me 10,
Sey yy tine wade He aaa ®
Stas Suet
. . eb eee *’ ANE She hee ee
‘ arin
fee here ae o Ve eNqatet ete eerie es thee yale lately age .
ee in
Bee © re toe sf te
~~ ome a ae)
wee ashe + CeO Ue eae ake
. ‘ . ’ » ae eee deste Nidal ereetahtee eRe eae ’ : . ow } ght .
Oe hee ‘ -
* MG Slew oe aver
> eee oe 8 tee mee Aad
me seers gterted bramsunsereearsy: |
Spee Vee ae bay ie ays fo ew me ee
my Nees babs tacts br bree Babe er yee wemeer wren ee) y! eee) sores “4! he he A sca ~o* ~~ wee.
.
eet tree ~ SQOIM SI,
-
a Sy ctaty verwereat hee Clusters One t
6 . - © eae ’ : Nees nearby
pore (4.9) 92 teks eae!
»
7th pares dehee eis tmeh © Sark,
SRE pis Sm bye. Pome heer bre
> > > . »* * ~~ . . ” , vows 7 Siete wy. OU Rv rs: eh te ys
mye
Pha eee eee
UV bet
ph coh At
beh k oo oN
: Lh ee 4 ‘ fea gy tle Vs eka 8 - or _ : ‘ aror bs Weprte trek ti ores Ores ts 1s . ‘ : ah, A eee bee
tied Red “fs ar
-
5 rd
ee Tae
‘ “ea : bbe Fi 3 - 455 3s ee f - \ a ; Peet Parte i Pate! vn 55 apt
boca ys fre tsb) oe Fo pee eee PLGA hay ote ye co ee ae
ne Pere AF eh Bw doe id Pele’ bak tuedlak saa area Pera ts orice g preeerertyeh arte SE A mb ae pee ohn ee tet Te hm at or ere et ot alee Pe PP Er ieee ee dt ae
4 te at nee a < ‘ oe tn ee La
7 ‘ ’ y i 7 ‘ Of ape Pattee Per? + ; ' epee Beith ew
333
: 7 . orn “ \e . ‘ atol baer! - . * ee eee
ie a gs pet
Fee
“
7 : . : weak ete Re ; A Pe Pe FF
: 7 r Ati ah fisietg a-th4 Pree ter eee ah aot ald a al bh ee ere rr mest ft | fig ye Li riernea 4
2 vate ome _- tf Ppek eee oat e Pee ter te ee ire Ae kal a et ad OEE ee ee ted Ae ake oahigl oD ape ee Bree ee’ Ae TP sAD Od , i
ot bee tee eeuergri ae ' ie my ee re te ove ee ' oe we , ‘ Read ot v* ave . . oF ar aye 4 eee vo see ee 4 . ‘ ice o% t*1 ' ste Periyar ee ee ie Dae ‘ . we soe? aa ve ee . raed ‘ ai on een
pr ha sate * en .o. Fs ‘” sob /
a None ie. cree mr ey ee (74 ein Brae cane fate ace og ed re AJ AAG
wea ebro hae aye Te ih ot tay “de
Te ever trans ere an i?! )
‘ >
i easde Fare ea Pe eters es FP nee povecvepreres Ph ‘be. ‘
* ae
* + * of
. ‘ oa. a S74 " ae bes tout Oph te tp er ode ged ee de eee ean de ehh b Tle dered gO LES
ene a cand
re
— irra
TORREYA
A Montuty Journat or Botanicat Nores anp News
JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873
LIRRABY Bera GA (ist
EDITED FOR THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
BY
NORMAN TAYLOR
Volume XIX
NEW YORK Zoe 9
vale , ‘ PRESS OF at Tg af | THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY ‘f , Pas haa a, LANCASTER, PA.
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
OFFICERS FOR
1919
President H. M. RICHARDS, Sc.D.
Vice- Presidents. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D C. STUART GAGER, PH.D.
Secretary and Treasurer BERNARD O. DODGE, Pu.D. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, N. Y. City.
Editor
ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D.
Associate Editors
JEAN BROADHURST, Pu.D. J. A. HARRIS, Px.D.
MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D.
M. LEVINE, Pu.D. G. E. NICHOLS, Pu.D. ARLOW B. STOUT, Pu.D.
NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate to the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences M. A. HOWE, PH.D.
Committees for 1919.
Finance Committee
R. A. HARPER, Chairman. J. H. BARNHART,
Miss C. C. HAYNES SERENO STETSON
Budget Committee
J. H. BARNHART, Chairman. R. A. HARPER
N. L. BRITTON
A. W. EVANS
M. A. Howe
H. H. Russy
Field Committee
F. W. PENNELL, Chairman. Mrs. L. M. KEELER MICHAEL LEVINE
GEORGE T. HASTINGS Percy WILSON
F. J. SEAVER
Program Committee
Mrs. E.G. BRITTON, Chairman. Pror. JEAN BROADHURST
B. O. DODGE
MICHAEL LEVINE
F. J. SEAVER
Membership Committee J. K. SMALL, Chairman. T. E. HAZEN E. W. OLIVE Local Flora Committee N. L. Britton, Chairman.
Phanerogams: Cryptogams: E. P. BICKNELL Mrs. E.G. BRITTON N. L. BRITTON T. E. HAZEN CS €. Curzis M. A. Howe
K. K. MACKENZIE MICHAEL LEVINE NORMAN TAYLOR W. A. MuRRILL
Chairmen of Special Committees on Local Flora
Ferns and Fern Allies: R. C. Benedict.
Mosses: Mrs. E. G. Britton Liverworts: A. W. Evans
Fresh Water Algae: T. E. Hazen Marine Algae: M. A. Howe Gasteromycetes: G. C. Fisher Hymeroomycetes: W. A. Murrill
Except Russulaand Lactarius: Miss G.
Burlingham Cortinarius: R. A. Harper Polyporeae: M. Levine Exobasidii: H. M. Richards Rusts and Smuts: E. W. Olive Discomycetes: B. O. Dodge
Lichens: W. C. Barbour
Sphaeriaceae, Dothideaceae: H. M. Richards Hypocreaceae, Perisporieae, Plectas-
cineae, Tuberineae: F. J. Seaver
Fungi-forming sclerotia: A. B. Stout Imperfecti: H. M. Richards, F.
Seaver, Mel T. Cook Oomycetes: C. A. King Zygomycetes: A. F. Blakeslee Chytridiaceae, Myxomycetes: Mrs. H. M. Richards Yeast and Bacteria: Prof. J. Broadhurst Insect galls: Mel T. Cook
Vol. 19 January, IgI9g No. 1
PeLORREYA
A Monruiy Journat or BoranicaL Notes anp News EDITED FOR
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB BY
NORMAN TAYLOR
JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873. CONTENTS The Pala or Mule’s Foot Fetn in the Hawaiian Archipelago: VaucHan Mac- AOANIG ETESY oc) sosdaset dv ddocdvessieacnumra ged PoVONY Los Scape Faae toe cwons ctupaleimdiobe ste ak soda teas I Pleistocene Plants from Tennessee and Mississippi: E. W. BERRY..0......c.-esseee ees 8 Nates-on Ly castes. Ty Dy Al. COCKEREEL$ oi nce acy bes op shoe siveseln ch b chenedrntens sompheiwenecy heb Io Shorter notes: Plants in flower in the Autumn of 1918 on Long Island, N. Y.: W. C. Frr- MUSON > on oes oc aicc cp vine necesuce Vocpoe oianeie sonsaealer apdusicbebecedeeedniniee Msp rinactiepos dee scar velde tiene 1z Concerning duplicate types: F. W. PENNELL........64.. Peasy Wee Ae 0 ton Sa heheate I4 Reviews; Boerker’s Our National Forests: C, STUART GAGER.....sssecensesecn cee estesesnecseres 14 _Harwood’s New Creations in Plant Life: O. BE. WHITE...-..06. 000.00 ccseee geese eeee 16 Proceedings of the Club ..........ccc000 ceececaueceeereees Pi erarmus natok deny Chak wld a Pa 17 BR MEIPA LEIA). SL ih 502i gow sc as co cUe Mess Ria hobs No dcaccanOPer vane tev aidenided Wuepae cea dpasekinneed 19 Y PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB
At 41 NortH Queen Srreetr, LANcCAsrER, Pa. “x BY THe New Era Printing Company “Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa,, as second-class matter,
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
OFFICERS FOR to19
President H. M. RICHARDS, Sc.D.
_ Vice- Presidents. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D C. STUART GAGER, PH.D.
_ Secretary and Treasurer BERNARD O. DODGE, PH.D. COLUMBIA UNIveErRsiItTy, N. Y. City. _ Editor ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D.
Associate Editors
JEAN BROADHURST, Pu.D. : M. LEVINE, Pu.D. J. A. HARRIS, Px.D. G.. E. NICHOLS, Px.D.
~MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. -ARLOW B. STOUT, PH.D. NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate io the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences | : M. A. HOWE, PH.D.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WILD FLOWER PRESERVATION ~
SociETY oF AMERICA
TORREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLus, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or Columbia University, New York City.
Matter for publication, and books and papers for review, should be addressed to i
NORMAN TAYLOR
‘Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn, N. Y
TORREYA
Vol. I9 No. 1 January, IgI9
THE PALA OR MULE’S-FOOT FERN (Marattia Doug- lasvi (Presl.) Baker) IN THE HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO
By VauGHAN MAcCCAUGHEY
College of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Hawaiian ferns have constituted an interesting subject of botanical investigation for over a century. There have been few studies, however, of specific ferns or fern groups.1 The present paper aims to give a concise account of the “‘mule’s-foot”’ fern or pala (Marattia Douglasii (Presl.) Baker). This species is of particular interest because it is the sole representative, in the present Hawaiian flora, of an extremely important group of pteridophytes, namely, the Marattiales. Moreover, it also oc- curs in the Fiji Islands, and this fact raises some interesting ques- tions as to its geographic dissemination. The pala was also used as food and medicine by the primitive Hawaiians. Finally, Campbell’s? studies of the gametophyte stage have given local workers a special interest in this fern.
In early geologic periods Marattiaceous ferns abounded, and comprised an important element in the luxuriant fern jungles of those times. They were very abundant in the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous), in the Triassic (Rhetic), and in the Meso- zoic of India. A survey of the geological record shows that the present-day Marattiales are but scant and skrunken remnants of a magnificent vanished flora.
The ancient and primitive family Marattiaceae is represented
1MacCaughey, V. Genus Gleichenia in the Hawaiian Islands. Torreya 18: 41-52. 1918.
2 Campbell, D. H. Observations on the development of Marattia douglasit Baker. Ann. Bot. 8:1. 18094. (No. 12, Vol. 18 of ToRREYA, comprising pp. 231-258, was issued 21 January 1919)
1
Ltr 4, NB Ww Ye
GARD;
2
in the Hawaiian flora only by a single species, M. Douglasii. The geographic range of the family i: .dicated by the following table:
Genus No. of species Range Marattia 25 tropics Angiopteris I (or 60!) Old World tropics, Australasia, S. Japan Archangiopteris I southwestern China Kaulfussia I Indo-Malaya, Philippines Macroglossum I Borneo Danaea 20 Tropical America
From this table will be seen that Hawaii, isolated in the vast stretches of the North Pacific_Ocean, and lying on the rim of the tropics, is the northernmost limit of the family’s range in the entire Pacific basin.
Three theories may be presented to explain the occurrence of M. Douglasii in the Hawaiian Islands. First: It also occurs in the Fiji Archipelago. Inasmuch as the bulk of the native Ha- walian flora shows affinities with that of the southwest Pacific, it is possible that the pala was introduced through natural agen- cies,—ex. wind,—from the South Pacific. Second: The native Hawaiians habitually used the pala for food and medicine. The natives originally migrated to Hawaii from Tahiti, and for many centuries maintained intercourse with their southern kinsfolk. During this period of migration and intercourse, numerous food plants' were introduced into Hawaii. It is not at all unlikely that the pala was deliberately introduced, by the natives, during this epoch. Its present distribution in the is!ands is in no way incompatible with this hypothesis.
Third: The entire Hawaiian Archipelago has undergone pro- found subsidence during recent geologic time.2 In early times the islands were united by land connections. This formed a “Pan-Hawaii-land,’”’ very much larger in area, higher in eleva- tion, and diversified in topography and climate, than the present archipelago. On the warm lowlands of Pan-Hawaii-land may have existed great tropical jungles of Marattiaceous ferns and
1 MacCaughey, V. Food Plants of the Ancient Hawaiians. Sci. Monthly 4: 75-80. I917.
2 MacCaughey, V. Outstanding Biological Features of the Hawaiian Archi- pelago. Amer. Nat. in press.
their allies. All have vanished save the lone M. Douglasii, that was able to survive under the changing ecologic environment. There is ample evidence elsewhere in the Hawaiian flora to show that many elements of the present flora are but remnants of the far richer flora of Pan-Hawaii-land.
The genus Marattia Sm. (—Dicostegia Presl., Eupodium J.Sm., Gymnotheca Presl., Marattia Presl., Myriotheca Bory, Stibasia Presl.) was named in honor of an Italian botanist, J. F. Maratti, of Vallombrosa, Tuscany, who lived in the seventeenth century and wrote on ferns. The genus comprises about 25 species, which are scattered throughout the tropics, and into the southern hemisphere. The following table shows the distribution of the better-known species.
O_p WorLD African fraxinea Sm.—west coast of Africa to Polynesia. salicifolia Schrad.—South Africa to the Cape. Boivini Mett.—Madagascar. purpurascens de Vriese—Ascencion Island.
East Indies
salicina Sm.—East Indian Archipelago. sambucina Bl.—Java. pellucida Pres|.—Philippine Islands.
Melanesia
melanesiaca Kuhn—Melanesia. attenuata Labill—New Caledonia.
Polynesia
Douglasii (Presl.) Baker—Fiji, Hawaiian Islands.
NEw Wor.LpD cicutifolia Kaulf.—tropical America. Kaulfussii J. Sm.—tropical America. alata Sm.—West Indies, Mexico, northern South America. Weinmannitfolia. Liebm.—Mexico. laevis Sm.—West Indies.
=
Marattia Douglasii (Presl.) Baker! is called pala by the Ha- walians. It may also be called the Mule’s-foot Fern, or Doug- las’s Marattia. It was named in honor of the Scotch botanist, David Douglas, who visited Hawaii in 1833, and lost his life by falling into a native cattle-trap.
It is a large, coarse-leaved, showy fern, easily recognized in the forest. Although not as large as the Marattias of other countries, it attains generous size, with a stocky trunk 1-2 it. high, and wide-spreading leaves, 6-15 ft. long. “In Hawaii Ma- rattia is surpassed in stature and spread by some of the arbor- escent species (Cibotium, Sadleria”). Aside from the strictly arborescent species, however, Marattia and Angiopteris may be ranked among the largest of the ferns.
The pala is abundant in the mountain-forests of Hawaii, and in the moister parts of the lower forests. It inhabits the humid zone lying between 800-3500 ft., on both windward and leeward slopes. It favorite haunts are cool, heavily shaded, humid, steep- sloped ravines, where it forms little colonies or patches. It seems to prefer sharply sloping banks and ravine-sides, although it is also found in level places. The pala is strongly hygrophytic and shade-loving; it is never found in dry or exposed situations.
Representative regions where the pala is abundant are: Hanalei and Na Pali districts, Kauai; Kaala and Punaluu dis- tricts, Oahu; valleys of northeastern Molokai; mountains back of Lahaina and Wailuku, Maui; forests of windward Haleakala, Maui; forests of Hilo, Hamakua, Olaa, and Kona, Hawaii. There are no places where it is excessively abundant; it is scat- tered rather sparingly through the forests and groves.
The stem or trunk is tuberous, barrel-shaped, or almost glob- ular. It is stocky and erect, as is also true of Angiopteris. Danea and Kaulfussia have more or less horizontal rhizomes. The pala stem is sometimes half buried under leafmould and earth, but on the steeper slopes, where the pala best luxuriates, it is almost wholly exposed.
1W. J. Hooker and J. G. Baker. Synopsis Filicum. London, 1868, p. 441. Also called Stibasia Douglasii Presl., Gymnotheca Douglasii T. Moore, M. alata Hook. & Arn.
2 MacCaughey, V. Tree Ferns of Hawaii. American Botanist, 22: 1-9. 10916.
i)
The stem is completely covered by the conspicuous, dark, fleshy auricles (stipules) and leaf-bases. The petioles arise from among the brownish or purplish auricles. After the fall of the leaf the fleshy base remains alive and often gives rise to adven- titious buds. Hooker, in describing the stipules of MW. purpur- ascens De Vriese states that they may become ‘“‘leafy at the mar- gin, lobed and crestd, green, sometimes even becoming sorif- erous pinnules.’’ The leaf-bases of the pala have been well de- scribed by Camptell :!
“The leaves are furnished at the base with very conspicuous fleshy stipules which remain adhering to the stem after the leaf has fallen away, and these leaf-bases, with their attached stip- ules, more or less completely cover the surface of the stem. As the leaves fall away they leave a characteristic scar marked by the remains of the vascular bundles. The leaf-base as well as the stalks of the leaflets show a more or less marked enlarge- ment, recalling the pulvinus which occurs so commonly in the Leguminosae. It is at this point that the leaf-stalk separates, the smaller divisions of the leaf often breaking away from the main or secondary rachis, in the same fashion as the main leaf- stalk falls. In the large species of Marattia and Angiopteris this enlarged leaf-base with the two thick, fleshy stipules curi- ously resembles in shape and size the hoof of a horse.”
The present writer would suggest that the comparison with a mule’s hoof would be more apt, and proposes as the common name, ‘“‘MULE’S-FOOT’’ FERN.
The thick, fleshy auricles are richly supplied with starch and mucilage, and were used by the primitive Hawaiians as an article of food, when other food supplies were lacking. The ‘‘mule’s feet’’ were baked in hot ashes, whereupon they became very pal- atable. The writer has frequently eaten baked pala, and can testify to its excellence. The pala stipules were also used med- icinally, for bronchial and intestinal catarrh. Slices soaked in cold water soon impart their mucilage to the liquid, and form a pleasant drink.
In cross section the starchy, watery stem shows a complicated system of steles, arranged in concentric circles. Sclerenchyma is absent from its ground tissue.
1). H. Campbell. The Eusporangiatae, 1911, p. 118.
6
The pala roots are short, thick, and fleshy. They originate with reference to the stele circles in the stem. The central cyl- inder of the root has several alternating groups of xylem and phloem. Tannin sacs are abundantly developed in the roots, as well as in other parts of the plant.
The pala foliage is stately and somber. The leaves are few in number (5-150), spirally arranged, and with close-set bases. The young leaves are enclosed in the prominent stipules; the leaves are circinate, and slowly unfurl in the typical fern manner. The leaves develop very slowly,—a period of 3 to 6 months being required for the unfurling of a single leaf. Indeed, all of the vital functions of the pala, like those of other rain forest plants, are very sluggish.
The petioles are 3 to 5 feet long, stout, smooth, and shining. At the base they are conspicuously swollen, articulate, and 2.5-3 ins. in diameter. The ‘‘mule’s-foot’’ base, with its two large, fleshy, auricular stipules, has already been described. Lenticel- like structures are of common occurrence on the older leaf-bases. They arise beneath the stomata, and form small cavities, the peripheral cells of which become detached and dried up. Large mucilage ducts and numerous tannin sacs are developed in the petioles of the older leaves.
The leaf-blade is 3 to 8 ft. long, deltoid or ovate-oblong, and 2-3-pinnate. The base is 3-pinnate; there is a terminal pinnule. The blade is a characteristic dark green, smooth, glossy, and not- ably fleshy. The color and texture are quite distinctive. A cross-section of leaf reveals a thick layer of collenchymous hypodermal tissue.
The pinnae are oblong-lanceolate. The lowest pinnae are 6— 24 in. long, on stalks of .5-2.5 in. The upper portion of the rachis is narrowly margined or winged. The secondary pinnae are linear, 3-6 in. long, with a broadly compressed or winged rachis. The ultimate pinnules are substipitate, ovate or ob- long, .5—I ins. long by .25-.30 in. wide, and bluntly serrate. The apex is obtuse or acuminate; the base is cuneate or subtruncate. The veins are simple or dichotomously forked.
All the leaves are spore-beaiing or potentially so. The spor-
~I
angia are large, fleshy, and borne in boat-shaped groups (syn- angia), on the under surface of the pinnule, near the margin. The sporangia, each of which arises from a number of superficial cells, are incompletely separated from one another, and remain together in the oblong or capsule-like synangia. The walls of the sporangium are several cells in thickness. The annulus is want- ing or greatly reduced; there is no indusium. The synangium is adnate to the vein, or very short-stalked. Dehiscence is first by the opening of the synangial valve, then slits along each sporangium.
Campbell' has made detailed studies of the gametophyte. The spores are very small, bilateral or tetrahedral, and yellow- ish-brown. Under suitable conditions they germinate promptly. Within a week they begin to show a greenish tint, due to the developing chlorophyll. The mature gametophyte is large, fleshy, massive, dark-green, and heart-shaped. It grows on the surface of the soil and closely resembles such liverworts as Pellia. It is broad heart-shaped, tapering to a narrow base. The very old gametophytes branch dichotomously exactly as in the thal- lose liverworts. ‘‘A broad midrib extends for nearly the whole length of the thallus and merges gradually into the wings, which
’
are also several-layered, nearly or quite to the margin’’—Camp- bell. Rhizoids,—brown, unicellular, and thin-walled,—are pro- duced abundantly from the cells of the lower surface.
The gametophyte is monoecious. Antheridia appear first, sometimes on the upper surface, but usually along the lower side of the midrib. The archegonia are confined exclusively to the lower surface of the midrib. Campbell points out that the re- productive organs are very much like those of Ophioglossum, and are ‘‘marked indications of the primitive nature of these ancient. ferns.”’
The Marattia gametophyte is always infested with a specific endophytic fungus. Campbell states that it is probably iden- tical with or very closely related to the fungus which occurs in Ophioglossum. ‘‘In the infested cells of the green gametophyte the starch and chromatophores are destroyed by the action of
1[—). H. Campbell. The Eusporangiatae, 1911. Mosses and Ferns, 1905.
8
the endophyte, but the nucleus of the cell remains intact.’ The duration of the gametophyte is apparently unlimited, so long as fertilization does not take place. The young sporophyte con- sists at first mainly of the primary leaf and root, which are tra- versed by a single axial vascular strand. A stem apex is de- veloped at an early period, although it remains relatively incon- spicuous.
The pala does not occur in cultivation, to the writer’s knowl- edge. It undoubtedly would grow successfully under humid fern-house conditions, as do many other Hawaiian ferns. M. fraxinea Smith, which ranges from west Africa to New Zealand, is cultivated in American conservatories. The Hawaiian pala would likewise give a magnificent tropical effect in northern greenhouses. It deserves attention.
