Journal of the New York Botanical Garden

              VOL. XXXI FEBRUARY, 1930 No. 362
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
FURTHER NOTES ON IRIS TROUBLES
B. O. DODGE AND MARJORIE E. SWIFT
THE N EW SPECIES HEMEROCALLIS MULTIFLORA
A. B. STOUT
CHRONICLE OF EASTERN AMERICAN IRIS
JOHN K. SMALL
THE PLANTING OF STAHLIA ON ARBOR DAY IN PORTO RICO
N. L. BRITTON
WHAT FERNS GROW BEST IN T H E HOUSE
RALPH C. BENEDICT
THE TUMORS OF PLANTS AND HOW THEY DIFFER FROM
ANIMAL CANCER
MICHAEL LEVINE
CONFERENCE NOTES FOR DECEMBER
CONFERENCE NOTES FOR JANUARY
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
ACCESSIONS
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THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BOARD OF MANAGERS
HENRY W. DE FOREST, President JOSEPH P. HENNESSY
HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN, Vice President CLARENCE LEWIS
F. K. STURGIS, Vice President ADOLPH LEWISOHN
JOHN L. MERRILL, Treasurer D. T. MACDOUGAL
E. D. MERRILL, Secretary KENNETH K. MACKENZIE
EDWARD D. ADAMS PARKER MCCOLLESTER
CHARLES P. BERKEY H. DE LA MONTAGNE, JR.,
MARSTON T. BOGERT BARRINGTON MOORE
GEORGE S. BREWSTER J. P. MORGAN
N. L. BRITTON LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS
NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER H. HOBART PORTER
ROBERT W. DE FOREST HENRY H. RUSBY
THOMAS A. EDISON GEORGE J. RYAN
CHILDS FRICK MORTIMER L. SCHIFF
R. A. HARPER EDMUND W. SINNOTT
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., SC. D., Chairman D. T. MACDOUGAL, PH. D„ LL. D.
CHARLES P. BERKEY, P H . D., SC. D. BARRINGTON MOORE, A. B., M. F.
MARSTON T. BOGERT, SC. D., LL. D. HENRY H. RUSBY, M. D., SC. D.
NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, P H . D., GEORGE J. RYAN, LL. D.
LL. D., LITT. D. EDMUND W. SINNOTT, PH. D.
DIRECTOR EMERITUS
N. L. BRITTON, P H . D., SC. D., LL. D.
GARDEN STAFF
E. D. MERRILL, SC. 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
BERNARD O. DODGE, P H . D Plant Pathologist
FORMAN T. MCLEAN, M. F., P H . D Supervisor of Public Education
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D Bibliographer
PERCY WILSON Associate Curator
PALMYRE DE C. MITCHELL Associate Curator
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
E. J. ALEXANDER Assistant Curator
ALBERT C. SMITH, A. B Assistant Curator
CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant
MARJORIE E. SWIFT, A. M Assistant Pathologist
ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical 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. XXXI FEBRUARY, 1930 No. 362
FURTHER NOTES ON IRIS TROUBLES
SOIL STERILIZATION EXPERIMENTS
The continued dying- out of plants of many varieties in the Iris
" variety beds'' at The New York Botanical Garden was so ex­tensive
during the summer of 1928 that some experimental work
on soil sterilization was begun, in cooperation with Mrs. Wheeler
H. Peckham, Honorary Curator of Iris and Narcissus Collec­tions.
1 The purpose was to prevent in replants the development
of Sclerotium Delphinii and other soil fungi or bacteria responsi­ble
for those losses which were clearly due to disease. Of the
one hundred plants set out in the bed treated with formaldehyde
and Dip Dust, as noted on page 9 of the article referred to above,
only four plants had died by August, 1929, i. e., about one year
after the replanting was done. The dead plants had been infested
with the larvae of the lunate onion fly, Eumerus strigatus. The
identification was obtained by Dr. C. R. Orton, who was cooperat­ing
at the time in the experiment. On the other hand, certain
aconite beds in which also the Sclerotium Delphinii rot occurred
in 1928, and which received no treatment, suffered severely from
the disease again this year.
On April 1, 1929, the old plants which still survived in one of
the untreated Iris beds, showing a great deal of disease, were
taken up and the rotted parts of rhizomes cut away. The soil
in the bed was dug up to a depth of ten inches and replaced with
fresh soil. The rhizomes taken from the bed and treated with
Uspulun were then replanted. On August 16, 1929, one end of
this bed was photographed ( FIGURE I ) . The great benefit de-
1 Dodge, B. O. Notes on some Iris troubles. Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gard.
30: s- lo. Ja 1929.
26
i-' f, ii
• j, % u
• Is
%\
27
rived from tlie addition of new soil and treatment of the old
rhizomes can be judged by comparing this figure with FIGCBE 4,
oo page 8 of the January, 1939, number of this Journal Both
photographs were taken from practically the same location.
Although the past dry season h^ K served to hold in check tlie
development of fungous diseases in Ihe untreated Iris variety
beds, continued dying- out of scattered plants has necessitated the
extension of soil treatment, rhizome disinfecting, and replanting
to all beds.
BACTERIAL SOFT SOT
A noticeable amount of root rot has occurred in the " test plant­ings"
at the propagating gardens during the past spring and sum­mer.
Single clumps, or several clumps in a row, have shown
progressive drying of the leaves and final death of all plants in
those clumps. Examination of the dying plants rarely failed to
reveal a wet rot in the rhizome, exuding a sticky cream- colored
substance with a disagreeable sour odor. This odor is a distinc­tive
symptom of the Iris bacterial rot. The soft rot, although a
frequent source of trouble in Iris beds, has not received the at­tention
in the literature which its destructiveness warrants.
BacHlus carotovorus Jones is generally said to be the cause of
the rot, although other bacteria have been reported to produce the
same symptoms. 2 This organism, represented by many different
strains, also causes decay of a variety of vegetables, as well as
of other ornamental plants.
No experiments have been reported determining exactly how
B. carotovorus is carried from one plant to another, but Richard­son's8
observations have led him to suspect that it depends mainly
on the soil, and that a wound in the host tissue is usually necessary
for entrance of the bacteria. Infection may occur, however
through stomata and lenticels. Smith4 states that the usual mode
of infection is through a wound in the host plant.
Richardson's work has thrown some light on the behavior of
B. carotovorus within the plant tissue. He found it to be both
2 Massee, George. Diseases of cultivated plants and trees, 519. New
York. 1015.
3 Richardson, J. K. A study of soft rot of Iris. Ann. Rep. Quebec
Soc Prot Plants 15: 105- 120. 1023- 1923.
* Smith, E. F. An introduction to bacterial diseases of plants, 231.
2920.
28
29
inter- and intra- cellular. The cells of infected rhizomes were
plasmolyzed, indefinite in shape, and showed disintegrated con­tents.
The middle lamella was destroyed and the cells separated.
A similar condition was found in the leaf tissue where the water-soaked
areas marked the breaking apart and disintegration of the
cells. The inoculation experiments of this investigator yielded
no infection in the field, but in the laboratory his results were very
similar to those to be described in the present account.
