|
|
|
VOL. XXVIII SEPTEMBER, 1927 No. 333 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN REPORT OF THE KILLIP- SMITH BOTANICAL EXPEDITION TO COLOMBIA, 1926- 27 ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP CACTI JOHN K. SMALL TWO NATIVE BIGENERIC HYBRIDS P. A. RYDBERG BOTANIZING IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO FRED J. SEAVER RELATION OF SOILS TO PLANT GROWTH B. A. KEEN NOTES ON FLORIDA MOSSES R. S. WILLIAMS PUBLIC LECTURES DURING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT ACCESSIONS PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA. THE SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY Entered at the post- office in Lancaster, Pa., as second- class matter. Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents Free to members of the Garden THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF MANAGERS FREDERICK S. LEE, President JOSEPH P. HENNESSY HENRY W. DE FOREST, Vice President ADOLPH LEWISOHN F. K. STURGIS, Vice President KENNETH K. MACKENZIE JOHN L. MERRILL, Treasurer BARRINGTON MOORE N. L. BRITTON, Secretary J. P. MORGAN EDWARD D. ADAMS LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN FREDERIC R. NEWBOLD NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER H. HOBART PORTER CHARLES P. BERKEY CHARLES F. RAND PAUL D. CRAVATH HERBERT M. RICHARDS ROBERT W. DE FOREST HENRY H. RUSBY CHILDS FRICK GEORGE J. RYAN WILLIAM J. GIES MORTIMER L. SCHIFF R. A. HARPER WILLIAM BOYCE THOMPSON JAMES J. WALKER, Mayor of the City of New York WALTER R. HERRICK, President of the Department of Parks SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS R. A. HARPER, P H . D., Chairman FREDERIC S. LEE, P H . D., LL. D. CHARLES P BERKEY P H . D HERBERT M. RICHARDS, SC. D. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, P H . D., TT TT _ ., _ LL. D. LITT. D. HENRY H. RUSBY, M. D. WILLIAM J. GIES, P H . D. GEORGE J. RYAN GARDEN STAFF N. L BRITTON, P H . D.. SC. D., LL. D Director- in- Chief MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Assistant Director JOHN K. SMALL, P H . D., SC. D Head Curator of the Museums A. B. STOUT, P H . D Director of the Laboratories P. A. RYDBERG, P H . D Curator H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Curator FRED. J. SEAVER, P H . D Curator ARTHUR HOLLICK, P H . D Paleobotanist PERCY WILSON Associate Curator PALMYRE DE C MITCHELL Associate Curator JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D Bibliographer SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections ELIZABETH G. BRITTON Honorary Curator of Mosses MARY E. EATON Artist ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Administrative Assistant KENNETH R. BOYNTON, B. S Head Gardener H. M. DENSLOW, A. M., D. D Honorary Custodian of Local Herbarium E. B. SOUTHWICK, P H . D Custodian of Herbaceous Grounds ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections JOHN R. BRINLEY, C. E Landscape Engineer WALTER S. GROESBECK _ Clerk and Accountant ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds JOURNAL OF The New York Botanical Garden VOL. XXVIII SEPTEMBER, 1927 No. 333 REPORT OF THE KILLIP- SMITH BOTANICAL EXPEDITION TO COLOMBIA, 1926- 19271 The trip which Mr. Albert C. Smith and I have just made to Colombia followed very closely the plans outlined to the directors of the cooperating institutions a year ago. These called for visiting the Jacquin and Humboldt3 localities in the Cartagena area 1 A preliminary report to the heads of the cooperating institutions. 2 Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian baron of Dutch birth, was born 16 February, 1727, at Leyden, and died at Vienna, 26 October, 1817, at the age of ninety. His earlier education was at Antwerp and Louvain; he began his medical studies at Leyden, continued them at Paris, and completed them at Vienna. Meanwhile he had decided to devote his life to botanical science. In 1754 he was commissioned by the Austrian emperor to visit the American tropics, to collect plants for introduction to the royal gardens. He took with him as an assistant Richard van der Schot, who long afterward became director of the gardens at Schonbrunn. They sailed from Leghorn 1 January, 1755, and landed at Martinique 28 June; Schot returned to Europe in February, 1756, but this island remained Jacquin's headquarters for a year and a half, although meanwhile he had visited many of the other islands of the Lesser Antilles, northward as far as St. Martin, and southward as far as Grenada. In 1757 he spent considerable time on the island of Curacao, and it was probably during that year that he made his memorable visit to the mainland at Cartagena, where he discovered so many interesting plants new to science. He was obliged to confine his collecting to the immediate vicinity of the city, and the several neighboring islands. The latter half of his stay in America was spent in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica; he arrived once more in Vienna in July, 1759. During the four years Jacquin had drawn, from fresh specimens, hundreds of the plants collected, and had made at least eight shipments of living plants. The rest of his life was devoted in large measure to the study of these collections; among his 22 folio volumes there are some accounted among the most valued treasures of 205 206 and for collecting in the Eastern Cordillera in the vicinity of Bu-caramanga, Pamplona, and Ocafia, a region little known botanically. Three weeks were spent about Cartagena and Turbaco, two and a half months in the general vicinity of Bucaramanga, and one month along the Colombian- Venezuelan border, east of Pamplona. Because of lack of time and deterioration of collecting equip-the great botanical libraries of the world. His herbarium went to England, and is now at the British Museum of Natural History. Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, German baron, was born 14 September, 1769, at Berlin, and died there, 6 May, 1859, in his ninetieth year. Aime Jacques Alexandre Bonpland ( ne Goujaud) was born 23 August, 1773, at La Rochelle, France, and died at Restauracion, Uruguay, 11 March, 1858, in his eighty- fifth year. Both were men of wide culture, and were authors of important scientific books and papers, but it is their joint work of exploration in tropical America in the years 1799 to 1804 that has immortalized their names in the history of science, and especially of botany. Sailing from La Coruria, Spain, 5 June, 1799, and spending ten days in the Canary Islands, they sighted Tobago 13 July and arrived at Cumana, on the coast of Venezuela, 16 July. Keeping near the coast as far as La Guayra, they visited Caracas, Cura, and Valencia, again reaching the coast at Puerto Cabello. From this point they struck into the interior, returning to Cura, and going thence as nearly due south as the ruggedness of the country would permit, to San Fernando, on the banks of the Apure, where they arrived 27 March, 1800. Taking a boat down the Apure and up the Orinoco, it was at the junction of the Meta that they first sighted territory now belonging to the republic of Colombia, and they skirted its eastern boundary for more than two hundred miles, up the Orinoco and Atabapo and down the Guainia, then regarded as the Rio Negro, of which it is now considered a tributary. Turning back from San Carlos, 10 May, they went up the Cassiquiare and down the Orinoco all the way to Angostura, thence overland to Barcelona; quitting the South American mainland forever, as they supposed, they sailed for Havana, 24 November, 1800. After a few months in Cuba, however, they returned to South America, landing at the mouth of the Sinu, on the northern coast of Colombia, 25 March, 1801, and arriving at Cartagena five days later. From this point they traversed the heart of Colombia from north to south, up the Magdalena and across the Cordilleras, arriving in Quito, 6 January, 1802. From Ecuador they went to Peru, spent about a year in Mexico, and after a brief visit in the United States sailed for France, landing at Bordeaux 3 August, 1804. The sumptuous volumes devoted to the reports of their voyage are among the classics of natural science. The plants collected by them are in the herbarium of the Paris museum, and in that of Willdenow at the Berlin botanic garden.— JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART. 207 ment, it proved impracticable to visit both Ocana and the frontier region; the latter was chosen because of its accessibility to Pamplona and because of the probability of its flora being more unusual. Other localities at which collections were made were Cala-mar and Puerto Wilches, on the Magdalena River; Cucuta; Mara-caibo, Venezuela; Curasao; Puerto Colombia, and Santa Marta. About five months were spent in the field, the time given to the various general localities being as follows: Oct. 20. Sailed from New York. Oct. 29- Nov. 22. Cartagena- Turbaco. Nov. 23- Dec. 4. Magdalena Valley. Dec. 5- Feb. 18. Dept. Santander, Bucaramanga as base. Feb. 19- March 24. Dept. Norte de Santander, Pamplona as base. March 25- March 27. En route Cucuta to Curagao via Maracaibo. March 28- 31. Curasao. April 2- 5. Puerto Colombia and Santa Marta. April 15. Arrived at New York. ACCOUNT OF TRIP With Cartagena as a basis collections were made on Manga and Tierrabomba islands, at Boca Grande, and on La Popa, a hill near the city, all Jacquin localities. Cartagena is a rapidly changing city, due to its growing importance as a port of entry and to the fact that it is the terminus for the pipe line bringing oil from the fields in the interior to the coast. Manga Island is now the principal residential suburb of the city, and only the southern end, perhaps 15 per cent, of the whole island, at all approaches a wild state. Tierrabomba and part of Baru Islands have been taken over by oil companies for use as ports. Little work has as yet been done to change the character of these islands, and it would seem that if further collecting is to be done here, it should be undertaken in the very near future. In such case, however, the project should be taken up directly with the Andian Corporation, and the Tropical Oil Company, in New York, as they are in a position to render valuable assistance. Turbaco, 15 miles east of Cartagena, is at the crest of a range of low hills, at an altitude of about 200 meters. Humboldt spent 20S tZCu~ o-<£ or FIGURE I. A sketch map, showing routes of the Pennell- Killip Expedition of 1922 and the Killip- Smith Expedition of 1926- 27. The Rusby- Pcnncll Expedition of 1917 explored the Rio Sinu, portions of the Quindio mountains, and the regions about Bogota and Yillavicencio. 200. ten days here before ascending the Magdalena River on his trip to Quito, and it is the type locality for several species. Though a considerable part of the land is at present under cultivation, dense woods still remain to the westward, near Torrecilla, and nearly impenetrable thickets cover much area. One day was spent at Coloncito, an hacienda north of the town which would serve as an excellent headquarters should further work be carried on here Particularly interesting were the mud volcanoes, about nine miles from Turbaco, where we made a fairly large collection. Arjona and Soplaviento, two towns between Turbaco and the Magdalena, were also visited. At Soplaviento Mr. Smith obtained many water plants along the Dique, the canal connecting the river with Cartagena. A few plants were collected at Calamar, where the steamer was boarded for the trip up the Magdalena. As it was an oil- burning express boat, few stops were made, and the long delays to take on wood, which have given botanists an opportunity to make hurried collections, as well as to contract malaria, were avoided. We spent a week at Puerto Wilches, about halfway between the coast and Bogota, before taking the railroad on the trip into the interior. Typical tropical jungles surround the town, well flooded near the river at the time of our visit at the end of the rainy season. This jungle extends eastward nearly to the base of the mountains, portions of it being reached by us at various stations along the railroad. On December 3 we left the river for the interior, proceeding by rail to Provincia, near the foot of the mountains, and then by mule to Bucaramanga. Little collecting was done on this two days' trip, though two localities were noted en route, El Tambor and Las Cruces, which would serve as excellent bases for further work. Had we had opportunity we should have returned here, though I do not believe the vegetation was markedly different from that later found on the Mesa de los Santos. Bucaramanga proved an ideal center of operations, and from December 5 to February 16 this was our main headquarters. Situated on a plateau which dropped abruptly to deep valleys on three sides, the immediate vicinity was not especially interesting botanically; but areas to the south, east, and north, from two to four days of mule travel distant, were extremely rich. The Mesa de los Santos, a broad plateau about 1,500 meters altitude, was first visited. Although there was no range of altitude here, the presence of dense woods, sandy fields, marshes, and rocky cliff's within a few miles of our inn resulted in a wide diversity of plant groups. Our second trip from Bucaramanga took us to the isolated region to the eastward about Las Vegas. With our base established at a ranch at 2,600 meters, in the midst of a rich vegetation, a two days' trip was made to the Paramo de las Vegas, the highest FIGURE 2. Loading mules at Bucaramanga. point of which was 3,8°° meters. As this was our first collecting in the Eastern Cordillera through a large range of altitude, we found the flora between the ranch and the paramo especially interesting, consisting, as it did, of the wet forests of the subtropical zone, the scrubby growth of the temperate, and the low, chiefly herbaceous, vegetation of the paramo. One of the main purposes of the expedition was to revisit certain Funck and Schlim and Linden* localities. Almost the only 3 Jean Jules Linden was born 3 February, 1817, in the city of Luxemburg, and died at Brussels, 12 January, 1898. In later life he was one of the most famous of Belgian horticulturists, but before he was thirty years old he had made three collecting trips to America under the auspices of the Belgian government. The first, 1835- 37 ( he was only 20 upon his return home) was to Brazil; the second, 1837- 41, to Cuba, Mexico, and Central America. On both of these expeditions he was accompanied by Nicolas Funck ( 1816- 1896) as artist, and Auguste Boniface Ghiesbreght ( 1810- 1893) as zoologist; both Funck and Gh, ies-breght afterward became well known as plant- collectors. Linden's third trip was devoted almost exclusively to Venezuela and Colombia; this time he was accompanied by his half- brother, Louis Joseph Schlim. Arriving at La Guayra, 27 December, 1841, they spent the first few months in the vicinity of Caracas, starting for the interior S May. Their route lay through Valencia, Puerto Cabello, Barquisi-meto, and Merida, entering Colombia at San Jose de Cucuta, and continuing by way of Pamplona, Socorro, Velez, and Tunja to Bogota, where they arrived at the end of October, 1842. Here they spent two months, and then descended into the valley of the Magdalena, and fixed their headquarters at Ibague, from which they extended their trips in every direction, once crossing by Quindio pass to Cartago, Buga, and thei shore of the Pacific. From Ibague they returned, through Ambalema and Honda, to Bogota, whence they retraced their incoming steps as far as Merida, Venezuela, and returned thence by a different route to Caracas, where they arrived 17 August, 1843. Leaving La Guayra 16 November, they spent six weeks at Puerto Cabello, and then went to Rio Hacha, on the coast of Colombia. Here their party was augmented by the governor and several other prominent citizens, and they spent several weeks exploring the Santa Marta mountains, climbing to the summit of the Nevado ( 4,800 meters). Sailing from Rio> Hacha 4 March, 1844, they returned to Europe through Jamaica, Cuba, and the United States, arriving at home in February, 1845. After his ten years of fruitful exploration, Linden formed an establishment devoted primarily to the introduction of new plants, and sent collectors into all parts of the world; among these were Funck and Schlim, who collected for him in Colombia. Nicolas Funck was born in 1816, in Luxemburg, and died there 10 August, 1896. He was with Linden on his journeys from 1835 to 1841, and went with him to La Guayra in 1841; they separated, however, at Caracas, in May, 1842. Funck spent most of the time for the next year in eastern Venezuela, but in 1843 he went to Santa Marta in Colombia, and collected in the neighboring mountains; it was probably his report that led Linden to visit them later in the same year. Upon Linden's return from Colombia to Caracas, they spent a few weeks together, and went together to Puerto Cabello, where Funck took ship for Hamburg. In October, 1845, Funck and Schlim started on a collecting trip in the . interests of Linden's newly established horticultural concern. They first explored the vicinities of Caracas, Carabobo, Barquisimeto, Trujillo, Maracaibo, and Merida, in Venezuela; then they visited the neighborhood of Chinacota and Pamplona in Colombia, near the Venezuelan border, and Funck took their collections by water from San Jose de Cucuta to Maracaibo and thence to Europe, in 1847. Funck was afterward director of the zoological gardens at Brussels and collecting done in the Eastern Cordillera north of the Bogota area has been that of these European botanists about the middle of the last century. " La Baja, Province of Pamplona" and " Province of Ocana " repeatedly appear in reports on these collections. The former Province of Pamplona is at present divided between the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander, the part west of the Divide being placed in the Department of Santander. The greater part of the Province of Ocana is in the FIGURE 3. Mud volcanoes of Turbaco. Department of Norte de Santander. La Baja formerly was the principal town of what is to- day the general Bucaramanga region; it now consists of three or four houses and many ruins. Doubtless the town served as main headquarters for these botanists, their collections being made over a rather wide area. Cologne, and in 1879 retired to his native place, where he spent the remainder of his life. Lou, is Joseph Schlim, when he was left in Colombia by Funck, made La Baja, near Pamplona, his headquarters for more than a year, but all his collections in this region were lost by a shipwreck at the mouth of the Magdalena. He subsequently collected for a long time in the neighborhood of Ocana, and, descending the Magdalena, spent several months in the Santa Marta mountains shortly before his return to Europe in August, 1852.— JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART. 213 The Surata Valley, which was followed up from Bucaramanga to Surata, our first objective in the La Baja region, was largely arid cactus country. North of Surata densely wooded valleys gave us quite a different type of vegetation. Our main headquarters were established at California, about four miles south of La Baja. From this point Mr. Smith made a week's trip to the region about Vetas, visiting the paramos of Vetas, Santurban, Mogorotoco, Rico, and Frailejonale. The following week I spent in the vicinity of La Baja, collecting on the paramos of Las FIGURE 4. Edge of the Mesa de los Santos, looking towards mountains of Las Vegas. Puentes, Las Coloradas, and Romeral. Following a different route back to Bucaramanga, Mr. Smith found an exceptionally rich vegetation in the neighborhood of Charta, obtaining here 425 collection numbers. Our work in the general region of Bucaramanga having been completed, we had the choice of proceeding north to Ocana ( returning to the coast by the Magdalena River) or east to Pamplona and the Venezuelan border. Although there were many historic localities near Ocana which we should have liked to visit, the wholly unexplored eastern part appealed to us more. Mention should be made of the many courtesies extended to the expedition by officials of the Department of Santander and 214 the citizens of Bucaramanga. The governor assigned a school building to us for headquarters, assisted in procuring mules and ] ' • • •~ r$ « -*\- ' fir ^? H m - J. * '•" i. * § *} '$' 4 1 1 ""• 1-;;. ' t FIGURE 5. A tall columnar cactus in the Surata Valley, the services of a peon, placed prison gangs at our disposal to move luggage, and supplied us with letters of introduction to leading citizens of towns we were to visit. This valuable assistance repre- sents only a part of the much appreciated help which we received throughout our trip. Letters which the Colombian Minister at Washington gave us were of inestimable value on many occasions. Representatives of the Singer Sewing Machine Company aided in the shipment of baggage, and generously acted as consignees for receiving at Cartagena and forwarding to Xew York boxes of dried specimens we sent from the interior. The road from Bucaramanga eastward took us through alternately wooded and open valleys upward to the vast Paramo of Santurban— the bleak region that so effectively cuts off the northeastern part of Colombia from the rest of the country—- across the paramo and down through Mutiscua, in a generally arid region, to Pamplona. The part of the paramo through which the trail passed apparently was too high— 4,200 to 4,500 meters— for good collecting, but at El Roble and Tona, on the western side, and on the descent to Pamplona, many interesting things were discovered. In the immediate vicinity of Pamplona nearly all the land had been cleared so we decided to move on to Toledo, nearly due eastward and only a few miles from the Venezuelan border. On the way there we passed through such interesting country that we frequently were obliged to alter our schedule and spend an extra day or two, with an Indian hut or an isolated posada as a base. After two weeks spent at Toledo we returned to Pamplona by way of the Paramo del Hatico. As the time limit on our return tickets to Xew York had nearly expired, we went from Pamplona to Puerto Colombia by the quickest route, via Cucuta, Maracaibo, and Curacao, making small collections at Chinacota and La Esmeralda ( between Pamplona and Cucuta) and at Curacao and Santa Marta. I cannot conclude this review of the trip without expressing my very keen appreciation of the work done by Mr. Smith. A delightful traveling companion, full of enthusiasm, he acquired, in an amazingly short time, a most useful knowledge of tropical plant groups, collected unceasingly, and developed marked ability in the art of making herbarium specimens. I trust that he has further opportunity for botanical field work. 2l6 COLLECTIONS Approximately 7,150 numbers were collected, the principal groups being represented as follows: Lower cryptogams 506 Ericaceae ( part) 92 Ferns 780 Thibaudia ( and allies) . . . 65 Araceae 74 Convolvulaceae Jj Orchidaceae 286 Cordiae 66 Piperaceae 226 Solanaceae 204 Loranthaceae 57 Rubiaceae 216 Mimosaceae and Caesalpi- Centropogon ( and allies). 89 niaceae 208 Fupatorieae 221 Monnina 32 All other Compositae . . . . 475 Passirloraceae 118 Woody plants constitute about 36 per cent, of the collection. The number collected at each of the principal localities follows: Cartagena- Turbaco- Calamar 721 Puerto Wilches 219 Mesa de los Santos 528 Las Vegas 741 Vetas, California, Surata, La Baja, and Charta . . 3,000 Bucaramanga to Pamplona 424 Toledo, and en route 975 Pamplona to Cucuta 186 Curacao 38 Puerto Colombia and Santa Marta 175 The distribution of the material among the cooperating institutions will follow in general the plan adopted by Dr. Pennell in the case of our 1922 collection. Mr. Smith recently spent ten days in Washington, giving valuable assistance in laying out sets. It is hoped that distribution to the cooperating institutions can be made by early fall. PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK Photographs of about 100 woody plants were taken. Prints will be distributed with the corresponding specimens in the sets for The New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Herbarium, and the National Museum. These negatives will then be deposited at the Arnold Arboretum, in accordance with an understanding with Dr. Sargent. Numerous photographs of the general vegetation and of the life of the country were also taken; these will be kept 217 at the National Museum, and are, of course, available to the other institutions. FINANCES The attached statement shows the receipts and nature of the disbursements; an itemized statement is on file here. Changes in conditions in Colombia within the past five years resulted in a larger expenditure for various items than was anticipated at the time the project was first outlined. That we were able to accom- FIGURE 6. Paramo of Santurban, showing frailejones. plish the work substantially within the amount originally subscribed was largely due to the generosity of Mr. Cutter, President of the United Fruit Company, in giving the expedition free transportation to and from Colombia. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, lent the fibre- board valises which had proved so serviceable in 1922, permitting a saving of at least $ 75.00. Professor Stevens, of the University of Illinois, gave us his equipment for drying specimens. The National Museum supplied all the driers, corrugated boards, and paper used on the trip, as well as many other supplies incident to collecting. The National Museum is also having printed the necessary 40,000 labels ( nearly 100 forms). The difference between cost and selling prices of mules may seem abnormally high, but we were obliged to buy animals at 2l8 Bucaramanga, a city dependent wholly on mules for freight transportation, where prices have been greatly influenced by oil and coffee booms, and to sell them in Cucuta, the junction point of three railroads and several automobile roads. A small additional expense in connection with labeling and preparing the sets for distribution I believe is justifiable. In order that the specimens may be available for study as promptly as possible and may be clearly labeled, I propose to engage stenographic assistance. A memorandum of this will be sent the institutions at the time the sets are distributed. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Receipts New York Botanical Garden $ 1000.00 Gray Herbarium, of Harvard University 600.00 Arnold Arboretum, of Harvard University 600.00 Mr. Oakes Ames 600.00 Mr. Ellsworth P. Killip 150.00 $ 2950.00 Disbursements Transportation ( railroad, boat) $ 358- 34 Transportation ( mule) Purchase of mules $ 1070.00 Credit, sale of mules 530- 00 $ 540.00 Purchase equipment S1^ 0 Rent, extra mules 155- 35 Keep of mules 14382 890.67 Baggage transfer 175- 49 Board and lodging 653.68 Provisions 30.66 Kerosene 112.00 Equipment Cost $ 215.63 Credit sale 15.00 200.63 Cab and auto hire 40.30 Help Wages, regular peon $ 105.00 Keep, regular peon 56.84 Extra men 63.69 225.53 Photographic work Supplies $ 48.74 Developing 17.10 65.84 Customs and immigration fees 36.80 Shipment specimens to coast 128.07 Postage and miscellany 24.61 $ 2942.62 Balance $ 7.38 FUTURE WORK I N COLOMBIA The three expeditions which have gone into Colombia since the project for the botanical exploration of northern South America was undertaken ten years ago have brought back nearly 20,000 collection numbers. The Pacific slope has been visited at central and southern points; the Cauca Valley at northern, central, and southern; the Central Cordillera at central and southern; the Magdalena Valley at several points between Giradot and the coast; the Eastern Cordillera at northern and central points; the Atlantic coastal region at Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta. More thorough work should be done in at least two of these general areas. In the short time that he was able to spend on the Cerro Tatama, Dr. Pennell collected a large number of new species. Other isolated peaks in this northern part of the Western Andes should be visited. Similarly, the day and a half I spent in the Micay region, in the southern part of the Pacific slope, resulted in the collection of such a large number of new species and genera that without doubt this whole region, from the Micay river south to the Ecuador boundary and east to Pasto, would justify careful exploration. To round out the work in Colombia so that a comprehensive flora of the country may be prepared, collections should be made in three additional areas: 1. The Santa Marta mountains above 6,000 feet altitude. This is an isolated mountain mass with no apparent connection with the main Cordilleras. There is every indication that its flora is a local one, and doubtless many new species would result from work there. Plerbert H. Smith apparently confined his collecting to lower altitudes and the vegetation between 6,000 feet and snowline is almost unknown. 2. The Atrato region. The forested area adjacent to Panama is very scantily represented in herbaria. Because of its geographical position valuable data could doubtless be obtained as to distribution of species. 3. Southeastern Colombia. Our two weeks' work at Toledo, near the Venezuelan border, led to the belief that the eastern FIGURE 7. Tree of the Compositae family on the Paramo Romeral. slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, including the Plains of Casanare and the Sierra Nevada de Cocui, would prove remarkably productive. The region could best be reached by Maracaibo and Cucuta, the party going from Cocui southeast to Orocue, on the Meta River, then down this river and the Orinoco to the coast, thus including a preliminary survey of the untouched southeastern half of the Republic. To attempt to cover this area thoroughly in the immediate future is almost hopeless, but I believe the trip here outlined would prove most advantageous. ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. CACTI* Cacti are confined naturally to America, and although most abundantly developed, both in size and numbers, in and near the American tropics, they are not confined to those regions. In the north- temperate zone the geographic ranges of a few kinds of prickly- pears ( Opuntia) extend up into southern Canada, while in the south- temperate zone many kinds of cacti are found in Chile and Argentina. The occurrence of a few species of a certain genus ( Rhipsalis) in Africa is attributed to the activities of migratory birds which are ravenously fond of such provender and thus assist in the wide dispersal of the cactus seeds. These particular plants are mistletoe- like both in habit and in the small pellucid glutinous fruits. A parallel example of distribution has rather recently come to light in southern Florida. The birds usually alight near the tips of branches of trees, and there the mistletoe- like cactus ( Rhipsalis)— sometimes called pencil- cactus, on account of the slender pencil- like joints of the stem— grows on the oak trees, planted there doubtless by migratory birds coming up from the West Indies where the pencil- cactus in question, Rhipsalis Cassutha, is so plentiful in the forests. The unusual characteristics of the cacti were promptly appreciated by the discoverers of the New World, for several kinds of flat- jointed cacti ( Opuntiae) were taken back to the Old World by the European expeditioners in early post- Columbian times, and became naturalized in the Mediterranean region. Here they have since maintained a foothold. Again, towards the end of the last century, other kinds, presumably from Mexico and South America, were carried to Australia. But here, carelessly thrown away by settlers, these plant- strangers not only promptly became naturalized but overran the land like wild- fire, spreading both by vegetative parts and by seeds, thus furnishing a conspicuous example of how well the group had perfected its methods of propagation. They have already taken possession of millions of acres. The end is not in sight. To date, having defied all methods of extermination, they are spreading into new fields, entailing great financial losses. * Abstract of a lecture and demonstration given in Conservatory Range No. 2 of The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, January 29, 1927. The great cactus centers are in the southwestern United States, in Mexico, in parts of South America, and in the West Indies. New York lies in one of the minor cactus areas— the eastern Coastal Plain, extending from Massachusetts to Florida. The real extent of this cactus field was not realized until lately. 1 The ancestry of the cacti is obscure— lost, together with much similar matter, in the wreckage of the later geologic times. There is not even an indication of their remote ancestors preserved as fossils. We may safely assume that during the wide- spread destruction of more recent geologic times, the cacti were safely preserved in the highlands, while those in the lowlands succumbed. Thus, the present cactus- population of the coastwise region and coastal plains was, evidently, derived from highland ancestors. The cacti, in comparison with what we may term ordinary plants-— herbaceous and woody— present a series of irregularities — exceptions to regular behavior in function and structure. They represent a kind of intermediate state. They are really neither herbs nor shrubs or trees. They resemble, on the whole, the latter category, but the wood is so scant and the soft tissue so abundant that, in bulk of one kind of tissue, they are herbaceous. Functionally considered, several closely associated conditions stand out prominently. One of the most striking characteristics of cacti is the absence of leaves in the vast majority of the kinds. As deserts became the typical homes of cacti, leaves would be a distinct detriment to the plant, under the normal conditions existing there, for the moisture would be given off from the plant more rapidly than the roots could supply it from the scant reserve in the soil. So, leaves were in most cases long ago dispensed with, and the transpiration area reduced to the surface of the stem, which in all respects now functions as a leaf. Thus such nourishment as the plant can secure is used to build up stem- tissue, and ultimately flowers and fruits. The lack of leaves may account, at least in part, for the unusually large size or great number of flowers and fruits in proportion to the size of the plant or stem. In addition, the transpiration of moisture is also partly regulated— reduced or accelerated— from within the stem. The sap or cell- content is largely mucilaginous, and latex, or milk, is 1 See Journal of The New York Botanical Garden 26: 241- 258, 265- 285. 1925. 