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Vol. XIV MAY, 1913 No. 161 JOURNAL ov The New York Botanical Garden EDITOR ARLOW BURDETTE STOUT Director of the Laboratories CONTENTS rAGB Wild Plants Needing Protection— 7. Pink Moccasin Flower { Cypripedium acaule Aiton) 97 Cactus Studies in the West Indies 99 John Innes Kane ,09 Insurance of Greenhouses IID Conference Notes II0 Notes, News and Comment i: 4 Accessions " 7 PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT 41 NORTH QUBBN STREET, LANCASTER, PA BY TUB NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY O F P I O B R S 1913 PRESIDENT— VICE- PRESIDENT— ANDREW CARNEGIE TREASURER— JAMES A. SCRYMSER SECRETARY— DR. N. L. BRITTON B O A R D OF- M A N A G E R S 1. ELECTED MANAGERS Term expires January, 1914 EDWARD D. ADAMS JAMES A. SCRYMSER ROBERT W. DE FOREST HENRY W. DE FOREST Term expires January, 1915 N. L. BRITTON W. J. MATHESON ANDREW CARNEGIE W. GILMAN THOMPSON Term expires January, 1916 THOMAS H. HUBBARD FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON GEORGE W. PERKINS MYLES TIERNEY 2. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC PARKS HON. CHARLES B. STOVER THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. HON. WILLIAM J. GAYNOR 3. SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS PROF. H. H. RUSBY, Chairman PROF. EDWARD S. BURGESS PROF. WILLIAM J. GIES DR. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER PROF. R. A. HARPER THOMAS W. CHURCHILL PROF. JAMES F. KEMP PROF. FREDERIC S. LEE G A R D E N S T A F F DR. N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief ( Development, Administration) DR. W. A. MURRILL, Assistant Director ( Administration ) DR. JOHN K. SMALL, Head Curator of the Museums ( Flowering Plants ) DR. P. A. RYDBERG, Curator ( Flowering Plants 1 DR. MARSHALL A. HOWE, Curator ( Flowerless Plants ) DR. FRED J. SEAVER, Curator ( Flowerless Plants ) DR. ARTHUR HOLLICK, Curator ( Fossil Plants) ROBERT S. WILLIAMS, Administrative Assistant PERCY WILSON, Assistant Curator GEORGE. V. NASH, Head Gardener DR. A. B. STOUT, Director of the Laboratories DR. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, Bibliographer SARAH H. HARLOW, Librarian DR. H. H. RUSBY, Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections ELIZABETH G. BRITTON, Honorary Curator of Mosses DR. WILLIAM J. GIES, Consulting Chemist COL. F. A. SCHILLING, Museum Custodian JOHN R. BRINLEY, Landscape Engineer WALTER S. GROESBECK, Clerk and Accountant ARTHUR J. CORBETT, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN PLATE CXVI l^ t-. tiXn. JOURNAL OF The New York Botanical Garden VOL. XIV May, 1913 No. 161 WILD PLANTS NEEDING PROTECTION* 7. " PINK MOCCASIN FLOWER" { Cypripedium acaule Aiton) WITH PLATE CXVI From the middle of May to the middle of June the " Stemless Pink Moccasin" or " Two- leaved Lady's Slipper" may be found blooming in moist woods and on the borders of swamps or on drier hillsides in pine woods. It comes when the orchards are in bloom, beginning with the violets, anemones and wake- robins and in colder, more northern, hilly regions may still be found when the laurel and the roses are just unfolding. It is probably the most common of all the Cypripediums, having the greatest range, extending through British America from Newfoundland to Winnipeg and North West Territory, and is even supposed to have been one of the species recorded by Dr. Richardson from Arctic America. It also occurs sparingly in the United States from Minnesota to Kentucky and Tennessee. The flower is large and showy, pendent on a long stalk, about a foot high, with two large basal leaves: they taper down to and clasp the base of the flower stalk and are in turn enclosed in a thin brown bract; there are five prominent parallel veins and both surfaces of the leaf are pubescent with short glandular hairs. Arching over the flower at the top of the scape is a single lanceolate bract, about 2 inches long, covering the ovary * Illustrated by the aid of the Stokes Fund for the Preservation of Native Plants. [ JOURNAL for April, 1913 ( 14: 79- 95). was issued April 26, 1913. I 97 98 which is curved, strongly ribbed and glandular hairy; the large brown calyx is composed of two united sepals, the two lateral petals also are brown, narrow and twisted. The lip is a large showy pouch, 2- 3 inches long, of a bright purplish pink color veined with darker lines, it is deeply split above with the aperture closed by the downward and inward curving of the sides; there are also minute short glandular hairs on the outside, but within the hairs are white and longer, becoming rigid and bent downward as they approach the anthers, serving to attract and direct the movements of insect visitors who come in search of nectar. When the insects reach the anthers, the two viscid sacs adhere to their backs and are thus carried off to some other flower, where they are brushed against the roughly papillose stigma and thus accomplish cross- fertilization. One sterile stamen is expanded into a heart- shaped bract, which is bent downward and inward covering the stigma and effectually preventing all exit, except by the apertures on each side of the anthers. The capsules when mature, are large, about 1- 1.5 inches long and produce numerous small seeds, but they are nowhere very abundant, as the very showiness which insures fertilization by insects, defeats its obj'ect through the greediness of children and some selfish older people, who pick all they can find no matter how few there may be! Cypripedium acaule was named by Aiton in a catalogue of the plants grown at Kew in 1789 from plants introduced by Wm. Hamilton, Esq., in 1786, from North America. He cites Pluke-net's figures and description published in 1769 who described it as " Helleborine Calceolus Mariae dicta Caroliniensis, bifolia." Catesby in his Natural History of North Carolina in 1748 figured it in colors and says of it: " This plant produces the most elegant flower of all the Helleborine tribe, and is in great esteem with the North American Indians for decking their hair, etc. They call it the Moccasin Flower, which also signifies in their language, a shoe or slipper." It was formerly found in the wilder portions of Greater New York, on Staten Island and in Van Courtland Park, but is becoming extinct, on account of its showy flowers, which are 99 usually picked close to the root, as in the accompanying illustration. ELIZABETH G. BRITTON. CACTUS STUDIES IN THE WEST INDIES To THE SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS. Gentlemen: Pursuant to permission given by you, I was absent from the Garden for the period between January 25 and April 17, 1913, engaged in further studies of the West Indian flora, with special reference to the cacti, in continuation of our cooperation in the cactus researches of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. It has become necessary, in the progress of these investigations, that a more complete and accurate knowledge of the West Indian cacti be obtained, and my own studies of the general flora of the West Indies required further field work. The expedition was organized jointly with Dr. J. N. Rose, research associate of the Carnegie Institution, and after consultation with Dr. D. T. MacDougal, its director of botanical research. Dr. J. A. Shafer accompanied me as a field assistant; Mrs. Britton and Miss Delia W. Marble were also in the party and rendered valuable assistance in collecting, preserving and recording specimens; Dr. Rose was aided by Mr. William R. Fitch, and also by Mr. Paul G. Russell, of the staff of the United States National Museum. Our first stop was at St. Thomas, of the Danish Islands, which we reached on the steamer " Guiana" on January 31. Dr. Rose and his assistants proceeded south on the " Guiana" to the British Island Antigua, where important collections were made by them, the plants of Antigua being but poorly represented in American museums; they also made studies and collections on St. Kitts and St. Croix, rejoining our party on St. Thomas on February 25, bringing with them living specimens of all the cacti found, together with other kinds of living plants, and many museum and herbarium specimens. We made St. Thomas a base for the botanical exploration of 100 the Virgin Islands; the ladies stayed at the attractive town, Charlotte Amalia. I chartered the sloop " West Indian" and cruised with Dr. Shafer to windward as far as Tortola; we spent five days on St. Jan and visited several of the smaller islands of this beautiful archipelago, still almost unknown to tourists. The charming views of islands and sea had from the higher elevations— about 1,500 feet on St. Thomas, somewhat less on St. Jan, and about 1,800 feet on Tortola— are well worth all the time required to reach them and the winter climate at sea- level is perfection; for those fond of sailing or fishing, time can be spent delightfully; there are a number of sloops available, and as all the trade among the Virgin Islands is by sail, expert boatmen are readily secured. One of our objects was the study and collection of the interesting little round cactus known to botanists as Mamillaria nivosa, which inhabits certain headlands and cliffs in these islands. We were guided to one of the localities known for it, Little St. James Island, by the Rev. A. B. Romig, of the Moravian mission at Nisky, St. Thomas, who has much interest in botany; we are indebted to him for valuable aid and advice and for delightful association. We subsequently found the Mamillaria nivosa on other islands, and shipped many to the Garden for public exhibition and scientific study. Reaching Tortola February 13, we passed from Danish to British jurisdiction, separated by only a narrow waterway. We were cordially received by Mr. W. C. Fishlock, agricultural instructor for the Virgin Islands in charge of the Botanical Station at Roadtown. Five days were given to exploration and collecting on Tortola and on smaller islands nearby, including a visit to the small area of primaeval forest remaining on that island at " High Bush," where many rare and characteristic species of the native flora are still preserved; I was much pleased to learn that steps may be taken toward the permanent preservation of this high altitude flora and the possible reforestation of denuded areas adjacent; on St. Thomas there is scarcely any virgin forest remaining, and but little on St. Jan; reforestation work on all these islands would be of great advantage to their inhabitants. 101 Leaving Dr. Shafer to make supplementary collections on Tortola, Mr. Fishlock and I started on February 18 on the mail schooner " Lady Constance" for a five days' cruise farther to windward, the " West Indian" standing by; of how the Danish sloop scandalously outsailed the mail boat, leaving us to transfer to the foreign sloop off Virgin Gorda at three o'clock the next morning this is no place to narrate, but it will doubtless go down in the unwritten history of Virgin Island sailors. Our goal, the botanically little- known island Anagada, farthest of all the Virgins to windward, was thus reached before midday on February 19. Anagada, physiographically and geologically, is totally different from all other islands of the archipelago; it is an essentially level coral- limestone and limestone sand cay, at no point over 30 feet in altitude above the ocean. Its native flora contains many species not known to occur on the other Virgin Islands, and, as a whole, it is strikingly Bahamian in relationship, paralleling its geological structure. We spent two most interesting days here and collected specimens of 123 species, but we examined only small areas. A complete botanical survey made by means of visits of ten days' or two weeks' duration at intervals of three months would reveal most of the species, and would be a notable contribution to geographic botany; the flora is highly specialized, and very few specimens from Anagada are preserved in any museum or herbarium. Two kinds of palms exist wild, whose botanical affinities are as yet unknown, inasmuch as neither flowers nor fruit of them have been scientifically observed; we took specimens of their leaves and brought away young plants for growing at the Roadtown Botanical Station. One is a palmetto { Sabal), the other a thatch- palm ( probably Thrinax). The " West Indian" raced across the Anagada Channel under the full moon of February 20, and the next day was given to study and collection on Virgin Gorda, an island also botanically little known. Our time being limited, most of it was taken up at lower elevations in the vicinity of the Valley Settlement, among the great masses of granitic rocks which here form a striking and unusual physiographic feature; cleavage and erosion 102 have left these rocks in rectangular pieces as large as houses, so that from the sea, the impression of approaching a ruined city is easily obtained and a nearby cay of the same structure bears the name " Broken