Inoculation experiments
Diseased plants in the " test " plantings at the propagating beds
were the source of bacteria used in inoculations made in the
laboratory and greenhouse in the present experiment.
All plants inoculated by puncturing developed typical rot
symptoms, and bacteria were re- isolated from them. The work
of the organism is evident in FIGURE 2 A, which shows a plant
of the Hakador variety eight days after inoculation. FIGURE B is
the control, a plant of the same variety, wounded with a sterile
needle and receiving the same subsequent treatment as A. The
progress of the wet rot upward from the base of the leaves where
inoculation was effected is readily seen, as is the dull creamy
bacterial ooze on the surface of the rhizome. The rotted tissue
has been riddled by insects which were attracted in numbers to
the diseased plants.
When bacteria from a culture were merely smeared on the sur­face
of the leaves, no symptoms developed. Attempts were also
made to cause infection by placing leaves of diseased plants in
direct contact with those of healthy plants. Only one infection
resulted. The positive results in this case were clearly due to
the fact that the tip of the healthy leaf was broken.
A number of plants were brought into the laboratory, sprayed
with a suspension of bacteria in sterile water, and placed under
bell jars for observation. Infection resulted, but only after
considerable delay, as compared with infection through wounding.
In one case where the rot appeared after eighteen days, it caused
three of the outer leaves of a plant to collapse. Later the
pathogene seemed to lose virility and the plant recovered. In an­other
case, water- soaked areas appeared after a few days at the
tips of two leaves in contact with the moist wall of the bell jar.
30
3i
The rot failed to develop further in one leaf, but progressed
slowly downward in the other until, eleven days after spraying,
this leaf collapsed. The following day the leaf next to the pros­trate
one showed the wet rot at the base progressing upward. The
evidence seems to be that infection may occur through uninjured
leaves, but only after some delay and under the most favorable of
conditions for the pathogene. There is a possibility that the leaves
of the plants sprayed with bacteria were not absolutely uninjured,
but may have had small punctures such as may be caused by in­sects.
In any case, the conditions in that respect were similar to
those which would obtain in the field. The fact that infection
may result from bacteria which have gained a position on the
leaves by whatever means— the splashing of infected soil by rain,
the crawling of insects, or contact with soiled tools— should be
taken into consideration in dealing with the disease.
No reference has been found in the literature to root infection.
Consequently, a plant was. selected for observation of the effects
of inoculation at that point. It was allowed to remain in a damp
chamber for a few days after being pulled up. At the end of that
time there were only three roots which showed no signs of injury.
Two of these ( FIGURE 3, A and B) were inoculated with bacteria
by stabbing; the other ( FIGURE 3, C) was stabbed with a sterile
needle as a control. In two days the inoculated roots were brown,
foul- smelling and soft with typical bacterial rot, whereas the con­trol
was still sound. A few days later, all the roots of this plant
were sprayed with a bacterial suspension. Two days following,
every root, except the original control ( C), which had showed
no injury, were rotting. This would indicate that infection might
well occur, not only through the rhizomes and leaves, but also
through roots and rootlets broken in the process of replanting and
cultivating. The bacteria, however, are apparently unable to
penetrate the unwounded root hairs and epidermis of sound fleshy
roots.
Richardson reported a tendency of the organism causing soft
rot to lose its infective power when kept in culture for several
months. The strain used in the foregoing experiments has borne
out this observation. The original isolation from diseased plants
was made in June, 1929, and despite several re- isolations of the
organism from inoculated plants, it has now ( November) lost its
32
ability to produce symptoms of the rot and a fresh source of the
bacterium must be found.
Control
In determining efficient control measures for the bacterial rot,
the principal medium of transmission, namely, the soil, must be
given first consideration. Sterilization with formaldehyde or
other suitable disinfectant is frequently recommended. Replace­ment
of badly infected soil with a new supply should go far in
preventing recurrence of the disease. Some growers successfully
prevent the rot by dusting " Semesan" about the base and in the
hearts of Iris plants. Soaking the soil with proper mercuric
compounds and treating diseased rhizomes with sulphur or a pink
solution of potassium permanganate have also been recom­mended.
5 Injury to the plants should be avoided as much as
practicable, and care should be taken in transplanting and culti­vating
that roots and leaves are not unnecessarily wounded. An­other
source of dangerous wounds in the rhizomes and roots may
be the heaving action of thawing and freezing during winter
months. In mulching to prevent this process, Mrs. Wheeler H.
Peckham states that she has obtained the best results by the use
of a thin layer of salt- marsh hay placed between the plants. Such
treatment involves no danger of soil contamination and gives the
rhizomes adequate protection from the heat of the sun and con­sequent
thawing. Crowded planting favors the development of
any disease through accumulation of rubbish and moisture. Am­ple
space should be left between plants to allow free penetration
of air and sunlight during the growing period.
DAMPING- OFF
A severe case of seedling damping- off was called to the atten­tion
of the pathologist this summer, and successfully controlled
by a thorough spraying of the soil and young plants with Uspulun.
Isolations from affected plants yielded cultures of one of the
common damping- off fungi, Rhizoctonia Solani Kuhn. Although
this pathogene has a wide range of hosts, no mention has been
found in the literature of its having caused such Iris trouble.
5 Gregory, C. T., and Davis, J. J. Common garden pests. Published
by Better Homes and Gardens. 1928.
33
INSECTS
Last summer's dry weather, while checking some of the fun­gous
diseases, may have lowered the resistance of plants to a de­gree
where certain insects became an unusual menace.
Aphid
Both Japanese and German Iris have been hosts to the aphid
Anuraphis Tulipae Boyer during the past season and have re­quired
treatment with Black- Leaf- 40 and soap. This sucking
insect feeds on the upper parts of leaves as well as on the base
near the growing point, often below the soil surface.
Verbena Bud- Moth
In August two insects destructive to the seeds of valuable
crosses were reported at work in the Iris garden. One of these,
the Verbena bud- moth, Olethreutes hebesana Walker, was first
noted in its pupal stage. The brown pupa case projects from a
black- ringed hole in the seed pod, where the larvae have been
feeding for about three weeks. Three days after emergence of
the adult, the eggs are desposited on the pod surface. The
hatched larvae enter the pod and feed on the seeds until ready
to pupate. As there are at least four generations during the sea­son,
several applications of an insecticide such as arsenate of lead
should be made, beginning soon after the pods begin to form.
The insect overwinters as larvae or pupae in cocoons on the leaves
or within seeds. 6 It has been widely reported not only as a pest
of Iris, but as a " general feeder " on plants.
Weevil
The other insect observed attacking Iris seeds was identified by
Dr. K. F. Chamberlain, assistant state entomologist, as the weevil
Mononychus vulpecnlus. This insect tunnels through the seeds,
eating out the embryo and leaving of each seed only a thin ring.
At the end of a tunnel which sometimes extends through a whole
row of seeds, the small dark weevil may be found with its flat
disk- shaped body fitting snugly into the last seed it has mutilated.