PLEISTOCENE PLANTS FROM TENNESSEE AND MISSISSIPPI
By Epwarp W. BERRY
I have published, from time to time, brief accounts of Pleisto- cene plants from our Atlantic and Gulf states as they have passed through my hands, since the amount of material likely to be available does not warrant a more comprehensive treatment. For this reason I wish to place on record the following new oc- currences.
It is to be hoped that the distribution of our floras in the era immediately preceding the present be considered by botanists dealing with the existing flora. Even in the present unsatis- -factory state of our knowledge of Pleistocene plants, woefully behind that of other civilized countries, much is to be gained in insight and many pitfalls may be avoided by looking back of the present.
This note relates to small collections made by Bruce Wade in 1915 at Adamsville, McNairy County, Tennessee, from next to the highest terrace of the Tennessee River (elevation about 500 ft.), and by E. W. Shaw from the Loess just west of
9
Vicksburg Military Park, Warren County, Mississippi (the Bluff formation of Hilgard).
The number of species in these two collections is small and the forms are not especially noteworthy in that they do not occur outside the existing range of the formsinvolved. The hack- berry (Celtis mississippiensis) is recorded for the first time from the Pleistocene; Lesquereux’s old determination of the chin- quapin from the banks of the Mississippi River is in a measure corroborated by finding it fossil in western Tennessee; and the range of the Pleistocene ancestor of the spanish oak is consider- ably extended. Following are the species recognized with brief annotations:
OSMUNDA (?) sp.
Based upon rootstocks collected by Mr. Wade at Adamsville. Similar remains, likewise referred to Osmunda, were described by Hollick'! from the late Pleistocene (Talbot formation) of Maryland, and the foliage of Osmunda spectabilis Willd. occurs in the Pleistocene of Alabama.”
QUERCUS PREDIGITATA Berry.
This form, the supposed ancestral type of the existing Quercus digitata and Quercus pagodaefolia, has been recorded previously from the Pleistocene of North Carolina,*? Mississippi,* and Vir- ginia.® It is represented at Adamsville by leaves, cupules and acorns, thus considerably extending its known range.
CASTANEA PUMILA Miller.
The small chestnut or chinquapin has been recorded by Knowlton® from the Pleistocene near Morgantown, West Vir- ginia, and by Lesquereux’ from the early Pleistocene near Co- lumbus, Kentucky. Although I have collected materials from Lesquereux’s locality and adjacent outcrops* I did not meet
1 Hollick, A. Md. Geol. Surv. Pleist. 217. pl. 67. f. 3. 1906.
2 Berry, E.W. Am. Jour. Sci. 29: 391. IgI0.
3 Berry, E.W. Jour. Geol. 15: 342. 1907.
4 Berry, E.W. Torreya 14: 162. 1914.
5 Berry, E.W. Am. Jour. ‘Sci. 34: 22. f. 4, 5. 1912.
® Knowlton, F. H. Am. Geol. 18: 371. 1896.
*Lesquereux, L. Am. Jour. Sci. 27: 365. 1850.
8 Berry, E. W. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 48: 293-303. pls. 12, 13. I915.
10
with this species. Nevertheless I see no reason for doubting Lesquereux’s determination beyond the fact that he queried it. The present occurrence is based upon characteristic nuts collected by Mr. Wade at Adamsville.
CELTIS MISSISSIPPIENSIS Bosc.
This species, so far as I know, has not previously been found fossil. The present occurrence is based upon beautifully pre- served, reticulate surfaced stones collected from the Loess at Vicksburg, Mississippi, by E. W. Shaw at a horizon 10 feet be- low the surface. The related Celtis occidentalis Linné is repre- sented by stones in the late Pleistocene (Talbot formation) at Tappahannock, Virginia.!
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.
NORES) ONVEY GASTE By T. D. A. COCKERELL
Among the various neotropical orchids, few are more attrac- tive than the species of Lycaste. Several years ago Mrs. Cock- erell brought three forms from Guatemala, and we have had abundant opportunity to study their characters, as they flowered each season in the greenhouse. The plants were purchased in Guatemala City, but were brought from the surrounding coun- try by the natives. The most. interesting and beautiful is the. one known in horticulture as Lycaste Skinnert var. alba. After comparing the living plants with typical L. Skinnert, flowering at the same time, I came to the conclusion that the so-called var- iety alba was a distinct species. It apparently occurs wild, and in spite of assertions to the contrary, it certainly has structural as well as color characters. The lateral lobes of the lower petal or lip are much larger in Skinneri than in alba; while the bract of Skinneri is much shorter, not reaching the middle of the upper sepal. I wrote to Mr. R. A. Rolfe concerning the matter, and he discussed the question briefly in Orchid Review, 1915, p. 224. He did not believe that alba could be a distinct species, and I
1 Berry, E. W. Am. Nat. 43: 435. 1909.
11
hesitated to combat his opinion, although he presented no de cisive evidence. As no more light has come to clear up the mat- ter, and it still seems to me at least probable that the white form should be separated, I offer a brief description from our material.
et LycastTE alba sp. nov.
Scapes light green, 4.25 mm. thick; posterior bract sheathing, the sides infolding, so that the long apical part is hollow, apex tapering, sharply pointed, base 10.5 mm. wide, the back very obtusely keeled, length of bract about 72 mm., light green; an- terior bract represented by a small projection about 2 mm. long, pointed with a membranous appendage; sepals pure white, upper erect, about 75 mm. long and 36 broad, lanceolate ovate, obtusely pointed, keeled beneath apically; lateral sepals similar, faintly greenish apically beneath, about 77 mm. long and 38 broad, meeting below and slightly overlapping to form a gibbous chin; the upper sepal goes 24 mm. beyond tip of bract; petals pure white, the lower one (lip) suffused with orange at extreme base; lateral petals about 50 mm. long and 30 broad, the broad apices curled over backward; lip with a broad downwardly directed median lobe, lateral lobes hardly developed, basal part bulbous; column with anthers about 28 mm. long, very stout, the rounded apex very faintly suffused with purplish; the four pollinia bright orange, on a clear white stalk; callus of lip very thick, about 7.5 mm. broad, suboval, pale orange tinted. The flowers are not s'icky or aromatic.
In addition to the above and the true L. Skinneri Lindley, we have Lycaste cruenta Lindley, belonging certainly to a distinct section of the genus. . The sepals are very sticky on the outer side, and the flowers have a strong aromatic odor. It is also peculiar in that one of each pair of pollinia is about a third smaller than the other. The following description of the flower is from life:
LYCASTE CRUENTA Lindley
Scapes about 14 cm. long; bracts 4-5, dark red brown, sheath- ing, loose, pointed, uppermost about 22 mm. long; flowers erect, about 40 mm. long, brilliant orange, with the broad sepals pale yellow-green; sepals about 50 mm. long and 24 broad, oblong, rather obtusely pointed, bearded at base within; petals shorter than sepals, more ovate, with a larger apical angle, lightly speck- led with crimson at base; lip abundantly spotted with crimson
12
within, but the extended, downwardly curved median lobe not speckled, its apical margin slightly irregularly crenulate but not fimbriate; column about 16 mm. long and 7.5 broad, flattened, but thick, dark crimson at base, the contiguous part of the lip also crimson, and the at base of the lip on the outer side is a transversely elongate crimson patch.
—
SHORTER NOTES
PLANTS IN FLOWER IN THE AUTUMN OF 1918 ON LonG ISLAND, N. Y.—Weather Bureau records confirm the observations of everyone that October was the warmest ever known in this vi- cinity. Certain days of almost summer heat were warmer than any October day for as far back as the records go. It is probably due to these unseasonably warm October days that the following list of plants in fresh flower on October 28-30, and November 1-2, can be recorded.
PLANTS IN FRESH BLOOM AT GARDEN City, L. I., on OCTOBER
28-30, 1918: Trifolium pratense Solidago juncea fe repens Brassica sp. oN arvense Daucus carota Linaria Linaria Melilotus alba Taraxacum Taraxacum Achillea millefolium Aster paniculatus Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum “ dumosus Neopieris mariana (Nov. 4) ‘““ ericoides Baptisia tinctoria (Nov. 4)
During a walk from Pine Lawn to Lake Ronkonkoma on November 1-2, with Mr. Norman Taylor, the following were also found in fresh bloom:
Aster ericoides Houstonia longifolia ‘undulatus Cichorium Intybus ‘* divaricatus . Taraxacum Taraxacum ' s scordifolus | Prunella vulgaris ‘“ novae-angliae Daucus carota ‘““ Jateriflorus Achillea millefolium ~< patens Chrysopsis mariana ‘““ -vimineus Linaria Linaria
Tradescanti Oenothera biennis
Solidago juncea nemoralis bicolor puberula rugosa caesia Ionactis linariifolius Centaurea Jacea Trifolium repens
ac
pratense
agrarium sf arvense Rudbeckia hirta Viola pedata
Verbascum Thapsus
13
Oenothera muricata Melilotus alba Nabalus sp. Rubus sp. Erigeron ramosus ‘ canadensis Gnaphalium obtusifolium Plantago lanceolata - aristata Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum Brassica sp. Lepidium Hieracium scabrum Polygonella articulata Dianthus Armeria
Persicaria pennsylvanica Eriocaulon septangulare
WILLIAM C. FERGUSON GARDEN CITY.
CONCERNING Duplicate TypEs.—In the extensive array of names compounded with ‘‘type,’’ all of which agree in present- ing some idea derived from or modifying the meaning of that word, it seems strange that the conception which we taxonomists most often have occasion to designate appears not to have re- ceived any mononomial term. I allude to that which some of us have erred in calling ‘‘co-type,’’ and to which others, more con- sistent, have applied the phrase ‘‘duplicate type’”’ or ‘‘duplicate of type.”’
In 1905, Dr. A. S. Hitchcock indicated the distinction between duplicate type and co-type. In Science 21: 832, he defines a duplicate type as a specimen ‘‘of the same series or set as the type as indicated by the number or other data,” and a co-type as a specimen “‘cited with the original description in addition to the type specimen.’”’ In actual practice, in explaining our application of names, we continually need a short expression for the former—something as simple and easily remembered as the really less important word co-type. To meet this need I sug- gest the term isotype.
14
The word isotype, compounded from the Greek, means “‘equiv- alent to the type.’ To offset the objection that a duplicate is not necessarily equivalent to the type, indeed too often is quite different, is the fact that it always should be the same and so for the purpose of comparison should be its equal in value. Per- haps the best raison d'etre which can be urged for a word is its suggestion of an ideal; such a term should emphasize the import- ance of all duplicates being thoroughly like the type.—FRANCIS W. PENNELL.
REVIEWS Boerker’s Our National Forests*
A short popular account of the work of the United States For- est Service on the national forests, by the arboriculturist of the Department of Parks, New York City. The introduction (pp. xiii-xlvii) is followed by four chapters on the creation and or- ganization, the administration, and the protection of the national forests, and the sale and rental of national forest resources. An Appendix of six pages contains a tabular statement of land areas within the national forest boundaries.
The book, well illustrated, brings together in small compass, reliable information on a subject about which every citizen should be intelligent, but which has hitherto been largely inaccessible on account of being widely scattered in Government bulletins and reports. Some of the information will be a revelation to perhaps the majority of readers. For example, we learn (p. 72) that the Forest Service has, since 1911, collected over 175,000 pounds of tree seeds for planting, and that 21 tree nurseries, in 1916, had in them over 37 million young trees to be planted in reforestation work. The average layman, who possesses chiefly misinformation concerning the relation of forests to climate, will profit by reading the author’s paragraphs on that subject (pp. 89-92). Those who are still skeptical (and there are many such) as to the practical value of preventive and remedial measures for tree diseases and pests will be enlightened to learn, merely as an illustrative example, that an expenditure of only $3,000
* Our National Forests. By Richard H. Donai Boerker. New York. The Macmillan Co. 1018. $2.50.
15
for insect control on about 900 acres in the Klamath National Forest, resulted in a saving of timber to the value of over $600,000 (p. 96).
Friends of conservation will be interested to learn (p. 114) that a single issue of a New York Sunday paper consumes the trees on about 15 acres of forest. Apropos of this, one may per- haps be pardoned for questioning the wisdom, or the advantage from any point of view, of using eleven pages (pp. lix—lxix) to repeat in full the legends of the 80 illustrations. The analytical table of contents hardly makes up for the absence of an index. Incidentally it might be remarked that the fringed edges (tech- nical term unknown to the reviewer—chewed would be appro- priate) make it necessary to use the carpet sweeper and whisk broom after one has spent an hour with the book.
But the few features that may be noted adversely are minor matters in comparison with the general excellence of the book. It gives a terse and readable survey of the history and activities of the Forest Service, and makes clear the need and value of this work. It will be invaluable as a reference book in all col- leges and universities, and in public and private libraries. Both the author and the cause of forestry and conservation are to be
congratulated. C. STUART GAGER.
Harwood’s New Creations in Plant Life*
The revised and enlarged reprint of the first edition of W. S. Harwood’s ‘‘ New Creations in Plant Life’’ reads like a Florida land investment prospectus or a modern version of ‘‘ The Arabian Nights.”
Mr. Harwood tells the story of Luther Burbank and his work with all the enthusiasm, all the veracity, and all the inspiration one expects from one whose years have been devoted to journal- istic effort. In Chapter I is recounted the struggles and tribu- lations of Burbank, the man, toward accomplishing his life’s ideal. ‘‘Now and again,’ Mr. Harwood writes, ‘‘arose some pseudo-scientific man who, professing unlimited friendship,
* Harwood, W.S. New Creations in Plant Life. 2d ed., Revised and Enlarged. Pp. xviii + 430. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co., N. Y. 1918. Price $2.00.
16
sought for means to filch the rapidly increasing reputation. Others visited him with the covert purpose of exposing him as a charlatan after inspecting his methods, but, confounded by what they saw, went down the little hedge-bordered walk that leads to his quiet home shamed into silence.”
Chapter II details the methods of work of this horticultural wizard. On pages 40-43, a list of some of the miracle-like ac- complishments are set forth. Among these are “‘The improved thornless and spiculeless edible cactus, food for man and beast, to be the reclamation of the deserts of the world’’; the union of the plum and the apricot, said to be an impossible accomplishment; a plum with a Bartlett pear flavor; a tree which grows more rapidly than any other tree ever known in the temperate zones of the world; a dahlia with the scent of magnolias, a calla lily with a Parma violet’s fragrance, a chestnut tree that bears in eighteen months from seed, an amaryllis with flowers nearly a foot in diameter, a calla with flowers 10-12 inches across, a rare fruit called the pomato, ‘“‘which grows upon the top of a potato,” and soon. This genius, according to Mr. Harwood, so remark- ably possessed with horticultural intuition, has bred the pits out from the plum, the bitter tannin from the English walnut, given a trailing-arbutus perfume to the verbena, created new species long thought impossible, taken the horrid thorns off from black- berries, and make them beautifully white in fruit. All these have been accomplished and the “‘half has not yet been told.”
On page 51 is computed the gross financial returns for 160 acres of average farm land for 12 years if planted to one of Bur- bank’s hybrid walnut creations. The sum is $485,000, very nearly half a million. The expenses to be deducted from this in the form of care, taxes, etc., are said to be small. On page 68, a paragraph is devoted to Mr. Burbank’s work on the chestnut. Ordinarily, we are told, the chestnut trees raised from seed are from 10 to 25 years old before they bear nuts. Now this was altogether too slow for these modern days, so Mr. Bur- bank produced a tree that bears nuts when seven months to a year anda half old. The readers of this review, possessing desert properties not accessible to irrigation will be interested in state-
17
ments of an annual yield per acre of 20 tons of spineless cactus which can be utilized for cattle food. In tropical climates, where the land can be irrigated lightly once or twice, an annual yield of 150-180 tons per acre may be expected. As contrasted with 100 acres alfalfa under the best conditions, the yield of Burbank cactus under equally favorable conditions would be 30 to 40 times, we are told on pp. 390-391. And the best of it all, ac- cording to our author, is ‘‘that once established, the new cactus may remain for years uncultivated and undisturbed, constantly growing on and adding to its vast store.”
To the flower lover, the account of Burbank’s work with pop- pies will surely be of absorbing interest. On page 79, a Burbank poppy is described with flowers, a dozen of which placed one upon another, would effectually conceal a man—seven of these magnificent blossoms placed end to end in a row are as high as a tall man.
The volume is well and quite copiously illustrated and no one interested in flowers, fruits, and plant life in general can help being fascinated and very much impressed with this account of the wonders an untrained and comparatively uneducated man has produced in the plant world through using his intuition.
ORLAND E. WHITE.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB OCTOBER 30, 1918
The meeting was held in the Morphological Laboratory of the - New York Botanical Garden, at 3:30 P.M. There were thirty persons present. Vice-president Barnhart occupied the chair.
The minutes of October 8 were read and approved.
The nomination and election of M. Nishimura, Columbia Uni- versity, N. Y. City, and Dr. Thos. Owen, Dept. Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama, followed.
A communication from Prof. J. E. Kirkwood relating to the publication of a paper as one of the Memoirs of the Club was read and referred to the Board of Editors for a report.
The scientific program for this meeting consisted of an “ Ex-
18
hibition of a Collection of Flowering Plants and Mosses from North Star Bay’’ made by Dr. E. O. Hovey on the Macmillan Expedition. Dr. Hovey then gave an illustrated lecture on “ De- scription of the Habitats of the Plants Forming this Collection.”
“The collection of plants made by Dr. Hovey at North Star Bay, 78 degrees 30 minutes N. latitude, was exhibited by Mrs. N.L. Britton. It included a few flowering plants, Arnica alpina, Casstope tetragona, Dryas integrifolia, Papaver radicatum, Ranun- culus nivalis and Saxifraga oppositifolia, as well as three dwarf willows, Salix herbacea, S. groenlandica, named by Dr. Rydberg, and a larger species of willow still undetermined. Of the flower- less plants, 25 are mosses, 8 are hepatics, five are lichens, and two are fungi, one a Mycosphaerella, parasitic on the leaves of one of the willows and the other a mould (Mucor sp. ?), which seems to be abundant at North Star Bay. The collections were studied by Dr. Evans, Dr. Andrews, Dr. Seaver, Miss Coker, Mr. Wil- liams and Mrs. Britton. After examining the specimens the Club adjourned to the lecture-room, where Dr. Hovey showed some beautiful views of North Star Bay and its flora, including some excellent photographs of birds and a few of the Esquimaux and their dogs.”
Adjournment followed.
B. O. DODGE, Secretary. NOVEMBER 12, 1918
The first meeting in the month was held at the American Museum of Natural History. There were twenty-one persons present. Prof. R. A. Harper.was elected chairman and called © the meeting to order at 8:26 P.M. The usual order of business was dispensed with.
Dr. Geo. E. Nichols delivered the lecture of the evening, the subject being, ‘‘The Sphagnum Moss and its Use in Surgical
’
Dressings.’’ The speaker first described and illustrated several of the more common species of Sphagnum to be found in North America, calling attention to the differences in size, color and gen- eral habit existing between species. The marked variation in individuals of the same species was also noted as being due to
19
climatic or environmental influences. The morphological char- acters of the stems and leaves were described and the particular features by virtue of which the dried moss is able to absorb such large quantities of water were pointed out. It was shown that dried Sphagnum is capable of absorbing as much or more per dry weight as the ordinary absorbent cotton used in making dressings.
The cells of the leaves are of two sorts. The smaller or nar- rower cells making a network, are green, while lying between the green cells we find much larger, empty cells whose walls are provided with large pores through which water may be absorbed from the outside. These cells are also characterized by thick- ened bands which serve to strengthen the system.
Numerous specimens of Sphagnum were exhibited. The meth- ods by which the moss is harvested, dried, sorted and made into surgical dressings were described.
A number of the various kinds of dressings made with Sphag- num or with cotton were shown. The lecture was illustrated with lantern slides. It has been published in part in the Journal of the New York Botanical Garden.
Adjournment followed.
B. O. DopGE, Secretary.
NEWS ITEMS
At the annual meeting of the Club held on January 14 the fol- lowing officers were elected: President, H. M. Richards; Vice Presidents, J. H. Barnhart and C. Stuart Gager; Secretary and Treasurer, B. O. Dodge; Editor, A. W. Evans; Associate Editors, Jean Broadhurst, J. Arthur Harris, M. A. Howe, M. Levine, G. E. Nichols, A. B. Stout, and Norman Taylor. Dr. M. A. Howe was elected as the delegate of the club to the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Prefessors Edward W. Berry and J. T. Singewald, Jr., of the Johns Hopkins University are planning to leave in April for a six months trip of geological and paleontological exploration in the Andes. The region that they will cover extends from Peru to southern Chile.
20
Dr. E. W. Olive, of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, spent some time during the past summer assisting government and state agents in locating plant diseases and instructing farmers how to combat them. An account of his experiences in part of New York and Virginia was given ina public lecture at the New York Botanical Garden on October 26, and was accompanied by lantern slides illustrating some of the most important and recently intro- duced diseases. Among these were the nematode disease of wheat found in Virginia and the potato wart disease discovered in Pennsylvania.
We learn from Science that Professor F. C. Newcombe of the University of Michigan “‘has been granted leave of absence for the second half year on the condition that he supply a substitute at his own cost.’’ Professor Newcombe has been at the Uni- versity since 1890.
Dr. L. T. Knight has been appointed plant physiologist in the division of plant pathology at the Minnesota experiment station.
Barrington Moore, formerly Associate Curator of Woods and Forestry at the American Museum of Natural History, and for sixteen months with the American Expeditionary Force in France, has received his discharge from military duty. Major Moore assisted Lt. Col. H. S. Graves, chief of the United States Forest Service, in organizing the forestsy troops which produced lumber for the A. E. F. Major Moore later had charge of all purchases of wood in France and other European countries for the Ameri- can Army. At the Baltimore meetings he was elected president of the Ecological Society of America.
Dr. F. W. Pennell, of the New York Botanical Garden, is spending some time at the United States National Herbarium studying the collections made in South America by Dr. J. N. Rose.
The conservatories of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which, owing to shortage of coal and consequent crowding of the col- lections have been closed for over a year, have been reopened.
The Torrey Botanical Club
Contributors of accepted articles and reviews who wish six gratuitous copies of the number of ToRREYA in which their papers appear, will kindly notify the editor when returning proof.
Reprints should be ordered, when galley proof is returned to the editor. The
“New Era Printing Co., 41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa., have furnished the following rates:
2pp 4pp 8pp 12pp 16pp Z0pp 25 copies $ .79 $1.14 $1.78 $2.32 $2.87 $3.28 50 copies 1.03 1.43 2.23 2.82 3.52 3.92 100 copies 1.45 2.03 2,70 3.50 4.23 4.55 200 copies 2.15 3.24 3.92 5.25 6.52 6.92
Covers: 25 for $1.00, additional covers 114 cents each. Plates for reprints, 50 cents each per 100.
