enrich the soil. A DaNGEROUS STATEMENT.—Prof. Conway MacMillan in his ‘‘Minnesota Plant Life’ states that ‘‘the ordinary innacuous sumacs are, from their brilliant antumnal tints, very beautiful shrubs of the Minnesota copses and hill- sides. The poisonous varieties do not show the rich hues of their harmless relatives.’’? This statement struck me as peculiarly dangerous, tor here in eastern Massachusetts the leaves of the poisonous sumac (Rhus venenata) turn in autumn the most brilliant scarlet. I have known of several instances of serious poisoning by persons gather- ing the leaves for household decoration, ignorant of the deadly poison larking beneath their vivid beauty. I warn my friends not having any botanical knowledge, never to gather scarlet sumac leaves growing in swamps, as so far as I know, the poison species is never found elsewhere.—C. E. P. [Our correspondent is quite riglet about the color of the poison sumac, but the poison ivy (Rhus toxicoden- dron) usually turns a clear yellow, a color, however, that is fairiy attractive. Fortunately neither species is as pois- onous late in autumn as it is earlier inthe year, though at any season it may affect those most susceptible.—Eb. ] As this is being written, itis very apparent that the present number cannot be issued on time; but as this is not a newspaper the fact that it does not appear on a cer- tain date, should not annoy anyone. Readers may be as- sured of receiving twelve numbers for their dollar and of receiving those numbers on time just as soon as the over- worked printer can catch up. Itis our aim to put out the kind of matter that is of permanent value—the kind that does not lose in interest when a day old—and this allows us some latitude in the date of issue. Since we began pub- lication three prominent botanical publications have ad- vanced their subscription price, but our price has remained the same, though we have several times added to the amount of matter presented, and it will continue to be the same. Under these circumstances we trust that all of our subscribers will renew for the coming year. With this issue bills are sent to all whose subscriptions are not paid in advance and attention is called to the very liberal con- ditions of subucription printed thereon. Attention isalso called to the combination rates offered elsewhere. If you are going to buy a new book this spring, order the book and subscription at the same time and save money. * * * Bantorial While attending the meeting of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science at St. Louis, the edi- tor dropped into a section in which a large number of eminent botanists from all parts of the Union were dis- cussing papers relating to Ecology and was interested in the way references to nomenclature were received. Any mention of the subject was sure to cause a smile. One speaker said of a species, ‘‘We used to call it ——(mention- ing a scientific name) I don’t know what it is called at present,’’ and another said, ‘‘The summit is covered with the plant which we call (another scientific name) but THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. Les systematists call what they please.’’? Most botanists who are not actually engaged in naming plants begin to real- ize the folly of changing names merely forthe sake of ‘‘pri- ority” and to appreciate the great burden such changes have placed upon all other branches of botanical activity. Botanical works in the past have used the terms which some nomenclaturists are now doing their best to. dis- credit; should they succeed in this, future students will be obliged to master two nomenclatures, one for the present, and another for the past, for these old books must contin- ue to be consulted. * * * We have several times had occasion to refer to the ap- petite for the marvelous evinced by the average newspaper reporter who can transform the most ordinary fact into a piece of wonderful fiction by a few deft strokes of his pen. No doubt we shall continue to have these romances until the editors all have a botanical education or are willing to submit botanical articles to some botanist for correc- tion. One of the most interesting of these fictions has re- cently been brought to light by Forestry and Irrigation. It was originally published by the Saturday Evening Post and deals with that interesting tree, the Eucalyptus. Among other things it says: Five years from planting, groves raised from seedlings will yield 75 cords of stove wood an acre. Three to five years from the time of cut- ting, sprouts that spring from the stumps mature into trees that produce more cords to an acre than the original growth. Continuing in the same strain it is stated that ‘“Some varieties thrive in tropical swamps and others flourish inthe mountain snows far above the timber Iine.”’ Commenting on this Forestry and Irrigation remarks, “Just think of the points brought out. According to the voracious not to say veracious space writer we have in the Eucalyptus the first and only tree to grow above timber line and we begin to wonder what the timber line was ever invented for. Consider the fact of saw logs grown while you wait and the prolific sprouting which 124. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. puts to shame the succulent asparagus.” It is said that for some weeks after the publication of the Post article, the clerks inthe U.S. Bureau of Forestry were overworked in opening letters from people asking for more informa- tion about such a wonderful tree. * * : * To those looking for other botanical worlds to con- quer, we cannot too highly recommend the plan for new work outlined by Mrs. Bradshaw in this issue. What plant do any of us really know? The systematist may tell youits name and the physiological botanist may have an idea of the tissues that compose it, but each knows only a part—and a very small part at that—of its life his- tory. But when one has drawn all parts of a plant and watched it long enough to obtain allits phases, he cannot fail to have a very intimate knowledge of it. Especial stress is to be laid upon the drawing. It is not enough to carefully examine the plant even with a microscope, for one may easily overlook important points, but in draw- ing he must see everything and its relation to all else. Educators have recently found this out, hence the great importance now attached to drawing inlaboratory work. There are doubtless many who will be inclined to say that they cannot draw; but it should be remembered that botanical drawing is not primarily to make a pretty pic- ture, though this also is desirable. Accuracy is the first requirement and this can be attained by all who care to try for it. * % * With the beginning of its Seventh volume, The Plant World will advance its price to $1.50 a year. Although it will remain as heretofore the organ of the Wild-flower Preservation Society, it will not be sent free to members. The dues of the society, however, have been reduced in consequence. ADDRESSES WANTED.—Dr. R. J. Smith, Mentone, San Bernardino, Co., California, is interested in studying the ferns of his state and asks for the address of any resident of California interested in the same subject. ‘Books for the Spring ring Campaign If the books named below are not on your shelves, they ought to be. Send.us an order for any book on this list = and we will send you The American Botanist for one year, "@ new or reenwal, for only seventy cents additional: Classbook of Botany,— Wood... ....-......5565 postpaid, $2.70 Flora of the Northeastern States,—Britton..... a 2.40 Manual of Botany,—Gray .......5000. 4 anid is fe 1,75 How to Know the Wildflowers,—Dana........ he 2.16 Guide to the Wildflowers,—Lounsbeiry........ sf 1.92 How to Know the Ferns,—Parsons...... +... - 1.63 Our Ferns in their Haunts,—Clute ............. 4 2.15 Berti: Waters. 5.2 7c a sk oe sachets oe ¢ 3.34 Mnshrooms, Edible and Poisonous,—Atkinson as 3.00 Studies of Trees in Winter,—Huntington....... ¥ 2.25 Guide to the Trees,—Lounsberry... 2.2.5 ..0.4- ss 1.92 Onr Native T'rees,—Keeler..............000000> “ 2.15 Our Northern Shrubs, = Keeler cei ok Oakes cn 2.16 5 per cent. discount allowed on all orders amounting to $5.00 or more. Larger list upon application. Address, Binghamton, N. ae Willard N. Clute & Co, Educational Gazette. Ceading Educational Journal BRIGHT - SCHOLARLY - HELPFUL. SPECIAL OFFER $1.00 . will furnish Gazette 19th : $.25_ 3 - (year If American Botanist is mentioned. FEATURES I, New York State Uniform Examinations Questions and answers. Il. A Year of Birds. III. Correlation in the Grades. IV. Rhetoricals and School Exercises. V. Entertainment page. VI. Current Topics. . Magazine and Book Reviews. . N. Y. State Educational RSWSs. IX. Regents News. X. State Department News. XI. Silk and its Uses. XII. Editorials and Incidents. SPECIAL.