This pest has been commonly found in the seed pods of native
Blue Flag, according to Dr. Chamberlain, but its occurrence on
GRies, Donald T. Two Iris Insects. Bull. Am. Iris Soc, 32: 27- 47.
Jl 1929.
34
cultivated Iris is somewhat rare. It was reported in 1921 from
Connecticut' as eating the petals and breeding in the seed pods of
Japanese Iris, and in 1926 in Iris pods on Staten Island. 8 Its
presence in Bronx Park, though not in connection with Iris, has
also been reported. 8 The limited extent of its injury to cultivated
plants has not warranted a study of control methods, but, as the
adult weevils are flying as early as May, applications of an
arsenate of lead spray early in the season should kill the insect
before its eggs are laid and the larvae bore into the pod.
Citrus Scale on Iris Plants
An interesting infestation— the Florida red- scale ( Chrysom-phalus
aonidum L.) on Iris leaves— is illustrated in FIGURE 2, C.
It occurred in the propagating greenhouse, where an infested
citrus seedling and some Iris plants potted for experimental pur­poses
were in proximity. This small circular red scale is usually
confined to citrus plants in greenhouses, but may live on a variety
of hosts. The injury was not considered serious and the insect
was allowed to develop to determine to what extent Iris plants
would serve as hosts. The plants affected present a very dis­figured
appearance with conspicuous chlorotic spots about the
insects, converging into large yellow areas. So far, several
varieties are infested, but, as the pest appears to be spreading, it
will be necessary to treat infested plants in order to save them.
B. O. DODGE AND MARJORIE E. SWIFT
THE NEW SPECIES HEMEROCALLIS MULTIFLORA
The latest member of the wild daylilies to be discovered and
named is the species Hemerocallis multiflora, a description and a
colored plate of which were first published in a recent number of
Addisonia ( 14: pl. 464. Je 1929). Since the genus Hemerocallis
is a small one, comprising at present about twelve valid species,
the addition of a new species is of some botanical interest. Also
the members of this genus are of value as garden plants, and the
* Britton, W. E. Twenty- first report of the State Entomologist for
1921. Conn. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 234: 194.
8 A list of the insects of New York. Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.
Mem. 101: 506. Aug. 1926.
35
new species is to be considered in this respect. The description
and the plate of H. multiflora already published may be supple­mented
by photographs and by some remarks on the possible
value of this new species for use in hybridization, which aims to
obtain new daylilies of merit for culture in flower gardens.
Thus far there have been but ten plants of the species H. multi-flora
available for observation by the writer. These came to The
New York Botanical Garden in 1925 as divisions of wild plants
obtained at Ki- Kung- Shan, Honan, China, by Dr. A. N. Steward,
then a member of the faculty of the University of Nanking. It is
believed that these are the only plants of this species now in cul­tivation.
These ten plants differ somewhat among themselves in
vigor of growth and in the season of blooming. But in the char­acteristics
of the flowers and capsules and in general habit of
growth they are all very similar, and they are distinctly different
from any other known species.
One outstanding character of this species is the rather large
number of flowers which a scape may bear. The scapes are, as a
rule, abundantly branched above and thus a single scape may pro­duce
as many as one hundred flowers during the entire season of
bloom. But these flowers mature over a somewhat extended pe­riod,
and so the plant has a long season of blooming and there are
not many flowers open during any one day. The photograph of
FIGURE 4 shows this condition; at the time when it was taken the
scape had been in flower for several days and tiny buds were ap­pearing
from which flowers would open several weeks later. For
a large well- established plant, there may be several scapes having
from thirty to as many as one hundred flowers each, and the
blooming of the entire plant may continue for a period of six to
ten weeks. The specific name multiflora seems appropriate in re­gard
to the total number of flowers produced by scapes.
During the four years that these ten plants of H. multiflora
have been under observation at The New York Botanical Garden,
one plant has always bloomed in July while the others have begun
to bloom rather late in August, and in 1929 some continued to
yield flowers until as late as November 22, which was the date of
the first severe frost.
But the plants of H. multiflora do not have the " evergreen "
habit of growth characteristic of certain other daylilies. Their
FIGURE 4
37
leaves turn brown in mid- autumn with the coming of near- freez­ing
temperatures, after which the flowers of the late- blooming
individuals continue to develop and open— a behavior unknown
for any other daylily.
In the so- called " evergreen " daylilies, new leaves continue to
appear throughout the summer and autumn and the plants remain
- with fresh green foliage until severe freezing temperatures pre­vail.
Of the wild species now known, only Hemerocallis auranti­aca
is decidedly evergreen. The H. fulva is only slightly ever­green.
The foliage of the species Hemerocallis minor, H. Du­mortierii,
H. Middendorffii, and H. Thunbergii dies early in
autumn or even in late summer. The foliage of H. citrina re­mains
green until rather late in autumn and then quickly turns to
a conspicuous yellow- brown and soon falls flat on the ground.
But meanwhile the H. aurantiaca and numerous of the named
horticultural clons, such as Luteola, Aureole, Ajax, Golden Bell,
Sir Michael Foster, Shirley, Mikado, Vesta, Wau- Bun, etc., con­tinue
to put forth green leaves. Some of the seedlings now being
grown at The New York Botanical Garden which have the ever-
FI:; URE 4. A single scape typical for the species Hemerocallis multi-flora.
Three flowers are open; several have already bloomed; numerous
buds, some of small size, will continue the blooming over a period of sev­eral
weeks. This particular scape was photographed on September 14 from
a plant that is late- blooming.
green habit also have a second period of blooming, or, what is
more common, an occasional scape with flowers appears through­out
the late summer and autumn. In this behavior there is a
tendency to become " ever- blooming." But this is different from
the late- blooming habit of certain plants of H. multiflora which
have one period1 of flowering, which continues after the foliage is
nearly dead and until cold weather arrives.
The scapes of all the plants of H. multiflora are rather slender,
and frequently they are gracefully bending under the load of
flowers and fruit. For a few plants the scapes are somewhat
stiffly erect to a height of as much as four feet; for others they
are shorter and more bending. The scapes of a single plant may
be rather erect at one time and decidedly bending at another time.
Such variations within a wild species are not uncommon; they
are often the basis for the selection of different races, or of dif­ferent
clons. The plants with such minor differences as are seen
3 «
39
in these plants of H. multiflora may be expected to give somewhat
different habits of growth to the offspring from hybridization with
other daylilies.
The species H. multiflora is itself not especially valuable as a
garden plant. The flowers are of fair size and rather full with
pleasing form and color, but they are scarcely large enough or suf­ficiently
numerous on any one day to give a showy display of
color in the garden.
Several plants of Hemerocallis multiflora have already been
hybridized with other species, including some of those that bloom
earliest in spring. This was accomplished by saving the pollen of
FIGURE 5. Typical flowers of Hemerocallis multiflora, about four- fifths
natural size, showing the two extremes in orientation which flowers of
uaylilies may assume. The color is of a shade between chrome and cad­mium-
yellow— a grade of orange- yellow— and the surface is gold- glistening.
the latter. Many seedlings have also been obtained in crosses with
hybrids and with named horticultural clons, including some that
have large flowers and some that have flowers with pink and with
fulvous colors. It is the hope that the desirable characteristics of
H. multiflora, such as long period of blooming, numerous flowers
to a scape, and late blooming, will appear among the offspring in
combinations that give somewhat new types of daylilies for garden
culture.