Committees for 1919,
Finance Committee Program Committee R.A. HARPER, Chairman. Mrs. E. G. Britton, Chairman. J. H. BARNHART, Pror. JEAN BROADHURST Miss C. C. HAYNES B. O. DopGE SERENO STETSON MICHAEL LEVINE Budget Committee F. J. SEAVER J. H. BARNHART, Chairman. Membership Committee R. A. HARPER J. K. SMALL, Chairman. N. L. Britton T. E. Hazen A. W. EVANS E. W. OLIVE M. A. Howe Local Flora Committee Hi. H. Rusgy ; N. L. Britton, Chairman. Field Committee Phanerogams: Cryptogams: F.W. PENNELL, Chairman. E. P: BICKNELL Mrs. E.G. BRITTON Mrs. L. M. KEELER N. L. BritTon T. E. HAzEN MICHAEL LEVINE C. C. Curtis M. A. Howe GEORGE T. HASTINGS K. K. MACKENzIE MICHAEL LEVINE PERCY WILSON NORMAN TAYLOR W. A. MuRRILL
F. J. SEAVER Chairmen of Special Committees on Local Flora _ Ferns and Fern Allies: R. C. Benedict. Lichens: W. C. Barbour
Mosses: Mrs. E. G. Britton Sphaeriaceae, Dothideaceae: H. M. Liverworts: A. W. Evans Richards Fresh Water Algae: T. E. Hazen Hypocreaceae, Perisporieae, Plectas- Marine Algae: M. A. Howe cineae, Tuberineae: F. J. Seaver Gasteromycetes: G. C. Fisher Fungi-forming sclerotia: A. B. Stout Hymenomycetes: W. A. Murrill Imperfecti: H. M. Richards, F. _ Except Russula and Lactarius: Miss G. Seaver, Mel T. Cook Burlingham Oomycetes: C. A. King Cortinarius: R: A. Harper ‘Zygomycetes: A. F. Blakeslee Polyporeae: M. Levine’ _ Chytridiaceae, Exobasidii: H. M. Richards Myxomycetes: Mrs. H. M. Richards ’ Rusts and Smuts: E. W. Olive Yeast and Bacteria: Prof. J. Broadhurst
Discomycetes: B. O. Dodge Insect galls: Mel T. Cook
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
(1) BULLETIN _
A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 45 published in 1918, contained 519 pages of text and 15 full-page plates. Price $4.00 per annum. For Europe, 18 shillings. Dulau & Co., 47 Soho Square, London, are, agents for England.
Of former volumes, only 24—45 can be supplied entire ; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire Stab of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets Vols. 24~27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols. 28-45 three dollars each.
Shots copies (30 cents) will be furnished only heh not breaking complete volumes. |
(2) MEMOIRS
The Memorrs, established 1889, are published at irregu- lar intervals. Volumes 1-15 are now completed; No.1 of Vol. 16 has been’ issued. The subscription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance; Vol. 17, containing’ Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Club, 490 pages, was issued in 1918, price $5.00. Certain numbers can also be pur- chased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application.
(3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- — dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York, 1888. Price, $1.00.
Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to — DR. BERNARD O. DODGE Columbia University
New York City
Vol. 19 February, I919 No. 2
TORREYA >
A Monruiy Journat or Boranicat Notes anp News EDITED FOR
SHE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
8Y
NORMAN TAYLOR
fOHN TORREY, 1796-1873. CONTENTS Botanical Study of Skunk Cabbage: KATHERINE As WILLIAMS..+- 0.) -sseceeers eevee ese at Some Remarks upon Limosella; F. W. PENNELL .-.-- 1.16 ceeneeey cece cene cree ct eee eee e ees 30 in tie: Wake of the Hnemy 15.5% Pe 4 hcoakh. 3 ses dasa tas Uadioens nose ps cabs vine oe Pade ee 32 Proceedings of the Club ....... WE TR GS CMR IAL Sanaa MAL RMSE, Pa EAR Aa eb Rae 33 TMM IM GOSIAR DICER Ci 5.5 ca.) Soont bate oleayaek eens cone he faaeed Mice veudgee SMe ae th wpSeh hen syrs 34 BWIA ECE TINGS vcs. 5s aap aes nchh “Soaliu gas Daceensse ped eure tepeccus cape wy Byte Del ORR S as 5 rae 36
PuBLISHED FOR THE CLUB
At 41 NortH Queen Street, LANCASTER, Pa. BY Tse New Era Printinc Company “Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., a8 second-class matter,
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
OFFICERS FOR 1og19
President H. M. RICHARDS, Sc.D.
Vice- Presidents. JOHN HENDLEY. BARNHART, A.M., M.D C. STUART GAGER, PH.D.
Secretary and Treasurer BERNARD O. DODGE, PH.D. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, N. Y. City. Editor ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D.
Associate Edtiors
JEAN BROADHURST, Pu.D. M. LEVINE, Pu.D. J. A. HARRIS, Pu.D. G. E. NICHOLS, Px.D. MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. ARLOW B. STOUT, Pu.D.
NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate to the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences M. A. HOWE, PH.D.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WILD FLOWER PRESERVATION
SoOcIETY. OF AMERICA
TorREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and
Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To —
-subseribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLus, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or Columbia University, New York City.
Matter for publication, and books and papers for review, should be addressed to
NORMAN TAYLOR
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn, N. ¥
MAR ¢ 4 told
TORKEY A
Vol. 19 No. 2 February, IgIg
A BOTANICAL STUDY OF SKUNK CABBAGE, SYMPLOCARPUS FOETIDUS
By KATHERINE A. WILLIAMS
The skunk cabbage is a plant of unusual interest and wide distribution, and although its general growth and morphology are pretty well understood, little has been done in an exact study of the plant. A recent study of its western congener, Lysichiton Kamtschatcensis, has emphasized the importance of a detailed investigation of the eastern swamp plant. This study was begun early in the spring of the present year (1918) witha view tomakiag known some of the features of the plant which have not been emphasized in previous descriptions of it. In the prosecution of this research, I have been assisted by the helpful suggestions of Prof. John W. Harshberger, under whose direction the work has been prosecuted throughout.
PHYTOPHENOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION
Phytophenology—The skunk cabbage is one of our earliest forest plants, for records show it blooming even in the late fall, or early winter. According to the records made by Dr. Marion Mackenzie and presented before the Botanical Society of Penn- sylvania, flowering specimens have been found as early as Novem- ber twenty-first. Also when the year is backward for any reason, the flowers have been even as late as March before opening. The average date of first blooming seems to be about the middle of January, as seen from the following table. This year the flowering was somewhat later than usual.
(No. 1, Vol. 19 of TorREyA, comprising pp. I-20, was issued 21 February 1919]
2]
LDR, NEW y SOTAN; GARD:
bo i)
Date of Opening of
Year First Flower TSO OMe ae mere ne Sones ees eee March 8 TOOOR est 27: SE SO see Ces ee February 22 TOOT Wey este te ere ai cee te oe ear ee February 18 THOVO PD Ga oped gah a So cor Saye eee ee January 27 TO) GAs caine chces PRRs pata ccl eee Silos January 15 LOOM Sete ea eee Para ne Wares ehedn coo January 23 TO OS ee et eee te ee et January 18 LOO OMe a eee yore ore A cd January 5 MOOG eo aah a ear tee January 10 TOO Se eee ee eee os BiseInS January I TGYOC Soe S Sets orca eee ea November 21 (1908) TOUS es ee ee toy oaearst sk Heese sere March 9
Daily more and more flowers open until about the latter part of February and early March when they are at their height. Then the greatest numbers may be found open. Of course the date varies slightly owing to the general weather conditions.
Distribution.—In general the plants are found in the eastern coastal states, although a closely allied species is found through- out the west and is there spoken of as the western skunk cabbage, or Lysichiton Kamtschatcensis. It is common around Vancouver. In general, though, Symplocarpus is distributed along our eastern states, ranging from Nova Scotia down to Virginia and is also reported by the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, as having been found in Amur and Japan.
The following table gives in general its distribution.
Number of Herbariums
States Reporting (CHiTEGIIS Sos oo nee ee re Cocks, < ola cs 2 IMDS seca otk Ie Chae eee wee EREe Carte eater One ois So. Bio.s c 3 INJSG7 [Biya oh tae 2 5 Core Se Pea ere ete Hors boca Z 2 WSR 55 bit ain co On Aone oe ene eneeia croc cxdehebo ar I IMME REACTS S HICS 4 SES a eee ce nes aid 4) Glo ExS - 4 [pelsveete: IE Wael 5 Son ead eee Re ace beter cco © om pekoor 2 (CENTOS MONE 6 In FAO CERO ROIS a oe re © 4 ibys Wj Eyavel 045 Se sig Baas oe OED porto oud. ° 2 ID feXy Nord oe Aa eae eee PER aS ele S 3 inifesiie TGEESY: oo 0s St erect eee Pe eeemen ater chrcec co C5. 3 Pains wlvalaeseitt sect oh. clase os date SS ee 2 Districtiot Columbias.:..--....- Sgt a cautacie Sin ee I WistadbeiiGl say An Svs OU peo Gore Ree aC eeIEeITSaee Ter I
WIGGIMIAS bist tie oo een clat eos hy - Bed ky Rh hoe I
23
Number of Herbariums
States Reporting SROTIMOAREE Ome he cena ale is ig die ad ak ty Bike Reel Gul a I Lay rs! Lai, Ce SE Site RS SES ie nee or Renae I Rerelicttict naar Sa eon eee ears ea late eveiatatw ll} a wis eeRia’ © a%e I Ie RE ee Riot Re Nee ates Be coy date 2 RUST CUTS ATE hed Here tie cna sete i Days wo oe ior wna a one ea 2 PU ER OETISITES ig Mee OPES twin eS eee ews hoe pees Pite ¥ 3 Rtn erotae a, Mele ce tote orale cic ocx wets Boi etepeeieer I INTER A OCOLIACE Some retest een ere oe tines et eon ge area 2 ONE BEC. sclee ote Ae oe eka the Oy et alle einer se eee I PU ise bapa Ae see, See oak pea eden yo Me Cae, Sr Sa I | EOE a Regen Bee 2S y5 ie ci Pease he Puen MIR Ay ey I
Symplocarpus, like some other members of the Arum family, grows best with a great deal of moisture. And it isin the swamps, marshes and bogs or stream beds, that these sturdy plants are usually found.
GENERAL STUDY
The skunk cabbage, or Symplocarpus foetidus, is really our earliest spring flower.
Odor of Plant.—Knuth in his classification of flower odors describes it as nauseous and of mephitic, or viverrine, type. In another case, I found it described as an odor that combines the skunk, putrid meatand garlic. Still another writer describes it as being a combination of a mustard plaster and raw onions. To me the odor is not especially repulsive. It suggests that of fresh cabbage with a slight suggestion of mustard. To some, however, the smell is quite repulsive.
The odor varies in intensity and quality quite widely. Those plants in which the stamens are ripe seem to have the stronger odor. This is probably due to the greater maturity of the plant at this stage of flowering and it has the added significance of attracting a greater number of insect visitors.
Origin of name.—The origin of its common name is not diffi- cult to ascertain, for on crushing the plant immediately an odor arises something like that of the cabbage with yet a suggestion of the mephitic skunk.
The generic name of the plant, Symplocarpus was given to it by Richard Anthony Salisbury, and is derived from two Greek
24
words ovurdoxy, Meaning connection and xapzés, fruit. This is quite appropriate, since the ovaries unite to form a compound fruit. Linnaeus gave us its specific name of foetidus. Many scientists use the term Spathyema, as given by Rafinesque. A point interesting in regard to its name is that the early Swedish settlers around Philadelphia called it bear-weed, because the bears relished the early green food and feasted on its leaves, which are quite large and conspicuous, like coarse cabbage leaves.
Order and family.—We have heard so much about its disagree- able odor that we hardly realize that it belongs to the same family as our Calla lily, for it is a member of the family Araceae. Ac- cording to Gray, “they are plants with acrid or pungent juices, simple or compound often veiny leaves and flowers crowded on a spadix which is normally surrounded with a spathe.”’ Other closely allied plants, which we find around here, are the golden club, so common in Jersey ponds and the familiar jack-in-the- pulpit. Neither of these, however, possesses the pungent odor, but the Jack, or Indian turnip, is like Symplocarpus in that it has many crystals found in the root, which give it a biting clawing taste.
EARLY GROWTH
Flower, spathe—The first signs of the plant are the sessile hood-shaped spathes which come up though the ground early or late in the winter, even when the ground is hard with ice at a foot’s depth. The flowers are included in a thick leathery spathe. This in general is like a hood, or even shell- shaped. It is sessile and grows close to the ground. In most instances, it has the same general form, although there is a wide variation in contour, size and coloring. Some of these leaf-like spathes are deeply curved, others stand more erect. Some are found which are double. In this case there seems to be a spathe inside a spathe, the open part of the outer spathe coming against the rounded back of the inner spathe. Also in such cases the innermost spathe seems to have a longer, more leaf-like tip which projects backward and out beyond the outer spathe tip. One plant was found this spring (1918) at South Springfield, Pa., with four double spathes.
b or
The greatest variation is seen in the coloring. Usually this ranges froma deep purplish-red, almost black, to a pale yellowish green. Spathes may be found showing the different colors and a complete gradation shown from the light to the dark. The lighter spathes are rarely ever pure pale green, but more fre- quently are mottled with the deeper purple. In some instances the inner side of the spathe is deeper colored than the outer. The mottling is such that it closely resembles the flickering lights and shades often seen on the undergrowth, as the sun filters through the leaves of the trees overhead.’ This frequently makes it hard to find them on the forest floor. Reed suggests that this variation is due to age, the younger blooms being those lighter in color, while those which are darker are the older ones. This did not seem to hold true as regards the plants observed by me. Out of about fifty examined for this peculiarity, withering and decay was not limited to the dark ones alone, but was seen in spathes of all intermediate shades of coloring. Again it was suggested that the water content of the soil might lead to this variation. Some time spent on this study did not seem to prove this to hold true, as two spathes from the same plant, side by side, showed one a deep reddish purple and the other quite pale. VAs
The flowers themselves are crowded together on a short stalk or spadix. They are really quite inconspicuous. It is the spathe that is the attractive portion, as far as coloring and conspicuous- ness are concerned. The flowers themselves are closely crowded on the spadix, so closely crowded that they hardly appear as individual flowers. Thestamensand pistil only are conspicuous. The flower cluster varies in size and in the number of flowers produced. Showing this variation we have the following table.
Size relatively Size in inches No. of flowers SOMA heg eta: 5 ese cho alee see at 5/8” 38 Wein. Wie, aradacheiet ee 7(8” ae WATEC 2 lai ho dinc.e ost cyan ae 7/8” 69 WErV lab PCa ies). a.5 aceb ener 13/16” 61
The-flowers as shown by the figures are closely crowded together. In this case, the spadix of medium size had the greatest number of flowers. And the largest spadix had only 61 flowers.
26
It is due mostly to this crowding that the flowers have departed somewhat from the usual monocotyledonous habit of having three, or its multiple, in their floral parts. In general the flowers showed four perianth parts. These were almost cuboidal in shape, when pressed close together, and they overlapped each other, making a box-like arrangement. The four stamens have long flat, broad filaments and straw-colored anthers, which pro- trude beyond the perianth segments. The stamens are arranged opposite the perianth parts. The anthers are two-celled, opening lengthwise and are extrorse and rather free in their movement. The flowers are protandrous, the anthers developing earlier than the pistil. The pistil is unusual in its general structural form. The stigma is three-lobed, the style is cuboidal and the ovary is one-celled. :
In a cluster of about 73, some flowers showed a few variations. These were either near the lip or the base where less crowded. It seemed an attempt to revert to the usual number of parts in the lilaceous monocotyledones. Four specimens were found having six stamens and six perianth parts. Another flower showed five stamens and five perianth parts. And still another specimen was found having four stamens, but with six perianth segments.
The color of the flowers, according to one author, resembling decayed flesh, combined with the odor which is doubly suggestive, attract carrion-loving flies of the family Diptera, which are useful in the pollination of the closely crowded, otherwise inconspicuous blossoms.
Insect visitors —From a recent article in American Forestry by R. W. Shufeldt, I find that a variety of bee introduced into this country from Europe is one of the earliest visitors, since they must have food early in the spring: The article further states that the honey bee, if able at all to enter, finds the exit too narrow and slippery and the bee perishes miserably. Another curious fact he has noted also is the frequent presence of spiders’ webs at the entrance to the spathes. This fact was also noted by me. It is a case where the flower odor attracts the flies, and they in turn are entangled in the spider’s web and so furnish food for the spider.
bo ~]
Shortly after pollination the spathe begins to decay and wither and the spadix to swell. It becomes soft and spongy and the individual fruits are covered with a papery skin-like sheath under which the seeds develop. These when mature are hard, round, dark brown and somewhat irregular in shape. In fact, they look a little like pebbles or stones. When fully ripe they break the sheath, fall to the ground and germinate the following spring, giving rise to new plants. A parent plant may be found having many seedlings coming up close around it.
In germination a small pointed, closely coiled shoot first appears above the ground. This is carefully wrapped in the thin papery sheathing leaves. When about a week old this shoot is about an inch in length. A few slender fibrous roots, rather long and thin grow downward into the ground. As yet there are not many roots to nourish the plant; these few primary roots have thread-like secondary roots.
By the second week, the seedling has grown much larger and the tip of the shoot has become freed from its papery sheath. This however grows along with the young plant. Also by this time a rootstock begins to develop. There are also many more roots, long, thin and tapering.
At the third week, the shoot has broken through both sheathing leaves and is quite large.- At this time the seedling is about four inches tall. It has severed its connection with the remains of the seed by this time. From now on development consists of growing larger and larger rapidly. This plant how- ever does not bloom the first year. Nor am I able to tell by actual observation, since my study has covered only a period of five months, how many years elapse before the plant has grown old enough to produce its first inflorescence. Probably the flowers are produced the fourth year.
That the plants develop more rapidly and better in warm, light places is seen by the table given by Dr. Mackenzie in her report before the Botanical Society in r911. Also in some speci- mens which I brought in from the wood, the uncurled spire of leaves, just barely sticking above the soil, soon came into full leafage, in the warmth of the greenhouse. The plants had been
28
set aside in a bucket of water, as of little further use. In less than a week after bringing them in about six leaves were fully uncurled and widely spread.
The leafage of the plant is quite interesting. Soon ane the blossoms appear, a small whitish shoot is seen forcing its way above ground. On going one can see that it consists of two almost whitish sheathing leaves. These show the monocotyle- donous character in having parallel veining. Closely rolled inside of these are the true leaves. They form a light hard-coiled center. The tips, when they have broken through the enveloping sheath-like leaves, are frequently colored purplish like the spathe of the plant. Such coloring may show on the outside of the tip of the first and even the second leaves. These inner, or true, leaves seem to break away from the monocotyledonous and tend toward the netted veining of dicotyledonous plants. The first three leaves unfolding show a gradual transition toward. the netted veining of the later leaves. In all the cases the veining is palmately netted. Also in specimens planted under dry con- ditions, in a pot in a frame, and those under moist conditions, the plants grown under dry conditions tended to show the netted veining earlier than those of the moist environment.
The leaves when fully developed are quite large, being some- times over a foot in length and at least eight or nine inches broad. They have an entire margin and are of a bright green color, rather shiny in appearance. They grow rankly in a rosette form, in the damp stream beds. Their great size makes them very con-
spicuous.
In a microscopical study the leaves show raked large air chambers and loosely packed cellular structures. Throughout the leaf are various rhaphides occurring in the large bundle masses. There. are also several other types of crystals, a few cuboidal in shape, and even some spherical in shape may be found scattered loosely here and there—sphaerocrystals.
Juice—The juice of the skunk cabbage is very bitter and acrid. This when tasted in the fresh plant had a peculiar garlic- like taste and seemed biting. By biting I mean the prickly sensation very much like that experienced on eating the root of
PLATE II
29
the jack-in-the-pulpit. When the plant was cooked, the water was the color of weak tea and the plant itself lost most of its flavor and the property which gave it the biting character.
Roots.—The plant is a very difficult one to collect in its entirety, owing to its immense rootage. One must dig over a foot down into the soil before there is even the slightest sign of the roots giving way. There is a large central root-stock almost the size of a potato and from this great numbers of roots arise and grow downward for almost two feet in length. They are very long, rather straight and unbranched excepting for a few almost thread-like offshoots. |
All the older roots are peculiar in having ring-like markings or wrinkles on them. These are especially seen near the upper or older end of the root. They are contractile roots and are peculiar to a few plants. Their general purpose is to pull the plant back into the ground as it grows up every year. By a process of contraction the roots wrinkle up and draw the plant down into the soil. The roots are permanently wrinkled after this con- traction.
The root structure shows large loose cells and a single, radial central stele. The cells around the outer cortex, near the epi- dermis are particularly loose. This is due to the contraction of the epidermis.
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
Fig. 1. Outside of Spathe of Skunk Cabbage.
Fig. 2. Double Spathe. :
Fig. 3. Dissection of Spathe to show Spadix with Flowers. Spadix with extra long Peduncle.
Fig. 4. Single Flower of Skunk Cabbage.
Fig. 5. Flower with depression of two outer Perianth Segments.
Fig. 6. Flower laid open showing four Stamens and Pistil.
Fig. 7. Floral Diagram.
Figs. 8,9, 10,14. Early Stages in the Germination of the Seeds of the Skunk Cabbage.
Fig. 11. Closely rolled Leaves with Netted Veining.
Fig. 12. One of the first and outermost Leaves with Parallel Veining.
Fig. 13. A contractile Root.
30
SOME REMARKS UPON LIMOSELLA
By FRANCIS W. PENNELL
Professor Fernald’s interesting discussion of our eastern coastal species of Limosella reached me as I was on the point of taking up the same problem. I had suspected, and had tentatively so marked it in my notes, that our eastern species would prove distinct from L. tenuifolia Wolf of Europe, and should be called L. subulata Ives. That it was specifically distinct from the plant of the Rocky Mountains I was certain, having studied and made descriptions of both in their native environments.
My notes, made from living plants and supplemented by herbarium study, show the following contrast between Limosella aquatica of the Central Rockies and nearby plains and L. subulata of the Atlantic seaboard:
L. aquatica.—Corolla about 2 mm. wide; lobes somewhat spreading, acute or acutish, dull-white. Anthers about I mm. long, purplish. Capsules 2.5-3.2 mm. long, borne on spreading pedicels. Seeds .5 mm. long, dull amber-brown, about 6-7 ridged, relatively coarsely transverse-lined. Calyx-lobes uni- form. Leaves about 3 cm. long, consisting of a petiole and a more or less dilated lanceolate blade about I cm. long. Plant rosulate, 10-20 leaved, surrounded by numerous radiating few- jointed stolons.