223 also sometimes present. The condition of this gummy cell- sap, regulated according to external conditions, when thicker checks transpiration and when thinner accelerates it accordingly. In addition, in case a plant is wounded, this mucilage promptly spreads a coating over the exposed tissues, and then forms a callus by which serious infection is prevented from gaining access to the internal tissues of the plant. Cactus plants are often very adaptive to different kinds of habitats— even crossing the gap between the terrestrial and the epiphytic. The prickly- pear ( Opuntia), prickly- apple ( Harrisia), and dildoe ( Acanthocereus) will grow on the limbs of broadleaved trees in dry- land regions where seeds have been accidentally planted by birds, or in swampy regions where their normal habitat is in the trees above the ground which is too continuously wet to permit their roots to function properly. Another group worthy of mention is semi- epiphytic, or more strictly speaking, petrophytic. This condition is well illustrated by the two tree- cacti ( Cephalocereus) of the Florida Keys. Their habitat provides ( or allows) boundless room for the aerial parts, but very little for the subterranean. The ponderous succulent trees grow on the plate- like surface of the oolitic limestone in the case of Cephalocereus Deeringii, and of the coral- limestone in the case of C. keyensis. The root- system of these plants compared with the aerial parts is almost negligible. Whatever soil is present to cover the roots is largely humus. Very likely a friendly mycorhiza helps in the remarkable growth of the plant. Structurally considered, the cactus plant exhibits unusual forms from seed to fruit. The several characteristic structures, gross and fine, vegetative or floral, indicate a long and mighty struggle of the family to maintain itself against extinction. As a group and individually the plants have fortified themselves to resist and overcome adverse environments, have made trebly sure the propagation and maintenance of their kinds. Succulent tissues predominate from the roots to the fruits. For example, the roots, the underground parts, of slender caliber often grow to great lengths in search of moisture and nourishment. In more favorable habitats the caliber of the roots increases and the length diminishes, sometimes to such a degree that they form thick, even globular, tuber- like structures. These 224 subterranean succulent structures, whether attached to or separated from the parent plant, may give rise to a new plant. The stems, the aerial parts— varying from cord- like to columnar, barrel- like, tub- like, bowl- shaped, or pad- like— are abundantly stored with water and nourishment, and thus not only favorably adapted for resisting and surviving destructive desert conditions, under which most of them grow, but also for making possible a method of vegetative propagation, additional to the roots. The stems are either continuous or jointed. A stem or a section- " joint " thrown to the ground may give rise to new plants. The stems are often spine- armed, with the spines sometimes developed to such a degree that they hide the stems. The armament aids in increasing vegetative propagation, notwithstanding the fact that on first thought it might seem to diminish it as an agent to warn and keep animals away. However, the juicy stem or the enticing fruit lures many an animal to be a mechanical broadcaster of cactus plants. The tips of the spines are more or less barbed and although they penetrate the skin of the carrier with ease, they will maintain a tenacious hold in an animal's hide and may be carried and planted far from the parent. Here may be mentioned the singular mechanics of the cactus stem— a mechanism to insure the longer life of the individual. For example, in the case of the columnar or cereoid types, with their mass of soft watery tissues, we do not find the stem round and even, but strongly, often copiously ribbed. The ribs, of course, give the axis added strength. On the other hand, the " joints " of the opuntioid kinds, that is, those plants with flattened internodes—" pads," as they are often called— are often placed successively criss- cross so that only about half the surface of the plant is exposed to the wind whichever way it may blow. As mentioned above, the leaves have, in most cases, become rudimentary or been eliminated, the bark of the stem and branches and the armament functioning for the leaves as far as is necessary. On the other hand, flowers and fruits are, in the present- day cacti, often produced in unusual quantities or bulk, compared with the vegetative part of the plant. The flowers, usually conspicuous, often very showy, are especially adapted to insure propagation, in this instance by seeds. The flower may be described as funnelform, the tube ( hypanthium) and limb ( perianth) varying almost infinitely in pro- 225 portions of form and size. The showy perianth, either diurnal or nocturnal, white or of all shades of colors, except blue, is attractive to insects. Within are numerous, often almost myriad, stamens, whose anthers await the insect visitors with pollen ever ready to be transferred to the stigmas. The flowers, so unusual, in connection with the parts that bear them, render cacti very important horticultural subjects, whether used in the open in warm climates or under glass in the colder climes. The fruits, too, are useful in ornamental gardening. These are of a multitude of shapes and sizes— mainly pear- shaped, club-shaped, barrel- shaped, egg- shaped, and globular. They exhibit shades of nearly all colors, except blue, and are dull or shiny. They are unarmed or spine- armed, and sometimes hairy. Unlike the flowers, which are short- lived, frequently only a day or a night, the fruits are usually long- persistent. Fresh and cured cactus- fruits have formed a very important, in fact almost indispensable, food in the life of aboriginal man in America since times remote. Take, for example, two instructive quotations from brave Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, written in the early part of the sixteenth century: " In order to cheer us, they would tell us not to dispair, since we would have tunas [ prickly- pears] very soon and eat much and drink their juice and get big stomachs and be merry, contented and without hunger.'' " During all the time we ate tunas [ prickly- pears] we felt thirsty. To allay our thirst we drank the juice of the fruit, pouring it first into a pit which we dug in the soil, and when that was full we drank to satisfaction. The Indians do it in that way, out of lack of vessels. The juice is sweet and has the color of must. There are many kinds of tunas, and some very good ones, although to me all tasted well alike, hunger never leaving me time to select, or stop to think which ones were better." It is a description that would almost fit certain tribes and seasons in America to- day— especially in the desert reaches of our own Southwest and Mexico. Some of the larger prickly- pears are gathered from both wild and cultivated plants, in great quantities and consumed in many of the larger cities. And need we mention that the juice of some of the fruits of cacti is made into a primitive alcoholic drink? Other kinds furnish primitive man with a drug and a narcotic. This is notably 226 the case in the so- called " mescal button "— not to be confused with the mescal magueys of Mexico. The use of the mescal button, or peyote ( Lophophora), among the Indians has its counterpart in our own present narcotic problem. Among some tribes it is even the basis of a religious cult. As the " fruits " of the prickly- pear are mainly a modified " joint " or " pad," it may be proper to refer here to the use of these succulent stems as a vegetable in the cuisine of some present-day semiaboriginal peoples, and to refer again to two quotations from de Vaca which record that, " We lost the trail and found ourselves in a big forest, where we gathered plenty of leaves [ pads] of tunas which we roasted that same night in an oven made by ourselves, and so much heat did we give them that in the morning they were fit to be eaten." Also, " and gave us of what they had to eat, which were leaves [ pads] of tunas and green tunas baked." The cactus confection made by impregnating the pulp of some of the larger kinds with sugar is well known. The cactus also serves as a forage plant for animals, wild and tame, when pasturage is lacking, in which case spineless or almost spineless plants have been selected or in the case of very spiny plants the armament is burned off prior to feeding. The spines themselves, in the case of some species, have been used as needles for phonographs and similar instruments. Nor was only the fruit itself important. Among various primitive folk the seeds were— and still are— ground up for flour, and like the pulp of the fruits they are sometimes used as a coloring-agent or dye. In this connection it may be mentioned that various kinds of cactus plants serve as hosts for the cochineal scale- insect, the female of which yields a brilliant scarlet dye, and is also used medicinally. Of late the cactus has come into its own as an elite house plant. Many a city apartment has a small cactus garden— in a large dish or a tray— comprising living specimens of the dwarf, often rarer species of our deserts. This fad may be useful in awakening the interest of the children of the urban deserts in plants, but, unfortunately, it has already resulted in the extinction of some colonies of the rarer species of our glorious unpeopled deserts. JOHN K. SMALL. TWO NATIVE BIGENF. RIC HYBRIDS For over 2$ years there have been in the herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden two sheets of a peculiar shrub of the Apple Family. They were collected in 1901 and 1902 by Brother Louis Arsene at a place east of Chapeau, on the French island of Miquelon, off the south shore of Newfoundland. In a note on the older sheet, the discoverer has made the statement that it is a very rare plant and that it has been collected only at the locality mentioned. On the other sheet is given the information that it grows 1- 2.5 m- nigh- It represents without much doubt a bi-generic hybrid of the American Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana Marsh., and a Chokeberry, Aronia atropurpurea Britton. Its leaves are 2- 7 cm. long, with the texture, pubescence, and toothing of the Chokeberry, but all, except a few of tlie earliest ones, have the lower portion pinnate, and the upper portion cleft or lobed, with the terminal segment large, thus approaching in shape those of the other parent. The inflorescence and flowers resemble those of Aronia, the former being small and with ascending branches. ( See FIGURE A.) The other bigeneric hybrid is represented by a sheet in the herbarium of the University of Minnesota. It was collected by William C. Cusick on mountain sides near Cornucopia, Oregon. The sheet bears the number 1380 and is erroneously labeled Pyrus sambucifolia. The label states also that it is a small straggling shrub. It is probably a hybrid between the Western Mountain Ash, Sorbus occidentalis, and a species of Juneberry, Amelan-chier. The leaves have the light green color of S. occidentalis, but are thinner. Some of the earlier leaves are simple, but the rest are pinnate below, with 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets, which are like those of 5". occidentalis, entire- margined below and dentate towards the apex. The terminal leaflet is much larger, broader, more toothed, and often lobed. The inflorescence is compound as in Sorbus, but the young fruit resembles that of Amelanchier. It is hard to tell which species of Amelanchier is the other parent, as the leaves ( and also the leaflets) are more acute than in any of the Oregon species of the genus. I think that A. florida Lindl., however, is the most likely one, having more oblong leaves than the rest. ( See FIGURE B.) P. A. RYDBERG. FIGURE A. Aronia atropurpurea X Sorbus americana. FIGURE B. Amelanchier floridaC?) X Sorbus occidentalis. 229 BOTANIZING IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO1 Several years ago the speaker had the privilege of spending a summer botanizing in the high mountains of Colorado. It is difficult for one living in the east to get a very clear idea of the size of some of these western states and to realize that Colorado is twice the size of the State of New York or as large as the whole of New England with the state of Indiana added. We think of Colorado as a mountainous state, but as a matter of fact, one- third of this state consists of level and for the most part arid plains. After a trip from Chicago to Denver through the fertile valleys of the Mississippi and the arid plains of western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, one is able to appreciate more fully the significance of the term " wide expanses of the west" and many would be interested in finding at the foot of the Rockies one of the most thriving inland cities of America, the city of Denver, which was used as our headquarters during our stay in Colorado. One of the first and most interesting mountain expeditions made was over the so- called Moffat Road, a road which was planned many years ago by David Moffat, one of the pioneers of Colorado, with the dream of connecting Denver and Salt Lake City by more direct route and opening up western Colorado, one of the most extensive undeveloped portions of the United States. At the time of our visit to Colorado this road had been completed just over the crest of the mountains and was operated as one of the most beautiful scenic railroads in America. A temporary collecting base was established in Tolland, at an elevation of nearly nine thousand feet. From this point expeditions were made in various directions through the mountains and many interesting collections of fungi obtained. Since our visit to Colorado the builders of this scenic railroad have conceived and executed the plan of boring through the mountains for a distance of more than six miles in order to eliminate twenty- three miles of track and the difficulties of traversing the mountains during the winter season. This tunnel, completed during the past year, is the longest railroad tunnel in America. 1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture given at The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, June 18, 1927. 230 The most extensive collecting trip of our entire stay in Colorado was in the Geneva Creek Canyon, a branch of the Piatt River Canyon. This is reached by taking the narrow- gauge line of the Colorado and Southern Railway, which ascends the canyon by keeping close to the river, a swift- flowing clear stream which as it falls over the rocks adds much to the beauty of the natural scenery of the canyon. Leaving Denver in the morning, we arrived at Grant about noon, a distance of nearly one hundred miles from Denver. From this point we ascended the Geneva Creek Canyon by team to a distance of three miles. Here between two mountain streams is a small park in which a number of log cabins had been built to serve as temporary homes for summer resorters, and in one of these cabins we made our home for ten days. Our cabin was surrounded by numerous gulches and mountain streams and the most of our collecting was confined to these, since the mountain sides were too dry to aiford much outside of a few of the larger woody fungi. The small creeks which flowed through these gulches were bordered with mossy bogs which furnished many species of the smaller fleshy fungi. We extended our collecting trips up the canyon and on one occasion reached the crest of the mountain- range at a distance of from twelve to fifteen miles from our cabin and here attained an elevation of between 13,000 and 14,000 feet. Above timberline the conditions were not favorable for collecting fungi, as would naturally be supposed; but the speaker was surprised to find a few fleshy cup- fungi in mossy places even at some distance above snow- line. At the crest of the mountain- range vegetation of all kinds was very scant. One of the most interesting spots visited in the vicinity of our cabin was Geneva Park. The term park as here used applies to any level valley between mountain- ranges. Geneva Park, which was located about three miles above our cabin, is at an elevation of between 9,000 and 10,000 feet and covers an area five to seven miles long and one to two miles wide. The approach leading to the park is very steep and rocky and probably represents the terminal moraine of a local glacier. The park would then result from the filling in of this natural reservoir with the wash from the mountain sides above. The entire region is surrounded by 231 mountains, except the comparatively narrow pass which furnishes an outlet for the creek which flows through it. The land itself is nearly level and the soil is swampy and furnishes a good substratum for fungi. The lecture in which the experiences of this expedition were outlined in detail was well illustrated with numerous slides showing both the desert and mountain scenery of our Rocky Mountain state. While the object of the excursion was to collect and study the fungi of the region, some attention was also given to the higher plants and numerous colored slides were used to illustrate the gorgeous colors of the mountain flora. FRED J. SEAVER. RELATION OF SOILS TO PLANT GROWTH1 The speaker emphasized the close inter- relation between the soil, climate, and vegetation. Thus, in the United States, the various crop regions, such as the cotton belt or the wheat belt, are associated with fairly definite climatic zones and soil types. The most important single factor in crop growth is the moisture in the soil. On the average about 400 ounces of water must be supplied to the plant for each ounce of dry material produced. Recent research has shown that the power of the soil to draw up water from below for the plant roots is much less than was formerly supposed, a conclusion that emphasizes the necessity of conserving the moisture in the top two or three feet of soil. This may be done by the incorporation of organic material such as barnyard manure, etc., and by maintaining a loose mulch of dried soil on the surface, which acts as a blanket and prevents evaporation. It is also necessary to keep the soil in a good physical condition, or tilth, so that the plant rootlets can readily ramify and penetrate the interstices of the soil in search of moisture. A good physical condition also encourages the activities of the soil microorganisms whose functions are to break down the residues of vegetation and manures into simpler compounds that plants can 1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture by the Assistant Director of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, England, given at The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, June 4, 1927. 