YOu. Xi. NY

GENERAL INDEX.

(Illustrated. articles are designated by an asterisk* before the page number.)

Aconitum noveboracense, Gray, n. sp., 190. Dendrological Notes, 7s. Algz, check list of marine, 105. Desmids of the United States, Turner’s new, Anychia, notes on the species of the genus, 3 Dicotyledons, nomenciatu ~ Bauhinia cretacea, Newberry, n. sp., *77. il, § ee oi wig the Buffalo meeting of the A. A. A.| Duct formation in chestnut wood, 91. ; oy, AOU: Erica and Calluna on Nantucket, 246. Botanical Literature, index to recent Ameri- can, 7, 29, 41, 63, 85, 95, 123, 146, 173, 192, Euphrasia officinalis, 232. 247. Fern Notes, 81, *129, Botanical Notes, 15, 31, 47, 67, 87, 100, 126, 151, | Fern Sporangia, the dehiscence of, 168. 180, 195, 226, 252. Ferns, development of the antheridia in, *49. Botanical Notes in Virginia and the Southern | Flora of the Amboy clays, fossil, 33. Alleghanies, 69, Flora of the Hudson Highlands, notes on, 60. Botanists of the A.A. A.S., a letter from | Flora of New Jersey, notes on, 4. Commissioner Colman to the, 228 Flora of Richmond county, N. Y., 83, Buxbaumia aphylla, time of fruiting of, 244. | Flora of Ross county, Ohio, 114. Flora of Westchester county, N. Y., additions INTRIBUTORS : to, 6, 94, peg Mae a _ 62, 101, Floras, insular, 245. Britton, E.'G., 7, 60, °95, Grasses, new American, 25, 52, 118, . Britton, N. L., 6, 41, 84, 89, 185, 205, Grasses, new species of lexican, 229. Campbell, D. H., 49, 93. Grasses, a new genus of, *219. Claypole. E. W., 187, 191. é Hydrocotyle Americana, tuberiferous, 28. Coville, F. V., 190. Juncus Greenii, southern range of, 5. Davenport, G, E., 81, 129. Libriform tissue, the pores of, *197, *233. Davis, W. T., 222. Marsilea quadrifolia, notes on, 144, Day, E. H., *62, 94, Moss, a new, from Oregon, 120. Dudley, P. H., 91, 122, Myosurus, revision of, 1. Foerste, A. F., *39. Myosurus, a word concerning, 61. sratacap, L. P., 188. Naiadacee in the Torrey Herbarium, *153. Gray, Asa, 1, 101. Notes from the Saguenay River, 188. Greene, E. L., 61, 141, 216, Notes from Schenectady, 39. Gregory, Emily L., *197, *233. Orange leaf scab, notes on the, 181. Hart, John, 101. Orcuttia Californica, Vasey, n. sp., *219.

; Hollick, Arthur, 84. Orthotrichum Pringlei, C. Mull, n. sp., 120.

5 Lighthipe, L. H., 4. Osmunda cinnamomea, var. frondosa, *62. Merrill, F. J. H., 6. Paspalum, synopsis of the genus, 162. Morong, Thomas, 145, *153. Peronospora infestans, the mode of destruc-

Nealley, G. C., 247. tion of the potato by, 191. « Newberry, J. 8., 33, *77, 183. Pine-seed Wings, examination of, 245. mel, ac pad 4 Pinus pungens in New Jersey, 121. Pike, Nicolas, 105. Pinus monophylla and Pinus edulis, 183. Plowright, Charles B., 127. Plants of the Detroit River, 93.

u, E. A., 120, Plants, introduced, Summit county, Ohio, 187. Redfield, J. H., 220, 282, 245. Plants, rarer, of the valley of the Hudson, 6. Safford, Ww. E., 114, 244, Platanus occidentalis, 247. ; argent, C. 8., 78. Poly petalue, some Californian, 141, 216.

Seaman, Wm. H., 145. Populus grandidentata, leaf forms of, *S9. Schrenk, Joseph, 38, 68, 169. Potamogeton Curtisii, Morong, n. sp., 145. Scribner, F. L., 181. Potamogeton Wrightii, Morong, n. sp., *158. \ Fang Georer 35, 25, 88, 118, 162, *219, | Procecainen oft hie Club, 16, 88, 48, 88, 104 » Vasey, Geor, 29, 52, , . | Proceedings of the Club, 16, 32, 48, 88, 104, , 299, ge, 7 ? 1 98, 226, 259, wine: H., 39. uercus alba, plurality of embryos in, *95. Willis, O. R., 246. ercus Muhlenbergii, note on, 40. Wolle, Francis, 56. Seeds, Res, structure of the testa of several, *17. O Tema localities, still further notes upon, | Starch in the wood of chestnut, notes on, 122.

. Union of an oak with a birch, 221.

Cyperi, Upbigre e g list of North Americar | Veltheimia, proterandry in, 62. ?

species 0: Yucca, nectary of, *135. ERRatTa, VOLUME XIIL.

Page 79, line 30, for Andrews’ Bold, read Andrew’s Bald. “« 80, 32, * Cousin’s Head, ‘* Czwsar’s Head.

“82, 30, specimens, species. S188 a ea “« medium.

Be Ee a ee eee, “« 7 King street, King’s Lynn, Eng. a 455.

Z

185, 92% 446,

i 1

BULLETIN

TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. Vol. Xill.] ‘New York, January, 1886. ‘INo. I.

| : Notes on Myosurus,

; By Asa GRAY.