L. subulata.—Corolla about 3 mm. wide; lobes widely spread- ing, obtuse, white, tinged with lavender-blue. Anthers about 2 mm. long, dark purple-blue. Capsules 2—2.3 mm. long, borne on arcuately decurved pedicels. Seeds .6-.7 mm. long, bright amber-brown, about 8-9 ridged, more finely transverse-lined. Calyx-lobes upcurved, in fruit the tube tending to split on the anterior side. Leaves 1.5-2 cm. long, nearly filiform, terete, obtuse. Plant chain-like, consisting of plantlets borne on joints of extensively creeping filiform stolons, each plantlet usually 5-10 leaved.
In agreement with Professor Fernald, I am unable to distin- guish the plant of the Rockies from that of Eurasia. The western plant sometimes has pinkish corollas, but, so far as I can
31
find, variability of color between white and pink is characteristic of the European plant,* rather than a normal ‘pink or flesh- ~ color.” This species, Limosella aquatica, appears to be the most, cosmopolitan member of the Scrophulariaceae, and its simple flower-structure and acaulescent habit mark it as primitive. It occurs to-day upon all the continents, and is even credited to New Zealand. Whether eventual knowledge will show that it has held conservatively true throughout its supposed range may be doubted, but certain it is that deviations are mostly slight and remote. However in widely scattered parts of the earth it has “thrown ofi’’ suggestively parallel species. Thus Limosella subulata may be closely duplicated in the Vancouver Island region, and in Argentina—but a priori assumption would be that these are not identical with it.
My field-acquaintance with Limosella subulata has been con- fined to one colony, but that fortunately extensive, growing about the margins of Old Sams Pond, Point Pleasant, New Jersey. This is a small pond of fresh water lying in the lea of the coast sand-dunes. The Garden herbarium shows a consid- erable series of specimens from sandy margins of such fresh sand- dune ponds, ranging from here northeastward to Nantucket. These plants are partially, though inconstantly recognizable, from the species of muddy saline tidal habitats by their pedicels being more recurving, their capsules blacker; their sepals more
* The following quotations, chosen from various countries, confirm this: Baxter,
Brit. Phan. Bot. pl. 212, “‘ pale rose-colored or white,”’ illustrated as white; Sowerby, .Engl. Bot. 5: pl. 357, “‘whitish without, red on the inside,’ illustrated as pink;
Reichenbach, Ic. Fl. Germ. 20: 54. pl. 1722, “‘corolla albida; maculae brunneae sub basi cujusvis laciniae corollae, suppositae intus saltem maculae citrinae,”’ illustrated as described; Coste, Fl. France 3: 27, ‘‘blanches ou rosees’’; Murino, FI. Galicia too. “blanca’’; Schinz & Keller, Fl. Schweiz 456. ‘‘weisse od. rotlichweisse’’; Parlatore, Fl. Ital. 6: 546, ‘‘bianchiccio.”
7 A letter from Mr. E. P. Bicknell, concerning Limosella on Nantucket, em- phasizes its occurrence about the sandy margins of ‘‘closed,’’ that ‘is completely land-locked ponds. Some of these are freshwater, but one is mentioned as probably at least partly brackish. He calls attention to the fact that in ponds which stretch some miles inland from the shore Limosella will occur only at the shoreward extremities. Specimens sent from the deeper water of certain ponds much exceed in length of leaves the dimensions of the key above, and in coarseness of growth are like the tide-water plant. The halophytism of Limosella subulata would make a valuable physiological study.
32
frequently obtuse, and the leaves more slender. If these modi- fications be wholly ecological, are they mainly a response to a sandy instead of mud substratum, or to the lack of salt, or in good part to freedom from periodic inundation?
The range of Limosella subulata must be extended southward to Chesapeake Bay. G. H. Shull 306 is from the ‘northeast shore of Gunpowder River, one third mile northeast of its mouth,” Maryland, and certainly from between high and low tide. This collection and most of those from the tide-water of the Delaware River are of plants coarser, usually with longer and wider leaves, than the typical New England form. While the plant occurs on the Delaware between. Philadelphia and Trenton, as near Burlington, New Jersey, this is much above the usual limit of salt water. As a general statement, we may say that Limosella subulata is primarily a plant of brackish soil, but that it is fully able to meet a dilute or even quite non-saline environment.
New YorK BOTANICAL GARDEN
IN THE WAKE OF THE ENEMY!
This dirge for the orchards of France may be familiar to many of our readers, but losses described by the letter immediately following the verse, are just as indefensible. Can there still be found in this country people who, in spite of acts like these, cherish pre-war delusion about the “‘ The Kindly German?’’—Ep.
THE TREES OF FRANCE.
Hush, little leaves, your springtime dance, Sigh for the murdered trees of France.
Friends were they of the peasant folk, Friends whom the birds and kine bespoke.
Spoil are they of destroying lust, ‘Not of the battle stroke and thrust.
They are a garden still: to see, They are the world’s Gethsemane.
Hush, little leaves, your springtime dance, Sigh for the murdered trees of France. —McLandburgh Wilson.
33
(The following extract from a letter of M. Jules Cardot, the noted French bryologist of Charleville, France, was recently transmitted to me through M. Thériot, of Havre. I am sure that friends of M. Cardot will be glad to learn tidings of him. —E. B. Chamberlain.)
“Depuis notre arrivée ici, je vis des jours qui compterons, certes, parmi les plus pénibles de ma vie, et si nous n’avions pas la victoire, qui nous console de tout, je me demande si je n’aurais pas été tenté d’en finir avec l’existance. Vous ne pouvez vous imaginer le spectacle que présente notre pauvre maison, l’état de saleté repoussante et de dévastation dans lequel elle se trouve. Partout des meubles brisés, les portraits de famille lacérés, des livres en lambeaux épars de la cave au grenier, les armoires, les secrétaires fracturés, quoique tous les clefs étaient sur les portes; tous les beaux meubles anciens disparus et remplacés par d’autres meubles qui ne nous appartiennent pas. Les livres qui n’ont pas été dechirés formaient dans le grenier une indescriptible salade; on se demande comment on peut arriver 4 mélanger ainsi une bibliothéque; ce doit étre un travail trés fatigant! A cété de cela des choses déconcertantes. Mes collections qui on avait dites évacuées sont la, en partie du moins. Je les a’ retrouvées, entassées dans le fond du grenier et recouvertes par ma bibliothéque scientifique, qu’on a jetée péle-méle par dessus. Malheureusement mes pauvres collections sont loin d’étre au complet. Il manque, outre tous les matériaux non étudiés, une énorme collection du Japon, de plus de 5,000 N°, contenant des centaines d’espéces nouvelles, une collection de Juan Fernandez, une autre des iles Sandevich et une autre encore de Saghaline, tout cela probablement détruit et perdu sans retour.’”
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB NOVEMBER 27, 1918
The meeting was held in the Morphological Laboratory of the New York Botanical Garden at 3:30 P.M., with Vice-President - Barnhart in the chair. There were twelve persons present.
b4
The minutes of October 30 and November 12 were read and approved.
The nomination and election of Bro. M. Victorin, Longueiul College, Quebec, Canada, followed.
The announced scientific program was then in order. Dr. P. A. Rydberg read a paper on ‘‘The Distribution of the Montane Plants of the Rocky Mountains.’ This paper will be published in the Bulletin of the Club.
Meeting adjourned. B. O. DoDGE,
Secretary DECEMBER 10, 1918
The meeting was held at the American Museum of Natural History at 8:15 P.M. President Richards occupied the chair. There were twenty eight persons present. The minutes of November 27 were read and approved.
The nomination and election of Dr. George E. Nichols, Yale University, and President R. B. von Kleinsmid, University of Arizona, Tucson, followed. No other business was transacted.
The announced scientific program consisted of an illustrated lecture on ‘‘The Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg, Java,” by Dr. H. A. Gleason.
Adjournment followed. B. O. DopGE,
Secretary
THE PLANTING OF TREES AS WAR MEMORIALS*
At the annual meeting of the Managers of the New York Botanical Garden on January 13, 1919, the following suggestions by Mr. Edward D. Adams were approved and ordered printed:
At this time, when permanent memorials to the defenders of our flag by land and sea are being considered throughout our land, and projects for community: monuments of various designs are planned, we venture the suggestion that individual, as well as associated, action can effectively and economically be taken in
* Reprinted from the JouRNAL OF THE NEW YoRK BOTANICAL GARDEN, 20: I-2, Jan., 1919.
35
honor of all who have served or of those who have made the supreme sacrifice, by planting memorial trees.
Such trees may properly be planted in the front yard, on the street, at the home entrance, in a park, as the decoration of an avenue, in single specimens or in groups of different species for artistic effects of form and color.
As representing sentiments to be long cherished, such me- morials would be tenderly cultivated and protected.
Their shade and fruit would yield comfort and satisfaction. Their growth would add value to the home and become an asset that succeeding generations would inherit. .
Naturally, only those trees should be selected for memorials to family, school, church, and municipal honor, that will grow best in each locality and of those species that will be appreciated for their beauty, grandeur, long life, and utility.
The number of kinds of -trees suitable for memorial planting is large. The widely different climates of different parts of the United States require the selection of such kinds as will grow vigorously, and the character of the soil should also be taken into consideration; such information to those not versed in tree planting can usually be had from the nearest nurseryman or from officials of the Agricultural Experiment Station.
Those who live in homes without available grounds for plant- ing, might contribute to the cost of a tree for its planting as part of a memorial grove in a park or garden.
The selection of the tree, the preparation of the location, and the design of the label or honor roll, may be considered and car- ried out in family conferences and with the participation of each member.
These preparations should be made as our men return, so that the signing of the treaty of peace may be celebrated over the nation wide by the simultaneous planting of the honor tree of each family and community that has cherished a service flag in the period of our war.
At the New York Botanical Garden, a war memorial planta- tion of Douglas Spruce, a characteristic American evergreen tree, will be established this spring; about one hundred trees
36
five feet high having been secured for this purpose. For those who do not have land available and who would like to have a memorial tree planted, the offer is made to designate one of these spruces as desired on receipt of ten dollars, which will cover cost of tree, of planting, and of its care, which will be the same as that of other trees in the Garden.
NEWS ITEMS
Professor Henry Allan Gleason, of the University of Michigan, recently spent two months in the study of North American Iron- weeds, the genus Veronia and near allies at the New York Botanical Garden. Professor Gleason published some years ago a preliminary revision of Vernonia and he is now preparing the manuscript of the tribe Vernonieae for the North American Flora. Dr. Gleason spent a day at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where he revised the collection of Vernonia in the herbarium of that institution.
Mr. Charles Piper Smith, who has published several papers on Lupinus in the Bulletin, spent ten days recently in studying these plants at the herbarium of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and at the Gray Herbarium, Cambridge.
We learn from the Michigan Agricultural College Record of the death on December 6 of Miss Rose M. Taylor, instructor in botany at the College.
We learn from the Evening Sun that because of the similarity of climate and soil conditions of Texas and the land upon which the Jewish ‘‘ Republic of Judea ”’ will be built, the Zionist Society has retained Dr. J. J. Taubenhaus, plant pathologist of the Texas agricultural experiment station, for a high agricultural post in the new nation.
Much of the data compiled during his service here will be available for use in Palestine, Dr. Taubenhaus says.
The Torrey Botanical Club
Contributors of accepted articles and reviews who wish six gratuitous copies of the number of TorREYA in which their papers appear, will kindly notify the editor when returning proof.
Reprints should be ordered, when galley proof is returned to the editor. . The New Era Printing Co., 41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa., have furnished the following rates:
2pp 4pp 8pp 12pp 16pp 20pp 25 copies $ .79 $1.14 $1.78 $2.32 $2.87 $3.28 50 copies 1.03 1.43 2.23 2.82 3.52 3.92 100 copies 1.45 2.03 2.73 3.50 4.23 4.55 200 copies 2.15 3.24 3.92 525 6.52 6.92
Covers: 25 for $1.00, additional covers 114 cents each. Plates for reprints, 50 cents each per 100.
Committees for 1919.
Finance Committee Program Committee R. A. HARPER, Chairman. Mrs. E. G. BRITTON, Chairman. J. H. BARNHART, Pror, JEAN BROADHURST Miss C. C. HAYNES B. O. DODGE SERENO STETSON MICHAEL LEVINE Budget Committee F,. J. SEAVER J. H. BARNHART, Chairman. Membership Committee R. A. HARPER J. K. SMALL, Chairman. N. L. BRITTON T. E, Hazen A. W: Evans E. W. OLIVE M. A. Howe Local Flora Committee H. H. RussBy N. L. Britton, Chairman. Field Committee _ Phanerogams: Cryptogams: F. W. PENNELL, Chairman. E. P. BICKNELL Mrs. E.G. BRITTON “Mrs. L. M. KEELER N. L. BRITTON T. E. HAzEN MICHAEL LEVINE C.-C, Curtis M. A. Howe GEORGE T. HASTINGS K. K. MACKENZIE MICHAEL LE VINE PrERcy WILSON NORMAN TAYLOR W. A: MuRRILL
F, J. SEAVER Chairmen of Special Committees on Local Flora Ferns and Fern Allies: R. C. Benedict. Lichens: W. C. Barbour
Mosses: Mrs. E. G. Britton AS Sphaeriaceae, Dothideaceae: H. M Liverworts: A. W. Evans Richards Fresh Water Algae: T. E. Hazen Hypocreaceae, Perisporieae, Plectas- Marine Algae; M. A. Howe cineae, Tuberineae: F. J. Seaver Gasteromycetes: G. C. Fisher Fungi-forming sclerotia: A. B. Stout Hymenomycetes: W. A. Murrill Imperfecti: H. M. Richards, - F. Except Russula and Lactarius: Miss G. Seaver, Mel T. Cook ; Burlingham Oomycetes: C. A. King
Cortinarius: R. A. Harper Zygomycetes:'A. F. Blakeslee
Polyporeae: M. Levine Chytridiaceae, Exobasidii: H. M. Richards Myxomycetes: Mrs. H. M. Richards Rusts and Smuts: E. W. Olive Yeast and Bacteria: Prof. J. Broadhurst
Discomycetes: B. O. Dodge Insect galis: Mel T. Cook
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
(1) BOLLETIN |
_ A-monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 45 published in 1918, contained 519 pages of text and 15 full-page plates. Price $4.00 per annum. For Europe,. 18 shillings. Dulau & Co.,. 47 Soho Square, London, are, ~agents for England.
Of former volumes, only 24-45 can be supplied entire ; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each ; Vols. 28-45 three dollars each. :
Single copies (30 cents) will be furnished only when not breaking complete volumes. RL
(2) MEMOIRS
The Memoirs, established 1889, are published at irregu-— lar intervals. Volumes’ 1-15-are now completed; No. 1 of Vol. 16 has been issued. The subscription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance; Vol. 17, containing Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Club, 490 pages, was issued in 1918, price $5.00. Certain numbers can also be pur- chased singly. A list of titles of the individual ae and of prices will be furnished on application.
(3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- | dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York, 1888. Price, $1.00.
Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. BERNARD O. DODGE Columbia University
New York City
Vol. 19 March, IgIg No. 3
PTORREYA ~
A Monruiy Journar or BoranicaLt Notes anp News EDITED FOR
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
BY
NORMAN TAYLOR
“JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873.
CONTENTS The Japanese Honeysuckle in the Eastern United States: E. F. ANDREWS..........- 37 Variations in the flowers of Erythronium Propullans Gray: C. O. ROSENDAHL..... 43 New names for species of Phanerogams: J. C. ARTHUR. .:1.0c00c060 cesssetsseseeenveeeees 48 Per VOlOvical NOtES: A. LEROY ANDREWS ..5 /c-die sie 90h vdovuysoncsurdenenhiadn cadven Secale op¥cbe 49 DAGtES- ANG NEWS. silos ce scs shove subepenegtem isvaderdves SUR TR UTE yak Saeki NOR (oi Gr papa aera 51
PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB
At 41 NortH Queen Street, LANcAsTER, Pa. BY THe New Era Printinc Company "Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa,, as second-class matter.
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
OFFICERS, FOR 1919
President H. M. RICHARDS, Sc.D.
Vice- Presidents. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D C. STUART GAGER, Pu.D.
Secretary and Treasurer BERNARD. O. DODGE, PH.D. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, N. Y. City.
Editor ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D.
Associate Editors
JEAN BROADHURST, Pu.D. M. LEVINE, Pu.D. J. A. HARRIS, Pu.D. ‘G. E. NICHOLS, PH.D. MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. . ARLOW B. STOUT, Px.D:
NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate to the Council of the New. York Academy of Sciences M. A. HOW®, PH.D.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WILD FLOWER PRESERVATION
SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
Torreya is furnished to subscribers in the United States and Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof.’ Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only » for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLuB, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or Columbia University, New York City. Matter for publication, and books and papers for review, should be addressed to
NORMAN TAYLOR
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn, Nv ¥
IJids
werwe ae
TORREYA
Vol. Ig No. 3 March, IgIg
THE JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.
By E. F. ANDREWS
The rapidity with which introduced weeds can multiply and take possession of new territory has been repeatedly demon- strated by such examples as the Russian thistle (Salsola pestifer), bitterweed (Heleniwm tenutfolium) and the Sida (S. Spinosa and S. rhombifolia)—plants which have become such common pests in certain parts of our country. As a general thing these un- welcome intruders belong to the class of herbaceous annuals and biennials, whose frequent succession of new generations, with the opportunities for seed production and distribution which this affords, makes them much more efficient travelers than the slower-growing woody shrubs and vines.
A notable exception to this rule, however, is furnished by the Japan honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), an exotic from Asia, which I remember to have known in my youth only as a care- fully cultivated and highly prized ornamental plant, twining about the piazzas of the old plantation mansions and covering the “‘summer houses’’—pergolas, they would be called now—in old-fashioned southern gardens. The flowers are very fragrant and showy, and it was a profuse bloomer under cultivation, but since it has run wild and taken on the weedy habit, it has to a large extent given up flowering, and propagates chiefly by vege- tative means. Wherever a shoot touches the ground it strikes root and then sends forth a numerous progeny of young shoots to repeat the process. The prostrate stems and those in con- tact with the soil, even on high banks and ledges, where there
[No. 2, Vol. 19 of ToRREYA, comprising pp. 21-36, was issued 19 March, 1919.]
37
38
is plenty of light, never, or very rarely produce flowers, but ex- pend their surplus energy in adding to the network of tangled cords that covers the ground wherever this ruthless invader gets a foot hold. It will climb as high as heaven if it can find any- thing to lean on, converting the wooded areas in the moist river bottoms into an impenetrable jungle with its tangled cords of interlacing vines; or if forced to accept an humbler position, crawling with equal facility over the gullied slopes of arid hill-
Fic. 1.—Japanese honeysuckle covering the side of a railroad cut near Rome, Ga. The white patches in the foreground are not snow, but naked portions of the very sterile yellow clay soil.
sides or along the borders of dusty roads. This faculty might be turned to good account in stopping washes and covering un- sightly clay banks, though its utility for such purposes seems never to have been tested. But while accommodating itself readily to almost any conditions, it shows a marked preference for moist woodlands and the borders of streams, and as its presence in such places does not interfere with the crops, or threaten any direct pecuniary loss, it has not attracted the attention of either the economist or the agriculturist.
39
But to the botanist engaged in any kind of field work this for- eign immigrant is a most undesirable accession to our plant pop- ulation. It infests his favorite hunting grounds and besets his steps with a tanglefoot of snares even more exasperating than the barbed wire fences, sometimes forcing him—and more espe- cially hery—to cut short such explorations. But the chief indict- ment against it is the ruthlessness with which it is overrunning and destroying our native plants wherever it comes in competi- tion with them; and it is no uncommon thing to see acres upon acres of brushwood and haw thickets, sometimes including trees of considerable size, buried under the rank growth of this ag- gressive invader. As it has no way of climbing except by coiling around a support, which is a rather tedious process in the case of large stems; it can reach the crown of high-branching trees only by climbing upon the under brush of shrubs and young shoots until it comes in contact with some overhanging bough— and then it has a free right-of-way. It also utilizes the stems and branches of other climbers that have already made good their ascent—trumpet vine, catbriars, grape, Virginia creeper, and the like, not excepting those of its own kind. As the stems of both the twiner and its support grow larger, the tension often becomes so great that the coils are tightened like a noose, and become so deeply imbedded in the supporting stem as to give it the appear- ance of a huge corkscrew, and unless themselves broken or loos- ened by the strain, may cause the death of the parts above. More frequently however, it kills by smothering its victims under a dense network of interlacing cords, commonly from 3 to 6 mm. thick, loosely twisted together. I have counted as many as 27 strands of all sizes, from I to 10 mm. thick, twined into one of these living ropes. A single stem is rarely more than 1 or 2 cm. (about 34 of an inch) thick, though in one instance I have seen a single honeysuckle vine 18 cm. (7 in.) in girth, smothering a wild plum tree (P. nigra) 1.5 dm. (6 in.) in diameter. It began by gripping a shoot from the base of the plum, in a spiral of 4 rings which have been drawn so tight by the continued growth of both stems that the honeysuckle, the more elastic of the two, has been flattened out like a piece of tape. As for the plum
40
shoot, it is now dead, and from the end of the stub the climber has reached out to the main stem and spread over the crown a net- work of luxuriant branches under which the tree is being slowly smothered to death.
This sort of piracy is no uncommon thing in the vegetable world, any more than in our own, but what surprised me in this case was the unusual size of the climbing stem. I took it fora grape vine at first, as the bark is fibrous like that of the grape, and it was not until I had plucked off leafy twigs actually grow- ing out of it that I could feel sure they really belonged there and were not merely ‘“‘hangers-on”’ of a hanger on. The bark’ is of a lighter color and softer texture than that of the grape, and also more easily detached.
On this lusty vine only one fowenne& sprig, with but two ber- ries, wasfound. This was on November 7, 1917, and is the second specimen of fruit recorded in my notes for that year, though others may have been observed without being mentioned, and others still may have escaped notice on account of the difficulty of distinguishing them among the dark, evergreen foliage. But while all this may be so, I have kept up such a constant lookout for the fruiting sprays, and their scarcity is the subject of such frequent comment in my notes that although their presence may sometimes be overlooked, this is not a satisfactory explanation, and the fact remains that the production of fruit (and conse- quently of seed) is much less than would be expected of so pro- lific a stock. But while the flowers appear to be highly special- ized for insect pollination, they seem, in the wild state, to have no set time for blooming. Even in spring it is unusual to see a honeysuckle vine loaded with flowers like the jessamines and clematis, but it continues to blossom sporadically throughout the greater part of the year (in this latitude, from April to De- cember) producing a few sprays here and there—hardly more in May than in October. In this way, many of the late bloomers may ‘‘waste their sweetness on the desert air” so far as pollin- ation and the perfecting of fruit is concerned.