—Educational Gazette and either Saunders’ Methods in Primary Reading or Page’s ‘‘Theory and Practice’’, both for $1.00. Address Educational Gazette Pub. Co., D. H. Cook, Mgr. Syracuse, N. vy THE AMATEUR NATURALIST. A Magazine for those who Study Nature Not restricted to any one branch but publishes the things you want to know about plant life, birds, animals, insects, minerals, electricity, etc., and the inter- esting things in astronomy, chemistry, geology and the other natural sciences. While aiming tobe scientifically accurate the facts will be stated in language inter- esting, plain, and from a popular stand- point, Subscription, 50 cents per year. Sample copy may be had for the asking. CHAS. D. PENDELL, Publisher, 65 Court Street, Binghamton, New York. Handbooks of Practical Gardening. Under the General Editorship of Harry RoBERTs. Illustrated, Cloth, J2mo, $1.00 net per volume. Each volume presents a practical monograph on its subject, well illustrated. THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With selections also on Celery, Salsify, Schorzo- nera, and Seakale.. By Charles Ilott. Together with a chapter on their Cooking and Preparation for the Table by the General Editor. THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By H. W. Ward, author of ‘My Gardener.” THE BOOK OF BULBS. By'S. Arnott, of Carsethorne, near Dumfries. THE BOOK OF THE APPLE.’ By H. H. Thomas. Together with chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cooking of the Apple, and the Prepar- ation of Cider. THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES. By G. Wythes. With chapters by the General Editor on the History and Cookery of Vegetables. THE BOOK OF THE STRAWBERRY. With chapters on the Raspberry, Black- berry, Logan Berry, Wineberry and allied fruits. By Edwin Beckett. THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS. By Rev. E. Bartrum. THE BOOK OF BEES. By Charles Harrison. Other volumes in preparation. Write for a complete list of the series to JOHN LANE over evenuz. NEW YORK | Guide to Taxidermy. ori One hundred pages. Full of valuable |! 2 information, with complete instructicns how to prepare and mount ~= Birds, Penimals and Fish. A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS WITH PRICES OF THEIR EGGS, SKINS, AND MOUNTED SPECIMENS; ALSO AN EX- HAUSTIVE LINE OF ORNITHOLOGISTS’, OOLOGISTS’ AND TAXIDERMISTS’ SUPPLIES, VALUABLE INFORMA- TION FOR THE AMATEUR, RECEIPTS, ETC. 35 Cents Postpaid. CHAS. K. REED, 102 UNION ST., : +: WORCESTER, MASS. ne ve mm 1 ve vm 0 TM THE AMERICAN BOTANIST DEVOTED TO ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BOTANY ea ie EDITED BY WILLARD N. CLUTE *ya pA not Vs ae LIBRARY Volume VI NEW YORK ee BOTANICAL GARDEN. BINGHAMTON, N. Y. WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO. 1904 na pe? ey met = * ===>, CONTENTS ~——= | aan aaah CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES. An Odd Distribution of Common Plants. .2°>....... 0. SOE eG Gs ORS sic re OPES Rene Dr. W. W. Batley 41 Botany for Beginners, [Villard N. Clute 4, 24, 45, 64, 86, 108 Potamy, Me; SeUdymOL fo. 02 spn ot ae Tinme Wheeler 10 Flower Show on the East Side, New York, .......... 5 BREN? EON Sea Er en aot ge Pauline Kaufman 83 Gentian, «Phe Youne Frngéd’ = .. 2. J. Ford Sempers 2 PSeRCM ese TUM iro. t tras ree ton si. ahevs teenureio AS. 1OSter 6 In Pennsylvania Woodlands ....... Bessie L. Putnam 62 Le GpaG Ld ESN etfs toh arn Aiea en ca ea DW WW. Batley 8 HecilrOcialy OfamiZiTO. tlie. o. . tae, oust Willard N. Clute 101 Pecises. VV ile foh-d tec eee seta a te eo Dr WW. Bailey 61 SPMD UEMaINNOOG ss. ce baalela sty. qlee es outa A. S. Foster 47 Solanus;-Southern California ....°..: M.F. Bradshaw = 21 Stone Walls of New England ...... Dr. W. W. Batley 1 trikhum, he Dwar, Whites... ..0 2.0... H.A.Gleason 48 Phoneties,ink tees eu Melua ss free eh... Dr. W. W. Bailey 105 Willows, Pussy and Otherwise ..... Dr. W. W. Batley = 28 REPRINTED ARTICLES. Pag incliziaoy: Fats: OO DS O81 OS Bi OS Bi OS BO! OS Di OS BOS Di DS Do CHARLES D. PENDELL, PRINTER, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. +e e@ >