{ It has come in my way to take up the genus Myosurus. My preliminary study leaves some points in doubt, which may be set- tled by the additional materials and observations which the fol- lowing remarks are designed to solicit.

recognized species, for MM. Shortit, Raf., is clearly understood to be identical with the Linnean species.* Some authors have regarded our MW. minimus as an introduction from Europe. I have never seen it growing, and therefore cannot form a judg- ment on personal observation. It is not known in the Northern Atlantic States east of the Alleghanies. In Elliott’s time it was known in the Southern Atlantic States, by a station at Augusta, Georgia: but from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas it extends so far westward that we can hardly suppose it to have been an European importation. Buta good many far-western specimens which have been referred to it belong to another species. If indigenous, it is one of those plants which are common to Europe and America, but not to Asia. The opinion that it is truly indigenous to America is much strengthened by the fact that this country possesses all the other species. Inavery recent Reveston of Myosurus by Mr. Greene, in Bull. Calif. Acad., i, 276-279, two varieties of JZ. minimus are described. The first, var. apus, is said to have the scapes only a line or two long, and it was collected by Mr. Orcutt back of San Diego. Mr. Cleveland sends us from the same habitat fruiting specimens with scapes

Sir Wm. Hooker, are truly this plant, although Mr. Greene, in Bull. Calif. Acad., i, mentions that what he has from is Plantago pusilla,

M. minimus, L.—Down to recent times this was the only

*Our specimens of No. 3 of Drummond’s Coll. from New Orleans, distributed by

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from a quarter to a full half-inch long, which very well match a similar form in Todaro’s Flora Sicula Exsiccata. His var. ilt- Jormis needs further investigation of mature specimens of its vari- ous forms. Some of the specimens referred to it may belong toa variety of the next species, but not the Guadaloupe plant nor that of Rusby from Arizona.

M. APETALUS, Gay.— (FI. Chil., i., 31, t. 1, fig. 1.) It will be seen that this older name should be restored. When Mr. Bentham sent his name and account of WZ. aristatus to Sir Wm. Hooker, the latter recognized the identity of Geyer’s with Gay’s Chilian plant ; but, finding petals, discarded the latter’s name as a false one. Sir Joseph Hooker in the New Zealand Flora, fol- lowed his father, although stating that the specimens are apetalous. And Bentham says the same of the Australian plant, which he refers to WM. minimus, the M. australis of Mueller, which prob- ably belongs to the following variety of the present species; but my specimens are too young to prove it. I am convinced that the beak, which suggested Bentham’s name, is fallacious as a ; character, and that a series may be arranged from the longest beaked forms to those which areas beakless as M/. minimus often, but not always, is. Consequently, if the name afetal/us may be rejected because the species is often petaliferous, so may that of aristatus, because the arista or beak is often wanting. Since the latter name must subside, we need not insist that the name, as well as the character, was published as Bentham’s. So that the latter’s incidental mention of it, sixteen years later, as M. aristatus, Geyer,” whether by mistake or intention, can hardly require Mr. Greene to cite the published name as of Geyer.

Var. LEPTURUS.—I give this name to a series of specimens which have generally been referred to MW. minimus on account of having as short a beak or tip as has the akene of that species, but in which the akenes are oblong, narrower, and more carinate on the back, and the body thinner walled and more utricular, and the seed oblong, as in ordinary J. apetalus, in this even elongated- oblong. The best fruiting specimens I possess are those of Lem-

mon from California (No. 1 of Coll., 1874), and of the Howell’s from N. E. Oregon (No. 38 of Coll., 1882). Hartweg’s No. 1629, from the Sacramento Valley, Macca s No. 50, from Vancouver's

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Island in 1875, and even Parry's No. 11 of his Wyoming expedi- tion, may belong here, but are not in fruit. Yet they may have broader akenes and oval seeds, which would identify them with Greene’s JZ. minimus var. filiformis, of which, as I have said, more mature specimens are much wanted. The very depauperate specimens from Antioch, Cal., are certainly of this variety of MW. apetalus. Suksdorf’s No. 492, Coll. 1885, from the Columbia River, is quite intermediate between undoubted M. apetalus and this var. lepturus.

M. SESSILIS, Watson, (Proc. Am. Acad., xvii., 363), with carpel-spikes even at maturity perfectly sessile at the root, oval akenes, with acutely carinate back continued into a beak, and short oval seeds, must be a good species, known as yet only in Howell’s specimens (No. 383 of 1882), from alkaline flats of N. E. Oregon.

M. CUPULATUS, Watson, |. c., is most distinct. Its small akenes thicken on the sides and round the back with a corky or coriaceous growth of whitish color, the upper edge of which forms a rim or shallow cup around the base of the green and gladiate- subulate beak; the proper cell is small, thin-walled, and filled by the oval seed.

M. ALOPECUROIDES, Greene (in Bull. Calif. Acad., i, 278), the latest-published species, appears to be a good one; but more mature fruit is desirable. It comes between JZ. apfetalus and M. cupulatus, yet with the general shape of the akenes more like

that of M. minimus. It is characterized by the development of

a soft-cellular border around the oblong back of the akene, which thus becomes concave, and the conspicuous beak is laterally flattened, as in JZ. cupulatus, but is narrower. The short spur of the sepals may not be trusted, for this is nearly wanting in some flowers of WW. apetalus.