Jerusalem," said to have been given by buccaneers. The flora proved interesting, and we found specimens to collect all the day, and wished that we might at some future time explore the forest at the higher altitudes, previously visited by Mr. Fishlock. A critical botanical survey of this island is also very desirable. Returning to Roadtown, Tortola, in the evening of February 21, we found that Dr. Shafer had succeeded in making interesting collections, aided by Mr. B. R. Fouseca. The next day was given to the care and packing of plants and specimens and to observations at the Botanical Station. A pleasant and instructive interview with Commissioner Jarvis concluded our delightful exploration of the British Virgin Islands, and on February 23 we set sail for the west, touching at the east end of St. Jan, and also at Lamosure, on the south side of that island, to call on Mr. A. White, owner of the " West Indian," to whom we are indebted for cooperation and hospitality. We reached Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, the next morning. During our absence, the ladies had made collections at the higher altitudes and on the north side of St. Thomas, using donkeys for transportation, and the combined accumulation of living plants and of prepared specimens was extensive; this was much further augmented the next day by the arrival of Dr. Rose and his assistants from St. Croix, when the members of the expedition were again united. Several days were now required for care, study and packing; short trips were made, for special purposes, and nineteen boxes were delivered to the steamship company for shipment to the Garden. Dr. Rose and I concluded, after consultation, that the cactus investigations would be most effectively prosecuted by a second subdivision of the party; I therefore proceeded on March 1 with Dr. Shafer on the " West Indian" to Fajardo, Porto Rico. The others came to San Juan on the steamship " Prasident" on March 5, Dr. Rose and his assistants continuing on the same vessel to 103 Santo Domingo, while Mrs. Britton and Miss Marble went across Porto Rico on the motor- bus to Coamo Springs. The flora of Porto Rico is, in general, better known than that of the Virgin Islands, and, with the exception of that of St. Thomas, much better represented in museums and herbaria. Previous to the annexation of the island by the United States, it had been studied by Spanish and by German botanists, and its botanical literature is considerable, culminated by the publication, between the years 1903 and 1911, of the valuable " Flora Portoricensis'' written by Professor Urban of the Berlin Botanical Garden, a critical list of the flowering plants and ferns only, but without descriptions of the plants, and thus not applicable to general use. Soon after the American occupation, visits were made by botanists from the New York Botanical Garden, the Field Museum of Natural History, Yale University, and the United States Department of Agriculture, and collections made between 1899 and 1906, which added much to the earlier Spanish and German work. More recently resident American botanists have supplemented these collections and it has become apparent that Professor Urban's list is not a complete catalogue, while there is no comprehensive publication dealing with the lower cryptogams except Professor A. W. Evans' studies of the liverworts. The recent establishment of the College of Agriculture by the University of Porto Rico, and the diffusion of knowledge by it and by the schools, make the preparation of a descriptive flora of Porto Rico an educational necessity, and further field work highly desirable; the same considerations apply to the zoology and to the geology of the colony and a complete physical and natural history survey would be of great value, not alone to Porto Ricans but as an important contribution to scientific knowledge. Dr. Shafer and I gave five days to studies and collections in the vicinity of Fajardo, reaching the mountain forest above Rio Arriba, where, among many trees of interest, we found the spiny coyure palm { Bactris) bearing clusters of its beautiful bright red fruits, a quantity of which was secured for germination at home and at the Agricultural Experiment Station at Mayaguez; 104 another palm of eastern Porto Rico was found on the wooded hills near Ceiba, but with leaves only; this is a silver thatch { Coccothrinax), previously studied here by Sintenis, who also failed to obtain either flowers or fruit, so the actual botanical affinity of the species still remains to be determined. The night-blooming climbing cactus of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands { Hylocereus trigonus) is very plentiful on coastal bluffs at the Fajardo playa. Coming south and west on the coastwise steamer " Ramos" we reached Ponce on the morning of March 8, a beautiful and interesting trip, the ship touching at several ports; we were joined again by the ladies on March 9. The dry cactus region from Ponce to Guanica was studied for a week; specimens of all the species were shipped to the Garden, and large collections of the general flora were made at Ponce, Penuelas, Tallaboa, Guayanilla, and at Guanica and vicinity, where we were efficiently aided by Dr. Morse and Mr. Rubinstein, of the staff of the great sugar-mill, and found many species of interest, including several additions to the flora of Porto Rico. One day ( March 14) was devoted to studies of the mountain forest at Alto de la Bandera, on the new carretera from Adjuntas to Jayuya, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet, which we reached by motor car from Ponce; this proved the banner- day of the trip, for in this enchanting forest, made up of many kinds of trees with the noble " palma de Sierra" { Acrista monticola) dominant, we collected specimens of not fewer than 213 species, a result submitted as a record- breaker in botanical field work. Orchids festooned and clothed the tree trunks; ferns in great variety and luxuriance were everywhere, from small filmys up to tall arborescent species; mosses and liverworts carpeted the banks and logs, lichens were abundant and fungi numerous, while the kinds of flowering shrubs and climbers were unexpectedly large; that we came out to the car saturated by a mountain shower, and dried up in the subsequent sunshine were only incidents of this joyous experience, and we came into Ponce at dinner time with both the inside and the outside of the motor, full of packages of spoils. For a view of the high altitude flora, we commend 105 subsequent collectors to the slopes and valleys of Alto de la Bandera. Leaving Ponce March 16, a further subdivision of the party was made; Dr. Shafer went across Porto Rico to San Juan to arrange for a Curacao trip, while the ladies accompanied me to Coamo Springs; after passing Juana Diaz we espied a range of rough limestone hills several miles to the north of the road, which were capped by a slender palm, observation of which through field- glasses indicated that it was of special interest; Mrs. Britton subsequently climbed up to it and obtained its ripe fruit, which shows it to be a species hitherto botanically unknown, and one of the most interesting plants obtained during the entire trip. Farther on toward Coamo, we restudied the type tree of the beautiful purple- flowered '' palo de tortuga" { Phlebotaenia Cowellii) found by us here in 1906, and one of the most elegant of all trees when in bloom. Sailing from San Juan, March 18, on the steamship " Philadelphia," Dr. Shafer and I reached the Dutch Island Curacao in the early morning of March 20. For one fond of the ocean, this voyage is delightful, but the trade- winds are strong and the seas high, the southern course of the ship bringing the trade- wind nearly abeam. The force exerted by the trade- wind on the waters of the Caribbean Sea, constantly pushing the ocean's surface westward and supplying the energy for the flow of the Gulf Stream, was very impressive and the experience was one I had long desired; the Gulf Stream is an old friend from the Straits of Florida to the North Atlantic, and to view its origin in the waves of the Caribbean was most interesting. Almost as soon as the " Philadelphia" was tied up at the quaint, clean and substantial city of Willemstad, the active venerable United States Consul, Mr. Cheney, came aboard, and we were introduced by him to Mr. Northcote, our Minister to Venezuela, who was proceeding to Caracas. Mr. Cheney's advice, and his introductions to prominent Curassavians made our seven days' stay profitable and delightful. We visited many parts of the island and were most hospitably received and cordially assisted. The many miles of roads are in excellent 106 condition and motor cars took us rapidly from one point of interest to another, enabling us to study many different hills, valleys, cliffs and plains. Cacti'. exist here in almost countless numbers of individuals, but in less than a dozen species. The larger are great much- branched columnar kinds ( relatives of Cereus), reaching 30 feet in height and formidably armed all over, bearing edible fruits, and extensively planted for hedges and fences, which are essentially impenetrable. The smallest is a few- jointed little prickly pear inhabiting the surface of rough limestone rocks { Opuntia curassavica), definitely known only from here, but it has relatives in Porto Rico and in the Virgin Islands. The rarest, and the plant which we most wanted to find, is the one described by Linnaeus under the name Cactus mamillaris, which has been lost to science for very many years; it is a small, nearly globular species, the type of Haworth's genus Mamillaria, of which over 100 species have been described mostly from Mexico and the southwestern United States; to recent botanists it has been unknown except from old descriptions, and illustrations, and where it came from has been uncertain, but after reading pre- Linnaean authors I was convinced that Curacao was its home, and so it proved, for on March 23, in the late afternoon, on scaling a steep craggy limestone hill, we found the plant growing in large numbers in and among the rocks at the level summit. Our excitement and our satisfaction were great, for at last we knew the type species of Mamillaria., and it bore both its little cream- colored flowers and its bright red little pear- shaped fruits at the same time, to welcome us. By rapidly moving to different parts of the island we were able to obtain a general knowledge of its botanical features and to collect herbarium specimens of about 250 species, and two large boxes of living plants, including a representation of all the cacti found; these I considered of sufficient importance to send Dr. Shafer immediately to New York with, and he therefore proceeded north on the " Philadelphia," sailing March 27. I accompanied him to San Juan and spent the afternoon of March 29 at the Experimental Station of the Sugar- growers Association at 107 Rio Piedras upon the invitation of Mr. J. R. Johnston, pathologist of the station, a valued correspondent of the Garden, who has made collections of Porto Rican plants for us and will continue his botanical studies. Mr. Crawley, director of this important institution, also assured me of his interest in our work. I met Mrs. Britton and Miss Marble at Mayaguez on March 30; they had made additional collections about Coamo Springs. The establishment of a modern well- equipped Agricultural College at Mayaguez, under the able direction of Professor F. L. Stevens, adjoining the Agricultural Experiment Station, has made this city the insular center of information about plants. We remained there until April 10, making collections in western Porto Rico, accompanied most of the time by Mr. W. E. Hess, plant propagator of the Experiment Station, kindly detailed for this service by the director, Mr. May, and part of the time by Professor Stevens, who is making a special study of the parasitic fungi. Our trips included a visit to the coast at Joyada, where we saw the great groves of the hat palm, " palma de sombrero" { Inodes causiarum) and the hand- weaving of the Porto Rican hats. A two days' excursion to the mountains at Maricao and the Monte Alegrillo proved fertile in results botanically, for 281 species were collected besides the many fungi taken by Professor Stevens, and here we had another fine experience in the primaeval forest dominated by Acrista monticola. A number of plants endemic in Porto Rico grow only in this interesting region. Professor Stevens and I agreed that this was the best site for a mountain biological station and then events moved rapidly, for at a meeting of the Trustees of the University which he attended a few days later, he was awarded a preliminary appropriation for such a station, and at a fortunate interview with Mr. Wilson, Commissioner of the Interior at Mayaguez, he was promised the necessary land; this is surely unparalleled rapidity in the establishment of a scientific