A. B. STOUT.
40
CHRONICLE OF EASTERN AMERICAN IRIS
The present wide- spread interest in iris and the long neglect of
our native irises as botanical, not to mention horticultural, sub­jects
make a chronicle of our eastern species timely.
The technical botanical history of Iris in North America begins
with the publication of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum in 1753.
However, about two centuries, dating from the early records and
specimens on which Linnaeus based his North American species,
comprise the total historic chronology involved. The following
American Iris chronicle will be of particular interest, especially
in view of the impetus recent exploration in the Gulf States has
given to the study of the native plants of the genus Iris. The
sequence of events which makes up the Iris chronicle is exceed­ingly
unevenly distributed through the two hundred years in­volved.
The authors and their botanical works in which American
irises figure, published prior to the appearance of the Species
Plantarum, are, arranged here in chronological sequence, recorded
by Linnaeus as follows:
Leonard Plukenet ( 1641- 1706), Almagestrum, 1696.
John James Dillenius ( 1687- 1747), Hortus Elthamensis,
1732-
Jan Fredrik Gronovius ( 1690- 1762), Clayton's Flora Vir­ginica,
1739.
Georg Dionysius Ehret ( 1708- 1770), Plantae et Papiliones
Rariores, i748-' 59- T> 2.
Late in the seventeenth century, American irises found their
way to Europe, either as living plants or as herbarium specimens.
A number of species from the Atlantic seaboard were recorded in
the Old World literature of that period. Linnaeus ( 1707- 1778)
assembled this matter and with the aid of specimens in some cases
published in his Species Plantarum, Iris versicolor, 1 I. virginica, 1
and /. vcrnu. 3 Iris virginica L. is not be confused with the usual
Iris virginica of the horticultural trade.
1 Iris versicolor L. Sp. Pl. 39. 1753; various provinces, eastern North
America.
2 Iris virginica L. Sp. Pl. 39. 1753; various provinces, southeastern
United States.
8 Iris vema L. Sp. Pl. 39. 1753; various provinces, southeastern United
States.
4i
The next important step in our iris chronology was made by
Thomas Walter ( 1740- 1788), pioneer American flora writer and
maker of the second Botanic Garden in America, who described
four species as growing in the region covered by his Flora Caro­liniana.
They were, Iris hexagona, I. tripetala, I. vema, and /.
versicolor. Among these, Iris hexagona* and /. tripetala" were
new species, while f. vema was the same as the Linnaean species,
but his /. versicolor was the Linnaean I. virginica.
A year after Thomas Walter published on the four species of
his region, another species was launched by William Aiton ( 1731-
1793), in 1789, in his Hortus Kewensis. Thus Iris cristata6 was
added to the recorded American flora.
More than two decades elapsed before the genus Iris was again
increased. In 1812 a quite unexpected quarter was heard from
when Iris fulva7 was published by John Bellenden Ker ( 1765-
1842), from specimens collected near New Orleans, Louisiana.
Again only a year elapsed before another iris was added to
the increasing list. In 1S13, Henry Muhlenberg ( 1753- 1815),
published an Iris virginica. This specific name was untenable as
Linnaeus had already used it for a quite different plant. But,
in the following year, 1814, Frederick Pursh ( 1774- 1820), de­scribed
the same plant, apparently independently, under the name
Iris prismatica. 8
Within four years the heart of the Great Lake region con­tributed
an iris to the growing list when Thomas Nuttall ( 1786-
1859), published Iris lacustris.* Within a decade and a half of
the publication of Iris lacustris, Thomas Nuttall contributed an
'' Iris hexagona Walt. Fl. Car. 66. 1788; Coastal Plain, southeastern
United States.
•> Iris tripetala Walt. Fl. Car. 66. 1788; Coastal Plain, southeastern
United States.
6 Iris cristata Ait. Hort. Kew. 1: 70. 1789; various provinces, south­eastern!
United States.
11ris fidva Ker. Bot. Mag. pl 1496. 1812; Gulf Coastal Plain, south­eastern
United States and adjacent biological provinces.
* Iris prismatica Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 30. 1814; various provinces,
eastern North America.
9 Iris lacustris Nutt. Genera 1: 23. 1818; northern end of the Mack­inaw
peninsula, Michigan, and opposite shores of Lake Michigan and
Lake Huron.
42
additional iris from what was then the " Far West," Iris mis­souriensis.
11' However, in the meantime Justus W. M. Radius
( 1797- 1884), published Iris Carolina in 1822. This, however,
was not an additional species, but a republication of Linnaeus' /.
virginica.
Within a few years the far northeast produced an iris, for in
1840 George Penny, British nurseryman of the early part of the
nineteenth century, published Iris Hookeri11 from the eastern
Canadian region.
At this point the discovery and describing of new species of
Iris in eastern North America ceased for a period of over sixty
years. It is true, however, as in the case of Iris Carolina cited
above, in a special article by Sereno Watson in 1888, the name
Iris caroliniana appeared, but this, too, proved to be the same as
Linnaeus' /. virginica.
We may for convenience divide the Iris chronology into three
periods: the first period embraces the century and a half in which
the species thus far referred to were described, ending with the
beginning of the twentieth century.
There are a number of repeaters to be considered. Most of
these come within that period as limited above. Disregarding
misidentifications which found their way into print and which
have now been crystallized in synonymy, we find Iris tripetala
Walt. ( 1788) repeated as /. tridentata Pursh ( 1813); Iris pris­matica
Pursh ( 1814) appeared as /. gracilis Bigel. in the same
year; Iris cristata ( 1789) appeared as /. odorata Pers. ( 1805).
Furthermore, it should be recorded that Iris versicolor Walt.
( 1788) is /. virginica L. ( 1753) ; while /. sibirica Pursh ( 1813)
is / . missouriensis Nutt. ( 1840) ; Iris virginica L. ( 1753) appeared
as /. Carolina Radius ( 1822) and /. caroliniana S. Wats. ( 1888),
and was later rechristened /. georgiana Britton ( 1913).
The first sign of interest in native American Iris after the long
spell of inactivity, was the publication of Iris foliosa by Mackenzie
and Bush in 1902. Thus the beginning of the present century
may be taken as the inauguration of the second period of our Iris
chronology.
10 Iris missouriensis Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phil. 7: 58. 1834; various
provinces, western North America.
11 Iris Hookeri Penny; Steud. Nomencl. Ed. 2. pt. I, 822. 1840; north­ern
New England Coast and eastern Canada.
43
After this beginning, more than two decades elapsed before
documentary evidence of further iris activity appeared. As
botanical exploration in the Gulf States progressed, evidences of
irises unaccounted for in our botanical horticultural literature
were brought to our notice. In 1924 two irises from Florida were
published by the writer, and figured in color, namely Iris savan­narum12
from the savannas and prairies of peninsular Florida and
Iris Kimballiae ™ from the delta of the Apalachicola River in
northern Florida.