The fruit of Myosurus is said to be an akene; it might as well be called an utricle, or even a follicle. For in all the species, though least in JZ. minimus, the ventral portion or proper body of the mature carpel is soft-cellular or thin, and more or less

_ scarious, and the ventral suture very commonly dehisces when the carpels fall from the receptacle.

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A word upon the authorship of the genus. Linnzus, as his manner is, writes Myosurus, Dill.” So, also, do Endlicher, Jus- sieu (except that he goes further back), De Candolle, Torrey and Gray, etc., etc. All¥this Mr. Greene must have overlooked, when, in his revision of MZyosurus, he reclaimed this genus for Dillenius in a special foot-note, and supposed that he stood alone. The practice of recognizing the genera of Tournefort, Dillenius, and the like (when adopted by Linnzus, or subse- quently taken up) is general, though not universal. Neverthe- less one can understand and appreciate the reasons which gov- erned the authors of the last Genera Plantarum, when they de- cided not to go back of Linnzus. Yet we prefer to follow a fairly established rule—to follow, indeed, the practice of Linnzeus himself. ,

I add a key to the species of AZyosurus so far as I now know them.

* Mature carpels with back carinate from base to apex, not suberose nor cellular

thickened. t Scapose.

M. APETALUs, Gay.—Mature carpels oblong, thin-walled, with narrow promi- nently carinate back, prolonged into an ascending or loose beak ; seed oblong. Var. LEPTURUS.—Slender-spiked ; carpels less carinate on the broader back beak short and erect or obsolete ; seed elongated-oblong. M. mintmus, L.—Mature carpels somewhat quadrate, broad-backed ; seed ovis t+ t Scape none, even in fruit. M. sEsSILIS, Watson.—Carpels of the thickish spikes oval, more scarious- utricular, with narrow salient kee] prolonged into a subulate beak ; seed short, o7 * * Mature carpels with cellular or suberose thickening around tn an laterally flattened-beaked keel. M. ALOPECUROIDES, Greene.—Short-scaped spikes thickish ; ooldig back akenes with a soft-cellular border and barely concave, the body wholly searious-cellu- lar ; seed oblong-oval. M. cupuLaTus, Watson.—Slender-scapose and slender-spiked ; mature aken roundish, with corky or cartilaginous thickening of back and sides, forming a cu border around the triangular-subulate, much compressed beak ; seed oval. _

Notes on the New Jersey Flora.

By. L. H. LIGHTHIPE.

- At Rocky Hill, Somerset Co., N. J., I collected : : trifolia, L. Orchis spectabilis, L.; Obolaria Virginie:

_ lownia imperialis, Sieb. and Zucc. This last has | _ cultivation and is growing among the rocks along the

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of the Millstone River. There are about a dozen trees, six or seven years old, in the woods, over a quarter of a mile from trees in cultivation, or from the nearest house.

At Woodbridge, Middlesex Co.: Agutlegia vulgaris, L.; Ra- nunculus ambigens, Watson; Ammannia humilis, Michx.; Cuphea viscosissima, Jacq.; Centaurea nigra, L.; Datura Tatula, L.: Sabbatia stellaris, Pursh., white flowers; Gerardia purpurea, Ls white flowers; Brunella vulgaris, Tourn., white flowers; Ger- ardia auriculata, Michx., (the only known locality in New Jersey.) °

At Sand Hills, three miles from Woodbridge, on the north side of the Raritan River: Cypripedium acaule, L.; Lycopodium dendroideum, Michx.; Tephrosia Virginiana, Pers.; Magnolia glauca, L.; Andromeda Mariana, L; Calopogon pulchellus, R. Br.; Avrethusa bulbosa, L.; Pogonia ophioglossoides, Nutt.; Drosera rotundifolia, L.; Drosera longifolia, L.; Kalmia angustifolia, L.; Leucothoe racemosa, Gray; Epigea repens, L.; Azalea vis- cosa, L.; Gerardia pedicularia, L.; Lonicera sempervirens, Ait. ; Polygonum tenue, Michx.; Polygala cruciata, L.; Habenaria blephariglottis, Hook.; Eupatorium rotunadtfolium, L.; Eupato- rium teucrifolium, Willd.; Euphorbia Ipecacuanhe, L.; Aster linariifolius, Hook.; Chrysopsis Mariana, Nutt.; Pinus inops, Ait. Many of these are peculiar to the Yellow Drift formation, ot which this is, I believe, the extreme northern limit in Eastern New Jersey.

Near Spring Lake, Monmouth Co.: Polygala polygama, Walt. ; Limosella aquatica, L.; var. tenutfolia, Hoftm. ; Aletris farinosa, L; Monotropa Hypopitys, L.

Near Bay Head, Ocean Co.: Liatris spicata, Willd. ; Limo- sella aquatica, L.; var. tenuifolia, Hoffm.; Utricularia gibba, L.

At Perth Amboy: Liatris spicata, Willd.

Southern Range of Juncus Greenii, Oakes and Tuck.

In the last edition of Gray’s Manual of Botany this plant is credited to the sandy coast of New England and on the Great - Lakes near Detroit.” It extends much farther southward, how- ever, along the Atlantic coast. In the State Flora of New York

6

it was doubtfully credited to Long Island, but its presence in Suf- folk County was later confirmed by Messrs. E. 8. Miller and H. W. Young.* It was collected some years ago by Mr. W. H. Leggett near Rossville, Staten Island,f and in July of last year I found it growing abundantly on the yellow drift along the southern shore of the Raritan River near Sayreville, Middlesex Co., N. J., and on Sandy Hook. It seems to replace J. dichoto- mus, E\l., of southern New Jersey in the northward extension of the Pine Barren Flora. N. L. BRITTON.