But the most puzzling thing about this successful invader is how it has managed, with such imperfect provision for transpor-
41
tation over long distances, to spread over so vast a territory ~ within the memory of persons still living. No mention is made of it in either ‘‘Chapman’s Flora of the Southern States”’ (1884) or in the VIth edition of Gray's Manual (1889), and it was not until about this period that my own attention was aroused by the discovery that it was beginning to run wild in low, damp places around Macon, Ga. Since then it has spread over prac- tically the whole of the Eastern States, from the Gulf of Mexico to the estuary of the Hudson, making itself equally at home in the low hammocks of the Coastal Plain, on the old red hills of the Piedmont region, on the stony ramparts of the Lookout Plateau, and onward for a thousand miles up the great Appa- lachian Valley. A writer from Texas in the American Botanist (Vol. 24, p. 5) mentions it as having “established itself in the brush around dwellings’’ in some parts of that State, and Dr. R. M. Harper also writes me that he has seen it growing along roadsides in Hingham, Mass.
The ease with which it propagates by runners will account for the rapid dispersal of the species locally, but for those distant migrations by which it has spread from Texas to New England and from the mountains to the sea, some more expeditious means of transportation is needed. The dissemination of seed through the agency of birds is the most natural means that suggests it- self, and is probably the one employed, though the adaptation for this purpose is not very apparent. The berries, in addition to their infrequency, are “‘conspicuously’’ inconspicuous, being small, black, and sessile, or nearly so, in the axils of the dark green leaves, where it is difficult to see how they could attract atten- ”’ The small nutlets are embedded in a mucilaginous pulp like that of the mistletoe, but of a dark greenish color and an insipid, bittersweet taste, that would not seem likely to tempt a fastidious palate. It is not unlikely, however, that this pulp may play an important part in the distribution of seed, by sticking to the feet of birds and insects, and being carried about from place to place like the mistletoe. The plant is spread to some extent, even locally, by seed, and I have occasionally found a new colony forming in
tion even in a real “‘bird’s-eye view.
42
places 200 meters (about 620 ft.) or more, from any others of the species which could have given rise to it. The seedling starts by sending out a number of prostrate branches which creep along on the ground sending out runners of their own in every direc- tion until they find something to climb on, and in an incredibly short time will overrun everything that stands in their way.
Fic. 2—A honeysuckle jungle on the borders of a small stream in Wilkes County, Ga.
But after all has been said, the paucity of fruit in a plant so widely distributed has always been a puzzle to me, and as the flowers are dependent upon insect fertilization, I have some- times wondered whether this might not be a case like that of the Smyrna figs, in which a particular insect partner was needed to insure pollination. The most reasonable explanation, however, seems to be that wherever the honeysuckle can propagate itself vegetatively, it employs that method in preference to wasting its energies in the more exhausting and expensive process of seed
43
production. In other words, nature, here, is economizing effort and following the line of least resistance. This accords with the fact that prostrate and low climbing branches do not bloom and that fruit and flowers are found only in positions where the op- portunity for vegetative multiplication is restricted or wanting. In fact, the most remarkable crop of both fruit and flowers that I remember ever to have seen, was on a vine climbing over a wire fence between a cotton field and a potato patch, where the farmers were giving it such a hard fight that it had no chance to spread over the ground and was obliged to find some other
outlet for its vital energy. ROME, GEORGIA
VARIATIONS IN THE FLOWERS OF ERYTHRONIUM PROPULLANS GRAY
By C. O. ROSENDAHL
Several species of the genus Erythronium are characterized by certain structural peculiarities of the flowers chief of which is the marked heteromorphism of the stamens. This has been dem- onstrated in two of our common eastern species, E. albidum and E. americanum by Meads* and Grafff and in a number of west- ern and mid-western species by Pickett.f Among those studied by Pickett is E. propullans, a somewhat peculiar species which, so far as definitely known, is limited in its distribution to a small geographical area of southeastern Minnesota. In this restricted area it has been found only in a few places in the valleys of the Cannon and the Zumbro rivers, where it grows on wooded, allu- vial bottomlands.
Asa result of the very limited distribution of the species there are comparatively few specimens of E. propullans in the herbaria of the country and Pickett states that his observations on it were
* Meads, M.E. The Range of Variation in Species of Erythronium. Botanical Gazette 18: 134-138. 1893.
+ Graff, Paul W. The Stamens in Erythronium Americanum. Torreya 16: 180-182. I9106.
i Pickett, F. L. The length of Erythronium Stamens. Torreya 17: 58-60. TOU:
44
confined to only a few plants. He makes the suggestion that it would be desirable to examine more extensive collections to see if stamen dimorphism is characteristic of the species and accord- ingly the writer made it a point to look over the specimens of it in the herbarium of the University of Minnesota to see if ad- ditional proof could be obtained. The observations on the herbarium material were supplemented by a study of numerous specimens in the field in May, 1918.
These observations show beyond any doubt that the stamens of Erythronium propullans, like those of several other species of the genus, are characteristically heteromorphic. In fact there is perhaps an even greater proportional difference in the lengths of the two sets of stamens than is found in the other species, for in E. propullans the outer whorl of stamens reaches scarcely above the base of the anthers of the inner set. The accompanying stereoscopic photographs, which were made with a Zeiss stereo- scopic camera with regular binocular objectives and with the flowers. immersed in water, show this fact clearly. (The value of the figures is enhanced by examining them through an ordinary stereoscope.)
In the field material the average length of the outer stamens is 6.32 mm. while that of the inner is 7.99 mm., a difference of 1.67 mm. There is considerable variation in the size of the anthers ranging from I.9 mm. to 3.5 mm. in length. The aver- age length is about 2.46 mm. In some flowers the anthers of the outer stamens are regularly about .5 mm. shorter than those of the inner but this is not generally the rule and many cases were noted in which the anthers of the inner stamens were smaller in size than the outer. For the most part the anthers of one whorl of stamens differ as much from one another in size as they differ from those of the alternating whorl. This marked ten- dency to variation in the length of the anthers does not seem to affect the filaments for in all flowers examined the outer filaments were found to be constantly and uniformly shorter than the inner ones.
While examining the flowers for stamen heteromorphism an- other feature was brought to light which apparently has hitherto
Fic. 1.—A flower of Erythronium propullans with four perianth segments and
four stamens, showing the pronounced difference in the lengths of the two sets of stamens. Fig. 2. A flower with five perianth segments and five stamens, two of which are long and-three short. Fig. 3. Three plants of E. propullans showing flowers with four, five and six perianth segments. On two of the plants the
young offshoot can be distinctly seen.
46
been overlooked in E. propullans, namely a remarkable varia- bility with regard to the number of the perianth segments, © stamens and carpels.
Of a total number of 51 flowers examined in detail only six had six complete or normal perianth segments and only three of these had the full complement of stamens. Three flowers had five normal perianth segments and one of reduced size. There were eleven flowers with five perianth segments and twelve with five stamens. By far the largest number of flowers, namely thirty-one, had four perianth segments and there was a total of thirty-four which had only four stamens. One flower had three stamens and another one had only two. The following tabu- lation shows the variations in a more graphic way:
No. of perianth seg- 2 |
INCHES HAs tae < ox = 6 | 5 -+ I ab- normal 5 4} No. of stamens. 6 5 | 4Szeuae No. of flowers...... 6 3 TET || Bi 2) 121/370 erase
It is thus obvious that only about I2 per cent. of the flowers possess the full number of perianth parts and only about 6 per cent. the full number of stamens. On the other hand about 61 per cent. of the flowers have only four perianth segments and fully 67 per cent. have only four stamens. About 21 per cent. of the flowers have five perianth parts and 23 per cent. have five stamens. Where there are only four perianth segments and four stamens each series is arranged in two alternating whorls of two each, the two shorter stamens occupying the outer whorl. In most cases where five perianth segments and five stamens are present the suppression has occurred in the inner whorl of the two respective series, thus leaving three short stamens and two long (Fig. 2). In at least one case the reverse condition with re- gard to the stamens was observed.
In the typically trimerous flowers the ovary is 3-celled but in the flowers having only four perianth parts and four stamens the pistil is reduced to two carpels and the ovary is 2-celled. In the flowers with five perianth parts and generally five stamens the pistil is usually made up of three carpels with three cells in the
47
ovary but sometimes one of the carpels is only partially devel- oped, resulting in a somewhat irregular stigma and only two complete cells. In one case a flower with two separate pistils was observed. The pistil, however, shows the least variation in size of all the organs of the flower of E. propullans, the style being uniformly 5 mm. in length and the ovary about 3 mm. when the flowers are in anthesis.
So far as the writer is aware the flowers of E. propullans are considerably smaller than in any other species of the genus. They vary in length from 9 to 13 millimeters but the majority are a little over 10 mm. long. Attempts to ascribe to other factors than heredity the difference in the size of flowers of var- ious related species of a genus are mostly futile, yet the hypothe- sis put forth by Blodgett* in explanation of the reduction in the size of the flowers of E. propullans seems to the present writer at least very plausible.
As is well known the offshoot in E. propullans pushes out from the stem near the middle (Fig. 3), its bud originating “‘at the base of the peduncle in the axil of one of the leaves.’’ Thus the “‘vascular system of the peduncle supplies, through branches, the necessary strands for the offshoot.’”’ This side-tracking of a considerable amount of the food supply going up the peduncle may have had, in the opinion of Blodgett, ‘‘considerable influ- ence in the reduction in size noticeable in the flowers of this form in contrast to the rest of the genus.”
It seems very probable that the prevalent reduction in the number of the floral organs is due to the same cause and we have, at least in this species, a very simple physiological explanation for the fluctuations in the floral structures.
In conclusion it is worth noting that the genus Erythronium belongs to a subfamily of the Liliaceae in which the trimerous plan of the flower is quite consistently adhered to. The char- acteristic variations in the number of the perianth segments, stamens, and carpels and especially the preponderance of dimer- ous flowers in E. propullans are therefore very striking.
* Blodgett, F. H.. The Stem Offshoot in Erythronium propullans Gray. Johns Hopkins University Circular, 3-5. June, 1909.
48
NEW NAMES FOR SPECIES OF PHANEROGAMS By J. C. ARTHUR
While studying the Uredinales and listing their hosts for pre- sentation in the North American Flora a number of phanero- gamic species have been encountered, which have not been trans- ferred, so far as the writer can ascertain, to the genera under which related species are being listed. As it is desirable to have these transfers made for the sake of uniformity, and as no one else seems desirous of making them at this time, they are here recorded. The advice of Mrs. Agnes Chase, Mr. Percy Wilson and Dr. F. W. Pennell has been followed, although the writer is to be held responsible for any errors that may occur.
Senites Hartwegi (Fourn.) nom. nov. (Zeugites Hartwegi Fourn. Mex. Pl. 121. 1886). A grass of Central America, and known from Mexico by the type specimen only, Hartweg 569. It bears Uredo Zeugitis Arth. & Holw. from San Rafael, Guatemala, 7000 feet alt. (Am. Jour. Bot. 5: 538. 1918).
Sanguinale pruriens (Trin.) nom. nov. (Panicum pruriens Trin. Gram. Pan. 77. 1826). A grass of Hawaii, that has been re- ferred to Panicum sanguinale. Professor A. S. Hitchcock holds it to be clearly distinct. He observed in the field that the racemes are erect, not spreading as in P. sanguinale, and Mrs. Chase has found that the first glume is wanting and the second very minute. It bears Puccinia oahuensis Ellis & Ev., which was only known from the type collection. obtained on the slopes of Makiki, Is- land of Oahu, by A. A. Heller, in 1895, until it was detected by Mrs. Chase on two collections of the grass made near Honolulu by Prof. Hitchcock, one along a ditch, June 16, 1916, no. 73735, and the other as a weed in shady places, Halfway House, Mt. Tautalus, June 24, 1916, no. 13862. Puccinia oahuensis is scarcely distinguishable morphologically from P. substriata Ellis & Barth.
Nymphoides Grayanam (Griseb.) nom. nov. (Limnanthemum Grayanum Griseb. Cat. Pl. Cub. 181. 1866). A West Indian aquatic plant in*the family Menyanthaceae, on which aecia of Puccinia Scirpi DC. were found in Cuba by Charles Wright in
49
1858. It still remains the only rust collection on this genus of hosts known for America.
y Aureolaria virginica (L.) nom. nov. (Rhinanthus virginicus L. Sp. Plant. 603. 1753; Dasystoma virginica Britton, Mem. Torrey Club 5: 295. 1894). A common Scrophulariaceous plant of the northeastern United States, which bears aecia of Puccinia An- dropogonis Schw.
Dasystephana spathacea (H.B.K.) nom. nov. (Gentiana spath- acea H.B.K. Nov. Gen. Sp. Plant. 3: 173. 1818). A Mexican species, which bears the widely distributed rust Puccinia Gen- tianae Link.
Dasystephana Menzesii (Griseb.) nom. nov. (Gentiana Men- zestt Griseb. Gen. Sp. Gent. 292. 1839). A Californian species,
which bears the rust Puccinia Gentianae Link. PURDUE UNIVERSITY, LAFAYETTE, IND.
v
BRYOLOGICAL NOTES
V. Scapania nimbosa FROM NORWAY By A. LERoy ANDREWS
Of the remarkable “Atlantic species’? of the northwestern European coasts washed by the Gulf Stream, obviously relicts of an older flora, two Scapanias stand out sharply from their con- geners. The one of wider distribution, commonly known as Scapania planifolia (Hook.) Dum., should according to Pearson bear the earlier specific name S. ornithopodioides (Dill.) Pears. It is known from various stations on the west coasts of the Brit- ish Islands, from the Faroes and a few localities on the west coast of Norway. According to Miiller* it is certainly identical with species known from isolated stations in Hawaii and the Himalayan region of India.— S. nimbosa Tayl. was hitherto known only from relatively few places on the western coasts of the British Islands.
* Rabenhorst, Kryptogamenflora, VI, 521. 1915. The author’s earlier (1905) monograph of Scapania is not at present accessible to me.
+ This conclusion is also accepted by Stephani, Spceies Hepaticarum, IV, 136f. 1910.
50
In the summer of 1907 the Norwegian bryologist, Herr B. Kaalaas, kindly permitted me to accompany him on a collecting trip on the western Norwegian coast in Romsdals Amt. His main purpose was to establish more definitely the northern limit of the Norwegian range of the ‘‘Atlantic species,” many of which he had himself been the first to find in that country. While I was with him we found one new station for S. plantfolia, by the lake Gusdalsvand in Vanelven, a point which we reached from temporary headquarters at Aaeim. Our most northerly oper- ations, and the last before I was obliged to leave, began with a trip by water from Molde to the small fishing village on the low cape Bud. From there we walked to the little settlement of Farstad, as I remember, where we succeeded in finding quarters. It was Herr Kaalaas’ idea to investigate from here particularly the high promontory of Stemshesten. We learned, however, of an area of limestone to the southward in the Tverfjeldene* and decided to divide our forces for the one day we had available, Herr Kaalaas investigating Stemshesten, while I tried to reach the marble of the Tverfjeldene. With the time consumed in going and coming, together with a certain amount of climbing, I was not able to make a thorough survey of the place, but did find a number of interesting bryophytes. Among them was a Scapania which I took from its general appearance to be S. planifolia, and it was so recorded by Kaalaas as the most north- erly station for this species.t Miillert also records this as the northern limit of the species. On more careful examination my specimen proves, however, to be S. nimbosa. The descriptions of Macvicar§ with figures show two quite distinct species, and I have also been able to compare authentic material of both dis- tributed by the English hepaticologist, W. H. Pearson, so that there is no question as to the identity of the plant. The record
* The gneiss of western Norway is varied by occasional outcrops of limestone (marble), which are in some cases large enough to support a distinctive calcicolous flora. We had previously driven from Molde to such a locality north of there con- taining a cave (Troldkirken), from which the Tverfjeldene are not far distant.
+ Lat. 62° 56’ N. Untersuchungen iiber die Bryophyten in Romsdals Amt, 26- IQII.
t Loe. cit. § Handbook of British Hepatics, 368f. 1912.
51 represents a considerable extension of the limited range of S. nimbosa, which had been known only from the British Islands, and at the same time adds one to the list of ‘Atlantic species” known from Norway.
ITHacA, N. Y.
NOTES AND NEWS
Dr. W. A. Cannon, of the staff of the Department of Botanical Research of the Carnegie Institution, reached San Francisco in the last week of April after an extended trip to Australia for the prosecution of his work on the root systems of desert plants.
A specimen of Panicum urvilleanum Kunth in the National Herbarium collected by W. L. Jepson (no. 6049) near Edom in the Colorado Desert, southern California, shows several spike- lets bearing two sterile florets below the well-developed fertile floret. The florets resemble each other as to pubescence. The upper of the two is slightly longer and less pointed than the lower and has a well-developed palea. In the lower no palea has been observed, the lemma only being present. Sixteen other speci- mens from North and South America in the National Herbarium have been examined but in all the spikelets appear to be normal. So far as known this is the only species of Panicum showing a departure from the single sterile (or staminate) floret, character- istic of the tribe Paniceae. In Lasiacis anomala of the same tribe recently described* the spikelets normally bear two sterile florets, this being the first case known of the presence of a second sterile floret in any member of the Paniceae. In Panicum amalurum Hitche. & Chase and in species of Ichnanthus the glumes are sometimes multiplied but in these there is no fertile floret, a terminal staminate floret only being present——KATHARINE D. KIMBALL, Bureau of Plant Industry, U.S. Dept. Agric.
The New York Botanical Garden is at present engaged in the preparation of a descriptive guide to the collections in the eco- nomic museum. In the course of its preparation, we have found so many omissions of common and important articles that we are
* See Hitchcock, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci. 9:35. 1919.
52
making a special effort to complete the list before printing the Guide. It would be a great favor if readers of TORREYA would either collect for us such of our desiderata as may occur in their respective localities or notify us where they can be obtained.
The following are desired for preservation in the fresh state in a mixture of one part of formalin to sixteen of water. They may either be placed in the solution at once, in ordinary fruit jars with the tops securely screwed down, and suitably labeled with name, locality, date and name of collector, or they may be sent to us wrapped in paraffin paper, provided they can arrive in a fresh condition.
Wild leek (Allium tricoccum) plants bearing their bulbs.
All wild gooseberries.
Wild red currant.
The sand blackberry.
Vanilla grass (Savastana odorata).
Sorghum cane, sugar and molasses.
All huckleberries and blue berries of the south and south-
eastern states.
Mitchella repens in fruit.
Chiogenes in fruit.
Wild cranberry in fruit.
Batodendron arboreum in fruit.
Ripe olives on the branch.
Yucca baccata fruit.
Chinquapin twigs with ripe burs.
Wintergreen berries on the stem.
Orontium aquaticum, fruiting tops.
The following may be sent in in the natural condition as col- lected:
Rhizome of Dryopteris marginalis.
Roots of Asclepias tuberosa.
Roots of the wild chicory plant.
Cultivated plants of the large horse sorrel (Rumewx acetosa).
Bulbs of Calochortus, any species.
Yucca baccata roots.
Eurotia lanata, dried and bundled.
53
Atriplex patula, dried and bundled.
Tubers of Psoralea esculenta on the plant.
Tubers of Solanum Fendleri on the plant.
Tubers of Solanum Jamesii on the plant.
Tubers of Hoffmanseggia on the plant.
Grain of wild rice in the hull.
The same, cleaned.
Chufas, about two pounds.
Each specimen will be placed in the cases prominently labeled with the name of the donor and the same acknowledgment will be made in the printed Guide Book.—H. H. Russy, Hon. Curator
Dr. Henry Allen Gleason has been appointed the First Assist- ant of the Director of the New York Botanical Garden, succeed- ing Dr. W. A. Murrill, who has been transferred to the new pos- ition of Supervisor of Public Instruction.
Camillo Schneider, whose botanical explorations in China were cut short by the war, and who has been studying Salix at the Arnold Arboretum, recently visited the Field Museum at Chicago, the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and other institutions. Mr. Schneider has been working on the native American willows, of which he reports the number of probable wild hybrids to be very great.
The Torrey Botanical Club
Contributors of accepted articles and reviews who wish six gratuitous copies of the number of TorREYA in which their papers appear, will kindly notify the editor when returning proof.
Reprints should be ordered, when galley proof is returned to the editor. The New Era Printing Co., 41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa., have furnished the following rates:
Zpp 4pp 8pp 12pp 16pp 20pp 25 copies $ .79 $1.14 $1.78 $2.32 $2.87 $3.28 50 copies 1.03 1.43 2.23 2.82 3.52 3.92 100 copies 1.45 2.03 2.73 3.50 4.23 4.55 200 copies 2.15 3.24 3,92 525 6.52 6.92
Covers: 25 for $1.00, additional covers 114 cents each. Plates for reprints, 50 cents each per 100.
Committees for 1919.
Finance Committee Program Committee
R. A. Harper, Chairman. Mrs. E. G. Britton, Chairman. J. H. BARNHART, Pror. JEAN BROADHURST Miss C. C. HAYNES B. O. DoDGE SERENO STETSON MICHAEL LEVINE Budget Committee F, J. SEAVER J. H. BARNHART, Chairman. Membership Committee R.A. HARPER J. K. SMALL, Chairman. N. L. Britton T. E. Hazen A. W. EVANS E. W. OLIVE M. A. Howe Local Flora Committee H. H. Ruspy N. L. Britton, Chairman. Field Committee Phanerogams: Cryptogams: F. W. PENNELL, Chairman. E. P, BICKNELL Mrs. E.G. Britton Mrs. L. M. KEELER N. L. Britton T. E. Hazen MICHAEL LEVINE C. C. CurtTIS M. A. Howe GEORGE T. HASTINGS K. K. MACKENZIE MICHAEL LEVINE Percy WILSON NORMAN TAYLOR W.A. MuRRILL
F. J. SEAVER Chairmen of Special Committees on Local Flora Ferns and Fern Allies: R. C. Benedict. -Lichens: W. C. Barbour
Mosses: Mrs. E. G. Britton Sphaeriaceae, Dothideaceae: H. M. _ Liverworts: A. W. Evans Richards Fresh Water Algae: T. E. Hazen Hypocreaceae, Perisporieae, Plectas- Marine Algae: M. A. Howe cineae, Tuberineae: F. J. Seaver : Gasteromycetes: G.C. Fisher Fungi-forming sclerotia: A, B. Stout Hymenomycetes: W. A. Murrill Imperfecti: _H. M. Richards, F. Except Russula and Lactarius: Miss G. Seaver, Mel T. Cook Burlingham Oomycetes: C. A. King Cortinarius: R. A. Harper Zygomycetes: A. F, Blakeslee Polyporeae: M. Levine Chytridiaceae, Exobasidii: H. M. Richards Myxomycetes: Mrs. H, M. Richards Rusts and Smuts: E. W. Olive Yeast and Bacteria: Prof. J. Broadhurst
Discomycetes: B. O. Dodge Insect galls: Mel T. Cook
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
(1) BULLETIN
A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 45 published in 1918, contained 519 pages of text ~ and 15 full-page plates. - Price $4.00 per annum. For Europe, 18 shillings. -Dulau & Co., 47 Soho Square, London, are, agents for England. ;
Of former volumes, only 24-45 can be supplied entire ; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire stock of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets — Vols. 24—27 are furnished at the published price of two dollars each; Vols. 28-45 three dollars each.