As the two above- mentioned species were being launched, evi­dences
of additional undescribed species came to light from the
Gulf region, and in 1927 four species which our field- work had
brought to light were described, and figured in color. These
represented a wide geographic range: Florida was involved again
in Iris rivularis}* The other three species were found in the
lower Mississippi River water- shed. Iris Shrevei15 has the widest
geographic range of the trio. It is related to Iris versicolor and
/. virginica. The next in order as to extent of range is Iris flexi-caulis16
which is related to Iris foliosa which is native of the same
general region. The more unusual plant of this trio and the
most restricted in range is Iris vinicolor17 which has a very un­usually
colored flower, vinaceous- purple. This plant and some
of its associates, at the time of its discovery in the spring of 1925,
aroused our suspicions about the possibilities of further iris dis­coveries
in the lower Mississippi Delta. Further exploration of
this region confirmed our suspicions and our field- work there, up
to date, has disclosed the most unique development of Iris in the
world as far as number of species and variety of color in flowers
is concerned in a very restricted area.
12 Iris savannarum Small, Addisonia g : 57. pl. 317. 1924; Coastal Plain,
peninsular Florida.
13 Iris Kimballiae Small, Addisonia 9: 59. pl. 318. 1924; Coastal north­ern
Florida.
14 Iris rivularis Small, Addisonia 12: 11. pl. 390*. 1927; watershed of
the St. Mary's River, Florida, and Georgia.
15 Iris Shrevei Small, Addisonia 12: 13. pL' 391. 1927; lower Mississippi
Valley generally.
1S Iris flexicaulis Small, Addisonia 12: 9. pl. 380. 1927; lower Missis­sippi
watershed.
17 Iris vinicolor Small, Addisonia 12: 1. pl. 385. 1927; lower Missis­sippi
Delta.
44
The next epoch in this second iris period was in 1929. This is
conspicuously characterized by the launching of seven additional
irises from the Coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. All these
were described and figured in March, 1929.
Florida, as in the case of the preceding quartet of new species,
furnished one, namely Iris Albispiritus. 18 This is related to Iris
savannarum, of which it long ago may have been a derivative.
The outstanding increment in this epoch came from the lower
Mississippi Delta. Six species are involved— all of them excep­tionally
showy plants. They are Iris violipurpurea1^ with a vio­let-
purple ground- color in the perianth; Iris giganticaerulea, 2 ®
with a violet- blue ground- color in the perianth; Iris chrysophoe-nicea,
21 with a plum- color ground- color in the perianth; Iris
mirabilis, 22 with a lavender ground- color in the perianth or white;
Iris chrysaeola, 23 with a violet ground- color in the perianth; Iris
atrocyanea, 24 with a very dark violet- blue ground- color in the
perianth.
A total of twenty- four species have been referred to on the
preceding pages. They are all growing in the study plantations
of The New York Botanical Garden. In addition, there are
growing in these plantations at least a dozen species that are not
yet published. These more than three dozen species of Iris are
known to be native in eastern North America.
These plants are all desirable horticultural subjects. All the
species belonging to the first period have been in cultivation for
many years. Those of the second period have recently been
brought into cultivation in both America and in Europe. Those
intended to form the third period are being distributed to Iris
specialists for study and development. They will form a more
interesting series than the members of the second period.
18 Iris Albispiritus Small, Addisonia 14: 1. pl. 449. 1929; peninsular
Florida, particularly the western parts.
19 Iris violipurpurca Small, Addisonia 14: 1. pl. 440. 1929; lower Mis­sissippi
Delta.
20 Iris giganticaerulea Small, Addisonia 14: 5. pi. 451. 1929.
21 Iris chrysophocnicca Small, Addisonia 14: 7. pl. 452. 1929.
22 Iris mirabilis Small, Addisonia 14: 9. pl. 453. 1929.
23 Iris chrysaeola Small, Addisonia 14: 11. pl. 454. 1929.
24 Iris atrocyanca Small, Addisonia 14: 13. pl. 455. 1929.
45
The collections at the Garden are divided into two sections.
The plants of one section are grown in cold- frames, those of the
other in the open. Thus two distinct flowering periods result and
a much extended time and a better opportunity for study is gained.
The various species, those described long ago, those recently de­scribed,
and those yet undescribed are being hybridized. This
crossing of the species, it is hoped, will produce many valuable
additional horticultural subjects for this group of plants now so
much in vogue.
The species from the lower Mississippi Delta are hardy up to
the latitude of New York. Curiously enough, under conditions
quite different from those of their native habitats, the plants
flower as freely as they do in the Gulf region. Those from
Florida are naturally less hardy, and unless protected, flower
scantily or fail to flower, devoting what energy they have left after
the winter to producing new rootstocks to replace the parts seri­ously
damaged by freezing.
In addition to the plantations of these Eastern American irises
at the Garden, mentioned above, collections designed for study
and exhibition have been installed in widely separated regions,
with very unlike soils and different meteoric conditions. Among
these may be mentioned the reservations of Mrs. Arthur Curtiss
James at Coconut Grove, Florida; of Mrs. George Alexander Mc-
Kinlock at Palm Beach, Florida; of Mrs. Thomas Alva Edison at
Fort Myers, Florida; of Mrs. Raymond Robins on Chinsegut
Hill, near Brooksville, Florida; of Mr. Henry Lockhart, Jr., at
Longwood in the Coastal Plain of Maryland; and of Mr. Clarence
Lewis at Skylands Farm in the Ramapo Mountains of New
Jersey.
JOHN K. SMALL.
THE PLANTING OF A STAHLIA ON ARBOR DAY IN
PORTO RICO1
Dr. Agustin Stahl, whose useful life we meet here today to com­memorate,
was for many years a resident of Bayamon, Porto
Rico, where he died in the year 1917. He practised the profession
1 Arbor Day address at Munoz Rivera Park, San Juan, Porto Rico,
November 29, 1929.
46
of medicine, but his love was for the study of plants and of ani­mals,
and he added greatly to the knowledge of Porto Rican
botany and zoology by his collections of specimens and his publi­cations.
Through these his name comes down to us and through
the tree dedicated to him as Stahlia by the Spanish botanist Bello,
in 1881, a charming tribute to his memory, and most appropriate,
for this rare tree is known to grow naturally only in Porto Rico
and on Vieques Island.
It is with peculiar pleasure that we plant in this new park a
young Stahlia, raised from seed by the Forest Service, the seed
obtained by your Chief Forester, Mr. William P. Kramer. It will
be interesting for you to come here occasionally and observe its
growth; old trees are recorded as becoming 20 meters high. But
when you come, be sure not to touch or break the tree nor to
trample the ground around it, for you might retard its growth or
even cause it to perish; except for their care by foresters or gar­deners,
young trees should be undisturbed.