Note on Some Rarer Plants of the Valley of the Hudson.

At Verplanck’s Point, near Cruger’s Station on the Hudson River Railroad, are fine bluffs of paleeozoic limestone. Among plants noticed there are Campanula rotundifolia, L.; Anemone dichotoma, .; Thuja occidentalis, L.; Arenaria Michauxit, Watson; Viburnum pubescens, Pursh.; Avabis lyrata, L.; Taxus baccata, L., var. Canadensis, Gray; Verbena angustifolia, Michx. ; Potentilla argentea, L. These were all picked up in little over an hour. The locality is worth careful examination.

On the crystalline rocks along the west side of the Hudson were noticed Adlumia cirrhosa, Raf., above Jones’ Point; Viburnum pubescens, Pursh.; Netllia opulifolia, B. & H., and Corydalis flavula, Raf.,at West Point; Acer Pennsylvanicum, L., Crow’s Nest Mountain; Polygonum cilinode, Michx., and Adlumia cirrhosa, Raf., below Cornwall; Celtis occidentalis, L., Tompkins’ Cove.

Along a roadside west of Cornwall, Stel/aria graminea was growing abundantly.

F. J. H. MERRILL.

Additions to the Westchester County Flora. The following are additions to the Flora of Westchester Co., N. Y., not reported in the Willis Catalogue ; Ranunculus pusillus, Poir., Pelhamville ; Viola pubesceus, Ait., double-flowered, Pelham Manor ; Artemisia caudata, Michx., Premium Pt., New Rochelle;

*Cat. Plants Suffolk Co., 1874, p. 13. t See Bulletin, iv., 24.

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Callitriche heterophylla, Pursh., Upper New Rochelle, collected by Prof. E. H. Day; Osmunda cinnamomea, L.; var. frondosa, Gray, and Eguisetum sylvaticum, L., collected at Pelhamville by E. G. Knight. From Yonkers, N. Y., collected by E. C. Howe, ° are reported Centaurea nigra, L. (BULLETIN, v. 52, vi. 56), and Rumex orbiculatus, Gray. E. G. B.

Index to Recent American Botanical Literature.

Amaryllis Treatte. Mrs. Fanny E. Briggs. (Gard. Month. XXViii., (1886), pp. 23-24.)

Botanical Necrology of 1885. Asa Gray. (Am. Journ. Seci., XXXL; pp. 12-22.)

The death of Charles Wright on the 11th of August, and of George W. Clinton on the 7th of September, have called forth an interesting account of their work in American Botany, which Dr. Gray, from personal acquaintance and correspondence, is so well able to give. The frequent and varied botanical excursions of Charles Wright in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, his con- nection with the Ringgold-Rogers North Pacific Exploring Ex- pedition, and his numerous explorations in Cuba, extending over a period of nine years, enabled him to make collections which are scattered through all the large Herbaria of the United States and Europe, and have provided material for publications of great value to North American botanists. But two of these appear in his own name. George W. Clinton’s botanical work, beginning with three years’ scientific studies as a young man, and renewed after an interval of thirty-two years devoted to law, resulted in the Clinton Herbarium for the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, and a Catalogue of the Native and Naturalized Plants of the City of Buffalo and its vicinity. Dr. Gray also gives a very interest- ing account of Edmond Boissier and Johannes August Christian Roeper.

Cercospore—Supplementary Enumeration of the. J.B. Ellis and B. M. Everhart (Journ. Mycol., ii., (1886), pp. 1-2.) Eight additional species to the ten already described in the same journal are given; six of them are new.

8

Cimicifuga racemosa, Nutt. C. G. Lloyd. (Drugs and Medicines of North America, i., (1885), pp. 244-272. Four plates, 17 figures. )

Part 8 is on the same extensive scale as the preceding ones, containing éleven pages of botanical description of the above and allied species, with a map showing the geographical distribution. We note the omission of any localities on Staten Island and Long Island, though it grows abundantly on the morainal hills in each, and Connecticut is also left blank on the map, though the text reports the plant as found there.

The portion describing the microscopic structure was pre- pared by Louisa Reed Stowell, and is illustrated by cross sections

of the root and rhizome, with ‘drawings of the starch grains found

in the latter. It is to be regretted that the dimensions are not given in micromillemeters. Chemical constituents and analyses with the history in the Pharmacopceia complete the number. At the present rate of progress Messrs. Lloyd will require long lives to complete the series.

Coca.—The Cultivation of. Dr. Henry H. Rusby. (Therapeutic |

Gazette, x. (1886) pp. 14-18.)