232 assimilate. These lowly forms of life— bacteria and fungi— are present in huge numbers in fertile soil. In one teaspoonful of soil the number of bacteria alone is several times greater than the entire population of the United States. The study of the soil population and its activities absorbs much of the activities of all agricultural experiment stations. The subject is highly complex, but it is possible that in the future methods of beneficial control will be evolved that will be as epoch- making for agriculture as was the introduction of artificial fertilizers. The lecture was illustrated with lantern slides, which included photographs of some of the famous experimental fields at Rothamsted and a series of colored reproductions taken mainly from medieval tapestries and illuminated manuscripts showing the development of cultivation implements from their crude prehistoric form to their present pattern. B. A. KEEN. NOTES ON FLORIDA MOSSES1 The two Florida mosses exhibited were collected by Mr. Rapp in the vicinity of Sanford, a town situated on Lake Monroe, scarcely half way down the peninsular and some 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. This region has furnished a good many interesting species obtained by the same collector, although at an elevation of only a few feet above the ocean. The entire state, indeed, has no mountains and its highest hills have an altitude of only some 300 feet. Possibly the walls of sink- holes and more or less underground streams furnish shade and moisture somewhat similar to conditions in mountain canyons, thus permitting an unusual abundance and variety in the moss flora for so flat a country. The first specimen shown ranks among the smallest of our mosses. On the bit of rock scarcely one- half inch square are doubtless 150 or more individual plants varying from one- half to one millimeter high and appearing rather like a greenish felt over the surface. The genus represented is Splachnobryum, of which 1 Abstract of a report presented at the Conference of the Scientific Staff and Registered Students of The New York Botanical Garden on February 2, 1927. 233 there are some 34 described species, rather widely scattered over the world except in Europe, where no species has yet been found native. The genus was first observed in the United States growing on flower pots containing tropical plants, the original home of this particular species being unknown. Another species, previously known in Mexico, has recently been collected in Arizona by Bartram, while this Florida species makes the third found in the United States. The plants of this last are rather bud- like, with a few broadly ovate to oblong leaves, their margins crenulate nearly all round by the somewhat inflated cells. The longer leaves measure about one- third millimeter in length. The second moss shown was of a very different class, ranking among the larger members of its genus and forming extensive green mats over the earth, with trailing stems several centimeters long. It is a species of 0xyrrhynchium, nearest related to 0. speciosum of Europe, found rarely in Britain and in some of the central and southern alpine regions. The genus is characterized among other things by having a rough seta and the nerve of the leaf ending in a thorn- like point a little below the apex of the leaf on the under side. The Florida plant, although very similar to the European at first glance, seems constantly to differ slightly in the relatively shorter and broader stem- leaves and longer- pointed perichaetial leaves. R. S. WILLIAMS. PUBLIC LECTURES DURING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER The free illustrated lectures of The New York Botanical Garden during September and October are given in the Museum Building on Saturday afternoons at four o'clock. Doors are opened at 4: 15 to admit late- comers. The program follows: Sept. 3. " The Big Trees of California," Dr. H. A. Gleason. Sept. 10. " Rarer Wild Flowers of New York City and Vicinity," Mrs. N. L. Britton. Sept. 17. " Some Successional Aspects of the Local Vegetation," Prof. George E. Nichols. Sept. 24. " The Westchester County Park System," Mr. Jay Downer. 234 Oct. i. " Dahlias " ( Exhibit of living collection), Dr. Marshall A. Howe. Oct. 8. " In Southern California," Mr. Howard H. Cleaves. Oct. 15. " Autumn Coloration," Dr. A. B. Stout. Oct. 22. " The Campaign against Diseases of Our Food Plants," Mr. F. C Meier. Oct. 29. " The Flora of the Catskill Mountains," Prof. Oliver P. Medsger. NOTES, NEW7S, AND COMMENT A period of violent thunder- storms during the latter part of July, with a total precipitation of 9.75 inches for the month, culminated on the afternoon of August 1st in one of intense violence and heavy rainfall, causing the Bronx River to rise over its banks and flood the north meadows and woods for the first time in several years, forming temporary ponds and pools in all the valleys and depressions, and washing banks and paths so as to require repairs at many places. At least four large trees were struck by lightning. Rainfalls during the month of August amounted to 9.97 inches, bringing the precipitation of the two months to the remarkable total of 19.72 inches. And September 1 added 2.69 inches! Brother Leon, Professor in the College of La Salle, Havana, who came to New York to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Columbia University at the commencement exercises in June, has spent parts of June and July at the Garden, in continuation of studies of the Cuban flora, which in cooperation with members of the Garden staff, have extended over more than fifteen years. During this period he has made large collections of plants in all the provinces of Cuba, forming an herbarium at the College of La Salle, which has become the most important one in Cuba; duplicate specimens have been contributed by him to the herbarium of the Garden. His botanical exploration of Cuba has revealed many species new to science, and has added greatly to our knowledge of many others. Miss Elsa Rehmann, Landscape Architect, of Newark, N. J., gave an illustrated lecture on July 9 at The New York Botanical 235 Garden on " The Landscape Treatment of Small Grounds." She is the author of recently published books entitled " The Small Place " and " Garden Making." In her lecture, Miss Rehmann dwelt particularly upon three important elements. First, she emphasized the importance of hedges and hedgerows, for the beauty of the small place depends upon its enclosure which separates it from its neighbor and makes it complete in itself. She took up, secondly, the planting against the house. She regrets the overemphasis of the miscellaneous evergreen planting, which she considers an unfortunate fad of the present and she looks forward to a finer understanding of this important subject, for as she put it, " trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers are not to be planted for themselves alone but are to be arranged and adapted to the house against which they are used." And thirdly, she suggested a few of the elements of the little flower garden, its placing, its background, its paths and borders, for the real beauty of the flowers gathered in a garden depends upon them. Mr. Montague Free, Horticulturist at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden gave an illustrated lecture on " Rock Gardens " in the Museum Building of The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, July 23. Mr. Free is a graduate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, and for many years has specialized in the cultivation of rock plants. Rock gardens, said Mr. Free, are becoming increasingly popular in this country. It is not at all surprising to those who know something of the beauty and fascination of alpine plants, which are largely used in the embellishment of rock gardens. Rock gardening is peculiarly well adapted to those who like to do their own gardening, and also to those who have the collector's instinct, because many of these alpine plants are so diminutive that a large collection of them may be grown on a very small area. About one hundred colored slides were used to illustrate the lecture. Some of these were obtained in Europe, illustrating European gardens, and some in this country. Among the interesting slides were those showing the famous rock garden at Friar Park in England, which contains a replica to scale of the peak of the Matterhorn, and covers several acres of ground. Many rare alpines were also illustrated, including such plants as the Lad)' of the Snows, Anemone ver-nalis, Saxifraga " Faldonside," Oxalis adenophylla, etc. Meteorology for July. The total precipitation for the month was 9.75 inches. The maximum temperatures recorded at the Garden for each week were 870 on the 3rd, 820 on the 9th, p^° on the 13th, 83° on the 20th, and 92 ° on the 29th. The minimum temperatures were 54° on the 1st, 500 on the 5th, 580 on the 12th, l) i° on the 24th, and 61" on the 26th and 28th. ACCESSIONS LIBRARY ACCESSIONS FROM MAY I TO JUNE 10, 1927 ASUN, MARY S., comp. Catalogue of the printed books on agriculture [ in the Rothamstt'd experimental station library], published between 1471 and 1840, with notes on the authors, n. p. 1926. BABCOCK, ERNEST BROWN, & CLAUSEN, ROY ELWOOD. Genetics in relation to agriculture. Ed. 2. New York, 1927. BABINCTON, CHARLES CARDALE. Manual of British botany. Ed, 10, zvith amended nomenclature and an appendix, edited by A. J. IVilmott. London, 1922. BAILEY, HENRY TURNER. The tree folk. Cambridge, 1925. BAILEY, LIBERTY HYDE. The outlook to nature. New and rev. ed. New York, .1924. BARNARD, CHARLES. The strawberry garden. Philadelphia, n. d. BARNES, PARKER THAYER. Plousc plants and how to grow them. Garden City, 1923 [ 1909]. BARRON, LEONARD. Lawn making, together zvith the proper keeping of putting greens. Garden City, 1923. BARRON, LEONARD, & OTHERS. Flozvcr growing, revised and adapted from the text of I. D. Bennett's " The floivcr garden." Garden City, 1926. BENNETT, IDA DANDRIDGE. The vegetable garden; a manual for the amateur vegetable gardener. Garden City, 1914. BEVIS, JAMES FREDERICK, & JEFKERY, HENRY JOHN. British plants; their biology and ecology. Ed. 2. London, 1920. BEWLKY, YV. F. Diseases of greenhouse plants. London, 1923. BEWS, JOHN WILLIAM. Plant forms and their evolution in South Africa-. London, 1925. BLACK, JOHN MCCONNELL. The naturalized flora of South Australia. Adelaide, 1909. Botanischc Abhandlungcn; herausgegeben von K. Gocbcl. Heft. 1- 10. Jena, J 922- 26. BOWER, FREDERIC ORPEN. Botany of the living plant. Ed. 2. London, 1923. BROWN, HARRY BATES. Cotton: history, species, varieties, morphology, breeding, culture, diseases, marketing, and uses. New York, 1927. PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes. news, and non- technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To others, 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its twenty- eighth volume. Mycologia, bimonthly, devoted to fungi, including lichens: $ 4.00 a year; single copies not for sale. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its nineteenth volume. Addisonia, quarterly, devoted exclusively to colored plates accompanied by popular descriptions of flowering plants; eight plates in each number, thirty- two in each volume. Subscription price, $ 10.00 a year. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its twelfth volume. Bulletin of The New York Botanical Garden, containing reports of the Director- in- Chief and other official documents, and technical articles embodying results of investigations. Free to all members of the Garden; to others, $ 3.00 per volume. Now in its thirteenth volume. North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North America, including Greenland, the West Indies, and Central America. Planned to be completed in 34 volumes. Roy. Svo. Each volume to consist of four or more parts. $ 6 parts now issued. Subscription price. Si. 50 per part; a limited number of separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.] Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden. Price to members of the Garden, vols. I- YI, $ 1.50 per volume; to others, $ 3.00. Vol. VII, $ 2.50 to members; to others, $ 5.00. Vol. I. An Annotated Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone Park, by Per Axel Rydberg. ix- f- 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. 1003. Vol. III. Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischerville, New York, by A. Hollick and E. C. Jeffrey, xiii- h 138 pp., with 29 plates. 1009. Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart Gager. viii + 47S pp., with 73 figures and 14 plates. 1908. Vol. V. Flora of the Vicinity of New York: A Contribution to Plant Geography, by Norman Taylor, vi + 6S3 pp.. with 9 plates. 1915. Vol. VI. Papers presented at the Celebration of the Twentieth Anniversary of The New York Botanical Garden, viii + 594 pp., with 43 plates and many text figures. 1916. Vol. VII. Includes New Myxophyceae from Porto Rico, by N. L. Gardner; The Flower Behavior of Avocados, by A. B. Stout; Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Plants Collected on the Mulford Biological Exploration of the Amazon Valley, 1021- 1922, by H. H. Rusby: and The Flora of the Saint Eugene Silts. Kootenay Valley, British Columbia, by Arthur Hollick. viii - j- 464 PP-, with 47 plates, 10 charts, and 11 text- figures. 1927. Contributions from The New York Botanical Garden. A series of technical papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted from journals other than the above. Frice, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per volume. In the twelfth volume. THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN Bronx Park, New York City GENERAL INFORMATION Some of the leading features of The New York Botanical Garden are: Four hundred acres of beautifully diversified land in the northern part of the City of New York, through which flows the Bronx River. A native hemlock forest is one of the features of the tract. Plantations of thousands of native and introduced trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Gardens, including a beautiful rose garden, a rock garden of rock-loving plants, and fern and herbaceous gardens. Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America and foreign countries. Flower shows throughout the year— in the spring, summer, and autumn displays of narcissi, daffodils, tulips, irises, peonies, roses, lilies, water-lilies, gladioli, dahlias, and chrysanthemums; in the winter, displays of greenhouse- blooming plants. A museum, containing exhibits of fossil plants, existing plant families, local plants occurring within one hundred miles of the City of New York, and the economic uses of plants. An herbarium, comprising more than one million specimens of American and foreign species. Exploration in different parts of the United States, the West Indies, Central and South America, for the study and collection of the characteristic flora. Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified problems of plant life. A library of botanical literature, comprising more than 35,000 books and numerous pamphlets. Public lectures on a great variety of botanical topics, continuing throughout the year. Publications on botanical subjects, partly of technical, scientific, and partly of popular, interest. The education of school children and the public through the above features and the giving of free information on botanical, horticultural, and forestal subjects. The Garden is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the City of New York, private benefactions and membership fees. It possesses now nearly two thousand members, and applications for membership are always welcome. The classes of membership are: Benefactor single contribution $ 25,000 Patron single contribution 5,000 Fellow for Life single contribution 1,000 Member for Life single contribution 250 Fellowship Member annual fee 100 Sustaining Member annual fee 25 Annual Member annual fee 10 Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. The following is an approved form of bequest: / hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated undor the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1801, the sum of All requests for further information should be sent to T H E NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, NEW YORK CITY
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.