In the plaza of Bayamon there is a Caoba or Mahogany tree,
planted in honor of Dr. Stahl in 1905 and now about twelve
meters high, a beautiful memorial, but Caoba is not native in
Porto Rico. An excellent account of his life and works has been
published by your distinguished Commissioner of Agriculture and
Labor, Carlos E. Chardon.
As to the tree itself, like many other native Porto Rican trees,
it has become scarce through the destruction of most of the nat­ural
forests; we now know only two small areas where it exists
in some abundance, and a very few isolated trees elsewhere.
Stahlia, the name we use for it here, today, is its botanical name;
the Porto Rican names Cobana negra and Polisandro are applied
to it by woodsmen. Scientifically it is in the same botanical fam­ily
as the Algarrobo, or West Indian Locust, the Flamboyant, or
Royal Poinciana, and the Campeche, or Logwood. Its leaves are
compound, that is to say, each leaf is composed of a number of
separate leaflets; on the under side of these leaflets, to be seen
through a magnifying glass, are many round, black dots, not
found on the leaves of any other Porto Rican tree, and these en­able
us to know Stahlia by studying a single leaflet; its rather
large, yellowish flowers form long clusters and are to be seen in
the spring; its fruit is a hard pod, four or five centimeters long.
47
The planting of a Porto Rican tree is symbolic of the great need
of extensive reforestation of this beautiful island. Originally,
before its occupation by people from Europe, nearly the whole
island was covered by forest trees; through clearing, the forests
are now for the most part reduced to small areas on the higher
mountains, and are quite insufficient. During every rain- storm
immense quantities of valuable soil are washed from the moun­tains
and hills down into the rivers and carried out into the ocean,
causing great loss; if the higher parts of the island were again
covered by forests this loss would be much reduced. At the pres­ent
time the water in only a few of the rivers is ever clear, and
these rivers rise in the forests; all the others are always muddy,
caused by the soil they are wastefully carrying to the sea.
An abundant and cheap supply of wood for domestic fires and
for buildings is also one of your urgent needs, and this may only
be had by growing very many more trees. The Forest Service
has made an excellent beginning in reforestation, but it needs
wide expansion, and the active cooperation of all your people.
This reforestation has included the planting of 12,000 Stahlias
along the southern coast the past year.
You will long remember that today we have met to honor the
memory of one of your most eminent men of science; your
thoughts have been directed as his were to the study of nature
and of nature's great importance in our lives; you will be pre­pared
to give aid and sympathy to the progress of reforestation,
and in this you will be wisely directed and guided by His Excel­lency,
Governor Theodore Roosevelt.
N. L. BRITTON.
WHAT FERNS GROW BEST IN THE HOUSE1
Various kinds of ferns are so commonly grown as house plants
and with such generally satisfying results that people sometimes
jump to the conclusion that any plant will succeed in the living
rooms. Unfortunately, this is not true, as many have found after
1 Abstract of a lecture given at Conservatory Range 2 of The New
York Botanical Garden on December 14, 1929, by the editor of " The
American Fern Journal."
trying to grow some beautiful woodland plant in a clay pot inside
a glass window.
Ferns, in general, are rather captious in their environmental
requirements. The common Christmas Fern, the leaves of which
lie flat and green under the snow at this time of the year, succeeds
in dry upland woods and thickets but does not like a dry house
condition. This is a common native species, which the amateur
often mistakes for the cultivated Boston Fern.
There are a few kinds of hardy native ferns which can be
grown indoors inside a special glass case ( Wardian case) or even
in a small glass aquarium, if the plant selected is small enough.
The confined air of such glass enclosures approximates fairly well
the moisture conditions of the outdoors. It is chiefly the dry air
and usually high temperature of dwelling houses which ferns of
all sorts dislike and suffer under.
To obtain fern plants which can stand up best under this rather
unhygienic air condition, it is necessary to select certain tropical
and subtropical species which naturally frequent surroundings
where moisture is not over- abundant. The Boston Fern, derived
from the wild Sword Fern of Florida and the tropics generally, is
relatively resistant in its native habitat. The Bird's- nest Fern,
which has, in the last few years, been grown in larger and larger
quantities by the florists, is a native of islands of the Pacific,
where it grows often as an epiphyte clinging to the branches of
trees many feet above ground, with no secure subterranean
sources in water.
The Bear's- foot Fern ( Polypodium aureum), which, in the
variety Mandaianum, has most beautifully ruffled leaves, is a fern
of the American tropics with a penchant for perching on trees,
like the Bird's- nest ( Asplenium Nidus). In general, it appears
that ferns adapted in the tropics to growing under conditions of
uncertain moisture possess a quality of resistance to household
neglect and thereby qualify as good house- ferns. Fortunately, in
the Boston Fern and these other two just named, we have three
extreme!}' beautiful types.
There are many ferns of the tropics of a similar habitat which
would probably grow in the house except for the fact that they
reach proportions far beyond the space available, even in the most
palatial mansions. Some of these species have a vine- like habit
49
and extend many feet up and down the trunks of trees. There
are species of climbing ferns ( Lygodium sp.) which have leaves
as much as lOO feet in length.
In connection with the extensive production of new varieties
from the original Boston Fern, itself appearing about 1895, the
tendency of the florists has been to favor smaller and smaller
types, as these are better adapted to grow and thrive in the limited
amount of light which a window offers.
Mention might be made of the fact that there are ferns, or fern
allies, which you can grow in an aquarium more or less success­fully.
Two of them are little floating forms, Salvinia, known as
the Floating Fern, and Azolla, nicknamed the Mosquito Fern,
whose haunts it frequents. The latter is found scattered over
much of the United States, and, in other species, in the tropics.
These little floating plants are scarcely recognizable, however, to
the uninitiated, as ferns.
The most stately ferns are the tree ferns, one or two of which
are often shown in florists' windows, with spreading expansions
of pale yellow- green leaves ( Cibotium). They are not, however,
suitable for house growth except under very special conditions, as
of small conservatories.
From the little Mosquito Fern of one- half inch in diameter,
ferns range in size to certain South Sea Islands species with
trunks 80 feet high.
It is probable that the tropics still hold many fern species which
would be suitable for house culture on the same basis as the
Bird's- nest and Bear's- foot. However, fern- growing in this coun­try
is largely on the quantity basis, like the production of auto­mobiles,
etc. The grower is interested in producing tens of thou­sands,
sometimes even hundreds of thousands, in a year, of single
varieties. He does not find that it pays to experiment with novel­ties.
However, for the individual, who has a small amount of
greenhouse space, I can think of nothing more enjoyable and
relatively easy than experimental culture from spores of vari­ous
untried tropical types.
RALPH C. BENEDICT.
5°
THE TUMORS OF PLANTS AND HOW THEY DIFFER
FROM ANIMAL CANCER1
While our knowledge of cancer dates back to ancient times, the
recognition of swellings on plants as possible malignant growths
is the result of studies made in the present. The lecturer briefly
traced the development of various hypotheses which attempt to
account for the origin of cancer in human beings and animals.