Dr. Rusby has been engaged for several months in the study of the coca-plant (Erythroxylon coca,) in the mountains of Bolivia, and mainly in the district of Yungas, which contains the

principal coca districts of the Republic These are situated to |

the east of La Paz, on the eastern side of the easternmost cordil- lera of the Andes, which here has an average elevation of about 16,000 feet, and is always more or less snow-covered. He gives a brief description of the flora of the region, from which we ex- tract the following:

Descending this slope, which is extremely steep, the first coca plantations are met at an altitude of about 6,400 feet, and occur down to the 2,000 foot level. The flora of the summit of the cordillera is low and mat-like. A little lower Dr. Rusby met with some Gentianaceew, among them one which he suggests may be the same as Halenia Rothrockii, Gray, of Arizona, accompanied by shrubby Acanthacee and Bignoniacee. At 9,000 feet orchids and Caceolarias begin with arborescent Me/-

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astomacee@ ; at 8,000 feet the first tree ferns are met, the timber trees become quite large and Begonias make their appearance. “From this point the vegetation begins to assume a really trop- ical aspect. We find many species of Calceolaria, Fuchsia and Amaryllidacee, while the varicty of orchids and ferns is quite bewildering. At 6,500 feet we see the first palms, and the for- est trees become buttressed giants, staggering under their loads of vines, and climbing aroids and ferns, and their branches cov- ered with Bromeliacee and orchids.”

Among the cultivated plants of the coca-districts, Dr. Rusby mentions coffee, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, maize, cotton, sweet potatoes and the ordinary garden vegetables. Of fruits, there are oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, lemons, citrons, grapes, pome- granates, figs, melons, pineapples, and several others peculiar to the region. He is of the opinion that the coca is adapted for cul- ture in many countries, and suggests Guatemala, Mexico, the East and West Indies, India, and possibly southern Italy. . Jamaica presents especially promising conditions. It is doubtful if it would grow in any portion of the United States. Several years since a small quantity of seeds, were successfully germinated in Ceylon, and during the past season the first products were sold in London at a high price. : Council Tree of the Senecas at Geneva, N. Y. (Gard. Month.

xxviii., (1886), pp. 49-51.)

The Editor of the Gardener’s Monthly gives an interesting account of this noble. elm, part of which is yet standing on the ~ Old Castle farm, owned by the heirs of Mr. Jerome Lewis. It is, in fact, a double tree, the two parts branching just above the ground. Measurements made on Augpst 21, 1879, gave the following: trunk, just above the ground, but near the crown of the roots, 25 feet; two feet above the last measurement, or about three feet above the ground, 21 feet, 3 inches; trunk of west branch, 13 feet, 6 inches; east branch, 15 feet, 2 inches, the last two measurements being five feet from the ground. Under the > eastern edge of the tree is a large stone, deeply imbedded in the ground; this has a hollow scooped out towards one end, and was probably used by the Indians for pounding corn in, and is | in the same place where it was used and left by them. A cut

10

taken from a photograph accompanies Mr. Meehan’s description. One of the large branches, comprising about one-half of the tree, was blown off in a gale of wind, September 14, 1882, so that the elm has now lost its grandeur and beauty.

Conspectus Hepaticarum Subordinum, Tribuum et Subtribuum. R. Spruce. (Trans. & Proc. Bot. Soc., Edinburgh, xv., pp. 309-588. Plates V-XXIL.)

This is the second part of the Memoir on the Hepaticz of the Amazonand of the Andes of Peru and Ecuador, and contains the Jungermaniee of sub-order I., and sub-orders II., III., and IV., Marchantiacee, Ricciacee, and Anthocerotacee, including 46 genera, comprising full descriptions of every species, with their characters, habits, and distribution in equatorial America. The author states that he has been prevented by illness from complet- ing the Introduction which he had intended to issue with this part, hence he hopes to be able to present it as a Supplement to the work, including additional matter on the hepatic vegetation and the bearing thereon of the principal features of the region explored, with some critical remarks on certain of the genera and species.

Curtis, Rev. Moses Ashley.—A Sketch of the Botanical Work of. Thomas F. Wood. (Journ. Elisha Mitchell Scientific Soc., 1884-’85, pp. 9-31.)

Cuscuta.—Notes on. E. J. Wilkson (Trans. San Francisco Mic. Soc., Dec. oth, 1885.)

Dandelion A Study of the. E. Lewis Sturtevant. (Am. Nat., xx., (1886), pp. 5-9.

A valuable contribytion to the literature of this plant, giving the common names in eleven languages, citing authorities dating back to 1539 and 1583 for descriptions of varieties, and tracing the history of its use and cultivation as a salad in England, France and the United States. From observations conducted at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva the author describes a dozen different form-species, figures 6 leaf-forms, and inclines to the conclusion that they are of natural origin. “Before, however, such a radical belief can receive countenance, much _ must be done in the herbarium study of varieties collected from

11

various sources, in order that we may have wild forms to which our cultivated types can be referred. Our so-called modern vege- tables, introduced as novelties, often seem to be such only because we are unfamiliar with what our predecessors possessed.”

Fungt.—New Kansas. J. B. Ellis and W. A. Kellerman. (Journ. Mycol., ii., pp. 3-4.) Eight new species are characterized.

Fissidens.—Notes on the European and North American Species of Mosses of the Genus. William Mitten, A.L.S. (Journ. Linn. Soc., xxi., pp. 550-560.)

Three pages of introductory remarks and references, followed by the analytical key, precede the specific descriptions. Of these there are in all thirty-nine. The key is sub-divided into: I. Forms terrestrial; II. Forms aquatic; and in the latter he restores Conomitrium Julianum, Mont., and C. Hallianum, Sull. and Lesq., to the genus Fiss¢dens. ‘This survey is rendered possible by the recent publication of Braithwaite’s British Moss Flora, and the Manual of North American Mosses.”