station, which cannot fail to add greatly to botanical, horticultural and agricultural knowledge in Porto Rico; that our northern institutions will cordially cooperate with Professor Stevens in its use and development goes 108 without saying. We also reached the mountains at Lares, and between that town and San Sebastian visited the home of the rarest and most beautiful of all Porto Rican palms, described by Mr. O. F. Cook some years ago from foliage alone, under the name Cocops rivalis. We were very fortunate in finding one large tree bearing clusters of immature fruit, and from this the relationship of this palm may now be determined. The Mesa mountain at Mayaguez yielded specimens of several plants unrecorded as growing in Porto Rico. Returning to San Juan April i o ' w e were able to visit the fruit region between Bayamon and Vega Baja on the n t h and to make a considerable collection on wooded limestone hills at Candelaria, completing the field work of the New York part of the expedition, which secured and brought to the Garden 3,152 separate collections of plants, including over 9,000 specimens. We sailed on the " Caracas" from San Juan on April 12. With additional field work and through the cooperation of Professor Stevens, Mr. Johnston, and other insular botanists, it will be possible to prepare a descriptive flora of Porto Rico for publication within a few years. The botany of the small islands Mona and Desecheo, west of Porto Rico and of Cayo de Muertos off Ponce, is unknown, except for fine specimens of Mamillaria nivosa and Phyllanthus Epiphyllanthus brought to me from Mona by Messrs. E. D. Noble and Marc Lejeune; no recent collections have been made on Vieques, but a few specimens from that island are preserved in European museums. In the mountain forests and coastal thickets, trees and shrubs doubtless exist which have not yet been identified botanically, while the lichens and fungi have scarcely yet been studied nor collected. The marine algae are incompletely known, and the fresh- water algae not at all. The botany of Porto Rico thus offers an inviting field for further investigation. Dr. Rose and his assistants made a successful visit to Santo Domingo and secured large collections on the southern and eastern sides of that island, making collections at Macoris, Azua, and Sanchez. The region about Azua is extremely dry, the annual rainfall in recent years being only about 8 inches; the 109 town is in the middle of a great cactus desert consisting of more than a dozen little- known species. Respectfully submitted, N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief. JOHN INNES KANE Mr. John Innes Kane, a member of the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden since 1896, died at his home in New York City on February 1, 1913. Mr. Kane served the Garden continuously as Chairman of the Membership Committee of the Board of Managers, and until recently was a member of the Executive Committee. He was much interested in botanical science, and prior to the establishment of the Garden, he had taken much pleasure in botanical studies at Columbia College. During the period of planning and throughout the earlier construction work of the institution, he attended nearly all the meetings of the Board and of the committees of which he was a member, and made frequent visits to the grounds in Bronx Park. More recently, his health prevented active participation, but his interest was always maintained. He contributed liberally to special funds needed for scientific and educational work, and qualified as a Fellow for Life. Resolved: That the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden deeply deplore their loss in the death of their esteemed associate, John Innes Kane. Resolved: That this preamble and resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that a copy be sent to his bereaved family. Memorial and resolutions adopted by the Board of Managers April 24, 1913. N. L. BRITTON, Secretary. 110 INSURANCE OF GREENHOUSES It will be of general interest to know that the glass of the large Conservatory Ranges Nos. I and 2 in the New York Botanical Garden has recently been insured against all direct loss or damage by wind- storms, cyclones, or tornadoes, covering also breakage by hail, at its full value, including cost of resetting. The rate is 134 Pe r cent, for a period of three years, and the policy is issued by the Globe & Rutgers Fire Insurance Company. N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief. CONFERENCE NOTES The April Conference of the Scientific Staff and Registered Students of the New York Botanical Garden was held April 7. The topics for this conference were presented by Dr. P. A. Rydberg and Dr. F. A. Seaver. Dr. Rydberg had thought it advisable to put in record some of his observations during several trips to the Rocky Mountains under the head of " Phytogeographical Notes on the Rocky Mountain Region." He presented before the conference the first part of his discussion of the alpine region of the Rockies. The alpine region roughly speaking is the region between the perpetual snow and the timber- line. A perpetual snow- line cannot be spoken of in the southern Rockies; even the highest peaks do not have a perpetual snow cap, like for instance Mt. Shasta or Mt. Hood. It is probably due to the amount of moisture and precipitation.. Snow, if present, is in the form of snow- drifts or small glaciers. The amount of snow does not always depend upon the height of the mountain. The Snowy Range of Colorado has more snow than the much higher Gray's Peak, Sierra Blanca, or Mt. Massive. In the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks the conditions are different and more like the Alps. The peaks have perpetual snow caps and glaciers extend far into the valleys. In northern Montana is found the only glacier regions of the Rockies. The lower limit of the alpine region is the timber- line, which I l l is really no well defined boundary line, but the transition zone between the two regions. Different authors have fixed the timber- line differently. 1. The Forest Line, that is where the continuous forest stops. 2. The Grove Line, where the tree ceases to form communities of larger or smaller sizes. 3. Tree Line, where the arboreal species cease to form trees. 4. Absolute Timber- line, that is where these species disappear altogether even as " krumholz." It is superfluous to consider more than two of these lines, the forest line and the absolute timber- line. The region between these two is a transition zone, or better, a zone of strife. A continuous warfare goes on between the forest and the alpine grassland. Then he treated the factors that are governing the timber- line. The conditions that have been given as causing or modifying the timber- line are; 1. The decreased temperature during the growing season. In the Rockies there are no records of the lowest temperature that the trees can stand, but in general the arborescent flora disappears where the mean temperature during the warmest month of the year does not reach 5° C. 2. Short growing season. In the arctic region this factor acts parallel to the preceding, but not so in the alpine region. In the heads of the valleys where the snow drifts are formed during the winter and melt late in the summer and along glaciers and permanent snow, the frost is kept longer in the ground and the growing season is naturally shortened. Therefore, the timber- line is much lower in the valley heads than on the slopes. 3. Late frost on account of lack of protection from the snow. Late frost often kills large tracts of conifers which seldom produce a second crop of shoots in the same season. 4. Strong desiccating winds. This feature is much more important than usually estimated. The trees of the timber- line and especially those few isolated stragglers above the real forest-line show great effect from the wind. The trees are not only low, stunted, ragged, with enormously elongated branches spreading 112 on the ground, but conspicuously one- sided, telling at a glance the direction of the wind. On the wind- swept sides of the mountains the timber does not reach by far as high and in many places there is no timber at all. In the Abajo Mountains of southwestern Utah, for instance, there is no timber above the semi- arid cedar- pinon belt of the foot- hills. 5. Deep snow. As the desiccating winds lower the altitude on the wind- swept regions, so does the snow in the heads of the valleys, not only by shortening the growing season, but also by smothering the tree vegetation. Herbs and low shrubs can stand to be covered over by snow much better than trees, for their growing season does not begin before the snow is practically off the ground. While the tops of the trees may be above the snow and exposed to the summer heat much before the snow-covered roots and lower branches have been melted, the lower portion of the tree is cut off from the air while the upper portion is already in vital activity. It is easier to distinguish trees stunted by the action of wind than those stunted by the smothering snow. In the former the lower branches are enormously developed compared with the upper, while in the latter the lower branches are dead or covered by fungi or their mycelium. The usual condition in the Rockies is that wherever there is a large valley head where the snow has chance to lodge, this is always devoid of trees, except in places of higher ground where the snow drifts have not been so deep. 6. Form of precipitation. In high altitudes it is too rare to hold much moisture and the rain falls at the least lowering of the temperature. The rain falls, therefore, in the form of mists or in light and fine showers which only wet the surface. Nowhere in the Rockies is the moisture very great. In the foot- hill region and on the surrounding plains, the temperature in the summer is too high to allow any precipitation. These zones are also arid. It is at middle elevation that the precipitation is the greatest. The air here is dense enough to hold more moisture and the temperature low enough to allow precipitation. 7. Large mountain masses. In the Swiss Alps observations have also been made that in regions of large mountain masses 113 the timber- line is higher up than on isolated mountains. This observation seems to hold good in the Rockies. In the isolated Belt Mountains and Crazy Mountains of Montana, the timber-line is lower than in the main Rockies. In the Wasatch and La Salle Mountains of Utah, the timber- line is lower than in the Rockies of Colorado. Even in the Rockies, the timber- line is higher where the mountains are more massed. For instance at Mt. Massive it is higher than on Pikes Peak, Sierra Blanca, or Long's Peak. No adequate explanation has been made and Dr. Rydberg had no suggestions to make. 8. Exposure to or protection from direct sunlight has evidently, also, great influence upon the altitude of the timber- line. 9. Physiographical Barriers. To these may be counted snowdrifts and the glaciers already mentioned. Besides these are the precipitious cliffs and rock- slides. Meeting one of these barriers the timber ceases to grow sometimes a thousand feet lower than the physiological timber- line. Alpine plants are often found in the crevices of the cliffs and among the rocks in such places. 10. Oecological Barriers. Sometimes an oecological timber-line is mentioned, i. e., where the bacteria in the soil and other organisms necessary for the growth of trees cease to exist. Theoretically it is easy to see that such a timber- line may exist, but practically there is no information regarding its existence in the Rocky Mountains distinct from the merely physiological ones. n . Economic timber- line. In Switzerland there exists an economic timber- line. The alpine meadows are used for summer pastures for sheep and goats. These animals make depredations on the new trees and hinder the spreading of the forest, but in many places the subalpine forests are actually cut down by man to make room for more pastures. Such economic timber-line cannot be spoken of in the Rockies. After having discussed the causes of the timber- line, it is easier to define what an alpine plant is. In short, it is a plant that can endure the climate of the mountains above the timber line. It is, therefore, a plant that requires less temperature 114 during the growing season than the forest trees or can stand a shorter growing season, or is less affected by frost, and besides can stand better desiccating winds, deep snow, less precipitation, etc., or a combiation of such conditions. Some authors claim that alpine and arctic plants are xerophytes, but this is not necessarily so. Not a few arctic and alpine plants require a good deal of moisture, growing only below snow banks or in springy or boggy places. Even a few aquatic plants are found. Then Dr. Rydberg shortly discussed the formation of the alpine flora and gave the following formations: The Rock- slide Formation, Mountain Crest Formation, Mountain Seep Formation, Alpine Meadow Formation, Alpine Bog Formation, and Alpine Lake and Pond Formation. To these may be also added two rather local formations, the cliff formation and the snow- drift formation. Dr. F. J. Seaver showed specimens of the hickory barkbeetle and reviewed briefly the life history and habits of the insect. Attention was called to some of the natural enemies of this injurious insect and also artificial means of controlling it. An illustrated account of this pest will appear in a later number of the JOURNAL. A. B. STOUT. NOTES, NEWS AND COMMENT Mr. E. G. Arzberger was granted a scholarship for the month of May to make an anatomical study of Coleus with respect to the distribution of the colored tissues. Mr. A. C. Fraser, of Cornell University, has come to the New \ o r k Botanical Garden to assist during the coming summer in the experimental work in plant breeding. Mr. William H. Lamb, of the United States Forest Service, recently spent a few days at the Garden consulting arborescent specimens in connection with his work in Forest Distribution. 