Single’ copies (30 cents) will be furnished only when not breaking complete volumes.
(2) MEMOIRS
The Menorrs, established 1889, are published at irregu- lar intervals. Volumes 1-15 are now completed; No. 1 of. Vol. 16 has been issued. The subscription price is fixed at $3.00 per volume in advance; Vol. 17, containing Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Club, 490 pages, was issued in 1918, price’ $5.00. Certain numbers can also be pur- chased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application.
(3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one hundred’ miles of New York, 1888. Price, $1.00.
Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. BERNARD O. DODGE Columbia University
New York City
-TORREYA.
A Monruty Journat or BoranicaLt Notes anp News
EDITED FOR
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
BY
NORMAN TAYLOR
JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873.
CONTENTS Botany in the City High Schools: F..T. HUGHES ...,..sccecseeserceeeeeeseueeeseereuereneces 57 Changes in Teaching Biology in Our High Schools: Cyrus A, KING ooeetesseceesesaes 65 The Relation of First Year Botany to Advanced Work: Pau B. MANN........--.-++ 72 Reviews:
Trelease’s Plant Materials and Winter Botany: A. GUNDERSEN..-..+s+e-.05 «+4 78 Proceedings of) the Clubyis.. o: ox... cn cstnngustadodesvosonesivapebeqeeiecangecpecdersvane sande nowe 79 VA RSOPLE CEG Go AEA A Clog sue, fewsta cba euraua. bp ikccbe's Ky Bae iene ueen dS tn calmnet en spts bap tee 83 TOC WE TING re oy ven en tube ica, \ Sack as season d aus otetisoser seize rans Ae Al ie dewtie ds vccdeavansodesy yey 83
‘PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUB
At 41 NortH Queen Street, LANcaAsTer, Pa. BY THe New Era Printinc Company “Entered at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa,, as second-class matter. _
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
OFFICERS FOR 1019
President. - H. M. RICHARDS, Sc.D.
Vice- Presidents. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M.D : C. STUART GAGER, Pu.D.
Secretary and Treasurer BERNARD O. DODGE, PH.D. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, N. Y. City. Editor ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., Pu.D.
Associate Editors — : JEAN BROADHURST, Px.D. M. LEVINE, Px.D.
J. A. HARRIS, PH.D. G. E. NICHOLS, Px.D. MARSHALL AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. ARLOW B. STOUT, Pu.D.
NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate to the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences M. A. HOWE, Px.D.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WiLD FLOWER: PRESERVATION
SociETY OF AMERICA
TorreEyYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and \~ Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLus, 41 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or Columbia University, New York City.
Matter for publication, and books and papers for review, should be addressed to :
NORMAN TAYLOR
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn, N. Y
wVN OU Ig
TORREYA
Vol. Ig No. 4 April, IgIg
BOLANY UN.) FEE CLDY HIGH. SCHOOLS* By Francis T. HuGHES
Just at present high school biology in general and high school botany in particular are in a very critical position. The cause I believe is both external and internal, but largely external. Pre- judice, the child of ignorance, jealousy, and even patriotism, strange as it may seem, are among the forces that are working against us from the outside. While from the inside our failure to recognize the changed conditions existing in our high schools, due to a certain complacency and false sense of security in the standing and permanency of our subject, has left us in a pre- carious situation.
To be more specific: I shall try briefly to outline what I consider the external situation and the internal conditions that I have just enumerated, and to point out, if I may, a few remedies that may relieve the situation and bring botany back into its own in the New York City high schools.
First as to prejudice and ignorance, which are practically the same thing. I heard an eminent physician say the other evening that the layman’s knowledge of medicine was always one genera- tion behind that of the specialists. And so in high school botany we are accused by people who really ought to know better, of teaching a kind of botany that was in vogue twenty years ago, and which we never think of teaching now. Their idea of botany is what they themselves studied years ago. It consisted of memorizing long scientific names, learning endless, minute classifications, and incidentally plucking a few flowers.
* This and the next two papers were delivered at a meeting of the Club on March 11 devoted to a conference on Botanical Education in the Secondary Schools.—ED. [No. 3, Vol. 19 of TorREYA, comprising pp. 37-55, was issued 14 May, 1919.]
57
HA,
58
Next as to jealousy, or rather let me call it competition among the various high school subjects for a permanent place in the curriculum. In the New York City high schools we have had until recently three sciences in our course of study—biology in the first year, chemistry or physics in the second and physics or chemistry in the third, with sometimes an elective in the fourth year. Suddenly, however, from out of the west came a gay young Lochinvar, known as general science and then things began to happen. I shall not attempt to enter into a detailed discussion of general science here this evening. That is a topic calling for a special meeting by itself. Suffice it to say that our friends the physicists and chemists, especially the physicists, at once seized upon it as the solution of many of their problems, and in their magnanimous and altruistic spirit worked for its introduction into first-year high school in place of biology. For years the physics and chemistry people have been worried over the immaturity of their pupils and the time it took them to learn elementary physical and chemical principles. They could do none of their cherished advanced work and they certainly were in a quandary. Therefore, when general science appeared over the horizon they seized upon it with avidity as a preparation and a preliminary subject for theirown courses. Here, said they, is just the thing to give the first-year pupil the proper apper- ceptive mass of physical facts and principles upon which we can later construct our real physics and chemistry. Here is our looked-for opportunity. Did they ever consider what this would do to biology? I don’t believe they ever deemed it worth thinking about. What I have just said about general science and the physical science folk may seem a trifle exaggerated. If, however, you wish to substantiate it, just look over the general science text-books that are being published and see the relative amount of space devoted to physics, chemistry and biology, or examine the topics taken up in the high schools where general science is now being taught. In’one high school in Brooklyn first-year general science is actually being taught by physics and chemistry teachers. That, I think, should show which way the wind is blowing.
59
Finally, in what way does patriotism affect us? As you all know there has been more or less Bolshevism in the schools, espe- cially in the high schools. The authorities have been at their wits ends to stamp it out and they are going to try the following remedy: They are going to try to conquer Bolshevism by teach- ing concrete practical American patriotism. They are going to try to show our high school pupils that their political and eco- nomic salvation lies in upholding the principles upon which this government is founded. To this no patriotic American would think of objecting or even disagreeing. But what is the specific program to be followed? In the first place economics is to be put into the last year of high school and no student may graduate without passing it. An excellent and patriotic idea, we all agree. Secondly community civics is to be taught in either the first or second year of high school with a minimum requirement of two periods per week for a year, and this is where we are directly affected. Several high schools are giving all of the community civics for four or five periods per week in the first term or first year, and biology is being forced out to make room for it. Now what we biologists contend is, that while community civics should be taught to our pupils, the place for it is in the elemen- tary or junior high schools and not in the regular high schools. I am saying this not simply because I am a biologist, but because I firmly believe that no other subject in the curriculum has those qualities which adapt it so peculiarly to first year high school students as does elementary biology.
I seem to be digressing somewhat from my topic, but I feel that the situation is serious enough to warrant it; and unless we are prepared to meet it, and, meet it right now it will not be at all necessary to consider the kind of botany that is best for our city high schools.
But to get back to my subject. What kind of botany should we teach in New York City high schools? In the first place we should begin with the pupil’s environment, the environment of his home, if possible, or the environment of his school or of the neighborhood of his home or school. This, it seems to me, is a fundamental principle, a sort of pedagogical commonplace, but
60
some teachers seem to consider it practically impossible. In its place they try to construct a course or series of topics which, though vital and necessary in the eyes of the teacher, either have to be forced upon their pupils or given to them camouflaged with all sorts of more or less interesting appendages. And what is the result? The pupils dislike it; they get very little good from the work; the subject becomes unpopular, and finally it has to fight for its very existence. And the whole trouble has been started by its friends.
In most of our high schools where a regular course in botany is given, we find the following methods in vogue: Some try to follow the order of nature. They start with seeds and seedlings and working their way through roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, wind up with a little on forestry. In other schools the start is with made soil composition and chemistry. In others the parts of the plant receive only enough attention to furnish the structural basis for teaching the vital processes. In other schools little or no time is spent upon botany as such; but most of it is occupied with foods and nutrition, bacteria, sanitation and kindred subjects.
In contrast with the above my idea would be to include most of the foregoing topics, but to utilize them by linking them up with the most accessible and obvious botanical object the pupils meet with in their daily lives. Let that object be a tree or shrub or even a potted plant in the class room; but by all means let it be some tangible concrete object, some plant whole, something that they can see, something that they can examine and some- thing that they can watch grow. Let them give it a name, its correct botanical name. There is nothing like a name to give a thing individuality. Let them consider it a member of a class, —a non-resident member if need be—but a member just the same.
If the pupils are fortunate enough to be raising a war garden, then let that be the center or nucleus upon which their botanical work is based. Children of the first-year high school age are very practical and matter-of-fact in many ways, and while it is sometimes a hard job to get them interested in plants in general,
61
it is the easiest thing in the world to get them interested in some one particular plant. It is like their instinct for keeping pets. — The average boy is not so much interested in dogs in general,— in the way a grown-up lover of animals is apt to be. What he cares particularly about is his dog Jack and in his mind all the other dogs in the neighborhood are just plain dogs.
If the object selected for study be some particular tree or shrub, the next thing to do would be to get a picture of it and hang it up in the classroom. If one of my pupils had a camera I would have him take a photograph of it, or in lieu of that I would have one of the pupils make a large drawing of it. At any rate if I could not get the plant into the classroom, I would have its picture there.
Some may raise the objection: What concrete botanical object can be found in the environment of a lower East Side high school boy? What trees, for example? Let us see. A great many of such boys go to either DeWitt Clinton or Commerce or Stuy- vesant. None of them have trees or shrubs about their homes and so far as I can recall there are none either near or on their school grounds? But do you realize that DeWitt Clinton, situ- ated as it is in one of the most congested and botanically unde- sirable sections of the city, is only two blocks from Central Park and many of the boys pass the park on their way home. Com- merce also is but a short distance from the park. Every other high school that I can think of either has trees around it or has one or more small parks in its neighborhood. If the high school is in the suburbs or outskirts I would select a tree or shrub from in front of a pupil’s home.
, But why begin with a tree? For one reason because it is large. There is something about size or bigness that seems to appeal to the average high school pupil. It is his idea of greatness or value. Did you ever notice the smile or look of contempt that comes over a boy’s face the first time you hand him a bean to examine? To him a bean is something to eat or to play with, but not to study. It may be all right for elementary school pupils to raise seeds in a cigar box, but not for him.
Another reason for selecting the tree is that it is likewise the
62
botanical object most familiar to the pupil’s parents and there- fore the most likely to maintain their respect. On the other hand a seed suggests the farm and the average city parent, thinks, if he thinks about it at all, that farm topics do not belong in a city high school. I may seem to be emphasizing too much the parent’s opinion of things, but the strongest ally of any subject is the sympathy and coéperation of the parents. JI am not saying this in a spirit of opportunism. But if we believe our subject is worth while and good for the pupils we should do everything possible to disarm criticism from the home and by a judicious amount of tact and resourcefulness lead both parents and school officials around to our way of thinking. There is an old saying and a true one: ‘‘You cannot catch flies with vinegar.” So do not begin your subject with an altogether strange or uninter- esting topic.
In connection with this let me repeat a story I heard a short time ago about a parent’s objection to botany. This parent had a daughter studying botany in one of our suburban high schools. One day he asked her the name of the tree in front of his house. The zirl did not happen to know the name and the father began to wonder what kind of botany his daughter was studying. Thereupon he called upon his daughter’s teacher and politely told him that botany should be thrown out of the schools and something more useful put in its place, since his daughter could not tell one tree from another. In answer to this complaint the teacher said: ‘‘My dear Sir, naming and identifying trees is but a small and insignificant part of botany. What we teach is the more fundamental life processes; then later on if we have the time we take up classification.’’ Was that teacher right? Substantially and in the matter of content, yes. But in the manner of approaching his subject or parent as the case may be, . I think that he was wrong. The parent’s criticism may have been captious and insincere, but he had some grounds for it just the same.
Now as to the way in which we should go about the detailed treatment of the tree or shrub. If I began with the fall term I would start with the leaves and their structure. After that I
63
would take up respiration, transpiration, photosynthesis, etc. But how would I get enough leaves from a city tree to supply all of my classes, especially when there is a park ordinance against picking leaves? I would not try to get them from the city tree. I would get them in the country during vacation time or on Saturday or Sunday. That, I do not think, is too much to do for one’s subject.
How are we to teach the vital processes? Are we to rig up a set of apparatus on one of the park trees for the wonder and admiration of the passing throng? Not at all. I would demon- strate the different functions in the classroom with the same materials and apparatus that I always use, but I would refer everything to our chief object of study and constantly remind the class that they were observing not only what trees in general are doing, but also what one tree in particular was doing in order to keep itself alive.
What about the flowers and fruit of a city tree? That seems an almost unsurmountable obstacle but it is not. Its very difficulty gives zest to its solution. If the average city person knew that oaks and elms had flowers and fruit he would pay little attention to it. But the element of surprise that strikes him upon first being made aware of the fact first excites curiosity, then arouses interest and finally holds his attention. It is not the entirely new that arrests our attention, nor the completely familiar; it is rather the one in connection with the other. It is the old in the midst of the new, as when a traveler hears his own language in a foreign country—or the novel in the midst of the customary—as when we hear a strange tongue that attracts attention.
But to get back to the flowers: I would not attempt to teach them at all directly. I would have a chart or drawing of the flowers of that particular tree or shrub. But I would give a complete set of lessons on the most available flower, I could get at that time of the year, but as with the leaves I would constantly refer them to our main object, the tree.
spoken in our own country
The fruit I would treat in the same way, using the tree’s own fruit if available; if not, then some common fruit in its stead.
64
The next topic is the stem. To teach this we should have cross and longitudinal sections of the same kind of wood. Branches of almost any kind can be secured from the Park Department; their wagons will deliver them to the schools and the boys will be only too glad to saw them up into sections and even varnish them for you. This I have had done several times. All that it requires is a letter to the Park Superintendent. As for the other parts of the tree I would not spend much time on them, but I would put most of the emphasis on the leaves, flowers and fruit; and would treat the rest only enough (in a general city course) to show their functions and their relations to the food making and reproductive organs.
Having thus taken some common shrub or tree as our type form and taught the structure, functions and adaptations of the principal parts, I would then take up any other botanical topic best adapted to the needs and environment of my pupils. With one set of pupils I should emphasize the economic importance of plant products and by-products as food; with another group, especially where there was a manual training department I would spend much time on woods, their kinds, uses, etc.; and so on selecting my topics according to the needs of the various classes.
My idea in advocating the study of some one particular plant as outlined above is this: Heretofore we have been studying seeds with the bean and corn as types, roots with the carrot and parsnip as types, and stems with the oak sections and horse- chestnut twigs, but somehow or other the pupils never linked them together. To them the bean did one thing, the carrot another, the horsechestnut twig a third and so on. They did not connect them all with the plant as a whole. On the other hand I think, that if we take one complete object, treat it as a whole and in detail, we will secure greater concentration and develop more fully the fundamental mental processes of analysis and synthesis. We can show the relation of the whole to its parts and the parts to the whole.
Paralleling all of this work and in close connection with it, as one of its most valuable features, I would use to the very fullest
65
extent possible our botanic gardens and museums. I would not look upon them as a mere adjunct to our work or as factors in a method of teaching, but I would connect them as an integral part of the subject and-in one sense the most important part. If the training and botanical knowledge that we give to our pupils is going to amount to anything it must not stop at the end of the first year course in elementary botany. How then are we going to continue it, especially with those pupils who cannot go to college? The answer is, teach them how to use the gardens and the parks. Teach them so that in later years and even during the rest of their high school course, they may find in them a place for recreation and a source of inspiration, a means of avocation, and in some cases, let us hope, a field for serious study. What the public libraries are to the English and history departments, the gardens, parks and museums should be to the biology department.
In conclusion let me say that though the present outlook is ’ none too bright, and we may have to fight for the very existence of our subject, the future is not hopeless. If we believe in our subject let us vitalize it. Let it meet the needs, solve the prob- lems and arouse the interests of our pupils. If we do this, if we vitalize it properly, botany will compel its own recognition.
Boys HIGH SCHOOL, BROOKLYN, N. Y.
CHANGES IN “DEACHING “BIOLOGY “IN; OUR Hie SCHOOLS
By Cyrus A. KING
To graduate from a city high school, a pupil is required to pass and receive credit for 17 units of work. Of these units, eight are required of all pupils. Three are in English, three in history and civics and two are given for work in drawing and physical training. The other nine units are selected from the following groups: Three from a foreign language group, two from another language group, two from the mathematics or science group, and the remaining two from any group.
66
This seems an admirable arrangement, and at first glance, one might think it offered a wide range of selection to suit the indi- vidual wishes of different students. However, when we con- sider the traditions of the high schools, and the still more rigid traditions of our eastern colleges, we find that the sciences are practically cut off from our best class of pupils, the ones who intend to go to our higher institutions, and who, in consequence, are ultimately to be our most influential citizens.
I propose to illustrate this by selecting three typical examples. Let us suppose that a boy wishes to prepare for an engineering school. In addition to his eight credits, which are required, he selects a language and carries it three years; this leaves s7x units. Our best engineering schools require four years of preparatory work in mathematics; this leaves two units. These are usually taken in physics and chemistry because they are often required. This boy has no chance to select the biological sciences, unless he takes them as extra subjects.
Let us now take the case of a girl who wishes to enter one of the better girls’ colleges, for example, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Vassar or Wellesley. In addition to the eight required units, she must have four units in Latin, at least fwo in a second lan- guage, and two and a half in mathematics. This leaves one half point for science work.
For the third illustration, we will select a pupil who does not intend to go to college. The traditions of most of the academic schools will cause him to elect a modern language, which he will carry for three years; he will also take at least two years of mathe- matics; this leaves four units to be selected from a second lan- guage, from courses in stenography and typewriting, and from the different sciences. Let us suppose that he selects two sciences the question 1s shall one of them be a general course or a course 1n biology.
The biology courses that are now offered in our city high schools are, relatively speaking, new. They have no inheritance and no traditions. Unlike Greek, Latin and mathematics, they have not occupied for centuries an important place in our educational institutions. They are so new that we have scarcely
67
had time to stabilize them. However, there has never been such an age as the present. Days count almost as years of certain earlier periods. Under such conditions, a modern subject is rapidly adapted to our educational needs. Furthermore, biology certainly has the merit of having had no opportunity to become fossilized.
Our elementary course in biology was born about 1900, was revised thoroughly in 1905, again in 1910, and a new revision has just come from the press. The advanced course in biology was approved three or four years ago. It is now undergoing a revision.
During this interval of twenty years, the aims of the course have broadened and the work became more definite. And now at the end of this time, when we have the best courses that we have ever had, when we have a corps of highly trained efficient teachers, and know that ours is one of the most valuable subjects in the whole curiculum, it is actually being forced out of the schools for a conglomeration of every thing in kingdom come which for lack of a better name is called general science. The New York City schools are now teaching general science without a syllabus and without specially trained teachers.
I have looked over about a dozen text-books in general science, some good, some fair, and some poor, and have the honest con- viction that the subject, at the present time, is not well organized.
True to their name, our biology courses center about life and living things. Their aim 1s to teach the fundamental principles of life and it is impossible to develop these principles in the limited time given to the subject in a general science course. To accomplish this it is necessary to study a number of forms that are widely different. This is why we have put into our courses a consider- able amount of plant study, a somewhat less amount of animal study, and, finally, a study of man with an application of these principles to him. We believe that a pupil who has proved that respiration takes place in germinating seeds, that it takes place in higher plants, that it is necessary in the life of the para- mecium, who understands how the insects, the fish and the frog are adapted for breathing, and who knows something of the organs
68
of respiration in man and their adaptations, sees a deeper meaning in respiration as a vital process. The same thing applies to the great facts of sex reproduction, inheritance, and eugenics. Our course requires that we work with living things that throw light on the fundamental problems of life.
At the risk of being called old fashioned, I do not hesitate to say that the foregoing kind of work is the most important that can be offered in any course in biology. And what are the reasons for not having such a course in every high school? What kind of an education is it that fails to recognize the value of the study of man as a living organism. Mentally and physically, he is the center of all education and he is unified with and bound to these lower organisms by the laws of life. Furthermore, if an addi- tional argument were needed, we know that the study of plants and animals trains him in observation, develops his judgment, give him the method to reason logically, and finally furnishes him with important information about himself. It also opens up a new living world that he will appreciate all his life.
Recently a father, who by the way is a strong advocate of general science, said to me: “Your biology work is not making good.” I asked him why he thought so and he said that his daughter had taken the course for a year and did not know the names of the trees on the block where they live. This, in his opinion was a serious criticism. My answer to this is that our course requires that we place the emphasis chiefly on important biological problems and that this leaves little time for such superficial work as learning names, even though this is desirable. However, before passing in the course, that daughter had to know the general structure of a root, the way it gets water from the soil, and she had seen this illustrated in the laboratory. She had to know the course of the water through the root, stem, and leaves; and she had seen experimental proof of this. She learned by experiment how plants give off water and something of how food is manufactured. She knew, too, that this tree took in and gave off certain gases and the reason for this exchange. This incident illustrates the type of criticism that we are re- ceiving. In the main, it comes from persons who have no con-
69
ception of the value of our work, who are more or less antago- nistic to it, or who have their ears on the ground listening for something new.
A second aim of the course, is to emphasize the relation of biology to human welfare. This brings out the commercial importance of plants and animals and our dependence upon them; especially upon plants. It is a revelation to our city boys and girls to find that the aunual value of our corn crop is greater than any liberty loan except the fourth, and to learn that our wheat and oats crop in 1917 were about two billion dollars each. Only after they realize the tremendous importance of our crops, do they appreciate the damage done by plant diseases and insect pests. One writer, for example, estimates that the hessian fly and the wheat rust each destroy one tenth of the crop. While this may be an exaggeration, it nevertheless suggests the im- portance of biology to our daily life. It is an introduction to the study of agriculture in its various phases, to pharmacy, to dentistry, and to medicine, and it also interests them in the laws of inheritance and in plant and animal breeding.