Flora of Virginia.—Contributions to the Knowledge of the older Mesozoic. William Morris Fontaine. (Monographs U. S. Geol. Survey, vi., pp. 144, 54 plates.)

An account of the geology of the mesozoic areas, forming part I. of the work, precedes the account of the fossil flora. 47

_ species of plants are there described, and nearly all figured. These are divided as follows: Eguzsete, 5 species; Ferns, 25 species ;

Cycads, 12 species, and the fruit of a thirteenth; Conifere, 2 spe-

cies, and three plants whose botanical affinities are doubtful-

From his investigations of these plants Professor Fontaine con-

cludes that the flora is not older than that of the Rhetic beds of

the Old World, which are at the very summit of the triassic sys- tem, or the base of the jurassic. It is essentially the same as that of the mesozoic strata of North Carolina, an account of which, taken from the work of Dr. Emmons, is appended, with descriptions and figures of plants recorded by him in ‘‘ American Geology,” Part IV.

Jamaica Ferns of Sloane's Herbarium.—On the. G.8. Jenman, F.L.S. (Journ. of Bot., xxiv., (1886), pp. 14-17, to be continued.)

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They comprise Vol. I. of Sloane’s Natural History of Jamaica, which, though two hundred years old, contains several rare and only recently re-discovered species. The numbers run to one hun- dred and three, but these include a few flowering plants which he thought to be allied to ferns. Most of the specimens are in ex- cellent condition. Sloane’s collections in Jamaica and adjacent islands extended over a period of fifteen months and formed the foundation of the immense collections which he bequeathed to the British Museum. His classification of ferns and the synonyms used are superseded, but the author derived much benefit by studying these old types.

Layia glandulosa, Hook. and Arn. (Curtis’s Bot. Mag., xlii., Tab. 6856. The specimen figured flowered at Kew in the open border, July, 1885.

Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket—On the Flora of. J.H. Red- field. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., (1885), pp. 378-379.)

The northern portion of the Island of Martha’s Vineyard rises into rounded hills of considerable elevation, composed of gravelly drift, strewn occasionally with large boulders. The more central portion consists of level plains of gravel covered with oaks, mostly Quercus obtusiloba. The general character of the flora is much like that found on the summits of the divides in southern New Jersey, though much more limited as to species. In Nan- tucket he had found the gravelly hills of much less height, the greater portion of the island consisting, in fact, of treeless plains.

_ The most characteristic plant of these plains seemed to be Arcto- staphylos Uva-urst. The two species of Hudsonia abound, as do Polygala polygama, Myrica cerifera, and various Vaccinee. He saw many large patches of Corema Conradiz. But the most in- teresting feature is the existence here of three species of heath, possibly indigenous. Mrs. Owen, who published a preliminary catalogue of the Nantucket flora a few years ago, records Ca/- luna vulgaris and Erica cinerea as found upon the island. Mr. Redfield did not see the locality of Ca//una, but had the privilege of seeing that of Erica cinerea. This plant covers only an area of eight inches by ten, and has been known for a space of ten or twelve years. Since his visit the third species, Erica tetralix,

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had been discovered in a locality very distant from that of £. cinerea. There are said to be seven or eight plants, all thriving, large and bushy.

Mertensia Virginica, D. C.

In the Garden for Dec. 26, 1885, p. 654, will be found direc- tions for cultivating this charming plant, and a beautifully colored plate accompanies the number.

Mistletoe tn various Localities.

In the Gardener's Monthly and Horticulturist for January, 1886, (Vol. xxviii., pp. 24, 25.), a number of notes from corres- pondents give the host plant of Phoradendron in widely separated localities. About Savannah, Mr. C. A. Oelschig reports it as most abundant on oaks, especially the water-oak, but had observed the parasite on pear-trees, and in a single instance on Olea fragrans. Mr. S. T. Walker says it is found exclusively on the oaks in Oregon. Mr. D. S. Watson notes that in Texas the mistletoe appears to have no choice, growing on almost any kind oftree. In western Texas it is particularly abundant on the mesquite and hackberry. In the vicinity of Hammonton, New Jersey, Mr. F. L. Bassett finds it mainly on Wyssa multifiora ; he notes a single infested tree of the red maple. Another correspondent tells how he found it on the red oak near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1863.

My New Jersey experience with the mistletoe agrees with Mr. Bassett’s report. I have seen it repeatedly on the Vyssa, and have the best authority for its presence on the red maple, in but two instances, however.

For additional information on Phoradendron see this journal, iii., p. 26; iv., pp. 12, 13; vi., pp. 64, 147, 235; xi., pp. 76, 87.

N; -3s..B: North Carolina Plants—A Preliminary List of Additions to Curtis’ Catalogue of. M. E. Hyams.

Ninety-three additional species are reported, without locali- ties. Errors of spelling are inexcusably numerous. (Journal Elisha Mitchell Scientific Soc., 1884-'85, pp. 74-76.)

Northern Pacific Railroad.—Notes on the Geology and Botany of the Country bordering the. Prof. J. S. Newberry. (Ann.

N. Y. Acad. Sci., iii, (1884) pp. 242-270.)

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The botanical parts of this interesting paper are: (1) A brief description of the forests of the Rocky Mountains. (2) Those of the Cascade Mountains, and the flora of the Lower Columbia. Polyporus.—Notes on. J. B. Ellis. (Journal Mycol., ii.

pp. 5, 6.) Rosa pisocarpa, Gray. (Curtis’ Bot. Mag. xlii., Tab. 6857.)