It was pointed out that, while no definitely accepted theory has
been advanced to explain the origin of cancer in man, the cause
for swellings on plants has been ascribed to a tumor- producing
bacterium. The name " crown- gall disease" has been given to
these swellings. This disease occurs in nature on a large variety
of economic plants, such as the apple, pear, peach, and almond
trees, and most garden vegetables, especially the beet. It is in­teresting
to note, the lecturer said, that certain house plants, like
the begonias and the cacti, appear to be free from disease.
This disease may be produced artificially by wounding the plant
and introducing the bacterium. After a period varying from two
to four weeks, tumors or wart- like formations appear. The size
and rate of growth of these tumors depend upon the position they
occupy on the plant. The tumor does not spread but remains
where the bacterial organism is introduced. This is one of the
striking differences between animal and plant tumors.
Other agents besides bacteria are capable of producing swellings
or overgrowths in plants. The agents belong to the animal and
plant groups. Lantern slides of various domestic plants with
artificially produced tumors were shown on the screen.
A careful analysis was then made of the characteristics of ani­mal
and human cancer. Step by step the lecturer contrasted the
animal and plant diseases. The lecturer pointed out that while
certain plants develop apparently malignant growths, that in the
main, the plant cancer is not analogous to animal cancer. He
emphasized the point that the crown gall is more wart- like in its
behavior. However, he stated that the malignant types of plant
cancers are distinct entities and belong to another category of the
cancer disease.
1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture given at The New York Botanical
Garden on Saturday afternoon, September 14, 1929.
5i
The speaker went briefly into a very detailed study of the can­cer
cells and showed that while human, animal, and plant cells
were more or less similar in appearance, they differed in behavior.
Photomicrographs of many types of cancer cells were projected
on the screen.
The treatment of the plant for removal of their tumors is a
simple surgical procedure. The use of radium and X- rays has
also been tried by the speaker, not primarily for the purpose of
curing the plant but principally to study what effect various doses
of radium and X- rays have on the living cell. These studies were
especially undertaken by the lecturer with the hope that light
might be shed on the changes that occur in the cancer cell of man.
Numerous lantern slides were shown on this phase of the lec­ture.
Besides lantern slides, living and preserved plants with tumors
were shown. The experiments were done at Montefiore Hospital,
New York City.
MICHAEL LEVINE.
CONFERENCE NOTES FOR DECEMBER
The regular monthly Conference of the Scientific Staff and
Registered Students of the Garden was held on the afternoon of
December II, 1929.
Dr. B. O. Dodge reported on " An Albino Race of the Monilia
Bread Mold." The origin of this albino race and the hereditary
behavior of the albino character in breeding tests were discussed.
The detailed report of this study will be published in the near
future.
Professor W. J. Bonisteel gave to the conference " A Survey
of the Genus Aconitum." During the past year seeds or living
plants of about sixty different species of Aconitum have been
obtained at the Garden for culture and for botanical study. A
report was made of what has been learned about the cultivation
of these plants, about the requirements for germination of their
seed, and about the habits of growth. The toxicity of the spe­cies
and their importance in medicine and in horticulture were
. also discussed.
A. B. STOUT,
Secretary of the Conference.
52
CONFERENCE NOTES FOR JANUARY
A monthly Conference of the Scientific Staff and Registered
Students of the Garden was held on the afternoon of January 8,
1930.
Dr. B. O. Dodge and Dr. Fred J. Seaver, who attended the
recent meetings of the American Association for the Advance­ment
of Science and the Botanical Society of America at Des
Moines as delegates from the Garden, gave reports of these
meetings. Dr. Arthur Hollick presented an account of the re­cent
meetings of the Geological Society of America and the
Paleontological Society of America, held in Washington, D. C.
Mr. E. J. Schreiner reported on his determination of the per­fect
stage of Cytospora chrysosperma ( Pers.) Fr. and of this re­port
the following is a condensed summary:
In the fall of 1929 dead twigs of poplar were collected with
perithecia of Valsa sordida Nke. and pycnidia of Cytospora chry­sosperma
( Pers.) Fr. in close association. Single- spore cultures
of the ascospores of the Valsa sordida were made and these were
grown on steamed poplar twigs. After 3 to 4 weeks pycnidia of
Cytospora chrysosperma developed in all the cultures. Valsa
sordida is therefore the perfect stage of Cytospora chrysospemw,
the causal organism of the canker disease of poplars described by
W. H. Long in 1918.
A. B. STOUT,
Secretary of the Conference.
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
Dr. and Mrs. N. L. Britton are spending the winter in Porto
Rico, where they are continuing their studies of its flora. They
left New York on November 21 and are expecting to return in
April.
Dr. H. A. Gleason, Curator, has been appointed Associate
Editor of the new periodical, Ecological Monographs, to be pub­lished
for the Ecological Society of America by Duke University.
Publication will begin in 1931.
53
Dr. B. 0 . Dodge, Plant Pathologist of the Garden staff, is con­tinuing
his services, begun last summer, as consultant to a com­mittee
of the medical faculty of Columbia University in the in­vestigation
of some of the smaller fungi that cause human
diseases.
No. 51 of the Bulletin of The New York Botanical Garden,
consisting of an illustrated " Guide to the Pinetum" by Edmund
H. Fulling, was issued last August. The guide will be of im­mediate
use to students of the large collection of coniferous trees
in the Garden and will prove of future interest as a historic
record.
Mr. Chien P'ei of Chengtu, Szechuan Province, China, who
has completed all of his requirements for the Ph. D. degree at
Stanford University, except his thesis, has reported to the Garden
for his thesis work. His subject is a taxonomic consideration of
the Verbenaceae of China, the work to be done under the general
supervision of Dr. E. D. Merrill, Director- in- Chief.
Mrs. Adelaide S. Van Brunt died suddenly on January 12.
Mrs. Van Brunt was responsible for the beautiful and accurate
coloring of many of the lantern- slide photographs of plants in
the collection of The New York Botanical Garden. She was the
widow of Mr. Cornelius Van Brunt, expert photographer of
plants, who died in 1903. It is expected that a more extended
account of the life and work of Mrs. Van Brunt will appear in a
later number of the JOURNAL.
Among the Asiatic collections recently received for identifica­tion
is an important one, comprising several hundred numbers,
from Chihli Province, China, made by Mr. C. F. Li under the
auspices of the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, Peiping,
China; and a large and important collection, approximating 800
numbers, made by Dr. R. Kanehira of the Kyushu Imperial Uni­versity,
Fukuoka, Japan, during the past summer in the Caroline
and Marianne Islands.
During the past summer, Chaplain and Mrs. Joseph Clemens,
who have prosecuted very extensive botanical explorations in the
54
Philippines, British North Borneo, Indo- China, and China, spent
several months in Sarawak, Borneo. The collections made by
them approximate 3,000 numbers, with between 25,000 and 30,000
individual specimens. The collection is to be studied by Dr. E.
D. Merrill and the duplicates will be distributed from New York.
Chaplain and Mrs. Clemens are now en route to San Francisco
and plan to proceed to New York in the near future to assist in
the work of arranging this, one of the largest and most important
botanical collections ever made in Borneo.