Contributor | New York Botanical Garden |
Date | 1927-09 |
Description-Table Of Contents | Report of the Killip-Smith Botanical Expedition to Colombia, 1926-1927; Cacti; Two Native Bjgeneric Hybrids; Botanizing in the Mountains of Colorado; Relation of Soils to Plant Growth; Notes on Florida Mosses; Public Lectures during September and October; 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. 28, no. 333 |
Type | text |
Transcript | VOL. XXVIII SEPTEMBER, 1927 No. 333 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN REPORT OF THE KILLIP- SMITH BOTANICAL EXPEDITION TO COLOMBIA, 1926- 27 ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP CACTI JOHN K. SMALL TWO NATIVE BIGENERIC HYBRIDS P. A. RYDBERG BOTANIZING IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO FRED J. SEAVER RELATION OF SOILS TO PLANT GROWTH B. A. KEEN NOTES ON FLORIDA MOSSES R. S. WILLIAMS PUBLIC LECTURES DURING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT ACCESSIONS PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA. THE SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY Entered at the post- office in Lancaster, Pa., as second- class matter. Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents Free to members of the Garden THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF MANAGERS FREDERICK S. LEE, President JOSEPH P. HENNESSY HENRY W. DE FOREST, Vice President ADOLPH LEWISOHN F. K. STURGIS, Vice President KENNETH K. MACKENZIE JOHN L. MERRILL, Treasurer BARRINGTON MOORE N. L. BRITTON, Secretary J. P. MORGAN EDWARD D. ADAMS LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN FREDERIC R. NEWBOLD NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER H. HOBART PORTER CHARLES P. BERKEY CHARLES F. RAND PAUL D. CRAVATH HERBERT M. RICHARDS ROBERT W. DE FOREST HENRY H. RUSBY CHILDS FRICK GEORGE J. RYAN WILLIAM J. GIES MORTIMER L. SCHIFF R. A. HARPER WILLIAM BOYCE THOMPSON JAMES J. WALKER, Mayor of the City of New York WALTER R. HERRICK, President of the Department of Parks SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS R. A. HARPER, P H . D., Chairman FREDERIC S. LEE, P H . D., LL. D. CHARLES P BERKEY P H . D HERBERT M. RICHARDS, SC. D. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, P H . D., TT TT _ ., _ LL. D. LITT. D. HENRY H. RUSBY, M. D. WILLIAM J. GIES, P H . D. GEORGE J. RYAN GARDEN STAFF N. L BRITTON, P H . D.. SC. D., LL. D Director- in- Chief MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Assistant Director JOHN K. SMALL, P H . D., SC. D Head Curator of the Museums A. B. STOUT, P H . D Director of the Laboratories P. A. RYDBERG, P H . D Curator H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Curator FRED. J. SEAVER, P H . D Curator ARTHUR HOLLICK, P H . D Paleobotanist PERCY WILSON Associate Curator PALMYRE DE C MITCHELL Associate Curator JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D Bibliographer SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections ELIZABETH G. BRITTON Honorary Curator of Mosses MARY E. EATON Artist ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Administrative Assistant KENNETH R. BOYNTON, B. S Head Gardener H. M. DENSLOW, A. M., D. D Honorary Custodian of Local Herbarium E. B. SOUTHWICK, P H . D Custodian of Herbaceous Grounds ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections JOHN R. BRINLEY, C. E Landscape Engineer WALTER S. GROESBECK _ Clerk and Accountant ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds JOURNAL OF The New York Botanical Garden VOL. XXVIII SEPTEMBER, 1927 No. 333 REPORT OF THE KILLIP- SMITH BOTANICAL EXPEDITION TO COLOMBIA, 1926- 19271 The trip which Mr. Albert C. Smith and I have just made to Colombia followed very closely the plans outlined to the directors of the cooperating institutions a year ago. These called for visiting the Jacquin and Humboldt3 localities in the Cartagena area 1 A preliminary report to the heads of the cooperating institutions. 2 Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian baron of Dutch birth, was born 16 February, 1727, at Leyden, and died at Vienna, 26 October, 1817, at the age of ninety. His earlier education was at Antwerp and Louvain; he began his medical studies at Leyden, continued them at Paris, and completed them at Vienna. Meanwhile he had decided to devote his life to botanical science. In 1754 he was commissioned by the Austrian emperor to visit the American tropics, to collect plants for introduction to the royal gardens. He took with him as an assistant Richard van der Schot, who long afterward became director of the gardens at Schonbrunn. They sailed from Leghorn 1 January, 1755, and landed at Martinique 28 June; Schot returned to Europe in February, 1756, but this island remained Jacquin's headquarters for a year and a half, although meanwhile he had visited many of the other islands of the Lesser Antilles, northward as far as St. Martin, and southward as far as Grenada. In 1757 he spent considerable time on the island of Curacao, and it was probably during that year that he made his memorable visit to the mainland at Cartagena, where he discovered so many interesting plants new to science. He was obliged to confine his collecting to the immediate vicinity of the city, and the several neighboring islands. The latter half of his stay in America was spent in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica; he arrived once more in Vienna in July, 1759. During the four years Jacquin had drawn, from fresh specimens, hundreds of the plants collected, and had made at least eight shipments of living plants. The rest of his life was devoted in large measure to the study of these collections; among his 22 folio volumes there are some accounted among the most valued treasures of 205 206 and for collecting in the Eastern Cordillera in the vicinity of Bu-caramanga, Pamplona, and Ocafia, a region little known botanically. Three weeks were spent about Cartagena and Turbaco, two and a half months in the general vicinity of Bucaramanga, and one month along the Colombian- Venezuelan border, east of Pamplona. Because of lack of time and deterioration of collecting equip-the great botanical libraries of the world. His herbarium went to England, and is now at the British Museum of Natural History. Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, German baron, was born 14 September, 1769, at Berlin, and died there, 6 May, 1859, in his ninetieth year. Aime Jacques Alexandre Bonpland ( ne Goujaud) was born 23 August, 1773, at La Rochelle, France, and died at Restauracion, Uruguay, 11 March, 1858, in his eighty- fifth year. Both were men of wide culture, and were authors of important scientific books and papers, but it is their joint work of exploration in tropical America in the years 1799 to 1804 that has immortalized their names in the history of science, and especially of botany. Sailing from La Coruria, Spain, 5 June, 1799, and spending ten days in the Canary Islands, they sighted Tobago 13 July and arrived at Cumana, on the coast of Venezuela, 16 July. Keeping near the coast as far as La Guayra, they visited Caracas, Cura, and Valencia, again reaching the coast at Puerto Cabello. From this point they struck into the interior, returning to Cura, and going thence as nearly due south as the ruggedness of the country would permit, to San Fernando, on the banks of the Apure, where they arrived 27 March, 1800. Taking a boat down the Apure and up the Orinoco, it was at the junction of the Meta that they first sighted territory now belonging to the republic of Colombia, and they skirted its eastern boundary for more than two hundred miles, up the Orinoco and Atabapo and down the Guainia, then regarded as the Rio Negro, of which it is now considered a tributary. Turning back from San Carlos, 10 May, they went up the Cassiquiare and down the Orinoco all the way to Angostura, thence overland to Barcelona; quitting the South American mainland forever, as they supposed, they sailed for Havana, 24 November, 1800. After a few months in Cuba, however, they returned to South America, landing at the mouth of the Sinu, on the northern coast of Colombia, 25 March, 1801, and arriving at Cartagena five days later. From this point they traversed the heart of Colombia from north to south, up the Magdalena and across the Cordilleras, arriving in Quito, 6 January, 1802. From Ecuador they went to Peru, spent about a year in Mexico, and after a brief visit in the United States sailed for France, landing at Bordeaux 3 August, 1804. The sumptuous volumes devoted to the reports of their voyage are among the classics of natural science. The plants collected by them are in the herbarium of the Paris museum, and in that of Willdenow at the Berlin botanic garden.— JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART. 207 ment, it proved impracticable to visit both Ocana and the frontier region; the latter was chosen because of its accessibility to Pamplona and because of the probability of its flora being more unusual. Other localities at which collections were made were Cala-mar and Puerto Wilches, on the Magdalena River; Cucuta; Mara-caibo, Venezuela; Curasao; Puerto Colombia, and Santa Marta. About five months were spent in the field, the time given to the various general localities being as follows: Oct. 20. Sailed from New York. Oct. 29- Nov. 22. Cartagena- Turbaco. Nov. 23- Dec. 4. Magdalena Valley. Dec. 5- Feb. 18. Dept. Santander, Bucaramanga as base. Feb. 19- March 24. Dept. Norte de Santander, Pamplona as base. March 25- March 27. En route Cucuta to Curagao via Maracaibo. March 28- 31. Curasao. April 2- 5. Puerto Colombia and Santa Marta. April 15. Arrived at New York. ACCOUNT OF TRIP With Cartagena as a basis collections were made on Manga and Tierrabomba islands, at Boca Grande, and on La Popa, a hill near the city, all Jacquin localities. Cartagena is a rapidly changing city, due to its growing importance as a port of entry and to the fact that it is the terminus for the pipe line bringing oil from the fields in the interior to the coast. Manga Island is now the principal residential suburb of the city, and only the southern end, perhaps 15 per cent, of the whole island, at all approaches a wild state. Tierrabomba and part of Baru Islands have been taken over by oil companies for use as ports. Little work has as yet been done to change the character of these islands, and it would seem that if further collecting is to be done here, it should be undertaken in the very near future. In such case, however, the project should be taken up directly with the Andian Corporation, and the Tropical Oil Company, in New York, as they are in a position to render valuable assistance. Turbaco, 15 miles east of Cartagena, is at the crest of a range of low hills, at an altitude of about 200 meters. Humboldt spent 20S tZCu~ o-<£ or FIGURE I. A sketch map, showing routes of the Pennell- Killip Expedition of 1922 and the Killip- Smith Expedition of 1926- 27. The Rusby- Pcnncll Expedition of 1917 explored the Rio Sinu, portions of the Quindio mountains, and the regions about Bogota and Yillavicencio. 200. ten days here before ascending the Magdalena River on his trip to Quito, and it is the type locality for several species. Though a considerable part of the land is at present under cultivation, dense woods still remain to the westward, near Torrecilla, and nearly impenetrable thickets cover much area. One day was spent at Coloncito, an hacienda north of the town which would serve as an excellent headquarters should further work be carried on here Particularly interesting were the mud volcanoes, about nine miles from Turbaco, where we made a fairly large collection. Arjona and Soplaviento, two towns between Turbaco and the Magdalena, were also visited. At Soplaviento Mr. Smith obtained many water plants along the Dique, the canal connecting the river with Cartagena. A few plants were collected at Calamar, where the steamer was boarded for the trip up the Magdalena. As it was an oil- burning express boat, few stops were made, and the long delays to take on wood, which have given botanists an opportunity to make hurried collections, as well as to contract malaria, were avoided. We spent a week at Puerto Wilches, about halfway between the coast and Bogota, before taking the railroad on the trip into the interior. Typical tropical jungles surround the town, well flooded near the river at the time of our visit at the end of the rainy season. This jungle extends eastward nearly to the base of the mountains, portions of it being reached by us at various stations along the railroad. On December 3 we left the river for the interior, proceeding by rail to Provincia, near the foot of the mountains, and then by mule to Bucaramanga. Little collecting was done on this two days' trip, though two localities were noted en route, El Tambor and Las Cruces, which would serve as excellent bases for further work. Had we had opportunity we should have returned here, though I do not believe the vegetation was markedly different from that later found on the Mesa de los Santos. Bucaramanga proved an ideal center of operations, and from December 5 to February 16 this was our main headquarters. Situated on a plateau which dropped abruptly to deep valleys on three sides, the immediate vicinity was not especially interesting botanically; but areas to the south, east, and north, from two to four days of mule travel distant, were extremely rich. The Mesa de los Santos, a broad plateau about 1,500 meters altitude, was first visited. Although there was no range of altitude here, the presence of dense woods, sandy fields, marshes, and rocky cliff's within a few miles of our inn resulted in a wide diversity of plant groups. Our second trip from Bucaramanga took us to the isolated region to the eastward about Las Vegas. With our base established at a ranch at 2,600 meters, in the midst of a rich vegetation, a two days' trip was made to the Paramo de las Vegas, the highest FIGURE 2. Loading mules at Bucaramanga. point of which was 3,8°° meters. As this was our first collecting in the Eastern Cordillera through a large range of altitude, we found the flora between the ranch and the paramo especially interesting, consisting, as it did, of the wet forests of the subtropical zone, the scrubby growth of the temperate, and the low, chiefly herbaceous, vegetation of the paramo. One of the main purposes of the expedition was to revisit certain Funck and Schlim and Linden* localities. Almost the only 3 Jean Jules Linden was born 3 February, 1817, in the city of Luxemburg, and died at Brussels, 12 January, 1898. In later life he was one of the most famous of Belgian horticulturists, but before he was thirty years old he had made three collecting trips to America under the auspices of the Belgian government. The first, 1835- 37 ( he was only 20 upon his return home) was to Brazil; the second, 1837- 41, to Cuba, Mexico, and Central America. On both of these expeditions he was accompanied by Nicolas Funck ( 1816- 1896) as artist, and Auguste Boniface Ghiesbreght ( 1810- 1893) as zoologist; both Funck and Gh, ies-breght afterward became well known as plant- collectors. Linden's third trip was devoted almost exclusively to Venezuela and Colombia; this time he was accompanied by his half- brother, Louis Joseph Schlim. Arriving at La Guayra, 27 December, 1841, they spent the first few months in the vicinity of Caracas, starting for the interior S May. Their route lay through Valencia, Puerto Cabello, Barquisi-meto, and Merida, entering Colombia at San Jose de Cucuta, and continuing by way of Pamplona, Socorro, Velez, and Tunja to Bogota, where they arrived at the end of October, 1842. Here they spent two months, and then descended into the valley of the Magdalena, and fixed their headquarters at Ibague, from which they extended their trips in every direction, once crossing by Quindio pass to Cartago, Buga, and thei shore of the Pacific. From Ibague they returned, through Ambalema and Honda, to Bogota, whence they retraced their incoming steps as far as Merida, Venezuela, and returned thence by a different route to Caracas, where they arrived 17 August, 1843. Leaving La Guayra 16 November, they spent six weeks at Puerto Cabello, and then went to Rio Hacha, on the coast of Colombia. Here their party was augmented by the governor and several other prominent citizens, and they spent several weeks exploring the Santa Marta mountains, climbing to the summit of the Nevado ( 4,800 meters). Sailing from Rio> Hacha 4 March, 1844, they returned to Europe through Jamaica, Cuba, and the United States, arriving at home in February, 1845. After his ten years of fruitful exploration, Linden formed an establishment devoted primarily to the introduction of new plants, and sent collectors into all parts of the world; among these were Funck and Schlim, who collected for him in Colombia. Nicolas Funck was born in 1816, in Luxemburg, and died there 10 August, 1896. He was with Linden on his journeys from 1835 to 1841, and went with him to La Guayra in 1841; they separated, however, at Caracas, in May, 1842. Funck spent most of the time for the next year in eastern Venezuela, but in 1843 he went to Santa Marta in Colombia, and collected in the neighboring mountains; it was probably his report that led Linden to visit them later in the same year. Upon Linden's return from Colombia to Caracas, they spent a few weeks together, and went together to Puerto Cabello, where Funck took ship for Hamburg. In October, 1845, Funck and Schlim started on a collecting trip in the . interests of Linden's newly established horticultural concern. They first explored the vicinities of Caracas, Carabobo, Barquisimeto, Trujillo, Maracaibo, and Merida, in Venezuela; then they visited the neighborhood of Chinacota and Pamplona in Colombia, near the Venezuelan border, and Funck took their collections by water from San Jose de Cucuta to Maracaibo and thence to Europe, in 1847. Funck was afterward director of the zoological gardens at Brussels and collecting done in the Eastern Cordillera north of the Bogota area has been that of these European botanists about the middle of the last century. " La Baja, Province of Pamplona" and " Province of Ocana " repeatedly appear in reports on these collections. The former Province of Pamplona is at present divided between the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander, the part west of the Divide being placed in the Department of Santander. The greater part of the Province of Ocana is in the FIGURE 3. Mud volcanoes of Turbaco. Department of Norte de Santander. La Baja formerly was the principal town of what is to- day the general Bucaramanga region; it now consists of three or four houses and many ruins. Doubtless the town served as main headquarters for these botanists, their collections being made over a rather wide area. Cologne, and in 1879 retired to his native place, where he spent the remainder of his life. Lou, is Joseph Schlim, when he was left in Colombia by Funck, made La Baja, near Pamplona, his headquarters for more than a year, but all his collections in this region were lost by a shipwreck at the mouth of the Magdalena. He subsequently collected for a long time in the neighborhood of Ocana, and, descending the Magdalena, spent several months in the Santa Marta mountains shortly before his return to Europe in August, 1852.— JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART. 213 The Surata Valley, which was followed up from Bucaramanga to Surata, our first objective in the La Baja region, was largely arid cactus country. North of Surata densely wooded valleys gave us quite a different type of vegetation. Our main headquarters were established at California, about four miles south of La Baja. From this point Mr. Smith made a week's trip to the region about Vetas, visiting the paramos of Vetas, Santurban, Mogorotoco, Rico, and Frailejonale. The following week I spent in the vicinity of La Baja, collecting on the paramos of Las FIGURE 4. Edge of the Mesa de los Santos, looking towards mountains of Las Vegas. Puentes, Las Coloradas, and Romeral. Following a different route back to Bucaramanga, Mr. Smith found an exceptionally rich vegetation in the neighborhood of Charta, obtaining here 425 collection numbers. Our work in the general region of Bucaramanga having been completed, we had the choice of proceeding north to Ocana ( returning to the coast by the Magdalena River) or east to Pamplona and the Venezuelan border. Although there were many historic localities near Ocana which we should have liked to visit, the wholly unexplored eastern part appealed to us more. Mention should be made of the many courtesies extended to the expedition by officials of the Department of Santander and 214 the citizens of Bucaramanga. The governor assigned a school building to us for headquarters, assisted in procuring mules and ] ' • • •~ r$ « -*\- ' fir ^? H m - J. * '•" i. * § *} '$' 4 1 1 ""• 1-;;. ' t FIGURE 5. A tall columnar cactus in the Surata Valley, the services of a peon, placed prison gangs at our disposal to move luggage, and supplied us with letters of introduction to leading citizens of towns we were to visit. This valuable assistance repre- sents only a part of the much appreciated help which we received throughout our trip. Letters which the Colombian Minister at Washington gave us were of inestimable value on many occasions. Representatives of the Singer Sewing Machine Company aided in the shipment of baggage, and generously acted as consignees for receiving at Cartagena and forwarding to Xew York boxes of dried specimens we sent from the interior. The road from Bucaramanga eastward took us through alternately wooded and open valleys upward to the vast Paramo of Santurban— the bleak region that so effectively cuts off the northeastern part of Colombia from the rest of the country—- across the paramo and down through Mutiscua, in a generally arid region, to Pamplona. The part of the paramo through which the trail passed apparently was too high— 4,200 to 4,500 meters— for good collecting, but at El Roble and Tona, on the western side, and on the descent to Pamplona, many interesting things were discovered. In the immediate vicinity of Pamplona nearly all the land had been cleared so we decided to move on to Toledo, nearly due eastward and only a few miles from the Venezuelan border. On the way there we passed through such interesting country that we frequently were obliged to alter our schedule and spend an extra day or two, with an Indian hut or an isolated posada as a base. After two weeks spent at Toledo we returned to Pamplona by way of the Paramo del Hatico. As the time limit on our return tickets to Xew York had nearly expired, we went from Pamplona to Puerto Colombia by the quickest route, via Cucuta, Maracaibo, and Curacao, making small collections at Chinacota and La Esmeralda ( between Pamplona and Cucuta) and at Curacao and Santa Marta. I cannot conclude this review of the trip without expressing my very keen appreciation of the work done by Mr. Smith. A delightful traveling companion, full of enthusiasm, he acquired, in an amazingly short time, a most useful knowledge of tropical plant groups, collected unceasingly, and developed marked ability in the art of making herbarium specimens. I trust that he has further opportunity for botanical field work. 2l6 COLLECTIONS Approximately 7,150 numbers were collected, the principal groups being represented as follows: Lower cryptogams 506 Ericaceae ( part) 92 Ferns 780 Thibaudia ( and allies) . . . 65 Araceae 74 Convolvulaceae Jj Orchidaceae 286 Cordiae 66 Piperaceae 226 Solanaceae 204 Loranthaceae 57 Rubiaceae 216 Mimosaceae and Caesalpi- Centropogon ( and allies). 89 niaceae 208 Fupatorieae 221 Monnina 32 All other Compositae . . . . 475 Passirloraceae 118 Woody plants constitute about 36 per cent, of the collection. The number collected at each of the principal localities follows: Cartagena- Turbaco- Calamar 721 Puerto Wilches 219 Mesa de los Santos 528 Las Vegas 741 Vetas, California, Surata, La Baja, and Charta . . 3,000 Bucaramanga to Pamplona 424 Toledo, and en route 975 Pamplona to Cucuta 186 Curacao 38 Puerto Colombia and Santa Marta 175 The distribution of the material among the cooperating institutions will follow in general the plan adopted by Dr. Pennell in the case of our 1922 collection. Mr. Smith recently spent ten days in Washington, giving valuable assistance in laying out sets. It is hoped that distribution to the cooperating institutions can be made by early fall. PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK Photographs of about 100 woody plants were taken. Prints will be distributed with the corresponding specimens in the sets for The New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Herbarium, and the National Museum. These negatives will then be deposited at the Arnold Arboretum, in accordance with an understanding with Dr. Sargent. Numerous photographs of the general vegetation and of the life of the country were also taken; these will be kept 217 at the National Museum, and are, of course, available to the other institutions. FINANCES The attached statement shows the receipts and nature of the disbursements; an itemized statement is on file here. Changes in conditions in Colombia within the past five years resulted in a larger expenditure for various items than was anticipated at the time the project was first outlined. That we were able to accom- FIGURE 6. Paramo of Santurban, showing frailejones. plish the work substantially within the amount originally subscribed was largely due to the generosity of Mr. Cutter, President of the United Fruit Company, in giving the expedition free transportation to and from Colombia. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, lent the fibre- board valises which had proved so serviceable in 1922, permitting a saving of at least $ 75.00. Professor Stevens, of the University of Illinois, gave us his equipment for drying specimens. The National Museum supplied all the driers, corrugated boards, and paper used on the trip, as well as many other supplies incident to collecting. The National Museum is also having printed the necessary 40,000 labels ( nearly 100 forms). The difference between cost and selling prices of mules may seem abnormally high, but we were obliged to buy animals at 2l8 Bucaramanga, a city dependent wholly on mules for freight transportation, where prices have been greatly influenced by oil and coffee booms, and to sell them in Cucuta, the junction point of three railroads and several automobile roads. A small additional expense in connection with labeling and preparing the sets for distribution I believe is justifiable. In order that the specimens may be available for study as promptly as possible and may be clearly labeled, I propose to engage stenographic assistance. A memorandum of this will be sent the institutions at the time the sets are distributed. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Receipts New York Botanical Garden $ 1000.00 Gray Herbarium, of Harvard University 600.00 Arnold Arboretum, of Harvard University 600.00 Mr. Oakes Ames 600.00 Mr. Ellsworth P. Killip 150.00 $ 2950.00 Disbursements Transportation ( railroad, boat) $ 358- 34 Transportation ( mule) Purchase of mules $ 1070.00 Credit, sale of mules 530- 00 $ 540.00 Purchase equipment S1^ 0 Rent, extra mules 155- 35 Keep of mules 14382 890.67 Baggage transfer 175- 49 Board and lodging 653.68 Provisions 30.66 Kerosene 112.00 Equipment Cost $ 215.63 Credit sale 15.00 200.63 Cab and auto hire 40.30 Help Wages, regular peon $ 105.00 Keep, regular peon 56.84 Extra men 63.69 225.53 Photographic work Supplies $ 48.74 Developing 17.10 65.84 Customs and immigration fees 36.80 Shipment specimens to coast 128.07 Postage and miscellany 24.61 $ 2942.62 Balance $ 7.38 FUTURE WORK I N COLOMBIA The three expeditions which have gone into Colombia since the project for the botanical exploration of northern South America was undertaken ten years ago have brought back nearly 20,000 collection numbers. The Pacific slope has been visited at central and southern points; the Cauca Valley at northern, central, and southern; the Central Cordillera at central and southern; the Magdalena Valley at several points between Giradot and the coast; the Eastern Cordillera at northern and central points; the Atlantic coastal region at Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta. More thorough work should be done in at least two of these general areas. In the short time that he was able to spend on the Cerro Tatama, Dr. Pennell collected a large number of new species. Other isolated peaks in this northern part of the Western Andes should be visited. Similarly, the day and a half I spent in the Micay region, in the southern part of the Pacific slope, resulted in the collection of such a large number of new species and genera that without doubt this whole region, from the Micay river south to the Ecuador boundary and east to Pasto, would justify careful exploration. To round out the work in Colombia so that a comprehensive flora of the country may be prepared, collections should be made in three additional areas: 1. The Santa Marta mountains above 6,000 feet altitude. This is an isolated mountain mass with no apparent connection with the main Cordilleras. There is every indication that its flora is a local one, and doubtless many new species would result from work there. Plerbert H. Smith apparently confined his collecting to lower altitudes and the vegetation between 6,000 feet and snowline is almost unknown. 2. The Atrato region. The forested area adjacent to Panama is very scantily represented in herbaria. Because of its geographical position valuable data could doubtless be obtained as to distribution of species. 3. Southeastern Colombia. Our two weeks' work at Toledo, near the Venezuelan border, led to the belief that the eastern FIGURE 7. Tree of the Compositae family on the Paramo Romeral. slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, including the Plains of Casanare and the Sierra Nevada de Cocui, would prove remarkably productive. The region could best be reached by Maracaibo and Cucuta, the party going from Cocui southeast to Orocue, on the Meta River, then down this river and the Orinoco to the coast, thus including a preliminary survey of the untouched southeastern half of the Republic. To attempt to cover this area thoroughly in the immediate future is almost hopeless, but I believe the trip here outlined would prove most advantageous. ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. CACTI* Cacti are confined naturally to America, and although most abundantly developed, both in size and numbers, in and near the American tropics, they are not confined to those regions. In the north- temperate zone the geographic ranges of a few kinds of prickly- pears ( Opuntia) extend up into southern Canada, while in the south- temperate zone many kinds of cacti are found in Chile and Argentina. The occurrence of a few species of a certain genus ( Rhipsalis) in Africa is attributed to the activities of migratory birds which are ravenously fond of such provender and thus assist in the wide dispersal of the cactus seeds. These particular plants are mistletoe- like both in habit and in the small pellucid glutinous fruits. A parallel example of distribution has rather recently come to light in southern Florida. The birds usually alight near the tips of branches of trees, and there the mistletoe- like cactus ( Rhipsalis)— sometimes called pencil- cactus, on account of the slender pencil- like joints of the stem— grows on the oak trees, planted there doubtless by migratory birds coming up from the West Indies where the pencil- cactus in question, Rhipsalis Cassutha, is so plentiful in the forests. The unusual characteristics of the cacti were promptly appreciated by the discoverers of the New World, for several kinds of flat- jointed cacti ( Opuntiae) were taken back to the Old World by the European expeditioners in early post- Columbian times, and became naturalized in the Mediterranean region. Here they have since maintained a foothold. Again, towards the end of the last century, other kinds, presumably from Mexico and South America, were carried to Australia. But here, carelessly thrown away by settlers, these plant- strangers not only promptly became naturalized but overran the land like wild- fire, spreading both by vegetative parts and by seeds, thus furnishing a conspicuous example of how well the group had perfected its methods of propagation. They have already taken possession of millions of acres. The end is not in sight. To date, having defied all methods of extermination, they are spreading into new fields, entailing great financial losses. * Abstract of a lecture and demonstration given in Conservatory Range No. 2 of The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, January 29, 1927. The great cactus centers are in the southwestern United States, in Mexico, in parts of South America, and in the West Indies. New York lies in one of the minor cactus areas— the eastern Coastal Plain, extending from Massachusetts to Florida. The real extent of this cactus field was not realized until lately. 1 The ancestry of the cacti is obscure— lost, together with much similar matter, in the wreckage of the later geologic times. There is not even an indication of their remote ancestors preserved as fossils. We may safely assume that during the wide- spread destruction of more recent geologic times, the cacti were safely preserved in the highlands, while those in the lowlands succumbed. Thus, the present cactus- population of the coastwise region and coastal plains was, evidently, derived from highland ancestors. The cacti, in comparison with what we may term ordinary plants-— herbaceous and woody— present a series of irregularities — exceptions to regular behavior in function and structure. They represent a kind of intermediate state. They are really neither herbs nor shrubs or trees. They resemble, on the whole, the latter category, but the wood is so scant and the soft tissue so abundant that, in bulk of one kind of tissue, they are herbaceous. Functionally considered, several closely associated conditions stand out prominently. One of the most striking characteristics of cacti is the absence of leaves in the vast majority of the kinds. As deserts became the typical homes of cacti, leaves would be a distinct detriment to the plant, under the normal conditions existing there, for the moisture would be given off from the plant more rapidly than the roots could supply it from the scant reserve in the soil. So, leaves were in most cases long ago dispensed with, and the transpiration area reduced to the surface of the stem, which in all respects now functions as a leaf. Thus such nourishment as the plant can secure is used to build up stem- tissue, and ultimately flowers and fruits. The lack of leaves may account, at least in part, for the unusually large size or great number of flowers and fruits in proportion to the size of the plant or stem. In addition, the transpiration of moisture is also partly regulated— reduced or accelerated— from within the stem. The sap or cell- content is largely mucilaginous, and latex, or milk, is 1 See Journal of The New York Botanical Garden 26: 241- 258, 265- 285. 1925. 