The study of bacteria gives a second important relation to human welfare. The names and structure of bacteria are of little importance to our pupils. But it is important that they know the conditions under which bacteria thrive well and the conditions that cause their death. Pupils should know how abundant they are, and the common ways of distributing them. These lessons are necessary to emphasize the third point in my paper and that is that our biology courses are an excellent train- ing for citizenship.
Twelve years ago, when the American association met here in New York, one of the foremost biologists in this city read a paper in which he emphasized the importance of biology in the develop- ment of citizenship. While I will confess to you that I had not, up to that time, thought of our courses as especially valuable in this respect, I have never since lost sight of its possibilities.
Heretofore, I have been quite willing to let the philosophers and the theorists discuss the subject matter best adapted for the development of citizenship. The subject belongs largely in the
70
field of the general and the abstract where the philosopher revels.
It is my opinion that the biological sciences can supply excellent material for the development of citizenship and I propose to offer some definite suggestions that show what we can contribute to this work. A citizen is a person who is born in the United States or who has been naturalized here, who owes allegiance to his country, his state, and his city, and who is entitled to their protection. The opposite to a citizen is an alien. Our war has emphasized the importance of eliminating the aliens and edu- cating the citizens.
Mention has been made that we teach the importance of bacteria in relation to human welfare. Our pupils know the danger of infection from milk, why unsanitary stables are a menace and why the men working in the stables should not come from homes where there are communicable diseases. They know that milk should be subjected to a low temperature at once, why it should be Pasteurized, and the care it should have while on the way to the city. This is equally true of meats and vege- tables. Our pupils know the danger from inattention to the water supply. They appreciate the importance of clean streets. Their knowledge of epidemic diseases will cause them to favor and insist upon an efficient board of health. They have sane reasons for supporting regulations relating to quarantine vacci- nation and disinfection. They have a more intelligent interest in the care of our parks and the trees of the city. Such educa- tional institutions as the botanical gardens and the American museums will get their hearty support for they appreciate what these institutions stand for. They have a more intelligent interest in, and a greater loyalty for their city. They are better equipped to assume the duties of citizenship.
It is possible that the advocates of general science, who by the way, are chiefly teachers of physics and chemistry, will tell you that their course does all thisand’a great deal more. My answer is that it would be better to have two years to do the work out- lined in biology. When they give the biology work a minor place in a year’s course, they simply mutilate it. Pupils grasp
71
the great questions of life only after having studied them in a reasonably wide range of individuals. In comparing the value of the two courses, do not lose sight of the fact that our work is a matter of record and we are perfectly willing to be fairly judged by what we have done and are doing. Theirs is all theory and argument. I have never heard a general science advocate give a concise, constructive argument for its substitution for biology. They will tell you that it has made good in the West, and that it is spreading everywhere. There are several reasons why I am not much impressed with that argument. First, the West is a long way off and it is not possible to get definite facts as to how successful their work is. Second, the universities of the Middle West are less exacting in their conditions for admission. This leaves plenty of time for three or four years in science courses. Such conditions will offset the handicap of one inferior course. In the third place, I have personally admitted to our courses pupils who have been trained in general science in schools at Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, D. C., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This list includes one pupil who was taught by the author of one of the well-known books in general science. In every instance, I examined the laboratory note book, in case the pupil made one, and the results make me more emphatic in saying that general science, as taught at the present time, is not well organized.
And now, in conclusion, to revert to the title of my paper, the changes that I would suggest are not so much the content of the course as the question of emphasis. I would urge, first, more time on the fundamental processes of living things. This is the most important part of the work and unless we get our pupils to understand them, by teaching them over and over again, we will lower our course until ‘t is on a level with general science. Second, wherever possible, I would teach these principles by means of forms that have an important relation to human welfare. Third, I would emphasize facts in our course that train for citizenship.
Erasmus Hatt HIGH SCHOOL, BROOKLYN, N. Y.
72
tHe RELATION OF Piksi), YEARY BORANY SOR ae VANCED) WORK. WIDTH REPERENCES) iO} Clik DAUNPAP EEG MONS AND) BYEPRODUGHS
By Pau. B. Mann
The present fluid and even kaleidoscopic status of elementary biology in New York City high schools, reminds me forcibly of a bit of doggerel which appeared years ago in Harper’s Magazine. A colored man had been exercising his mule in the plantation garden, but an altercation arose between them, resulting in the sudden juxtaposition of Rastus’ head with the distal extremity of one of the mule’s hind legs. Rastus went to sleep. Later | consciousness began to dawn and he sat up and soliloquized in a mournful way, beginning:
“Ts dis yuh me, or not me, Or hab de Debil got me?”
We will all grant that the world needs men and women of scientific imagination and better viewpoints. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’’ The march of progress can be checked by observing the scrap heaps along its highway. But one might well be perplexed when one finds any inconoclastic authority throwing bodily to the discard-pile, a vehicle which is having one of the most conspicuous careers in advancing human achievement and aspiration.
I have not only hope, I have faith that even arbitrary action can not finally overthrow biology nor displace it permanently from its position as a science of fundamental values for adoles- cents, as well as adults.
The most discouraging phase of the present situation in the New York City high schools, it seems to me, is the possibility of a hasty, unpedagogical ipse dixit, unsupported by judicial and scientific investigations.
Dr. Josephine Baker, in a recent lecture, spoke of the tre- mendous need of conserving the Belgian children now, from rickets and tuberculosis, if Belgium is to be! We know, but sometimes forget, how truly the structure of the nation of to-
morrow is being builded today. But how can the nation have well rounded and stalwart thinkers in its tomorrow if the edu- cators are given the children (the raw material), and then imme- diately handicapped not only as to tools but as to methods of development? The men and women who were pupils in such a system, will some day declare the bitterness of such injustice.
Of the many contributions which elementary botany and biology make for advanced courses in the school and for later life, I wish to refer briefly to five.
In the first place, the subject of human reproduction is intimately associated with the highest hopes of humanity, and yet is connected with some of the most sordid problems of the race. The very insistence of the sex problem compels a genuine answer from the schools. That answer must be sound, thorough and immediate. Let me quote a line from a letter just received froma Y. M.C. A. workerin France. ‘‘It is our former American interpretation of those two terms [morale and morality} that disturbs me in trying to consider what America will feel toward and do for her men who are soon to return to her. Is she going to continue to say that there is no sex problem in life, or is she going to face it squarely and try to solve it?”’ Those who have studied the problem of. presenting sex matters to children and have taught biology, know that to avoid the pitfalls there must be a natural. and unforced approach. There is absolutely no substitute for the normal, logical procedure of our elementary biology courses, dealing first with fertilization in the flowering plants, then in a typical animal like the fish or the frog. Neither of these topics when presented is tied up with sex-hygiene, there is no self-consciousness, and there is built up a natural foundation for all later applications, whether of sex-hygiene of one sort or another, or the justifiable expectations of the instructor in advanced botany or zodlogy.
In the second place, the stress given to hygiene, now con- tinued throughout the entire high school course, might lead some to a presumption that elementary biology could fairly be dis- pensed with, in view of the probable(?) duplication of subject matter and treatment. However, the situation is far from being
74
so palpable. There need be little duplication. In addition, since the hygiene is largely deductive, it presupposes thorough grounding in biologic principles and bases. Military autocracy can be exemplified by the lines “Theirs not to reason why,”’ but the full codperation of the average hygiene student, and indeed every adult as well, in health endeavors as in other lines of action, is gained not only by knowing that “‘there’s a reason,” but knowing what that reason is. First year biology supplies abundant reasons. There is neither time, with only one hygiene period a week, at the most, nor is there continuity enough possible, to teach the content of a full year of biology by means of such a hygiene subterfuge. Daily contact with the experi- mental evidence of the laboratory is requisite for mental digestion and assimilation of principles, and to develop the scientific view- point. Last term, for instance, one of my hygiene classes had to be excused from one week’s recitation on account of a holiday, and the next week did not recite for another reason. That meant that they went three weeks without a single recitation!
Nor is there much encouragement for the man who feels on the other hand that general science presents enough biology to be a worthy substitute. I shall not enter into the relative merits of these two subjects. Each hasits place. However, the amount of biology presented in a year of general science is too frequently insignificant.
In the third place, have we any moral right to deprive students of the cultural values which are unquestioned by- products of elementary biology? Whatever philosophy of life each student comes eventually to formulate, early or later, will hinge on living things and their relation to metaphysical ques- tions. The drama of life is unbalanced and ill-proportioned if viewed through anthropocentric lenses. Literature is full of references to nature. Shall we send our pupils out into the world, into nature itself, refusing them the key to the inter- pretations of biologic phenomena? For each student, is due at least the opportunity of an esthetic appreciation of the wonder of life and of the utility and beauty of its types, whether diatom or humming bird, scaled mosaic from a butterfly’s wing or the
75
perfect spiral of the chambered nautilus. In this connection, Professor Curtis writes as follows:* ‘‘The writer remembers how’ when a student he was taken by the ‘ Mosquito-Malaria Theory,’ as it was then called; and at a later date the esthetic appreciation with which he contemplated the apparent explanation of Men- delian segregation and of the determination of sex in terms of the behavior of chromosomes. In spite of uncertainties and the need for further investigation, one felt himself gazing at a picture near enough completion to show what it might become —a sequence so wonderfully ordered as to call forth an esthetic fervor.”’
Then again, how without studying elementary botany, can we count on an intelligent citizenry, a citizenry personally interested in forest conservation, individual, municipal, national and inter-national nutrition, including problems of soil fertility, crop production, plant diseases and insect pests, improved methods of transportation and preservation of foods, selection and utilization of proper woods, and a host of related problems, such as the substitution of kelp as a potash source, the ascer- taining of new plants yielding rubber, etc., not to speak of applied bacteriology and commercial products. The balance of the year of biology includes the bases for the conservation of fishes, birds and other wild life and the economic relations of hundreds of animal types, from parasites to makers of silk, producers of fur, buttons, oil and so forth, together with an intelligent appre- ciation of rational living for humans, themselves.
The significance of botanical training has been lately tested in a large way. We know how thousands of boys and girls sprang with avidity to the gardens and farms of the nation, during the past two years, and applied there the laboratory methods of their botany and biology courses. Furthermore, they were trained and ready to interpret the dietetic problems for the rest of the family and thus they kept up the family morale by doing their full share in emphasizing all phases of Hooverizing.
Then there are legislative opportunities. For instance, to refer to only one example among many, last year we needed
* Science, June 14, 1918.
76
intelligent legislators, with biological training to pass the Week’s Bill, prohibiting the uninspected importation of nursery stock into the United States, and thereby preventing the introduction of plant diseases and obnoxious insects. New bills of biological import will continue to be introduced at Washington and in the state legislatures and there will be even more call for their in- telligent consideration. Shall we turn back the hands of the clock and parallel the situation in Pennsylvania in 1885, when an unbiologic legislature spent in hawk bounties, directly and indirectly, nearly $4,000,000 to save a paltry $1,875 worth of poultry?
Finally every one recognizes the growing emphasis that the latest decade has given scientific achievement and progress. This appreciation has been reflected in many ways. From a botanical standpoint alone, professional activities have had to grow by leaps and bounds, in order to keep pace with the demands of the hour. Forestry has expanded into a ranking science, the Bureau of Plant Industry has had to continuously increase its staff, plant pathologists are called upon daily to save thousands of dollars’ worth of plants by prophylaxis or treatment, phar- maceutical stations have been inaugurated, new plants are being originated by scientific breeding, the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction have brought to us valuable exotics and have also raised the bars of quarantine against ‘“‘undesirable”’ foreign? plants, physiological chemists and bio-chemists are everywhere at work on problems of soil fertility, fabric utiliza- tion, by-products of plant origin, and the like. Yet I have merely suggested some of the types of botanical activity, without reference to even a complete resumé. |
Some of us may not realize the extent to which the national government and the states have fostered the development of the agencies calculated to answer the agricultural demands of this country.
In one of the weekly news letters of last summer, Secretary Houston, of the Department of Agriculture, pointed out that there are 67 agricultural land grant colleges and experiment stations in the United States, with an equipment of $195,000,000,
77
a teaching staff of 5,900 and a resident student body of over 75,000. On May 15, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the act, creating
the great Department of Agriculture. In the 57 years inter- vening, there has never been a time when the country at large has been so appreciative, as at present, of the value of this department, nor so cheerfully contemplates the expenditure of approximately $65,000,000 for its supporting annual budget, to maintain its staff of more than 20,000 people.
Furthermore, on May 8, 1919, there was enacted the Ex- tension Act, which provides that all extension and demonstration work shall be codrdinated and carried on coédperatively by the state colleges of agriculture and the Federal Department of Agriculture. After 1922, there will be available approximately $8,700,000 for a the support of this Act. The field work in each state is supervised by a director of extension and is done by (1) men county agents, (2) women county agents, (3) boys’ and girls’ clubs, (4) corps of specialists.*
If, as Professor Amesj and many others contend, the war was really won by science, either pure or applied, then there is an everlasting debt which humanity owes to the men of science: the physicians, engineers, sanitarians, meteorologists, geologists, botanists, zodlogists, physicists and chemists. Their service sustained the world at the time of its greatest need. What I want to emphasize is that the careers of these men and women were made possible to them and to the country by their courses in the high school pertod of their education, when they were self-discovered and when they unquestionably got the trend for their particular vocation.
Shall we not continue to need trained botanists, not to speak of other biologists? Let us keep wide open the door marked “Biologic Science” and let all the students of our high schools have an unobstructed view of whatever perspectives and vistas they can see.
This then is what I have attempted to present:
* Weekly News Letter of Department of Agriculture. T Science, Oct. 25, 1918.
78
First, the imperative need of a natural biologic approach for the presentation of rational sex hygiene.
Second, the weakness of the attempt to teach hygiene without previous biology foundation, also the impossibility of successfully substituting either hygiene or general science for biology.
Third, the moral demand upon us to supply through biology courses, the working material for individual culture and philos- ophy.
Fourth, the necessity of popular biologic education to insure worthy legislation.
Fifth, the loss to the country and to the individual concerned, of not discovering those whose talents and genius lie in the line of biologic heritage.
EVANDER CHILDS HIGH SCHOOL, NEw YorK CIty.
REVIEWS
Trelease’s Plant Materials and Winter Botany*
These two valuable pocket volumes contain a great amount of clear and condensed information about trees and shrubs. The former takes up 247 genera, 782 species, 1,150 forms. It is intended to enable any careful observer to learn the generic and usually the specific name of any tree, shrub or woody climber, likely to be found in cultivation in the eastern United States, except the extreme south. The concise key to genera, separate for trees, shrubs, undershrubs and woody climbers, emphasizes vegetative characters. In the main part of the work the genera are more fully described and keys lead to the species and forms. In a few genera such as Crataegus, Cotoneaster, Philadelphus and Rosa, only the most easily recognized species have been admitted. Trees and shrubs of the orchard are traced to their species.
The larger ‘‘ Winter Botany”’ much surpasses any existing work as a practical means of identifying cultivated trees and shrubs in
* Trelease, William. Plant Materials for Decorative Gardening. The Woody Plants. Pp. 204. i917. Price, $1.00.
Winter Botany. A companion volume to the above. Pp. xi +394. Illus- trated. 1918. Price, $2.50. Both published by the author, Urbana, IIl.
79
winter. The introductory key to genera by winter characters covering thirty pages is very interesting, the first division being according to whorled, opposite or alternate arrangement of leaves. The genera and species are then taken up with. It contains numerous excellent line drawings especially of leaf-scars and buds. There are many references to other works. The nomen- clature follows Bailey’s Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, synonyms being given where manuals differ.
The implied future publication of a similar work for herbaceous
plants will be awaited with interest. A. GUNDERSEN.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB JANUARY 14, I919
The annual meeting was held in the lecture room of the De- partment of Botany at Columbia University. President Rich- ards called the meeting to order at 8:15 P.M. There were 20 persons present. The minutes of Dec. Io, 1918, were read and approved.
The nomination of Dr. George E. Osterhout, Windsor, Col., Mr. S. A. Lurvey, South West Harbor, Me., and Miss Anna G, Runge, 577 Ninth Av., Astoria, N. Y., followed.
Mr. Percy Wilson read the report of the Field Committee which was accepted. The report of the Program Committee, Mrs. E. G. Britton, chairman, was read by Dr. Seaver. A sug- gestion that in the future some of the Tuesday meetings should be held at Columbia University was discussed by Prof. Harper, Prof. Hazen, Dr. Barnhart and Mr. Taylor.
Dr. M. A. Howe reported briefly for the Committee on the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. A statement of the receipts and expenditures, as follows, was read:
SEMI-CENTENNIAL FUND
Receipts angie reece vediatl. BOUT + che Coe ee Ba eee Ae Le ee $1,580.50 PANTONE ECELV EC All: EO}LO crate cle aie ae een inne ere giover ha rtis eae Siehale we als 548.00
$2,128.50
80
Disbursements Paid the New Era Co. Printing Memoir, Etc................ $1,373-67 FETS AN ATT ORI te cok eae aly fel Seculscun tea rece cue sie BMA Bt o-oo ae Deer oto hai cls 153.87 (CATA ECSous [ay Sia INST OP ONE) cca ORR E Ouch aes eee old) Geehche io oneL Binet encia.o 2.00 EV TAVIELO PES ee ere icHees case ales eile eS Ie eee EI Se nee ears ene epee 3.60
Editorial Expense
BAAN C ES, ccc test te ea) ok Leek yay SBOE ase ea am Pelt ee REST Meet nee) Tae a sh et 501.51
The treasurer reported on the estimated cost of reprinting Vol. 15, No. 9, of the Bulletin. It was voted to have this number reprinted at a cost not to exceed $40 for 100 copies. The secre- tary was directed to call the editor’s attention to the announce- ment on the cover of the Bulletin, relating to holding the Tuesday evening meetings of the Club at the American Museum or Colum- bia University.
The resignations of Miss Henrietta Lisk, Dr. L. O. Kunkel and Mr. James G. Scott were read and accepted.
Miss Runge, Mr. Lurvey and Dr. Osterhout were then elected.
Reports of officers.
The secretary read a report which was accepted.
The treasurer’s report was read and referred to an Auditing Committee consisting of Mr. Norman Taylor and Dr. Francis
Pennell. A statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Club follows:
RECEIPTS
Balances Conmub xchange Bank sjamilanys 7s) LOUGre acaricides ener ienenene $1,735.27 IMGemalorenS” GINES> 5d ooo ade Roce ee eOAs Bonen EDS Pacers BA! 8 $ 970.00 Segzunovbaver sonveronloveyasy” CESS ologaccauoceonopden000dan G0 cdOd000 90.00 BULLE Girne peers ene ee eta i alles de be ois, heal se) ayeceye hea Preteen nectar oniet's 1,043.22 ROR RE MAMET AER CRIT eo Leica Ge Hit at Beith a pee 183.98 ARORRE VA OIt pure asic te retel he ro sicaits raueeceek sgsiceisiee) <tleusccitabiate fox’ Porelgayie late nenec 100.00 INAV ET CISTI OPE Ine UNMET Cometic denis A ccerioeaivaara nice easter ekconirele ai chelaenere 72.00 IVES TITOIRS hy ceeee Ceo ence aresoehs Mares reo el clafade ianminate Wren enoe estat 641.01 LTV EXACAT SANs ee eM a its eas ie Recs iomce ht eac seks Muerte, eucties chee aie hele es 170.28 SUMANICS a oh cues sustens iouevalt = toyed: susiey Meo shania’ shied bays Vee eet Race Meee 0 aS I.05 Semii=CentenmnialMerticdeecreweroucueteceperctaletorelicuc coeheds: eirchsyie tatitcre terete) odabe 548.00 Interest, Underwood Fund: P
EUEOMI MBA e eee oie even aie archers seeetseced Fiat vey, eoleus sels, oun erate renee $50.00
ir OTB OT eters ce cmeucis otek seokepoliay dats witecays. o eueneyiel otic wane as) oweneptelte I4.90 64.90
o
$3,884.44 $3,884.44 $5,619.71
81
DISBURSEMENTS
RIPE Lect hy hoe Sainv arash ays coe eter ANe a aIR PEA cw Wate stasdieretes ecard 75.290 * DORSET UA oa 8 aye Mae csc Sa hen’ sts APR DLs en cAaP eR sac si cea eG MESS BAM eas A ein 625.41 MRP RLRESATICAS alate: Gls teh ae cious rah OIG he aries Lig ign ree Gee ee tn 307.29 PEEHELOUMOXPODAES Ce thts Se Lay ois es Maes abre ERY Cee AU 440.62 aM UTESEL AGERE aires eilsvers, sint akc, pte eal Save SMO Oe ah eT eee eaters Le 3.20 BOMEIO IES core sore hy c Shcy ial Mate a Er anion Ri ances leer eee Ria ees 1,512.07
$5,362.78 $5,362.78
Poameen Conn XCUAN Pe yan Kin ei aiate Sudiics wttice boas aL ahtale ds eeideleie. clears 250.63
Funds on deposit Union Square Bank...................:.
Wnion square Savings: Bank Bund). 50+. 45.202). < Seen et es 570.55 BRIE OOOOCL FTIE) Cictc fe ce e se ee Set eo NSE eG all Ocoee ae 769.82 MINE WOO GF UUN CMD ONG).a.pc ue stave iaid arate st Rul oeucl el Re. eae 1,000.00
2,346.37 $2,346.37
Matcamcashronrhan dis ct araticncart aocG cen Laake Oe Ee Ag son MA 2,603.00
The treasurer was directed to ascertain the cost of insuring the stock of the Club’s periodicals which are stored in the basement of the library.
The report of the editor, A. W. Evans, was read by Dr. M. A. Howe. This report was accepted.
Mr. Norman Taylor gave a brief report as editor of TORREYA and Dr. M. A. Howe reported upon his work as delegate to the council of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Howe brought up the question of the publication of a paper offered by Dr. F. W. Pennell for publication as a Memoir of the Club. A motion was made by Mr. Taylor to refer the question to the Budget Committee and to the Editorial Board for their joint consideration and report. The motion was carried.
Election of Officers——The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
President, H. M. Richards.
Vice-Presidents, John Hendley Barnhart, C. Stuart Gager.
Secretary and Treasurer, Bernard O. Dodge. Editor, Alex. W. Evans.
82
Associate Editors,
Jean Broadhurst, M. Levine, -eAeblanris: George E. Nichols, Marshall Avery Howe, Arlow B. Stout,
Norman Taylor.