115 Dr. William Trelease, recently director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, has been appointed professor of botany in the University of Illinois at Urbana. He succeeds Dr. T. J. Burrill, retired, who as professor, dean, and vice- president has been connected with the institution since 1868. Mr. G. Claridge Druce, M. A., F. L. S., ex- mayor of Oxford, curator of the Fielding Herbarium of the University of Oxford, author of " List of British Plants," " Flora of Berkshire," and many other works relating to the British flora, was a visitor at the Garden on April 24. Mr. Walter T. Swingle, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, recently spent several days at the Garden, studying specimens of Citrus in the herbarium. Dr. Charles Thom, of the United States Department of Agriculture, recently spent several days at the Garden consulting various publications in the library. Professors Mel T. Cook and M. A. Blake, with several members of the senior class of Rutgers College, spent May 2 at the Garden, visiting the conservatories and the experimental garden. During the spring, numerous cases of variation have appeared in the beds of tulips grown at the Garden. These variations are of three kinds: changes in color, changes in shape, and changes in the character of the floral parts. In a bed of 250 flowering bulbs of the variety " Yellow Prince" one flower had in one of the parts of the perianth a segment of dark red. This was the only variation found in the yellow- flowered varieties. In the beds of " Crimson King" and " Prince of Austria," thirty flowers showed more or less of yellow in streaks. In some cases only a few small streaks were present. In other cases the flower could be described as yellow with a few red streaks. Many of these 116 striped flowers also showed variations in shape, the extreme cases having narrow floral parts not more than one fourth the width of the petals on typical flowers of the variety. Three flowers were noted in which the parts of the perianth were more or less green and leaf- like. On these flowers some of the parts of the perianth were entirely green, others were of the usual color, and others were sectorially differentiated, the whole flower being nearly half green and half red in color. It was noted in several instances that a tulip showing variation grew very close to one that was normal for the variety, a condition which indicated that the two were sister plants. In another bed of tulips, of the variety known as the Cottage Tulip, nearly fifty cases of fasciation were observed as well as a few cases of variation similar to those described above. In view of the particular interest which bud- variations and fasciations have to botany and to horticulture, these plants will be isolated and grown in the experimental garden for further study.— A. B. S. The cottage and Darwin tulips are in full bloom, days ahead of their normal flowering period which comes toward the end of May. They have already ( May 16) been in bloom for a week or ten days. Some of these are especially fine. One of the cottage tulips, known as Orange Beauty, is particularly striking. It is a long flower, a vivid orange- red. Another cottage tulip is La Merveille, unusual in its long pointed flower, the color a rosy carmine. This is of unusual merit. Among the Darwin tulips Clara Butt is as usual in the front rank, with Baronne de la Tonnaye, very similar, of equal worth. Those who like a very dark flower will find in the Darwin tulip, The Sultan, all they can desire. It is of the deepest black- purple. The parrot tulips have been unusually fine this year, the flowers large, and a greater number than usual of the bulbs bearing flowers. The irises or flags are now taking a prominent place in the herbaceous border. One of the first to appear is the little Iris cristata with its sky- blue flowers. Iris florentina, almost white with a faint flush of lavender and delightfully scented, follows. 117 The German iris, / . germanica, occurs in great masses of rich dark color in many parts of the decorative beds. Many of the forms, other than the purple, offered by nurseries as varieties of the German iris are referable to I. sambucina and / . squalens. Iris pumila is also an early flower, occurring in violet and yellow. It is quite dwarf. Iris Statelliae, of a pale straw color, comes at about the same time as / . pumila. I. pallida is just coming into flower, the variety of this known as Dalmatica being especially desirable. By selection of species a continuous display of irises may be had from late April or early May to late June or July, when the Japanese iris, I. laevigata, commonly known as I. Kaempferi, sends forth its gorgeous display.— G. V. N. Meteorology for April.— The total precipitation for the month was 5.18 inches. Maximum temperatures for each week were as follows: 630 on the 6th, 6o° on the 12th, 72° on the 19th, and 83° on the 25th. The minimum temperatures were 32° on the 7th, 270 on the 10th, 31° on the 21st, and 400 on the 22d. • ACCESSIONS MUSEUMS AND HERBARIUM IS specimens of hybrid willows from Massachusetts. ( Given by Mr. F. F. Forbes.) 119 specimens of fungi from Porto Rico. ( By exchange with Mr. John R. Johnston.) 3 specimens of polypores from Montana. ( By exchange with Professor James R. Weir.) 12 specimens of fungi from Germany. ( By exchange with Dr. H. D. House.) 20 specimens " American Hepaticae" numbers 101- 120. ( Given by Miss Caroline C. Haynes.) 117 specimens of flowering plants from Indiana. ( By exchange with Mr. C. C. Deam.) 10 specimens of fungi from Porto Rico. ( By exchange with Professor E. W. D. Holway.) 1 specimen of Puccinia Xanthii from California. ( By exchange with Professor J. C. Arthur.) 118 So specimens " Mycotheca Boreali- Africana" fascicles 2 and 3. ( Distributed by Rene Maire.) 200 specimens " Fungi Columbian" fascicles 38 and 39. ( Distributed by Mr. Elam Bartholomew.) 30 specimens " Fungi Dakotenses" fascicle 8. ( Distributed by Dr. J. F. Brenckle.) 72 specimens of rusts from New York and Massachusetts. ( Collected by Mr. F. D. Fromme.) 4 specimens of fungi from Wisconsin. ( By exchange with Dr. J. J. Davis.) 200 specimens " North American Uredinales" centuries 6 and 7. ( Distributed b y ^ . ) 25 specimens " Lichenes Suecici Exsiccati," fascicles 11 and 12. ( Distributed by Dr. G. O. A. Malme.) 5 specimens of Baptisia from Louisiana. ( Given by Professor R. C. Cocks.) 1 specimen of moss from the East Indies. ( By exchange with Brother Leon.) 2.750 specimens of mosses, being the herbarium of Professor O. D. Allen. 1 specimen of fern from Mexico. ( By exchange with the herbarium of Prince Roland Bonaparte.) 3 specimens of Taxus and Pteris from Florida. ( Given by Dr. N. F . Petersen.) flDembers of tbe Corporation FRITZ ACHELIS EDWARD D. ADAMS CHARLES B. ALEXANDER JOHN D. ARCHBOLD GEORGE F. BAKER EUGENE P. BICKNELL GEORGE S. BOWDOIN PROF. N. L. BRITTON PROF. EDW. S. BURGESS, DR. NICHOLAS M. BUTLER ANDREW CARNEGIE PROF. C. F. CHANDLER WILLIAM G. CHOATE THOMAS U. CHURCHILL PAUL D. CRAVATH CLEVELAND H. DODGE A. F. ESTABROOK H. C. FAHNESTOCK SAMUEL W. FAIRCHILD GEORGE W. FOLSOM JAMES B. FORD HENRY W. DE FOREST ROBERT W. DE FOREST PROF. W. J. GIES J. HORACE HARDING EDWARD S. HARKNESS PROF. R. A. HARPER T. A. HAVEMEYER A. HECKSCHEB HENRY R. HOYT THOS H. HUBBARD ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. WALTER B. JENNINGS PROF. JAMES F. KEMP EDW. V. Z. LANE PROF. FREDERIC S. LEE HON. SETH LOW DAVID LYDIG EDGAR L. MARSTON W. J. MATHESON EMERSON MCMILLIN OGDEN MILLS J. PIERPONT MORGAN THEODORE W. MYERS FREDERIC R. NEWBOLD PROF. HENRY F. OSBORN LOWELL M. PALMER GEORGE W. PERKINS HENRY PHIPPS JAMES R. PITCHER M. F. PLANT EDWIN A. RICHARD JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER PROF. H. H. RUSBY DR. REGINALD H. SAYRE JACOB H. SCHIFF MORTIMER L. SCHIFF JAMES A. SCRYMSER ISAAC N. SELIGMAN ALBERT R. SHATTUCK HENRY A. SIEBRECHT WILLIAM D. SLOANE NELSON SMITH JAMES SPEYEB FRANCIS L. STETSON CHARLES G. THOMPSON DR. W. GILMAN THOMPSON SAMUEL THORNE MYLES TIERNEY LOUIS C. TIFFANY GEORGE W. VANDERBILT W. K. VANDERBILT P U B L I C A T I O N S The New York Botanical Garden Journal of the New Tork Botanical Garden, monthly, illustrated, containing notes, news, and non- technical articles of general interest. Free to all members of the Garden. To others, io cents a copy; # 1.00 a year. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its fourteenth volume. Mycologia, bimonthly, illustrated in color and otherwise; devoted to fungi, including lichens; containing technical articles and news and notes of general interest, and an index to current American mycological literature. $ 3.00 a year; single copies not for sale. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its fifth volume. Bulletin of the New Tork Botanical Garden, containing the annual reports of the Director- in- Chief and other official documents, and technical articles embodying results of investigations carried out in the Garden. Free to all members of the Garden ; to others, # 3.00 per volume. Now in its eighth volume. North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North Americai including Greenland, the West Indies and Central America. Planned to be completed in 32 volumes. Roy. 8vo. Each volume to consist of four or more parts- Subscription price, $ 1.50 per part; a limited number of separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.] Vol. 3, part I, 1910. Nectriaceae— Fimetariaceae. Vol. 7, parti, 1906; part 2, 1907; part 3, 1912. Ustilaginaceae— Aecidiaceae ( pars). Vol. 9, parts I and 2, 1907; part 3, 1910. Polyporaceae— Agaricaceae ( pars). ( Parts 1 and 2 no longer sold separately.) Vol. 16, part I, 1909. Ophioglossaceae— Cyatheaceae ( pars). Vol. 17, part I, 1909 ; part 2, 1912. Typhaceae— Poaceae ( pars). Vol. 22, parts 1 and 2, 1905; parts 3 and 4, 1908. Podostemonaceae— Rosaceae ( pars). Vol. 25, part 1, 1907; part 2, 1910; part 3, 1911, Geraniaceae— Burseraceae. Memoirs of the New Tork Botanical Garden. Price to members of the Garden, Si. ooper volume. To others, $ 2.00. [ Not offered in exchange.] Vol. I. An Annotated Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone Park, by Per Axel Rydberg. ix + 492 pp., with detailed map. 1900. Vol. II. The Influence of Light and Darkness upon Growth and Development, by D. T. MacDougal. xvi -\- 320 pp., with 176 figures. 1903. Vol. I l l Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischerville, New York, by Arthur Hollick and Edward Charles Jeffrey, viii+ 138 pp., with 29 plates. 1909. Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart Gager. viii -\- 278 pp., with 73 figures and 14 plates. 1908. Contributions from the New Tork Botanical Garden. A series of technical papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted from journals other than the above. Price, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per volume. In its seventh volume. RECENT NUMBERS 25 CENTS EACH 152. The genus Struthiopteris and its Representatives in North America, by Jean Broadhurst. 153. Studies on the Rocky Mountain Flora— XXVII, by P. A. Rydberg. 154. Biochemical Studies of Soils Subjected to Dry Heat, by F. J. Seaver and E. D. Clark. 155. Polycodium^ by C. B. Robinson. 156. Studies on the Rocky Mountain Flora— XXVIII, by P. A. Rydberg. N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, NEW YORK OITV
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Contributor | New York Botanical Garden |
Date | 1913-05 |
Description-Table Of Contents | Wild Plants Needing Protection—7.Pink Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule Aiton); Cactus Studies in the West Indies; John Innes Kane; Insurance of Greenhouses; Conference Notes; Notes, News and Comment; Accessions. |
Format | application/pdf |
Format-Extent | 51 v. : ill. ; 25 cm |
Identifier | 0885-4165 |
Language | eng |