The Kew plants were raised from seed received from Prof. Sargent; they flowered in July and fruited in September.

Sassafras.—Large trees of. Dr. Gordon W. Russell Cee Month., xxviii, (1886) p. 22.)

West of Baédaport: Conn., G. L. Porter Bessie a tree having a circumference of 78 inches, 4 feet above the ground; and re- ports another having a circumference of 110 inches at 54 feet above the ground.

Tendril Movements in Cucurbita Maxima and C. Pepo. D. P. Penhallow. (Am. Journ. Sci., xxxi., pp. 46-57, Pl. V.; to be continued.)

Recent discoveries on the continuity of protoplasm have thrown more light on some studies made by the author in 1874, of the movements of the tendrils and terminal bud of the squash. After giving careful explanation of the methods pursued in grow- ing and recording the movements, as shown by diagrams, he proceeds to explain the histology of the tendril. Three impor- tant areas were noted, running the length of the tendril, each in a depression which is noticeably greener than the rest of the ten- dril. To these areas the name Vibrogen tissue has been given, as itis to these the origin of movements are due. The subse- quent movements are fully explained and torsion has been ob- served, contrary to statements of Sachs. The continuity of pro- toplasm was demonstrated most clearly in the collenchyma, of which a most satisfactory drawing will be found. The move- ments which bring about the formation of the double spiral are described at length and full measurements given.

Teucrium Canadense.—Fertilization of. Aug. F. Foerste,

(Am. Nat., XX., p. 66.) Transpiration—Some Notes on Plant. F. P. Venable. (Jour- nal Elisha Mitchell Scientific Soc., 1884-’85, pp. 63-66.)

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Botanical Notes.

Poppies on Railway Embankments. The horticulturists who do so much to render summer railway travel agreeable in the more settled parts of the country by their ingenuity and taste, in decorating the grounds about the stations,’my perhaps be interested to know that in the opinion of M. Cambier, chief roadmaster of the French Government railways, the best plant yet discovered for consolidating, by the interlacing of its roots, the loose soil of a newly made embankment is the double poppy. Ten years’ trial has enabled M. Cambier, as he says, to guarantee that the poppy will be found far more efficient for this purpose than any of the grasses or clovers usually employed; and while these require several months for the development of their com- paratively feeble roots, the double poppy germinates in a few days, and in two weeks grows enough to give some protection to the slope, while at the end of three or four months the roots, which are ten or twelve inches long, are found to have interlaced so as to retain the earth far more firmly than those of any grass or grain. Although the plant is an annual, it sows itself after the first year, and with a little care the bank is always in good con- dition. In France the double poppy is perfectly hardy, and can be sown at almost any time from March to November. With us it is also said to be quite hardy, and a long embankment covered through the later summer and autumn with the dazzling scarlet blossoms contrasted with green grass at the foot of the slope, would have a most striking effect—American Architect.

Specimens of Cuscuta wanted. Prof. C. E. Bessey, of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., desires to obtain by exchange or purchase, specimens of Cuscute in flower or fruit.

Queer Books in a German Library. One of the most curiously original collection of books in any library is said to be a botanical collection at Warsenstein, in Germany. At first sight the volumns appear like rough blocks of wood; but on closer examination it is found that each is a complete history of the particular tree which it represents. At the back of the book the bark has been removed from a space large enough to admit the scientific and the common name of the tree as a title. One side

16

is formed from the split wood of the tree, showing its grain and natural fracture; the other shows the wood when worked smooth and varnished. One end shows the grain as left by the saw, and the other the finely polished wood. On opening the book one finds the fruit, seeds, leaves, and other products of the tree, the moss which usually grows upon its trunk, and the insects which feed upon the various parts of the tree. To all this is added a well printed description of the habits, usual location, and manner of growth of the tree.—Zondon Daily News.

Proceedings of the Club.

The annual business meeting was held at Columbia College, Jan. 12th, Dr. J. S. Newberry in the chair.

The reports of officers were read and accepted.

The Recording Secretary reported 74 members on the roll.

The Curator reported 703 plants mounted during the past year, and 1,230 species in the Local Herbarium.

The Librarian announced 60 exchanges with the BULLETIN

The following were elected active members: Miss Eliza Youmans, Miss M. B. Flint, and Messrs. E. E. Sterns, E. B. Southwicke and P. H. Dudley.

Messrs. I. C. Martindale, W. M. Canby, Randall Spaulding and Dr. A. W. Chapman were elected corresponding members.

Dr. N. L. Britton, Arthur Hollick and P. H. Dudley were appointed to inaugurate a series of public lectures on botanical subjects during the present year.

The following officers were elected for the current year: President, Dr. J.S. Newberry; Vice-President, Thomas Hogg; Treasurer, Wm. H. Rudkin; Recording Secretary, Arthur Hol- lick; Corresponding Secretary, Maria O. Steele; Editor, Eliza- beth G. Britton; Associate Editor, F. J. H. Merrill; Curator, M. O. Steele; Librarian, N. L. Britton.

The following standing committees were appointed: Finance, John L. Wall, J. O. Poggenburg; Admissions, Benjamin Braman, Joseph Schrenk; Library and Herbarium, N. L. Briton Miss ; M. O. Steele, Miss H. C. Gaskin, Miss Alice Rich.

Rev. L. H. Lighthipe read a list of rarer plants collected New Jersey.

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. Plate LIIl.