223 also sometimes present. The condition of this gummy cell- sap, regulated according to external conditions, when thicker checks transpiration and when thinner accelerates it accordingly. In addition, in case a plant is wounded, this mucilage promptly spreads a coating over the exposed tissues, and then forms a callus by which serious infection is prevented from gaining access to the internal tissues of the plant. Cactus plants are often very adaptive to different kinds of habitats— even crossing the gap between the terrestrial and the epiphytic. The prickly- pear ( Opuntia), prickly- apple ( Harrisia), and dildoe ( Acanthocereus) will grow on the limbs of broadleaved trees in dry- land regions where seeds have been accidentally planted by birds, or in swampy regions where their normal habitat is in the trees above the ground which is too continuously wet to permit their roots to function properly. Another group worthy of mention is semi- epiphytic, or more strictly speaking, petrophytic. This condition is well illustrated by the two tree- cacti ( Cephalocereus) of the Florida Keys. Their habitat provides ( or allows) boundless room for the aerial parts, but very little for the subterranean. The ponderous succulent trees grow on the plate- like surface of the oolitic limestone in the case of Cephalocereus Deeringii, and of the coral- limestone in the case of C. keyensis. The root- system of these plants compared with the aerial parts is almost negligible. Whatever soil is present to cover the roots is largely humus. Very likely a friendly mycorhiza helps in the remarkable growth of the plant. Structurally considered, the cactus plant exhibits unusual forms from seed to fruit. The several characteristic structures, gross and fine, vegetative or floral, indicate a long and mighty struggle of the family to maintain itself against extinction. As a group and individually the plants have fortified themselves to resist and overcome adverse environments, have made trebly sure the propagation and maintenance of their kinds. Succulent tissues predominate from the roots to the fruits. For example, the roots, the underground parts, of slender caliber often grow to great lengths in search of moisture and nourishment. In more favorable habitats the caliber of the roots increases and the length diminishes, sometimes to such a degree that they form thick, even globular, tuber- like structures. These 224 subterranean succulent structures, whether attached to or separated from the parent plant, may give rise to a new plant. The stems, the aerial parts— varying from cord- like to columnar, barrel- like, tub- like, bowl- shaped, or pad- like— are abundantly stored with water and nourishment, and thus not only favorably adapted for resisting and surviving destructive desert conditions, under which most of them grow, but also for making possible a method of vegetative propagation, additional to the roots. The stems are either continuous or jointed. A stem or a section- " joint " thrown to the ground may give rise to new plants. The stems are often spine- armed, with the spines sometimes developed to such a degree that they hide the stems. The armament aids in increasing vegetative propagation, notwithstanding the fact that on first thought it might seem to diminish it as an agent to warn and keep animals away. However, the juicy stem or the enticing fruit lures many an animal to be a mechanical broadcaster of cactus plants. The tips of the spines are more or less barbed and although they penetrate the skin of the carrier with ease, they will maintain a tenacious hold in an animal's hide and may be carried and planted far from the parent. Here may be mentioned the singular mechanics of the cactus stem— a mechanism to insure the longer life of the individual. For example, in the case of the columnar or cereoid types, with their mass of soft watery tissues, we do not find the stem round and even, but strongly, often copiously ribbed. The ribs, of course, give the axis added strength. On the other hand, the " joints " of the opuntioid kinds, that is, those plants with flattened internodes—" pads," as they are often called— are often placed successively criss- cross so that only about half the surface of the plant is exposed to the wind whichever way it may blow. As mentioned above, the leaves have, in most cases, become rudimentary or been eliminated, the bark of the stem and branches and the armament functioning for the leaves as far as is necessary. On the other hand, flowers and fruits are, in the present- day cacti, often produced in unusual quantities or bulk, compared with the vegetative part of the plant. The flowers, usually conspicuous, often very showy, are especially adapted to insure propagation, in this instance by seeds. The flower may be described as funnelform, the tube ( hypanthium) and limb ( perianth) varying almost infinitely in pro- 225 portions of form and size. The showy perianth, either diurnal or nocturnal, white or of all shades of colors, except blue, is attractive to insects. Within are numerous, often almost myriad, stamens, whose anthers await the insect visitors with pollen ever ready to be transferred to the stigmas. The flowers, so unusual, in connection with the parts that bear them, render cacti very important horticultural subjects, whether used in the open in warm climates or under glass in the colder climes. The fruits, too, are useful in ornamental gardening. These are of a multitude of shapes and sizes— mainly pear- shaped, club-shaped, barrel- shaped, egg- shaped, and globular. They exhibit shades of nearly all colors, except blue, and are dull or shiny. They are unarmed or spine- armed, and sometimes hairy. Unlike the flowers, which are short- lived, frequently only a day or a night, the fruits are usually long- persistent. Fresh and cured cactus- fruits have formed a very important, in fact almost indispensable, food in the life of aboriginal man in America since times remote. Take, for example, two instructive quotations from brave Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, written in the early part of the sixteenth century: " In order to cheer us, they would tell us not to dispair, since we would have tunas [ prickly- pears] very soon and eat much and drink their juice and get big stomachs and be merry, contented and without hunger.'' " During all the time we ate tunas [ prickly- pears] we felt thirsty. To allay our thirst we drank the juice of the fruit, pouring it first into a pit which we dug in the soil, and when that was full we drank to satisfaction. The Indians do it in that way, out of lack of vessels. The juice is sweet and has the color of must. There are many kinds of tunas, and some very good ones, although to me all tasted well alike, hunger never leaving me time to select, or stop to think which ones were better." It is a description that would almost fit certain tribes and seasons in America to- day— especially in the desert reaches of our own Southwest and Mexico. Some of the larger prickly- pears are gathered from both wild and cultivated plants, in great quantities and consumed in many of the larger cities. And need we mention that the juice of some of the fruits of cacti is made into a primitive alcoholic drink? Other kinds furnish primitive man with a drug and a narcotic. This is notably 226 the case in the so- called " mescal button "— not to be confused with the mescal magueys of Mexico. The use of the mescal button, or peyote ( Lophophora), among the Indians has its counterpart in our own present narcotic problem. Among some tribes it is even the basis of a religious cult. As the " fruits " of the prickly- pear are mainly a modified " joint " or " pad," it may be proper to refer here to the use of these succulent stems as a vegetable in the cuisine of some present-day semiaboriginal peoples, and to refer again to two quotations from de Vaca which record that, " We lost the trail and found ourselves in a big forest, where we gathered plenty of leaves [ pads] of tunas which we roasted that same night in an oven made by ourselves, and so much heat did we give them that in the morning they were fit to be eaten." Also, " and gave us of what they had to eat, which were leaves [ pads] of tunas and green tunas baked." The cactus confection made by impregnating the pulp of some of the larger kinds with sugar is well known. The cactus also serves as a forage plant for animals, wild and tame, when pasturage is lacking, in which case spineless or almost spineless plants have been selected or in the case of very spiny plants the armament is burned off prior to feeding. The spines themselves, in the case of some species, have been used as needles for phonographs and similar instruments. Nor was only the fruit itself important. Among various primitive folk the seeds were— and still are— ground up for flour, and like the pulp of the fruits they are sometimes used as a coloring-agent or dye. In this connection it may be mentioned that various kinds of cactus plants serve as hosts for the cochineal scale- insect, the female of which yields a brilliant scarlet dye, and is also used medicinally. Of late the cactus has come into its own as an elite house plant. Many a city apartment has a small cactus garden— in a large dish or a tray— comprising living specimens of the dwarf, often rarer species of our deserts. This fad may be useful in awakening the interest of the children of the urban deserts in plants, but, unfortunately, it has already resulted in the extinction of some colonies of the rarer species of our glorious unpeopled deserts. JOHN K. SMALL. TWO NATIVE BIGENF. RIC HYBRIDS For over 2$ years there have been in the herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden two sheets of a peculiar shrub of the Apple Family. They were collected in 1901 and 1902 by Brother Louis Arsene at a place east of Chapeau, on the French island of Miquelon, off the south shore of Newfoundland. In a note on the older sheet, the discoverer has made the statement that it is a very rare plant and that it has been collected only at the locality mentioned. On the other sheet is given the information that it grows 1- 2.5 m- nigh- It represents without much doubt a bi-generic hybrid of the American Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana Marsh., and a Chokeberry, Aronia atropurpurea Britton. Its leaves are 2- 7 cm. long, with the texture, pubescence, and toothing of the Chokeberry, but all, except a few of tlie earliest ones, have the lower portion pinnate, and the upper portion cleft or lobed, with the terminal segment large, thus approaching in shape those of the other parent. The inflorescence and flowers resemble those of Aronia, the former being small and with ascending branches. ( See FIGURE A.) The other bigeneric hybrid is represented by a sheet in the herbarium of the University of Minnesota. It was collected by William C. Cusick on mountain sides near Cornucopia, Oregon. The sheet bears the number 1380 and is erroneously labeled Pyrus sambucifolia. The label states also that it is a small straggling shrub. It is probably a hybrid between the Western Mountain Ash, Sorbus occidentalis, and a species of Juneberry, Amelan-chier. The leaves have the light green color of S. occidentalis, but are thinner. Some of the earlier leaves are simple, but the rest are pinnate below, with 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets, which are like those of 5". occidentalis, entire- margined below and dentate towards the apex. The terminal leaflet is much larger, broader, more toothed, and often lobed. The inflorescence is compound as in Sorbus, but the young fruit resembles that of Amelanchier. It is hard to tell which species of Amelanchier is the other parent, as the leaves ( and also the leaflets) are more acute than in any of the Oregon species of the genus. I think that A. florida Lindl., however, is the most likely one, having more oblong leaves than the rest. ( See FIGURE B.) P. A. RYDBERG. FIGURE A. Aronia atropurpurea X Sorbus americana. FIGURE B. Amelanchier floridaC?) X Sorbus occidentalis. 229 BOTANIZING IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO1 Several years ago the speaker had the privilege of spending a summer botanizing in the high mountains of Colorado. It is difficult for one living in the east to get a very clear idea of the size of some of these western states and to realize that Colorado is twice the size of the State of New York or as large as the whole of New England with the state of Indiana added. We think of Colorado as a mountainous state, but as a matter of fact, one- third of this state consists of level and for the most part arid plains. After a trip from Chicago to Denver through the fertile valleys of the Mississippi and the arid plains of western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, one is able to appreciate more fully the significance of the term " wide expanses of the west" and many would be interested in finding at the foot of the Rockies one of the most thriving inland cities of America, the city of Denver, which was used as our headquarters during our stay in Colorado. One of the first and most interesting mountain expeditions made was over the so- called Moffat Road, a road which was planned many years ago by David Moffat, one of the pioneers of Colorado, with the dream of connecting Denver and Salt Lake City by more direct route and opening up western Colorado, one of the most extensive undeveloped portions of the United States. At the time of our visit to Colorado this road had been completed just over the crest of the mountains and was operated as one of the most beautiful scenic railroads in America. A temporary collecting base was established in Tolland, at an elevation of nearly nine thousand feet. From this point expeditions were made in various directions through the mountains and many interesting collections of fungi obtained. Since our visit to Colorado the builders of this scenic railroad have conceived and executed the plan of boring through the mountains for a distance of more than six miles in order to eliminate twenty- three miles of track and the difficulties of traversing the mountains during the winter season. This tunnel, completed during the past year, is the longest railroad tunnel in America. 1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture given at The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, June 18, 1927. 230 The most extensive collecting trip of our entire stay in Colorado was in the Geneva Creek Canyon, a branch of the Piatt River Canyon. This is reached by taking the narrow- gauge line of the Colorado and Southern Railway, which ascends the canyon by keeping close to the river, a swift- flowing clear stream which as it falls over the rocks adds much to the beauty of the natural scenery of the canyon. Leaving Denver in the morning, we arrived at Grant about noon, a distance of nearly one hundred miles from Denver. From this point we ascended the Geneva Creek Canyon by team to a distance of three miles. Here between two mountain streams is a small park in which a number of log cabins had been built to serve as temporary homes for summer resorters, and in one of these cabins we made our home for ten days. Our cabin was surrounded by numerous gulches and mountain streams and the most of our collecting was confined to these, since the mountain sides were too dry to aiford much outside of a few of the larger woody fungi. The small creeks which flowed through these gulches were bordered with mossy bogs which furnished many species of the smaller fleshy fungi. We extended our collecting trips up the canyon and on one occasion reached the crest of the mountain- range at a distance of from twelve to fifteen miles from our cabin and here attained an elevation of between 13,000 and 14,000 feet. Above timberline the conditions were not favorable for collecting fungi, as would naturally be supposed; but the speaker was surprised to find a few fleshy cup- fungi in mossy places even at some distance above snow- line. At the crest of the mountain- range vegetation of all kinds was very scant. One of the most interesting spots visited in the vicinity of our cabin was Geneva Park. The term park as here used applies to any level valley between mountain- ranges. Geneva Park, which was located about three miles above our cabin, is at an elevation of between 9,000 and 10,000 feet and covers an area five to seven miles long and one to two miles wide. The approach leading to the park is very steep and rocky and probably represents the terminal moraine of a local glacier. The park would then result from the filling in of this natural reservoir with the wash from the mountain sides above. The entire region is surrounded by 231 mountains, except the comparatively narrow pass which furnishes an outlet for the creek which flows through it. The land itself is nearly level and the soil is swampy and furnishes a good substratum for fungi. The lecture in which the experiences of this expedition were outlined in detail was well illustrated with numerous slides showing both the desert and mountain scenery of our Rocky Mountain state. While the object of the excursion was to collect and study the fungi of the region, some attention was also given to the higher plants and numerous colored slides were used to illustrate the gorgeous colors of the mountain flora. FRED J. SEAVER. RELATION OF SOILS TO PLANT GROWTH1 The speaker emphasized the close inter- relation between the soil, climate, and vegetation. Thus, in the United States, the various crop regions, such as the cotton belt or the wheat belt, are associated with fairly definite climatic zones and soil types. The most important single factor in crop growth is the moisture in the soil. On the average about 400 ounces of water must be supplied to the plant for each ounce of dry material produced. Recent research has shown that the power of the soil to draw up water from below for the plant roots is much less than was formerly supposed, a conclusion that emphasizes the necessity of conserving the moisture in the top two or three feet of soil. This may be done by the incorporation of organic material such as barnyard manure, etc., and by maintaining a loose mulch of dried soil on the surface, which acts as a blanket and prevents evaporation. It is also necessary to keep the soil in a good physical condition, or tilth, so that the plant rootlets can readily ramify and penetrate the interstices of the soil in search of moisture. A good physical condition also encourages the activities of the soil microorganisms whose functions are to break down the residues of vegetation and manures into simpler compounds that plants can 1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture by the Assistant Director of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, England, given at The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, June 4, 1927. 