Publisher | Bronx : New York Botanical Garden, 1900-1950 |
Relation-Is Part Of | Journal of the New York Botanical Garden : v. 1, no. 1-v. 51, no. 612 |
Relation-IsVersionOfURI | http://opac.nybg.org/record=b1104879 |
Rights | http://www.nybg.org/library/ |
Subject | Plants--Periodicals; Gardening--Periodicals; Plants, Cultivated--Periodicals; New York Botanical Garden--Periodicals. |
Title | Journal of the New York Botanical Garden |
Volume, Number | Vol. 14, no. 161 |
Type | text |
Transcript | Vol. XIV MAY, 1913 No. 161 JOURNAL ov The New York Botanical Garden EDITOR ARLOW BURDETTE STOUT Director of the Laboratories CONTENTS rAGB Wild Plants Needing Protection— 7. Pink Moccasin Flower { Cypripedium acaule Aiton) 97 Cactus Studies in the West Indies 99 John Innes Kane ,09 Insurance of Greenhouses IID Conference Notes II0 Notes, News and Comment i: 4 Accessions " 7 PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT 41 NORTH QUBBN STREET, LANCASTER, PA BY TUB NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY O F P I O B R S 1913 PRESIDENT— VICE- PRESIDENT— ANDREW CARNEGIE TREASURER— JAMES A. SCRYMSER SECRETARY— DR. N. L. BRITTON B O A R D OF- M A N A G E R S 1. ELECTED MANAGERS Term expires January, 1914 EDWARD D. ADAMS JAMES A. SCRYMSER ROBERT W. DE FOREST HENRY W. DE FOREST Term expires January, 1915 N. L. BRITTON W. J. MATHESON ANDREW CARNEGIE W. GILMAN THOMPSON Term expires January, 1916 THOMAS H. HUBBARD FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON GEORGE W. PERKINS MYLES TIERNEY 2. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC PARKS HON. CHARLES B. STOVER THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. HON. WILLIAM J. GAYNOR 3. SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS PROF. H. H. RUSBY, Chairman PROF. EDWARD S. BURGESS PROF. WILLIAM J. GIES DR. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER PROF. R. A. HARPER THOMAS W. CHURCHILL PROF. JAMES F. KEMP PROF. FREDERIC S. LEE G A R D E N S T A F F DR. N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief ( Development, Administration) DR. W. A. MURRILL, Assistant Director ( Administration ) DR. JOHN K. SMALL, Head Curator of the Museums ( Flowering Plants ) DR. P. A. RYDBERG, Curator ( Flowering Plants 1 DR. MARSHALL A. HOWE, Curator ( Flowerless Plants ) DR. FRED J. SEAVER, Curator ( Flowerless Plants ) DR. ARTHUR HOLLICK, Curator ( Fossil Plants) ROBERT S. WILLIAMS, Administrative Assistant PERCY WILSON, Assistant Curator GEORGE. V. NASH, Head Gardener DR. A. B. STOUT, Director of the Laboratories DR. JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, Bibliographer SARAH H. HARLOW, Librarian DR. H. H. RUSBY, Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections ELIZABETH G. BRITTON, Honorary Curator of Mosses DR. WILLIAM J. GIES, Consulting Chemist COL. F. A. SCHILLING, Museum Custodian JOHN R. BRINLEY, Landscape Engineer WALTER S. GROESBECK, Clerk and Accountant ARTHUR J. CORBETT, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN PLATE CXVI l^ t-. tiXn. JOURNAL OF The New York Botanical Garden VOL. XIV May, 1913 No. 161 WILD PLANTS NEEDING PROTECTION* 7. " PINK MOCCASIN FLOWER" { Cypripedium acaule Aiton) WITH PLATE CXVI From the middle of May to the middle of June the " Stemless Pink Moccasin" or " Two- leaved Lady's Slipper" may be found blooming in moist woods and on the borders of swamps or on drier hillsides in pine woods. It comes when the orchards are in bloom, beginning with the violets, anemones and wake- robins and in colder, more northern, hilly regions may still be found when the laurel and the roses are just unfolding. It is probably the most common of all the Cypripediums, having the greatest range, extending through British America from Newfoundland to Winnipeg and North West Territory, and is even supposed to have been one of the species recorded by Dr. Richardson from Arctic America. It also occurs sparingly in the United States from Minnesota to Kentucky and Tennessee. The flower is large and showy, pendent on a long stalk, about a foot high, with two large basal leaves: they taper down to and clasp the base of the flower stalk and are in turn enclosed in a thin brown bract; there are five prominent parallel veins and both surfaces of the leaf are pubescent with short glandular hairs. Arching over the flower at the top of the scape is a single lanceolate bract, about 2 inches long, covering the ovary * Illustrated by the aid of the Stokes Fund for the Preservation of Native Plants. [ JOURNAL for April, 1913 ( 14: 79- 95). was issued April 26, 1913. I 97 98 which is curved, strongly ribbed and glandular hairy; the large brown calyx is composed of two united sepals, the two lateral petals also are brown, narrow and twisted. The lip is a large showy pouch, 2- 3 inches long, of a bright purplish pink color veined with darker lines, it is deeply split above with the aperture closed by the downward and inward curving of the sides; there are also minute short glandular hairs on the outside, but within the hairs are white and longer, becoming rigid and bent downward as they approach the anthers, serving to attract and direct the movements of insect visitors who come in search of nectar. When the insects reach the anthers, the two viscid sacs adhere to their backs and are thus carried off to some other flower, where they are brushed against the roughly papillose stigma and thus accomplish cross- fertilization. One sterile stamen is expanded into a heart- shaped bract, which is bent downward and inward covering the stigma and effectually preventing all exit, except by the apertures on each side of the anthers. The capsules when mature, are large, about 1- 1.5 inches long and produce numerous small seeds, but they are nowhere very abundant, as the very showiness which insures fertilization by insects, defeats its obj'ect through the greediness of children and some selfish older people, who pick all they can find no matter how few there may be! Cypripedium acaule was named by Aiton in a catalogue of the plants grown at Kew in 1789 from plants introduced by Wm. Hamilton, Esq., in 1786, from North America. He cites Pluke-net's figures and description published in 1769 who described it as " Helleborine Calceolus Mariae dicta Caroliniensis, bifolia." Catesby in his Natural History of North Carolina in 1748 figured it in colors and says of it: " This plant produces the most elegant flower of all the Helleborine tribe, and is in great esteem with the North American Indians for decking their hair, etc. They call it the Moccasin Flower, which also signifies in their language, a shoe or slipper." It was formerly found in the wilder portions of Greater New York, on Staten Island and in Van Courtland Park, but is becoming extinct, on account of its showy flowers, which are 99 usually picked close to the root, as in the accompanying illustration. ELIZABETH G. BRITTON. CACTUS STUDIES IN THE WEST INDIES To THE SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS. Gentlemen: Pursuant to permission given by you, I was absent from the Garden for the period between January 25 and April 17, 1913, engaged in further studies of the West Indian flora, with special reference to the cacti, in continuation of our cooperation in the cactus researches of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. It has become necessary, in the progress of these investigations, that a more complete and accurate knowledge of the West Indian cacti be obtained, and my own studies of the general flora of the West Indies required further field work. The expedition was organized jointly with Dr. J. N. Rose, research associate of the Carnegie Institution, and after consultation with Dr. D. T. MacDougal, its director of botanical research. Dr. J. A. Shafer accompanied me as a field assistant; Mrs. Britton and Miss Delia W. Marble were also in the party and rendered valuable assistance in collecting, preserving and recording specimens; Dr. Rose was aided by Mr. William R. Fitch, and also by Mr. Paul G. Russell, of the staff of the United States National Museum. Our first stop was at St. Thomas, of the Danish Islands, which we reached on the steamer " Guiana" on January 31. Dr. Rose and his assistants proceeded south on the " Guiana" to the British Island Antigua, where important collections were made by them, the plants of Antigua being but poorly represented in American museums; they also made studies and collections on St. Kitts and St. Croix, rejoining our party on St. Thomas on February 25, bringing with them living specimens of all the cacti found, together with other kinds of living plants, and many museum and herbarium specimens. We made St. Thomas a base for the botanical exploration of 100 the Virgin Islands; the ladies stayed at the attractive town, Charlotte Amalia. I chartered the sloop " West Indian" and cruised with Dr. Shafer to windward as far as Tortola; we spent five days on St. Jan and visited several of the smaller islands of this beautiful archipelago, still almost unknown to tourists. The charming views of islands and sea had from the higher elevations— about 1,500 feet on St. Thomas, somewhat less on St. Jan, and about 1,800 feet on Tortola— are well worth all the time required to reach them and the winter climate at sea- level is perfection; for those fond of sailing or fishing, time can be spent delightfully; there are a number of sloops available, and as all the trade among the Virgin Islands is by sail, expert boatmen are readily secured. One of our objects was the study and collection of the interesting little round cactus known to botanists as Mamillaria nivosa, which inhabits certain headlands and cliffs in these islands. We were guided to one of the localities known for it, Little St. James Island, by the Rev. A. B. Romig, of the Moravian mission at Nisky, St. Thomas, who has much interest in botany; we are indebted to him for valuable aid and advice and for delightful association. We subsequently found the Mamillaria nivosa on other islands, and shipped many to the Garden for public exhibition and scientific study. Reaching Tortola February 13, we passed from Danish to British jurisdiction, separated by only a narrow waterway. We were cordially received by Mr. W. C. Fishlock, agricultural instructor for the Virgin Islands in charge of the Botanical Station at Roadtown. Five days were given to exploration and collecting on Tortola and on smaller islands nearby, including a visit to the small area of primaeval forest remaining on that island at " High Bush," where many rare and characteristic species of the native flora are still preserved; I was much pleased to learn that steps may be taken toward the permanent preservation of this high altitude flora and the possible reforestation of denuded areas adjacent; on St. Thomas there is scarcely any virgin forest remaining, and but little on St. Jan; reforestation work on all these islands would be of great advantage to their inhabitants. 101 Leaving Dr. Shafer to make supplementary collections on Tortola, Mr. Fishlock and I started on February 18 on the mail schooner " Lady Constance" for a five days' cruise farther to windward, the " West Indian" standing by; of how the Danish sloop scandalously outsailed the mail boat, leaving us to transfer to the foreign sloop off Virgin Gorda at three o'clock the next morning this is no place to narrate, but it will doubtless go down in the unwritten history of Virgin Island sailors. Our goal, the botanically little- known island Anagada, farthest of all the Virgins to windward, was thus reached before midday on February 19. Anagada, physiographically and geologically, is totally different from all other islands of the archipelago; it is an essentially level coral- limestone and limestone sand cay, at no point over 30 feet in altitude above the ocean. Its native flora contains many species not known to occur on the other Virgin Islands, and, as a whole, it is strikingly Bahamian in relationship, paralleling its geological structure. We spent two most interesting days here and collected specimens of 123 species, but we examined only small areas. A complete botanical survey made by means of visits of ten days' or two weeks' duration at intervals of three months would reveal most of the species, and would be a notable contribution to geographic botany; the flora is highly specialized, and very few specimens from Anagada are preserved in any museum or herbarium. Two kinds of palms exist wild, whose botanical affinities are as yet unknown, inasmuch as neither flowers nor fruit of them have been scientifically observed; we took specimens of their leaves and brought away young plants for growing at the Roadtown Botanical Station. One is a palmetto { Sabal), the other a thatch- palm ( probably Thrinax). The " West Indian" raced across the Anagada Channel under the full moon of February 20, and the next day was given to study and collection on Virgin Gorda, an island also botanically little known. Our