FIG. 12. FIG. 13.

SSS

SR SREP STS

FIG. 16.

FIG. 17.

Fic. 13 : Fic. 21.

Structure of some Leguminous Seed Coats, L. H. Pammel.

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. _—Plate LIl.

FIG. 1.

Structure of some Leguminous Seed Coats. L, H. Pammel.

BULLETIN

TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, Vol. XIII] New York, February, 1886. (No. 2.

On the Structure of the Testa of Several Leguminous Seeds.

By L. H. PAMMEL. Plates Lu and Lut.

The structure of the seed-coats of numerous Leguminos@ has been studied by several able observers,* but as their observa- tions relate in the main to thin-walled seeds, like those of Phase- olus, Pisumand Vicia, I undertook an examination of the exceed- ingly hard seeds of the Kentucky Coffee Tree, and of the Sea Bean and Calabar Bean at the suggestion of Prof. Trelease, ir whose laboratory the work was done. I am greatly indebted to him for many suggestions in connection with the work, as well as - for the use of literature on the subject. The common garden bean, or haricot bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, has been taken as illus- trating the typical structure of the leguminous seed. Haber- landt has fully described the structure and development of the seed-coats of Phaseolus,* but the following resumé of the results

*J. Gaertner, ‘‘ De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum,”’ 1791, ii., p.325, describes ‘the seeds of Vicia pisiformis, V. nodosa, V. biennis, V. hybrida. : - G. W. Bischoff, Handbuch der bot. Terminologie und Systemkunde, 1883, Taf XLIIL., Fig. 1869. M. J. Schleiden und J. R. Th. Vogel, Ueber das Albumen insbesondere der Legum- inosen. Nov. actad. Leop. Carol. Academ. xix., pt. II., p. 51. e F. Nobbe, Handbuch der Samenkunde, 1876, pp. 7 and 84, figures and de. scribes the seed-coats of Medicago sativa, Trifolium pratense and Vicia faba. A. Sempolowski, Beitraege zur Kenntniss des Baues der Samenschale. Inaugural dissertation, Leipzig, 1874, 3 Taf. v J. Chalon, La graine des Legumineuses, (1) cellules de la carapace, (2) albumen, ons, 1875. ee : M. < Monnier, Recherches sur la nervation de la graine. Ann. des Sciences Naturelles, 5 series, xvi., 1872, p. 233- : cee Giinther Beck, Vergleichende Anatomie der Samen von Vicia und Ervum. Kaiser. lichen Akademie der Wissenschafien, Wien, 1878, Ixxvii., I. Abtheilung, p. 5452 2i R. Junawiez, Die Lichtlinie inden Prismencellen der Samenschalen. iserlic Akademie der Wissenchaften, Wien, 1877, I Abth, Ixxvi., p. 335, 2 Taf. as Georg Lohde, Ueber die Entwickelungsgeschichte und den Bau einiger Samen- schalen. Inaugural dissertation, Leipzig, 1874, 2 Taf. ae Joh. Friedrich Fickel, Ueber die Anatomie und ,Entwickelu hichte Samenschalen einiger Gucurbitaceen. Inaugural dissertation, Leipzig, 1876, 2 Ta

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of my own examination, though agreeing in general with his statements, is given to facilitate comparison when the other seeds are described :

THE COMMON GARDEN BEAN (Phaseolus vulgaris, Savi.)— In the seed-coats of the common garden bean there are five well- marked layers: I. The palisade layer. II. The crystal layer. III. A layer of simple parenchyma. IV. A layer in which the fibro- vascular elements are found, surrounded by parenchyma. V. A layer of very compact branched cells.

The cuticle covering the palisade cells, as described by Haber- landt, is very hard to distinguish because of its tenuity and the difficulty involved in getting sections which are thin enough, while in some varieties it has a tendency to flake off.

The prismatic palisade cells are five, six or more sided, and in a surface view show a branched cell cavity (Fig. 1). In a cross section of the seed-coats (Fig. 2) the cells are seen to be greatly elongated radially. The central cell cavity, which is somewhat widened at the base, extends nearly the entire length of the cell to the cuticle (Fig 3).+ Asa consequence of this gradual widening, the lateral walls gradually become thinner towards the base (Figs. 3 and 4).

In an isolated palisade cell, macerated in concentrated potash, or in Schultze’s medium, the structure of the folds and the cell cavity are more clearly indicated, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In the colored varieties of Phaseolus, the cell cavities are filled with a pigment. The narrow “light line” runs close under the cuticle (Fig. 2, 1*.)t

In a surface view the cells of the second layer are five or six sided, very thick-walled, and the cavity appears to be filled with a crystal of calcium oxalate.§ eo

*G, Haberlandt, Ueber die Entwickelungsgeschichte und den Bau der Samenschale bei der Gattung Phaseo/us. Separat abdruck aus den Sitzungsbericht der Kais. Akad. der Wiss. ; Wien, 1877, Ixxvi., I. Abth.

tThere are some apparent exceptions to this, as in some cases this portion of the cavity seemed only to extend up about one-third of the distance.

} Sicyos angudatus is said to have peculiar refractive portions so characteristic of ica they are present in the third layer. (See Fickel, 1. c., p. 11, Plate

ay Pig. 22,

§in some of the varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris the cells present a different appear ance, since they do not contain crystals. The inner layer ot parenchyma cells in the seed-coats of Sicyos angulatus contain, according to Fickel (1.