232 assimilate. These lowly forms of life— bacteria and fungi— are present in huge numbers in fertile soil. In one teaspoonful of soil the number of bacteria alone is several times greater than the entire population of the United States. The study of the soil population and its activities absorbs much of the activities of all agricultural experiment stations. The subject is highly complex, but it is possible that in the future methods of beneficial control will be evolved that will be as epoch- making for agriculture as was the introduction of artificial fertilizers. The lecture was illustrated with lantern slides, which included photographs of some of the famous experimental fields at Rothamsted and a series of colored reproductions taken mainly from medieval tapestries and illuminated manuscripts showing the development of cultivation implements from their crude prehistoric form to their present pattern. B. A. KEEN. NOTES ON FLORIDA MOSSES1 The two Florida mosses exhibited were collected by Mr. Rapp in the vicinity of Sanford, a town situated on Lake Monroe, scarcely half way down the peninsular and some 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. This region has furnished a good many interesting species obtained by the same collector, although at an elevation of only a few feet above the ocean. The entire state, indeed, has no mountains and its highest hills have an altitude of only some 300 feet. Possibly the walls of sink- holes and more or less underground streams furnish shade and moisture somewhat similar to conditions in mountain canyons, thus permitting an unusual abundance and variety in the moss flora for so flat a country. The first specimen shown ranks among the smallest of our mosses. On the bit of rock scarcely one- half inch square are doubtless 150 or more individual plants varying from one- half to one millimeter high and appearing rather like a greenish felt over the surface. The genus represented is Splachnobryum, of which 1 Abstract of a report presented at the Conference of the Scientific Staff and Registered Students of The New York Botanical Garden on February 2, 1927. 233 there are some 34 described species, rather widely scattered over the world except in Europe, where no species has yet been found native. The genus was first observed in the United States growing on flower pots containing tropical plants, the original home of this particular species being unknown. Another species, previously known in Mexico, has recently been collected in Arizona by Bartram, while this Florida species makes the third found in the United States. The plants of this last are rather bud- like, with a few broadly ovate to oblong leaves, their margins crenulate nearly all round by the somewhat inflated cells. The longer leaves measure about one- third millimeter in length. The second moss shown was of a very different class, ranking among the larger members of its genus and forming extensive green mats over the earth, with trailing stems several centimeters long. It is a species of 0xyrrhynchium, nearest related to 0. speciosum of Europe, found rarely in Britain and in some of the central and southern alpine regions. The genus is characterized among other things by having a rough seta and the nerve of the leaf ending in a thorn- like point a little below the apex of the leaf on the under side. The Florida plant, although very similar to the European at first glance, seems constantly to differ slightly in the relatively shorter and broader stem- leaves and longer- pointed perichaetial leaves. R. S. WILLIAMS. PUBLIC LECTURES DURING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER The free illustrated lectures of The New York Botanical Garden during September and October are given in the Museum Building on Saturday afternoons at four o'clock. Doors are opened at 4: 15 to admit late- comers. The program follows: Sept. 3. " The Big Trees of California," Dr. H. A. Gleason. Sept. 10. " Rarer Wild Flowers of New York City and Vicinity," Mrs. N. L. Britton. Sept. 17. " Some Successional Aspects of the Local Vegetation," Prof. George E. Nichols. Sept. 24. " The Westchester County Park System," Mr. Jay Downer. 234 Oct. i. " Dahlias " ( Exhibit of living collection), Dr. Marshall A. Howe. Oct. 8. " In Southern California," Mr. Howard H. Cleaves. Oct. 15. " Autumn Coloration," Dr. A. B. Stout. Oct. 22. " The Campaign against Diseases of Our Food Plants," Mr. F. C Meier. Oct. 29. " The Flora of the Catskill Mountains," Prof. Oliver P. Medsger. NOTES, NEW7S, AND COMMENT A period of violent thunder- storms during the latter part of July, with a total precipitation of 9.75 inches for the month, culminated on the afternoon of August 1st in one of intense violence and heavy rainfall, causing the Bronx River to rise over its banks and flood the north meadows and woods for the first time in several years, forming temporary ponds and pools in all the valleys and depressions, and washing banks and paths so as to require repairs at many places. At least four large trees were struck by lightning. Rainfalls during the month of August amounted to 9.97 inches, bringing the precipitation of the two months to the remarkable total of 19.72 inches. And September 1 added 2.69 inches! Brother Leon, Professor in the College of La Salle, Havana, who came to New York to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Columbia University at the commencement exercises in June, has spent parts of June and July at the Garden, in continuation of studies of the Cuban flora, which in cooperation with members of the Garden staff, have extended over more than fifteen years. During this period he has made large collections of plants in all the provinces of Cuba, forming an herbarium at the College of La Salle, which has become the most important one in Cuba; duplicate specimens have been contributed by him to the herbarium of the Garden. His botanical exploration of Cuba has revealed many species new to science, and has added greatly to our knowledge of many others. Miss Elsa Rehmann, Landscape Architect, of Newark, N. J., gave an illustrated lecture on July 9 at The New York Botanical 235 Garden on " The Landscape Treatment of Small Grounds." She is the author of recently published books entitled " The Small Place " and " Garden Making." In her lecture, Miss Rehmann dwelt particularly upon three important elements. First, she emphasized the importance of hedges and hedgerows, for the beauty of the small place depends upon its enclosure which separates it from its neighbor and makes it complete in itself. She took up, secondly, the planting against the house. She regrets the overemphasis of the miscellaneous evergreen planting, which she considers an unfortunate fad of the present and she looks forward to a finer understanding of this important subject, for as she put it, " trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers are not to be planted for themselves alone but are to be arranged and adapted to the house against which they are used." And thirdly, she suggested a few of the elements of the little flower garden, its placing, its background, its paths and borders, for the real beauty of the flowers gathered in a garden depends upon them. Mr. Montague Free, Horticulturist at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden gave an illustrated lecture on " Rock Gardens " in the Museum Building of The New York Botanical Garden on Saturday afternoon, July 23. Mr. Free is a graduate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, and for many years has specialized in the cultivation of rock plants. Rock gardens, said Mr. Free, are becoming increasingly popular in this country. It is not at all surprising to those who know something of the beauty and fascination of alpine plants, which are largely used in the embellishment of rock gardens. Rock gardening is peculiarly well adapted to those who like to do their own gardening, and also to those who have the collector's instinct, because many of these alpine plants are so diminutive that a large collection of them may be grown on a very small area. About one hundred colored slides were used to illustrate the lecture. Some of these were obtained in Europe, illustrating European gardens, and some in this country. Among the interesting slides were those showing the famous rock garden at Friar Park in England, which contains a replica to scale of the peak of the Matterhorn, and covers several acres of ground. Many rare alpines were also illustrated, including such plants as the Lad)' of the Snows, Anemone ver-nalis, Saxifraga " Faldonside," Oxalis adenophylla, etc. Meteorology for July. The total precipitation for the month was 9.75 inches. The maximum temperatures recorded at the Garden for each week were 870 on the 3rd, 820 on the 9th, p^° on the 13th, 83° on the 20th, and 92 ° on the 29th. The minimum temperatures were 54° on the 1st, 500 on the 5th, 580 on the 12th, l) i° on the 24th, and 61" on the 26th and 28th. ACCESSIONS LIBRARY ACCESSIONS FROM MAY I TO JUNE 10, 1927 ASUN, MARY S., comp. Catalogue of the printed books on agriculture [ in the Rothamstt'd experimental station library], published between 1471 and 1840, with notes on the authors, n. p. 1926. BABCOCK, ERNEST BROWN, & CLAUSEN, ROY ELWOOD. Genetics in relation to agriculture. Ed. 2. New York, 1927. BABINCTON, CHARLES CARDALE. Manual of British botany. Ed, 10, zvith amended nomenclature and an appendix, edited by A. J. IVilmott. London, 1922. BAILEY, HENRY TURNER. The tree folk. Cambridge, 1925. BAILEY, LIBERTY HYDE. The outlook to nature. New and rev. ed. New York, .1924. BARNARD, CHARLES. The strawberry garden. Philadelphia, n. d. BARNES, PARKER THAYER. Plousc plants and how to grow them. Garden City, 1923 [ 1909]. BARRON, LEONARD. Lawn making, together zvith the proper keeping of putting greens. Garden City, 1923. BARRON, LEONARD, & OTHERS. Flozvcr growing, revised and adapted from the text of I. D. Bennett's " The floivcr garden." Garden City, 1926. BENNETT, IDA DANDRIDGE. The vegetable garden; a manual for the amateur vegetable gardener. Garden City, 1914. BEVIS, JAMES FREDERICK, & JEFKERY, HENRY JOHN. British plants; their biology and ecology. Ed. 2. London, 1920. BEWLKY, YV. F. Diseases of greenhouse plants. London, 1923. BEWS, JOHN WILLIAM. Plant forms and their evolution in South Africa-. London, 1925. BLACK, JOHN MCCONNELL. The naturalized flora of South Australia. Adelaide, 1909. Botanischc Abhandlungcn; herausgegeben von K. Gocbcl. Heft. 1- 10. Jena, J 922- 26. BOWER, FREDERIC ORPEN. Botany of the living plant. Ed. 2. London, 1923. BROWN, HARRY BATES. Cotton: history, species, varieties, morphology, breeding, culture, diseases, marketing, and uses. New York, 1927. PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes. news, and non- technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To others, 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its twenty- eighth volume. Mycologia, bimonthly, devoted to fungi, including lichens: $ 4.00 a year; single copies not for sale. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its nineteenth volume. Addisonia, quarterly, devoted exclusively to colored plates accompanied by popular descriptions of flowering plants; eight plates in each number, thirty- two in each volume. Subscription price, $ 10.00 a year. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its twelfth volume. Bulletin of The New York Botanical Garden, containing reports of the Director- in- Chief and other official documents, and technical articles embodying results of investigations. Free to all members of the Garden; to others, $ 3.00 per volume. Now in its thirteenth volume. North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North America, including Greenland, the West Indies, and Central America. Planned to be completed in 34 volumes. Roy. Svo. Each volume to consist of four or more parts. $ 6 parts now issued. Subscription price. Si. 50 per part; a limited number of separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.] Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden. Price to members of the Garden, vols. I- YI, $ 1.50 per volume; to others, $ 3.00. Vol. VII, $ 2.50 to members; to others, $ 5.00. Vol. I. An Annotated Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone Park, by Per Axel Rydberg. ix- f- 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. 1003. Vol. III. Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischerville, New York, by A. Hollick and E. C. Jeffrey, xiii- h 138 pp., with 29 plates. 1009. Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart Gager. viii + 47S pp., with 73 figures and 14 plates. 1908. Vol. V. Flora of the Vicinity of New York: A Contribution to Plant Geography, by Norman Taylor, vi + 6S3 pp.. with 9 plates. 1915. Vol. VI. Papers presented at the Celebration of the Twentieth Anniversary of The New York Botanical Garden, viii + 594 pp., with 43 plates and many text figures. 1916. Vol. VII. Includes New Myxophyceae from Porto Rico, by N. L. Gardner; The Flower Behavior of Avocados, by A. B. Stout; Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Plants Collected on the Mulford Biological Exploration of the Amazon Valley, 1021- 1922, by H. H. Rusby: and The Flora of the Saint Eugene Silts. Kootenay Valley, British Columbia, by Arthur Hollick. viii - j- 464 PP-, with 47 plates, 10 charts, and 11 text- figures. 1927. Contributions from The New York Botanical Garden. A series of technical papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted from journals other than the above. Frice, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per volume. In the twelfth volume. THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN Bronx Park, New York City GENERAL INFORMATION Some of the leading features of The New York Botanical Garden are: Four hundred acres of beautifully diversified land in the northern part of the City of New York, through which flows the Bronx River. A native hemlock forest is one of the features of the tract. Plantations of thousands of native and introduced trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Gardens, including a beautiful rose garden, a rock garden of rock-loving plants, and fern and herbaceous gardens. Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America and foreign countries. Flower shows throughout the year— in the spring, summer, and autumn displays of narcissi, daffodils, tulips, irises, peonies, roses, lilies, water-lilies, gladioli, dahlias, and chrysanthemums; in the winter, displays of greenhouse- blooming plants. A museum, containing exhibits of fossil plants, existing plant families, local plants occurring within one hundred miles of the City of New York, and the economic uses of plants. An herbarium, comprising more than one million specimens of American and foreign species. Exploration in different parts of the United States, the West Indies, Central and South America, for the study and collection of the characteristic flora. Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified problems of plant life. A library of botanical literature, comprising more than 35,000 books and numerous pamphlets. Public lectures on a great variety of botanical topics, continuing throughout the year. Publications on botanical subjects, partly of technical, scientific, and partly of popular, interest. The education of school children and the public through the above features and the giving of free information on botanical, horticultural, and forestal subjects. The Garden is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the City of New York, private benefactions and membership fees. It possesses now nearly two thousand members, and applications for membership are always welcome. The classes of membership are: Benefactor single contribution $ 25,000 Patron single contribution 5,000 Fellow for Life single contribution 1,000 Member for Life single contribution 250 Fellowship Member annual fee 100 Sustaining Member annual fee 25 Annual Member annual fee 10 Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. The following is an approved form of bequest: / hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated undor the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1801, the sum of All requests for further information should be sent to T H E NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, NEW YORK CITY |
|
|
|
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
G |
|
J |
|
L |
|
M |
|
N |
|
P |
|
T |
|
|
|