time being limited, most of it was taken up at lower elevations in the vicinity of the Valley Settlement, among the great masses of granitic rocks which here form a striking and unusual physiographic feature; cleavage and erosion 102 have left these rocks in rectangular pieces as large as houses, so that from the sea, the impression of approaching a ruined city is easily obtained and a nearby cay of the same structure bears the name " Broken Jerusalem," said to have been given by buccaneers. The flora proved interesting, and we found specimens to collect all the day, and wished that we might at some future time explore the forest at the higher altitudes, previously visited by Mr. Fishlock. A critical botanical survey of this island is also very desirable. Returning to Roadtown, Tortola, in the evening of February 21, we found that Dr. Shafer had succeeded in making interesting collections, aided by Mr. B. R. Fouseca. The next day was given to the care and packing of plants and specimens and to observations at the Botanical Station. A pleasant and instructive interview with Commissioner Jarvis concluded our delightful exploration of the British Virgin Islands, and on February 23 we set sail for the west, touching at the east end of St. Jan, and also at Lamosure, on the south side of that island, to call on Mr. A. White, owner of the " West Indian," to whom we are indebted for cooperation and hospitality. We reached Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, the next morning. During our absence, the ladies had made collections at the higher altitudes and on the north side of St. Thomas, using donkeys for transportation, and the combined accumulation of living plants and of prepared specimens was extensive; this was much further augmented the next day by the arrival of Dr. Rose and his assistants from St. Croix, when the members of the expedition were again united. Several days were now required for care, study and packing; short trips were made, for special purposes, and nineteen boxes were delivered to the steamship company for shipment to the Garden. Dr. Rose and I concluded, after consultation, that the cactus investigations would be most effectively prosecuted by a second subdivision of the party; I therefore proceeded on March 1 with Dr. Shafer on the " West Indian" to Fajardo, Porto Rico. The others came to San Juan on the steamship " Prasident" on March 5, Dr. Rose and his assistants continuing on the same vessel to 103 Santo Domingo, while Mrs. Britton and Miss Marble went across Porto Rico on the motor- bus to Coamo Springs. The flora of Porto Rico is, in general, better known than that of the Virgin Islands, and, with the exception of that of St. Thomas, much better represented in museums and herbaria. Previous to the annexation of the island by the United States, it had been studied by Spanish and by German botanists, and its botanical literature is considerable, culminated by the publication, between the years 1903 and 1911, of the valuable " Flora Portoricensis'' written by Professor Urban of the Berlin Botanical Garden, a critical list of the flowering plants and ferns only, but without descriptions of the plants, and thus not applicable to general use. Soon after the American occupation, visits were made by botanists from the New York Botanical Garden, the Field Museum of Natural History, Yale University, and the United States Department of Agriculture, and collections made between 1899 and 1906, which added much to the earlier Spanish and German work. More recently resident American botanists have supplemented these collections and it has become apparent that Professor Urban's list is not a complete catalogue, while there is no comprehensive publication dealing with the lower cryptogams except Professor A. W. Evans' studies of the liverworts. The recent establishment of the College of Agriculture by the University of Porto Rico, and the diffusion of knowledge by it and by the schools, make the preparation of a descriptive flora of Porto Rico an educational necessity, and further field work highly desirable; the same considerations apply to the zoology and to the geology of the colony and a complete physical and natural history survey would be of great value, not alone to Porto Ricans but as an important contribution to scientific knowledge. Dr. Shafer and I gave five days to studies and collections in the vicinity of Fajardo, reaching the mountain forest above Rio Arriba, where, among many trees of interest, we found the spiny coyure palm { Bactris) bearing clusters of its beautiful bright red fruits, a quantity of which was secured for germination at home and at the Agricultural Experiment Station at Mayaguez; 104 another palm of eastern Porto Rico was found on the wooded hills near Ceiba, but with leaves only; this is a silver thatch { Coccothrinax), previously studied here by Sintenis, who also failed to obtain either flowers or fruit, so the actual botanical affinity of the species still remains to be determined. The night-blooming climbing cactus of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands { Hylocereus trigonus) is very plentiful on coastal bluffs at the Fajardo playa. Coming south and west on the coastwise steamer " Ramos" we reached Ponce on the morning of March 8, a beautiful and interesting trip, the ship touching at several ports; we were joined again by the ladies on March 9. The dry cactus region from Ponce to Guanica was studied for a week; specimens of all the species were shipped to the Garden, and large collections of the general flora were made at Ponce, Penuelas, Tallaboa, Guayanilla, and at Guanica and vicinity, where we were efficiently aided by Dr. Morse and Mr. Rubinstein, of the staff of the great sugar-mill, and found many species of interest, including several additions to the flora of Porto Rico. One day ( March 14) was devoted to studies of the mountain forest at Alto de la Bandera, on the new carretera from Adjuntas to Jayuya, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet, which we reached by motor car from Ponce; this proved the banner- day of the trip, for in this enchanting forest, made up of many kinds of trees with the noble " palma de Sierra" { Acrista monticola) dominant, we collected specimens of not fewer than 213 species, a result submitted as a record- breaker in botanical field work. Orchids festooned and clothed the tree trunks; ferns in great variety and luxuriance were everywhere, from small filmys up to tall arborescent species; mosses and liverworts carpeted the banks and logs, lichens were abundant and fungi numerous, while the kinds of flowering shrubs and climbers were unexpectedly large; that we came out to the car saturated by a mountain shower, and dried up in the subsequent sunshine were only incidents of this joyous experience, and we came into Ponce at dinner time with both the inside and the outside of the motor, full of packages of spoils. For a view of the high altitude flora, we commend 105 subsequent collectors to the slopes and valleys of Alto de la Bandera. Leaving Ponce March 16, a further subdivision of the party was made; Dr. Shafer went across Porto Rico to San Juan to arrange for a Curacao trip, while the ladies accompanied me to Coamo Springs; after passing Juana Diaz we espied a range of rough limestone hills several miles to the north of the road, which were capped by a slender palm, observation of which through field- glasses indicated that it was of special interest; Mrs. Britton subsequently climbed up to it and obtained its ripe fruit, which shows it to be a species hitherto botanically unknown, and one of the most interesting plants obtained during the entire trip. Farther on toward Coamo, we restudied the type tree of the beautiful purple- flowered '' palo de tortuga" { Phlebotaenia Cowellii) found by us here in 1906, and one of the most elegant of all trees when in bloom. Sailing from San Juan, March 18, on the steamship " Philadelphia," Dr. Shafer and I reached the Dutch Island Curacao in the early morning of March 20. For one fond of the ocean, this voyage is delightful, but the trade- winds are strong and the seas high, the southern course of the ship bringing the trade- wind nearly abeam. The force exerted by the trade- wind on the waters of the Caribbean Sea, constantly pushing the ocean's surface westward and supplying the energy for the flow of the Gulf Stream, was very impressive and the experience was one I had long desired; the Gulf Stream is an old friend from the Straits of Florida to the North Atlantic, and to view its origin in the waves of the Caribbean was most interesting. Almost as soon as the " Philadelphia" was tied up at the quaint, clean and substantial city of Willemstad, the active venerable United States Consul, Mr. Cheney, came aboard, and we were introduced by him to Mr. Northcote, our Minister to Venezuela, who was proceeding to Caracas. Mr. Cheney's advice, and his introductions to prominent Curassavians made our seven days' stay profitable and delightful. We visited many parts of the island and were most hospitably received and cordially assisted. The many miles of roads are in excellent 106 condition and motor cars took us rapidly from one point of interest to another, enabling us to study many different hills, valleys, cliffs and plains. Cacti'. exist here in almost countless numbers of individuals, but in less than a dozen species. The larger are great much- branched columnar kinds ( relatives of Cereus), reaching 30 feet in height and formidably armed all over, bearing edible fruits, and extensively planted for hedges and fences, which are essentially impenetrable. The smallest is a few- jointed little prickly pear inhabiting the surface of rough limestone rocks { Opuntia curassavica), definitely known only from here, but it has relatives in Porto Rico and in the Virgin Islands. The rarest, and the plant which we most wanted to find, is the one described by Linnaeus under the name Cactus mamillaris, which has been lost to science for very many years; it is a small, nearly globular species, the type of Haworth's genus Mamillaria, of which over 100 species have been described mostly from Mexico and the southwestern United States; to recent botanists it has been unknown except from old descriptions, and illustrations, and where it came from has been uncertain, but after reading pre- Linnaean authors I was convinced that Curacao was its home, and so it proved, for on March 23, in the late afternoon, on scaling a steep craggy limestone hill, we found the plant growing in large numbers in and among the rocks at the level summit. Our excitement and our satisfaction were great, for at last we knew the type species of Mamillaria., and it bore both its little cream- colored flowers and its bright red little pear- shaped fruits at the same time, to welcome us. By rapidly moving to different parts of the island we were able to obtain a general knowledge of its botanical features and to collect herbarium specimens of about 250 species, and two large boxes of living plants, including a representation of all the cacti found; these I considered of sufficient importance to send Dr. Shafer immediately to New York with, and he therefore proceeded north on the " Philadelphia," sailing March 27. I accompanied him to San Juan and spent the afternoon of March 29 at the Experimental Station of the Sugar- growers Association at 107 Rio Piedras upon the invitation of Mr. J. R. Johnston, pathologist of the station, a valued correspondent of the Garden, who has made collections of Porto Rican plants for us and will continue his botanical studies. Mr. Crawley, director of this important institution, also assured me of his interest in our work. I met Mrs. Britton and Miss Marble at Mayaguez on March 30; they had made additional collections about Coamo Springs. The establishment of a modern well- equipped Agricultural College at Mayaguez, under the able direction of Professor F. L. Stevens, adjoining the Agricultural Experiment Station, has made this city the insular center of information about plants. We remained there until April 10, making collections in western Porto Rico, accompanied most of the time by Mr. W. E. Hess, plant propagator of the Experiment Station, kindly detailed for this service by the director, Mr. May, and part of the time by Professor Stevens, who is making a special study of the parasitic fungi. Our trips included a visit to the coast at Joyada, where we saw the great groves of the hat palm, " palma de sombrero" { Inodes causiarum) and the hand- weaving of the Porto Rican hats. A two days' excursion to the mountains at Maricao and the Monte Alegrillo proved fertile in results botanically, for 281 species were collected besides the many fungi taken by Professor Stevens, and here we had another fine experience in the primaeval forest dominated by Acrista monticola. A number of plants endemic in Porto Rico grow only in this interesting region. Professor Stevens