Delegate to the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences, M. A. Howe. The president appointed the standing committees for the year. A list of these committees is regularly published in ToRREYA. Adjournment followed. B. O. DonDGE, Secretary. JANUARY 30, I9I9 The meeting was held in the Morphological Laboratory of the N. Y. Botanical Garden at 3:30 P.M. President Richards presided. There were 17 persons present. The minutes of Jan. 14 were read and approved. The following report of the Budget Committee was read and adopted: Report of Budget Committee, 1919 The Budget Committee of the Torrey Botanical Club met at the New York Botanical Garden at 2 P.M., on January 29, 1919. Present, Drs. Barnhart (chairman), Britton, Dodge, Evans, Harper, Howe, Richards and Rusby. The following budget was suggested for the year I9I9: .
Estimated Income Estimated Outgo
IDITGI OH Ss cde GeO ARERR TENSE ie $1,000 Bulletin xc hs. oe $1,400 Sustaining members.......... 100 MORREVAjS% fort os oc ae a Ee 525 Brlletiny sh eae skies ees. Ss es 750 Memoirs (2.03) s 022s. (eee 000 POLLEY Areierete ee tes Oras weet 180 Indexcardsa- sone. eee 200 INVERT OIGS tree rarer Tonons sxe ostoto 1p 100 Secretary-Treasurer.......... 300 Advertisements.............. 50 Sundries: .:. 2 cnc. ca ee Weep Indexicardsiys,ccyias favenle see 200 Totaly: ks Bs. $2,545 INEELESER ete sesscicicne eietalen ites 90 SLIM GTICSE ti cnustj-cskeneee tiene aie 75
Ota lesa eeve easier ees eae $2,545
Respectfully submitted, MarsHALL A. HOWE, Secretary.
83
Dr. Barnhart, chairman of the Budget Committee, reported that all members of the committee were present at the meeting.
The treasurer was authorized by vote of the Club to insure the stock of the Club’s publications, against loss by fire and water, for four thousand or five thousand dollars.
Dr. Britton moved to appoint Dr. M. Levine, business manager of the Club’s publications for purposes of increasing advertising and circulation. Motion carried.
Dr. Pennell reported that the Auditing Committee had ex- amined the books of the treasurer and had found them to be correct.
The scientific program was then in order. The program consisted of ‘‘Abstracts and Criticisms of Botanical Papers read at the Baltimore meeting of the A. A. A. S.”’
Prof. R. A. Harper, Dr. E. W. Olive and Dr. A. Gundersen each reported on several papers which he had heard read.
Discussions followed.
The meeting adjourned at 5 P.M.
B. O. DopcE, Secretary. A CORRECTION
Syntherisma pruriens, error in publication. Byan unfortunate slip of the pen in transferring Panicum pruriens Trin. to another genus in the preceding March number of ToRREYA (19: 48. 14 May 1919) the generic name was made to read “Sanguinale.”’ This orthographic error should be corrected to Syntherisma pruriens (Trin.) nom. nov., the date of publication remaining 14 May IgI9, the actual date of issue of the March number of the journal.—J. C. Arthur.
NEWS ITEMS
Dr. William S. Cooper, of the University of Minnesota, expects to spend the summer in a study of the ecology of the dunes at the mouth of the Salinas river, near Monterey, Cali- fornia. As the climax vegetation of these dunes is chaparral, Dr. Cooper’s work will be an extension of his former study of that formation.
84
The Ecological Society of America will hold a meeting at the Throop College of Technology, Pasadena, California, on June Ig, 20 and 21st. A joint session for the reading of papers of general interest will be held with the Western Society of Natural- ists. Field trips have been arranged to Mt. Wilson and to the fossil deposits at Rancho La Brea.
The Ecological Society of America announces in its Bulletin the appointment by the president, Barrington Moore, of a ‘‘ Com- mittee on Cooperation.’’ The aim is to further different phases of ecological work by combined effort ona concrete problem and to suggest a list of problems where such co-operation would prove of value. The problem decided upon is ‘‘ The factors limiting distribution on the mountains in the northeastern states.’”’ The members selected represent the three main lines of work of the society, plant ecology, forestry and zoology. They are: for plant ecology, H. L. Shantz of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C., and Norman Taylor of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; for forestry, George P. Burns of the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt., and Barrington Moore of the American Museum of Natural History, New York; for zoology C. C. Adams of Syracuse University, and one other not yet appointed. During the first week in June, Messrs. Moore, Adams and Taylor visited Mt. McIntyre and Mt. Marcy in the Adirondacks, and a more extended trip of the whole committee is scheduled for July.
The Torrey Botanical Club
Contributors of accepted articles and reviews who wish six gratuitous copies of the number of ToRREYA in which their papers appear, will kindly notify the editor when returning proof.
Reprints should be ordered, when galley proof is returned to the editor. The New Era Printing Co., 41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa., have furnished the following rates:
2pp 4pp 8pp 12pp 16pp 20pp 25 copies $ .79 $1.14 $1.78 $2.32 $2.87 $3.28
50 copies 1.03 1.43 2.23 2.82 3.52 3.92 100 copies 1.45 2.03 2.73 3.50 4.23 4.55
200 copies Daly 3.24 3.92 5 25 6.52 6.92 Covers: 25 for $1.00, additional covers 114 cents each. Plates for reprints, 50 cents each per 100.
Committees for 1919.
Finance Committee Program Committee R. A. Harper, Chairman. Mrs. E. G. BRITTON, Chairman: J. H. BARNHART, PrRoF. JEAN BROADHURST Miss C. C. HAYNES B. O. DopGE SERENO STETSON MICHAEL LEVINE Budget Committee F. J. SEAVER J. H. BARNHART, Chairman, Membership Committee R. A. HARPER J. K. SMALL, Chairman. N. L. BRITTON T. E. HAZEN A. W. Evans E E. W. OLIVE M. A. Howe Local Flora Committee H. H. Russy N. L. Britton, Chairman, Field Committee Phanerogams: Cryptogams: F.W. PENNELL, Chairman. E. P. BICKNELL Mrs. E. G. BRITTON Mrs. L. M. KEELER N.L. BRITTON T. E. Hazen MICHAEL LEVINE C. C, CurRTIS M. A. Howe GEORGE T. HastTIncs K. K. MACKENZIE MICHAEL LEVINE
PERCY WILSON NORMAN TAYLOR W.A. MuRRILL F. J. SEAVER | Chairmen of Special Committees on Local Flora Feris and Fern Allies: R. C..Benedict. Lichens: W.-C. Barbour
Mosses: Mrs. E. G. Britton Sphaeriaceae, Dothideaceae: H.. M. Liverworts: A. W. Evans Richards Fresh Water Algae: T. E. Hazen Hypocreaceae, Perisporieae, Plectas- Marine Algae: M. A. Howe cineae, Tuberineae: F. J. Seaver Gasteromycetes: G. C. Fisher Fungi-forming sclerotia: A. B. Stout Hymenomycetes: W. A. Murrill Imperfecti:’ H. M. Richards, F. Except Russula and Lactarius: hiss G. Seaver, Mel T. Cook -- Burlingham ~~ Oomycetes: C. A. King Cortinarius: R. A. Harper Zygomycetes: A. F. Blakeslee Polyporeae: M. Levine Chytridiaceae, _ Exobasidii: H. M. Richards Myxomycetes: Mrs. H. M. Richards Rusts and Smuts: E. W. Olive Yeast and Bacteria: Prof. J. Broadhurst
Discomycetes: B. O. Dodge Insect galls: Mel T. Cook
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
| (1) BULLETIN
A monthly journal devoted to general botany, established 1870. Vol. 45 published in 1918, contained. 519 pages of text ~ and 15 full-page plates. Price $4.00 per annum. For Europe, 18 shillings. Dulau & Co., 47 Soho Square, London, are, agents for England. 3 Seek
Of former volumes, only 24—45 can be supplied entire ; cer- tain numbers of other volumes are available, but the entire more of some numbers has been reserved for the completion of sets Vols. 24-27 are furnished at the puss Sees of two dollars | each; Vols, 28-45 three dollars each.
Sidete copies (30 cents) will be furnished ae when not | breaking complete volumes.
(2) MEMOIRS |
The Memoirs, established 1889, are published at irregu-
lar intervals. Volumes 1—15 are now completed; No. 1 of
Vol..16 has been issued!: The subscription price is fixed at
$3.00 per volume in advance; Vol. 17, containing Proceedings
of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Club, 490 pages, was
‘issued in 1918, price $5.00, Certain numbers can also be pur-
chased singly. A list of titles of the individual papers and of prices will be furnished on application.
(3) The Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteri- dophyta reported as growing within one hundred miles of New York, 1888. Price, $1.00. a
Correspondence relating to the above publications should be addressed to DR. BERNARD O. DODGE Columbia University
New York City
| Vol. 19 May, 1919 No. 5
- TORREYA.
A Monraiy Journat or Boranicat Notes anp News EDITED FOR
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB
BY
NORMAN TAYLOR
JOHN TORREY, 1796-1873
CONTENTS * > A New Rictcia from .Peru: ALEXANDER “‘W. EVANS. 2.05) ciecd levnscane csp 20s uetponsserarss 85 Whats: Ecology: Hi. AY GLEASON 4s bec) op pan teale ce da deet-ogtebs gehen ae dete dageyg oer E wae ds 89 AwNvewCalifornia-Cypressi; bL. Rs ABRAMS (3-5: (25). cage. Fates be Nee Eats vemos ate Fea eee g2 \ Reviews: :
Macfarlane’s Causes and Course of Organic Evolution: C. Stuart GAGER....-: 93
The Swiss League for the Protection of Nature: E. G. BRITTON.....-..-.....2+. 101 Proceedings of the Club ....... Se RR ee ark Depaed er AEA Neos aoe Ube pp ch» Lip aeae E Sign Seabees 102 sg 18 BC 7 TA 8 a ee NE Pen SE? | ee? Se ated Ws Rea SUG ee, UR oats aoe ka hee 105
‘ PUBLISHED FOR THE CLUE } AT 41 NortTH Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa
sy THe New ERA Printinc ComPrany “Entered ar the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., as second-class matter.
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB |
OFFICERS FOR 10919
President H. M- RICHARDS, Sc.D: Vice- Presidents.
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A.M., M. D €. STUART GAGER, PH.D.
Secretary and Treasurer : BERNARD O. DODGE, Pu.D. CoLuMBIA ‘UNIVERSITY, N. Y. City. Editor ALEX. W. EVANS, M.D., PH.D.
Associate Editors
JEAN BROADHURST, PH.D. M. LEVINE, Px.D. J. A. HARRIS, Pu.D. G.E, NICHOLS, Pu-D. ee AVERY HOWE, Pu.D. ARLOW B. STOUT, Pu. D.
NORMAN TAYLOR.
Delegate to the wee of the New York Academy of Sciences . A. HOWE, PH.D.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WILD FLOWER PRESERVATION
Society oF AMERICA
ToRREYA is furnished to subscribers in the United States and _ Canada for one dollar per annum; single copies, fifteen cents. To- subscribers elsewhere, five shillings, or the equivalent thereof. Postal or express money orders and drafts or personal checks on New York City banks are accepted in payment, but the rules of the New York Clearing House compel the request that ten cents be added to the amount of any other local checks that may be sent. Subscriptions are received only for full volumes, beginning with the January issue. ‘Reprints will be furnished at cost prices. Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to TREASURER, TORREY BOTANICAL CLupB, 44 North Queen St., Lan- caster, Pa., or Columbia University, New York City.
Matter for publication, and books and papers for review, should be addressed to
NORMAN TAYLOR Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn, N. Y
TORREYA
Vol. I9 No. 5 } May, I9I9
A NEW RICCIA FROM PERU* By ALEXANDER W. EVANS
Through the kindness of Mr. W. R. Maxon, of the United States National Museum, the writer has received for study an interesting collection of Peruvian Hepaticae, made by Messrs. O. F. Cook and G. B. Gilbert in 1915. One of the most re- markable of the species represented is the Riccia noted below, which seems to be undescribed. The remaining species are not yet wholly determined, so that a complete account of the col- lection can not be published at the present time.
Riccia bistriata sp. nov.
Plants growing in irregular patches: thallus simple or once or twice dichotomous, strap-shaped to obovate, mostly 0.5- 1.5 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, and 9.5-0.6 mm. thick in the median portion, distinctly areolate and dull green above, a marginal band becoming bleached with age, more or less pigmented with purple below, especially toward the margin, median sulcus in the apical region only, I-1.5 mm. long, the older portions of the thallus plane or nearly so above and convex below, gradually thinning toward the margin, where the two surfaces meet at an acute angle; ventral scales inconspicuous, hyaline, scarcely pro- jecting beyond the margin; cells of the primary dorsal epidermis subhemispherical, the upper part soon collapsing and disappear- ing, leaving the basal portion in the form of a thickened shallow cup; green tissue of the usual Riccia type, consisting of upright rows of cells separated by narrow (usually) four-sided canals not constricted at the dorsal surface of the thallus, each row of cells usually connected longitudinally with four other rows and composed of five or six cells, the longitudinal walls common to two rows being marked by two colorless bands, of thickening
* Contribution from the Osborn Botanical Laboratory. (No. 4, Vol. 19 of ToRREYA, comprising, pp. 57-84, was issued 25 June, 1919]
85
86
extending from the compact ventral tissue to above the middle of the uppermost green cells, united at their upper ends and some- times at various points along their length; compact ventral tissue mostly eight to ten cells thick, composed of uniform paren- chyma without oil-bodies: inflorescence (so far as known) dioicous, the antheridia not seen: spores dark brown to almost black, becoming very opaque with age, more or less angular, 110-130 pw in diameter, with a narrow, irregular and often in- terrupted wing-margin, 4 uw or less in width, spherical face covered over with a fairly regular reticulum formed by low ridges 3 u or less in height, the meshes mostly 10-15 pw in diameter, plane faces with lower ridges, usually irregular but sometimes forming a more or less distinct reticulum. [Fic. 1.]
On soil, Santa Ana, 900 m. alt., June 25, 1915, Cook & Gilbert I48T.
The peculiar bands of thickening which are found in the walls of the green cells represent a feature which has not before been noted in the Marchantiales. In a section cut parallel with the surface of the thallus (Fic. 1, D) these bands are especially con- spicuous. They appear in the form of minute circular structures situated in the walls common to two cells and projecting into the cavities, this appearance being due to the fact that the thicken- ings deposited by one cell correspond with those deposited by its neighbors. In most cases each cell is octagonal in section and is bounded by four other cells alternating with four air-canals. At its periphery it shows normally eight thickenings, two for each bounding cell. The thickenings are usually distinct and definitely two in number, but they sometimes have vague out- lines and may be increased to three. In a section cut at right angles to the surface of the thallus (Fic. 1, E) the true form of the thickenings becomes evident. They now appear as parallel bands, running longitudinally with respect to the rows of green cells. Each pair of bands begins at or near the lower end of a row and extends upward to the cells just beneath the epidermis. A short distance above the middle of these cells the two bands coalesce and form a narrow arch. During their course they sometimes unite here and there but are usually quite free from each other.
Although thickened walls have not before been observed in the
87
green tissue of the Marchantiales, thick-walled cells of various types have repeatedly been noted in other parts of the thallus, - especially in the more complex genera of the Marchantiaceae.
Fic. 1. RICCIA BISTRIATA Evans.
A. Cross section of thallus in apical region, XK 22. B. Cross section of same thallus near basal end of median sulcus, XK 22. C. Cross section of same thallus in older part, X 22. D. Section of green tissue parallel with surface of thallus, X 300. E. Section of green tissue perpendicular to surface of thallus, showing bands of thickening in section and surface view, X 300. F. Spore, X 400. The figures were all drawn from the type specimen.
In addition to the tuberculate rhizoids which are of almost uni- versal occurrence, the epidermis in many cases is distinguished by a definite cuticle and conspicuous trigones, while the cells
88
surrounding the pores sometimes show thickened radial walls. In the compact ventral tissue, moreover, thick-walled cells with elongated pits are not uncommon, and a number of species are known in which pointed sclerotic cells with pigmented walls can be demonstrated. Of course none of these cells bear much resemblance to the green cells of the Riccia. Perhaps the latter are more directly comparable with the parenchymatous cells found in the costa of Pellia epiphylla (L.) Corda and P. Neesiana (Gottsche) Limpr. Here, as in all the Jungermanniales, the gametotype is destitute of air-spaces, but the interior cells of the thallus show distinct vertical bands of thickening in their longitudinal walls. The bands, which are narrow and often pigmented, undoubtedly serve in a mechanical capacity, and the same thing is probably true of the much longer bands of Riccia bistriata.
According to Stephani* twenty-three South American species of Riccia were known in 1898, thirteen belonging to Riccia proper and ten to Ricciella. Not one of these species is accredited to Peru. In 1911 Weberbauert was able to report two species from the vicinity of Mollendo, listing them under manuscript names of Stephani. Since these species have not been adequately published, so far as the writer knows, they need not be further considered. Among the species described by Stephani, R. Weinionis Steph., collected by Weinio at Rio de Janeiro, is perhaps the most closely related to R. bistriata. In the Brazilian species, however, the spores are smaller, measuring 102 u in diameter, the inflorescence is described as monoicous, and the dorsal sulcus is not restricted to the apical region. It is unfor- tunate that Stephani makes no allusion to the anatomical features of his species, nothing being said about the epidermis, the green cells, or the compact ventral tissue.
SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL, YALE UNIVERSITY
* Bull. Herb. Boissier 6: 310-343, 361-378. 1808. 7 Engler & Drude, Vegetat. der Erde 12: 145. Io91I.
89
WHAT IS ECOLOGY? By H. A. GLEASON
At a recent meeting of a well-known botanical society it was suggested somewhat jocularly that the field of plant ecology is not well defined, and that the speaker would welcome a further definition of the phases of plant life that are covered by it. Now the botanist who made this remark certainly does know what ecology is. So do also the various botanists who have made and are still making similar public statements on the same subject and to the same effect. They know from actual experience with the subject itself and with the men who work init. The difficulty is that ecology is so different from the more familiar divisions of botanical science, morphology, physiology, and the like, that some of them fail to classify the subject properly in their own minds.
In order to present the matter, let us attempt a definition of botany, to be used as a point of departure in formulating later a definition of ecology.* Botany is the accumulation and or- ganization of knowledge of plants. This definition holds for the student who learns from the printed page or the observer who takes his knowledge directly from the plant; for the beginner acquiring the most elementary rudiments of the science or the investigator extending the limits of knowledge. Botany does not properly refer to the plant itself, although it is sometimes used in that sense. A speaker may refer to the interesting botany of Mexico when he really means the interesting flora.
Morphology, as one branch of botany, may be defined by the addition of one limiting phrase to the definition of botany: it is the accumulation and organization of knowledge concerning the form and structure of plants. Strictly speaking, the term does not refer to the plant itself, yet in common usage it has frequently been applied in that way. For example, a teacher may ask of a student ‘‘Describe the morphology of the corn-kernel,’’ when he really expects a description of its structure. Or he writes an article on the morphology of the vascular bundle of corn, and the title is accepted without criticism as referring to the structure
* In this connection see TORREYA for May, 1912.—ED.
90
of the bundle and not to our knowledge of its structure. This sounds like mere quibbling over the meaning of words: so it is introduced to show that a word originally applied to a division of knowledge is now applied to certain features of a plant. The same thing is true of physiology, of pathology, of various other -ologies, not merely in the general field of botany but in other sciences as well.
To revert to the original subject, plant ecology may be defined as the accumulation and organization of knowledge concerning the correlation between the plant and its normal environment. It now becomes difficult to divert the word from the meaning given here into a concrete application as has been done so suc- cessfully with morphology and physiology, because the subject is based not on the plant alone, but on the plant and its environ- ment together. Nevertheless, the attempt is frequently made.
A botanist announces that he is studying the ecology of Smith’s Bog. Narrowed down to an exact statement by careful question- ing, he admits that Smith’s Bog has no ecology, that he is really interested in the environmental relations of the plants there, and that he discovers these relations, at least in part, by observa- tions on their form and behavior. Undoubtedly the original statement has brevity and is clear in its meaning, but it is im- possible to include consistently any measurable or visible process or structure in a plant exclusively under the. term ecology.
Two common expressions of this correlation between plant and environment are found, as just stated, in the structure and behavior of the plant. They must be studied by the methods of morphology and physiology, they must be described in the same terms used in morphology and physiology, yet the result of the study is neither: they deal with the structure and behavior of the plant, the result deals with the correlation between its structure and behavior and the environment. The elongation of the dandelion scape is a study in physiology, the structure and development of the pappus a study in morphology, the dissemi- nation of the dandelion a study in ecology. But since the ob- servable effect of the interrelation of plant and environment is frequently termed the morphology or physiology of the plant,
91
there is a not unnatural tendency on the part of morphologists and physiologists to consider ecology, or at least this part of it, as equivalent to or included in their own subjects. Since these subjects have accepted names, they ask ‘‘ What is ecology?”
Another expression of the interrelation between plant and environment is seen in the restriction of a species to a particular type of environment, that is, to a particular habitat. This phenomenon can not be observed on a single individual, which is of course restricted to a single station, but must be studied from many individuals of one race. In this case the visible result is apart from either morphology or physiology, and to some botan- ists this alone is ecology, just as the behavior of a plant is physi- ology. But after all, the habitat-relation of a species is only one type of behavior, dependent upon the physiological functions of the single individual, but measured and tested by the behavior of many individuals or of the race.
It is hardly necessary to say that tangible or visible phenomena are frequently noticed before the underlying processes or correla- tions are discovered. Starch was known before photosynthesis; growth of trees before cambium. The morphological effect of ecological relations, such as alpine dwarfing, was known before the causes, which are even yet not fully understood. Plant associations were described long before their fundamental nature Was appreciated.
In conclusion, let it be repeated that ecology is a division of knowledge, to be studied only through perceptible phenomena, which are frequently structural or functional in nature and there- fore subjects for morphology and physiology also, but that the questions which ecology seeks to answer, the knowledge which it aims to supply, deal not with structure and function alone but with the correlation between the plant as a whole and the environment in which it grows.
NEw YorK BOTANICAL GARDEN
:
92
A NEW CALIFORNIA CYPRESS
Cupressus nevadensis sp. nov.
By L. R. ABRAMS
Small tree attaining a maximum height of 20-25 m. and a diameter of 6-8 dm., with spreading branches forming a broadly conical crown. Bark fibrous, longitudinally fissured, 15-25 cm. thick, reddish brown within, weathering light gray-brown on the exposed surface. Leaves light green and somewhat glaucous, closely imbricated on the slender distinctly 4-angled branchlets, 1.5 mm. broad, sharply acute and keeled, with a conspicuous active