and I agreed that this was the best site for a mountain biological station and then events moved rapidly, for at a meeting of the Trustees of the University which he attended a few days later, he was awarded a preliminary appropriation for such a station, and at a fortunate interview with Mr. Wilson, Commissioner of the Interior at Mayaguez, he was promised the necessary land; this is surely unparalleled rapidity in the establishment of a scientific station, which cannot fail to add greatly to botanical, horticultural and agricultural knowledge in Porto Rico; that our northern institutions will cordially cooperate with Professor Stevens in its use and development goes 108 without saying. We also reached the mountains at Lares, and between that town and San Sebastian visited the home of the rarest and most beautiful of all Porto Rican palms, described by Mr. O. F. Cook some years ago from foliage alone, under the name Cocops rivalis. We were very fortunate in finding one large tree bearing clusters of immature fruit, and from this the relationship of this palm may now be determined. The Mesa mountain at Mayaguez yielded specimens of several plants unrecorded as growing in Porto Rico. Returning to San Juan April i o ' w e were able to visit the fruit region between Bayamon and Vega Baja on the n t h and to make a considerable collection on wooded limestone hills at Candelaria, completing the field work of the New York part of the expedition, which secured and brought to the Garden 3,152 separate collections of plants, including over 9,000 specimens. We sailed on the " Caracas" from San Juan on April 12. With additional field work and through the cooperation of Professor Stevens, Mr. Johnston, and other insular botanists, it will be possible to prepare a descriptive flora of Porto Rico for publication within a few years. The botany of the small islands Mona and Desecheo, west of Porto Rico and of Cayo de Muertos off Ponce, is unknown, except for fine specimens of Mamillaria nivosa and Phyllanthus Epiphyllanthus brought to me from Mona by Messrs. E. D. Noble and Marc Lejeune; no recent collections have been made on Vieques, but a few specimens from that island are preserved in European museums. In the mountain forests and coastal thickets, trees and shrubs doubtless exist which have not yet been identified botanically, while the lichens and fungi have scarcely yet been studied nor collected. The marine algae are incompletely known, and the fresh- water algae not at all. The botany of Porto Rico thus offers an inviting field for further investigation. Dr. Rose and his assistants made a successful visit to Santo Domingo and secured large collections on the southern and eastern sides of that island, making collections at Macoris, Azua, and Sanchez. The region about Azua is extremely dry, the annual rainfall in recent years being only about 8 inches; the 109 town is in the middle of a great cactus desert consisting of more than a dozen little- known species. Respectfully submitted, N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief. JOHN INNES KANE Mr. John Innes Kane, a member of the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden since 1896, died at his home in New York City on February 1, 1913. Mr. Kane served the Garden continuously as Chairman of the Membership Committee of the Board of Managers, and until recently was a member of the Executive Committee. He was much interested in botanical science, and prior to the establishment of the Garden, he had taken much pleasure in botanical studies at Columbia College. During the period of planning and throughout the earlier construction work of the institution, he attended nearly all the meetings of the Board and of the committees of which he was a member, and made frequent visits to the grounds in Bronx Park. More recently, his health prevented active participation, but his interest was always maintained. He contributed liberally to special funds needed for scientific and educational work, and qualified as a Fellow for Life. Resolved: That the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden deeply deplore their loss in the death of their esteemed associate, John Innes Kane. Resolved: That this preamble and resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that a copy be sent to his bereaved family. Memorial and resolutions adopted by the Board of Managers April 24, 1913. N. L. BRITTON, Secretary. 110 INSURANCE OF GREENHOUSES It will be of general interest to know that the glass of the large Conservatory Ranges Nos. I and 2 in the New York Botanical Garden has recently been insured against all direct loss or damage by wind- storms, cyclones, or tornadoes, covering also breakage by hail, at its full value, including cost of resetting. The rate is 134 Pe r cent, for a period of three years, and the policy is issued by the Globe & Rutgers Fire Insurance Company. N. L. BRITTON, Director- in- Chief. CONFERENCE NOTES The April Conference of the Scientific Staff and Registered Students of the New York Botanical Garden was held April 7. The topics for this conference were presented by Dr. P. A. Rydberg and Dr. F. A. Seaver. Dr. Rydberg had thought it advisable to put in record some of his observations during several trips to the Rocky Mountains under the head of " Phytogeographical Notes on the Rocky Mountain Region." He presented before the conference the first part of his discussion of the alpine region of the Rockies. The alpine region roughly speaking is the region between the perpetual snow and the timber- line. A perpetual snow- line cannot be spoken of in the southern Rockies; even the highest peaks do not have a perpetual snow cap, like for instance Mt. Shasta or Mt. Hood. It is probably due to the amount of moisture and precipitation.. Snow, if present, is in the form of snow- drifts or small glaciers. The amount of snow does not always depend upon the height of the mountain. The Snowy Range of Colorado has more snow than the much higher Gray's Peak, Sierra Blanca, or Mt. Massive. In the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks the conditions are different and more like the Alps. The peaks have perpetual snow caps and glaciers extend far into the valleys. In northern Montana is found the only glacier regions of the Rockies. The lower limit of the alpine region is the timber- line, which I l l is really no well defined boundary line, but the transition zone between the two regions. Different authors have fixed the timber- line differently. 1. The Forest Line, that is where the continuous forest stops. 2. The Grove Line, where the tree ceases to form communities of larger or smaller sizes. 3. Tree Line, where the arboreal species cease to form trees. 4. Absolute Timber- line, that is where these species disappear altogether even as " krumholz." It is superfluous to consider more than two of these lines, the forest line and the absolute timber- line. The region between these two is a transition zone, or better, a zone of strife. A continuous warfare goes on between the forest and the alpine grassland. Then he treated the factors that are governing the timber- line. The conditions that have been given as causing or modifying the timber- line are; 1. The decreased temperature during the growing season. In the Rockies there are no records of the lowest temperature that the trees can stand, but in general the arborescent flora disappears where the mean temperature during the warmest month of the year does not reach 5° C. 2. Short growing season. In the arctic region this factor acts parallel to the preceding, but not so in the alpine region. In the heads of the valleys where the snow drifts are formed during the winter and melt late in the summer and along glaciers and permanent snow, the frost is kept longer in the ground and the growing season is naturally shortened. Therefore, the timber- line is much lower in the valley heads than on the slopes. 3. Late frost on account of lack of protection from the snow. Late frost often kills large tracts of conifers which seldom produce a second crop of shoots in the same season. 4. Strong desiccating winds. This feature is much more important than usually estimated. The trees of the timber- line and especially those few isolated stragglers above the real forest-line show great effect from the wind. The trees are not only low, stunted, ragged, with enormously elongated branches spreading 112 on the ground, but conspicuously one- sided, telling at a glance the direction of the wind. On the wind- swept sides of the mountains the timber does not reach by far as high and in many places there is no timber at all. In the Abajo Mountains of southwestern Utah, for instance, there is no timber above the semi- arid cedar- pinon belt of the foot- hills. 5. Deep snow. As the desiccating winds lower the altitude on the wind- swept regions, so does the snow in the heads of the valleys, not only by shortening the growing season, but also by smothering the tree vegetation. Herbs and low shrubs can stand to be covered over by snow much better than trees, for their growing season does not begin before the snow is practically off the ground. While the tops of the trees may be above the snow and exposed to the summer heat much before the snow-covered roots and lower branches have been melted, the lower portion of the tree is cut off from the air while the upper portion is already in vital activity. It is easier to distinguish trees stunted by the action of wind than those stunted by the smothering snow. In the former the lower branches are enormously developed compared with the upper, while in the latter the lower branches are dead or covered by fungi or their mycelium. The usual condition in the Rockies is that wherever there is a large valley head where the snow has chance to lodge, this is always devoid of trees, except in places of higher ground where the snow drifts have not been so deep. 6. Form of precipitation. In high altitudes it is too rare to hold much moisture and the rain falls at the least lowering of the temperature. The rain falls, therefore, in the form of mists or in light and fine showers which only wet the surface. Nowhere in the Rockies is the moisture very great. In the foot- hill region and on the surrounding plains, the temperature in the summer is too high to allow any precipitation. These zones are also arid. It is at middle elevation that the precipitation is the greatest. The air here is dense enough to hold more moisture and the temperature low enough to allow precipitation. 7. Large mountain masses. In the Swiss Alps observations have also been made that in regions of large mountain masses 113 the timber- line is higher up than on isolated mountains. This observation seems to hold good in the Rockies. In the isolated Belt Mountains and Crazy Mountains of Montana, the timber-line is lower than in the main Rockies. In the Wasatch and La Salle Mountains of Utah, the timber- line is lower than in the Rockies of Colorado. Even in the Rockies, the timber- line is higher where the mountains are more massed. For instance at Mt. Massive it is higher than on Pikes Peak, Sierra Blanca, or Long's Peak. No adequate explanation has been made and Dr. Rydberg had no suggestions to make. 8. Exposure to or protection from direct sunlight has evidently, also, great influence upon the altitude of the timber- line. 9. Physiographical Barriers. To these may be counted snowdrifts and the glaciers already mentioned. Besides these are the precipitious cliffs and rock- slides. Meeting one of these barriers the timber ceases to grow sometimes a thousand feet lower than the physiological timber- line. Alpine plants are often found in the crevices of the cliffs and among the rocks in such places. 10. Oecological Barriers. Sometimes an oecological timber-line is mentioned, i. e., where the bacteria in the soil and other organisms necessary for the growth of trees cease to exist. Theoretically it is easy to see that such a timber- line may exist, but practically there is no information regarding its existence in the Rocky Mountains distinct from the merely physiological ones. n . Economic timber- line. In Switzerland there exists an economic timber- line. The alpine meadows are used for summer pastures for sheep and goats. These animals make depredations on the new trees and hinder the spreading of the forest, but in many places the subalpine forests are actually cut down by man to make room for more pastures. Such economic timber-line cannot be spoken of in the Rockies. After having discussed the causes of the timber- line, it is easier to define what an alpine plant is. In short, it is a plant that can endure the climate of the mountains above the timber line. It is, therefore, a plant that requires less temperature 114 during the growing season than the forest trees or can stand a shorter growing season, or is less affected by frost, and besides can stand better desiccating winds, deep snow, less precipitation, etc., or a combiation of such conditions. Some authors claim that alpine and arctic plants are xerophytes, but this is not necessarily so. Not a few arctic and alpine plants require a good deal of moisture, growing only below snow banks or in springy or boggy places. Even a few aquatic plants are found. Then Dr. Rydberg shortly discussed the formation of the alpine flora and gave the following formations: The Rock- slide Formation, Mountain Crest Formation, Mountain Seep Formation, Alpine Meadow Formation, Alpine Bog Formation, and Alpine Lake and Pond Formation. To these may be also added two rather local formations, the cliff formation and the snow- drift formation. Dr. F. J. Seaver showed specimens of the hickory barkbeetle and reviewed briefly the life history and habits of the insect. Attention was called to some of the natural enemies of this injurious insect and also artificial means of controlling it. An illustrated account of this pest will appear in a later number of the JOURNAL. A. B. STOUT. NOTES, NEWS AND COMMENT Mr. E. G. Arzberger was granted a scholarship for the month of May to make an anatomical study of Coleus with respect to the distribution of the colored tissues. Mr. A. C. Fraser, of Cornell University, has come to the New \ o r k Botanical Garden to assist during the coming summer in the experimental work in plant breeding. Mr. William H. Lamb, of the United States Forest Service, recently spent a few days at the Garden consulting arborescent specimens in connection with his work in Forest Distribution. 115 Dr. William Trelease, recently director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, has been appointed professor of botany in the University of Illinois at Urbana. He succeeds Dr. T. J. Burrill, retired, who as professor, dean, and vice- president has been connected with the institution since 1868. Mr. G. Claridge Druce, M. A., F. L. S., ex- mayor of Oxford, curator of the Fielding Herbarium of the University of Oxford, author of " List of British Plants," " Flora of Berkshire," and many other works relating to the British flora, was a visitor at the Garden on April 24. Mr. Walter T. Swingle, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, recently spent several days at the Garden, studying specimens of Citrus in the herbarium. Dr. Charles Thom, of the United States Department of Agriculture, recently spent several days at the Garden consulting various publications in the library. Professors Mel T. Cook and M. A. Blake, with several members of the senior class of Rutgers College, spent May 2 at the Garden, visiting the conservatories and the experimental garden. During the spring, numerous cases of variation have appeared in the beds of tulips grown at the Garden. These variations are of three kinds: changes in color, changes in shape, and changes in the character of the floral parts. In a bed of 250 flowering bulbs of the variety " Yellow Prince" one flower had in one of the parts of the perianth a segment of dark red. This was the only variation found in the yellow- flowered varieties. In the beds of " Crimson King" and " Prince of Austria," thirty flowers showed more or less of yellow in streaks. In some cases only a few small streaks were present. In other cases the flower could be described as yellow with a few red streaks. Many of these 116 striped flowers also showed variations in shape, the extreme cases having narrow floral parts not more than one fourth the width of the petals on typical flowers of the variety. Three flowers were noted in which the parts of the perianth were more or less green and leaf- like. On these flowers some of the parts of the perianth were entirely green, others were of the usual color, and others were sectorially differentiated, the whole flower being nearly half green and half red in color. It was noted in several instances that a tulip showing variation grew very close to one that was normal for the variety, a condition which indicated that the two were sister plants. In another bed of tulips, of the variety known as the Cottage Tulip, nearly fifty cases of fasciation were observed as well as a few cases of variation similar to those described above. In view of the particular interest which bud- variations and fasciations have to botany and to horticulture, these plants will be isolated and grown in the experimental garden for further study.— A. B. S. The cottage and Darwin tulips are in full bloom, days ahead of their normal flowering period which comes toward the end of May. They have already ( May 16) been in bloom for a week or ten days. Some of these are especially fine. One of the cottage tulips, known as Orange Beauty, is particularly striking. It is a long flower, a vivid orange- red. Another cottage tulip is La Merveille, unusual in its long pointed flower, the color a rosy carmine. This is of unusual merit. Among the Darwin tulips Clara Butt is as usual in the front rank, with Baronne de la Tonnaye, very similar, of equal worth. Those who like a very dark flower will find in the Darwin tulip, The Sultan, all they can desire. It is of the deepest black- purple. The parrot tulips have been unusually fine this year, the flowers large, and a greater number than usual of the bulbs bearing flowers. The irises or flags are now taking a prominent place in the herbaceous border. One of the first to appear is the little Iris cristata with its sky- blue flowers. Iris florentina, almost white with a faint flush of lavender and delightfully scented, follows. 117 The German iris, / . germanica, occurs in great masses of rich dark color in many parts of the decorative beds. Many of the forms, other than the purple, offered by nurseries as varieties of the German iris are referable to I. sambucina and / . squalens. Iris pumila is also an early flower, occurring in violet and yellow. It is quite dwarf. Iris Statelliae, of a pale straw color, comes at about the same time as / . pumila. I. pallida is just coming into flower, the variety of this known as Dalmatica being especially desirable. By selection of species a continuous display of irises may be had from late April or early May to late June or July, when the Japanese iris, I. laevigata, commonly known as I. Kaempferi, sends forth its gorgeous display.— G. V. N. Meteorology for April.— The total precipitation for the month was 5.18 inches. Maximum temperatures for each week were as follows: 630 on the 6th, 6o° on the 12th, 72° on the 19th, and 83° on the 25th. The minimum temperatures were 32° on the 7th, 270 on the 10th, 31° on the 21st, and 400 on the 22d. • ACCESSIONS MUSEUMS AND HERBARIUM IS specimens of hybrid willows from Massachusetts. ( Given by Mr. F. F. Forbes.) 119 specimens of fungi from Porto Rico. ( By exchange with Mr. John R. Johnston.) 3 specimens of polypores from Montana. ( By exchange with Professor James R. Weir.) 12 specimens of fungi from Germany. ( By exchange with Dr. H. D. House.) 20 specimens " American Hepaticae" numbers 101- 120. ( Given by Miss Caroline C. Haynes.) 117 specimens of flowering plants from Indiana. ( By exchange with Mr. C. C. Deam.) 10 specimens of fungi from Porto Rico. ( By exchange with Professor E. W. D. Holway.) 1 specimen of Puccinia Xanthii from California. ( By exchange with Professor J. C. Arthur.) 118 So specimens " Mycotheca Boreali- Africana" fascicles 2 and 3. ( Distributed by Rene Maire.) 200 specimens " Fungi Columbian" fascicles 38 and 39. ( Distributed by Mr. Elam Bartholomew.) 30 specimens " Fungi Dakotenses" fascicle 8. ( Distributed by Dr. J. F. Brenckle.) 72 specimens of rusts from New York and Massachusetts. ( Collected by Mr. F. D. Fromme.) 4 specimens of fungi from Wisconsin. ( By exchange with Dr. J. J. Davis.) 200 specimens " North American Uredinales" centuries 6 and 7. ( Distributed b y ^ . ) 25 specimens " Lichenes Suecici Exsiccati," fascicles 11 and 12. ( Distributed by Dr. G. O. A. Malme.) 5 specimens of Baptisia from Louisiana. ( Given by Professor R. C. Cocks.) 1 specimen of moss from the East Indies. ( By exchange with Brother Leon.) 2.750 specimens of mosses, being the herbarium of Professor O. D. Allen. 1 specimen of fern from Mexico. ( By exchange with the herbarium of Prince Roland Bonaparte.) 3 specimens of Taxus and Pteris from Florida. ( Given by Dr. N. F . Petersen.) flDembers of tbe Corporation FRITZ ACHELIS EDWARD D. ADAMS CHARLES B. ALEXANDER JOHN D. ARCHBOLD GEORGE F. BAKER EUGENE P. BICKNELL GEORGE S. BOWDOIN PROF. N. L. BRITTON PROF. EDW. S. BURGESS, DR. NICHOLAS M. BUTLER ANDREW CARNEGIE PROF. C. F. CHANDLER WILLIAM G. CHOATE THOMAS U. CHURCHILL PAUL D. CRAVATH CLEVELAND H. DODGE A. F. ESTABROOK H. C. FAHNESTOCK SAMUEL W. FAIRCHILD GEORGE W. FOLSOM JAMES B. FORD HENRY W. DE FOREST ROBERT W. DE FOREST PROF. W. J. GIES J. HORACE HARDING EDWARD S. HARKNESS PROF. R. A. HARPER T. A. HAVEMEYER A. HECKSCHEB HENRY R. HOYT THOS H. HUBBARD ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. WALTER B. JENNINGS PROF. JAMES F. KEMP EDW. V. Z. LANE PROF. FREDERIC S. LEE HON. SETH LOW DAVID LYDIG EDGAR L. MARSTON W. J. MATHESON EMERSON MCMILLIN OGDEN MILLS J. PIERPONT MORGAN THEODORE W. MYERS FREDERIC R. NEWBOLD PROF. HENRY F. OSBORN LOWELL M. PALMER GEORGE W. PERKINS HENRY PHIPPS JAMES R. PITCHER M. F. PLANT EDWIN A. RICHARD JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER PROF. H. H. RUSBY DR. REGINALD H. SAYRE JACOB H. SCHIFF MORTIMER L. SCHIFF JAMES A. SCRYMSER ISAAC N. SELIGMAN ALBERT R. SHATTUCK HENRY A. SIEBRECHT WILLIAM D. SLOANE NELSON SMITH JAMES SPEYEB FRANCIS L. STETSON CHARLES G. THOMPSON DR. W. GILMAN THOMPSON SAMUEL THORNE MYLES TIERNEY LOUIS C. TIFFANY GEORGE W. VANDERBILT W. K. VANDERBILT P U B L I C A T I O N S The New York Botanical Garden Journal of the New Tork Botanical Garden, monthly, illustrated, containing notes, news, and non- technical articles of general interest. Free to all members of the Garden. To others, io cents a copy; # 1.00 a year. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its fourteenth volume. Mycologia, bimonthly, illustrated in color and otherwise; devoted to fungi, including lichens; containing technical articles and news and notes of general interest, and an index to current American mycological literature. $ 3.00 a year; single copies not for sale. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its fifth volume. Bulletin of the New Tork Botanical Garden, containing the annual reports of the Director- in- Chief and other official documents, and technical articles embodying results of investigations carried out in the Garden. Free to all members of the Garden ; to others, # 3.00 per volume. Now in its eighth volume. North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North Americai including Greenland, the West Indies and Central America. Planned to be completed in 32 volumes. Roy. 8vo. Each volume to consist of four or more parts- Subscription price, $ 1.50 per part; a limited number of separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.] Vol. 3, part I, 1910. Nectriaceae— Fimetariaceae. Vol. 7, parti, 1906; part 2, 1907; part 3, 1912. Ustilaginaceae— Aecidiaceae ( pars). Vol. 9, parts I and 2, 1907; part 3, 1910. Polyporaceae— Agaricaceae ( pars). ( Parts 1 and 2 no longer sold separately.) Vol. 16, part I, 1909. Ophioglossaceae— Cyatheaceae ( pars). Vol. 17, part I, 1909 ; part 2, 1912. Typhaceae— Poaceae ( pars). Vol. 22, parts 1 and 2, 1905; parts 3 and 4, 1908. Podostemonaceae— Rosaceae ( pars). Vol. 25, part 1, 1907; part 2, 1910; part 3, 1911, Geraniaceae— Burseraceae. Memoirs of the New Tork Botanical Garden. Price to members of the Garden, Si. ooper volume. To others, $ 2.00. [ Not offered in exchange.] Vol. I. An Annotated Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone Park, by Per Axel Rydberg. ix + 492 pp., with detailed map. 1900. Vol. II. The Influence of Light and Darkness upon Growth and Development, by D. T. MacDougal. xvi -\- 320 pp., with 176 figures. 1903. Vol. I l l Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischerville, New York, by Arthur Hollick and Edward Charles Jeffrey, viii+ 138 pp., with 29 plates. 1909. Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart Gager. viii -\- 278 pp., with 73 figures and 14 plates. 1908. Contributions from the New Tork Botanical Garden. A series of technical papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted from journals other than the above. Price, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per volume. In its seventh volume. RECENT NUMBERS 25 CENTS EACH 152. The genus Struthiopteris and its Representatives in North America, by Jean Broadhurst. 153. Studies on the Rocky Mountain Flora— XXVII, by P. A. Rydberg. 154. Biochemical Studies of Soils Subjected to Dry Heat, by F. J. Seaver and E. D. Clark. 155. Polycodium^ by C. B. Robinson. 156. Studies on the Rocky Mountain Flora— XXVIII, by P. A. Rydberg. N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, NEW YORK OITV |
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