At the annual meeting of the Board of Managers of The New
York Botanical Garden, held on January 13, in the office of Presi­dent
Henry W. de Forest, 165 Broadway, Mr. Thomas A. Edison,
Mr. Clarence Lewis, and Dr. E. D. Merrill were elected new mem­bers
of the Board, and Dr. N. L. Britton, Mr. Henry W. de For­est,
Mr. H. de la Montagne, Dr. Lewis Rutherfurd Morris, and
Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff were reelected to membership in the
Board. The officers were reelected, with the exception that Dr.
E. D. Merrill was elected Secretary, succeeding Mr. H. de la
Montagne, who had been Acting Secretary since August 1, 1929.
Mr. Richard C. Colt, Mr. Henry Lockhart, Jr., Dr. D. T. Mac­Dougal,
Dr. E. D. Merrill, and Dr. William S. Thomas were added
to the fist of members of the Corporation.
According to Mr. Charles H. Totty, in a lecture on " Chrysan­themums,"
given at The New York Botanical Garden, November
16, 1929, the chrysanthemum, originally a Japanese flower, has
been so improved in America in the past fifty years that the Jap­anese
are now securing many of the newest varieties from this
country. The anemone- flowered Japanese type of chrysanthe­mum
was imported from Japan at the time of the Civil War in
1861. There are both hardy outdoor strains and tenderer green­house
varieties. Most of the hardy kinds are either single flowers
or little button pompons. There is a great range of color in each
of the types, all colors being represented excepting blue. Some of
the most popular in late autumn are the orange, bronze, and
brown tints, which blend well with the autumn leaves. The best
kinds for outdoor use are the relatively everblooming sorts which
start to open about the first week in October and give from six to
55
eight weeks bloom. Most of these early varieties are of the large-flowered
group. The pompons are later bloomers, coming in
November. The type of chrysanthemum particularly commended
by Mr. Totty and most admired at the present time is the anemone
type, which is recognized by the cushion of long tubular corollas
in the center of the flower. Many of these are quite hardy.
Among them H. Wilson is pure white. Other good ones are Cap­tain
Boshen and R. Collins. Chrysanthemums are very easily
grown, thriving in almost any kind of soil, but they blossom best if
protected from the northwest winds. The plants should be
divided every year and only one rooted sprout planted in a place.
To keep the plants low and bushy, the young growing tops should
be pinched back in the summer, about the middle of June. After
they are through blooming the plants are easily wintered in any
well- drained soil and they are benefited by a light mulch of leaves,
which should not be removed too early in the spring. Among
the pompon varieties, Queen of the Whites is very pretty and
easily grown out of doors. Being a dwarf, it does not have to
be pinched back very much. The early- flowering type was de­veloped
by crossing the hardy late- flowering pompons with the
larger- flowered forms. Some of the most interesting of these are
Mrs. Charles Stout, Lillian Doty, and Roupel Beauty, which is a
deep pink. Bronze Queen is one of the best in its color. Mr.
Totty also discussed rather fully the finest of the greenhouse
varieties.
Meteorology for lanuary. The maximum temperatures re­corded
at The New York Botanical Garden for each week or part
of a week were: 580 on the 2nd; 6^/ 2° on the pth; 490 on the
15th; and 360 on the 21st.
The minimum temperatures recorded were: 140 on the 5th;
160 on the n t h ; io° on the ipth and 20th; and 130 on the 31st.
The total precipitation for the month was 2.465 inches. This
includes 3 ^ inches of snow measurement, which was figured as
.375 inches of rainfall.
56
ACCESSIONS
LIBRARY ACCESSIONS— SEPTEMBER, 1929
ACREL, JOHAN GUSTAV. De us it Linnaeae medico. Upsaliae, 1788.
Acta florae Sueciac. Vol. 1. Stockholm, 1921.
AFZELIUS, ADAM. De origine Myrrhae controversa. Specimen 1- 5. Up­saliae,
1818- 29.
AHLFVENGREN, FREDRIK ELIAS. Hollands vdxter: forteckning over fane-rogamer
och karlkryptogamer. Lund, 1924.
AKERMAN, NICOLAUS, & LITHELL, CARL GUSTAF. De plantis Sueciae vene-uatis
potioribxis nee non antidotis. Upsaliae, 1811.
AMILON, JOHAN ANDERS. Barrmassan och stamtillvdxten hos mellansvensk
tall. Stockholm, 1925.
ANDERSON, CARL. Observationes stirpium circa Christinehamn provientixim
Upsaliae, 1842.
ARESCHOUG, JOHN ERHARD. Symbolae algarum rariorum florae scandt-navicae.
Lundae, 1838.
BATSCH, AUGUST JOHANN GEORG CARL. Botanik for fruntimmer. Orebro,
1810.
BERGGREN, SVEN. Nagra nya eller ofullstdndigt kanda arter af nyzee-landska
fanerogamer. [ Lund, 1877.]
Biologiska foreningens forhandlinger. Vols. 1- 4. Stockholm, 1888- 92.
BI. YTT, MATHIAS NUMSEN. Norsk flora. Pt. 1. Christiania, 1847.
BOLIN, PEHR KARL VILHELM. De svenska Grasen . . deras botaniska
karaktarer samt deras praktiska vdrde och anvdndning. Stockholm,
1927.
BROWN, OLOF THEODOR. Anteckningar till Skanes flora. Lund, 1870.
BUSCHBAUM, HEINRICH. Die Gefass- Pflanzen des Furstenthums- Osna-briick.
Osnabruck, 1878.
COHNJ FERDINAND JULIUS. Desmidiaceae bongoenscs. Halle, 1879.
. Die Entwickelungsgeschichte der Gattxtng Volvox. Breslau,
1875.
COLLINDER, ERIK. Medelpads flora. Uppsala, 1909.
DALMON, JULES, & GRAS, CAMILLE. Promenades botaniques dans la flore
parisienne. Paris, 1877.
DAMMER, CARL LEBRECHT UDO. Anleitung fur Pflansensammler. Stutt­gart,
1894.
DANNEMANN, FRIEDRICH. Fran de stora forskarnes arbetsfalt. Stock­holm,
1914.
DECAISNE, JOSEPH. Essai sur une classification des algues et des polypiers
calciferes. Paris, 1842.
DUSEN, PER HJALMAR. Die P'flansenvereine der Magellansldnder nebst
einem Beitrage zur Okologie der magellanischen Vegetation. Stock­holm,
1903.
ECKMAN, PEHR IMMANUEL. De Papavere somnifera Pt. 1. Upsaliae,
1834.
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, io cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its thirty- first volume.
Mycologia, bimonthly, devoted to fungi, including lichens; $ 4.00 a year;
single copies not for sale. [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its twenty-second
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 exchanged.] Now in its fifteenth 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 fourteenth 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. 8vo. Each volume to consist of
four or more parts. 64 parts now issued. Subscription price, $ 1.50 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- VI, $ 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 + 492 pp., with detailed map.
1900.
Vol. II. The Influence of Light and Darkness upon Growth and Devel­opment,
by D. T. MacDougal. xvi + 320 pp., with 176 figures. 1903.
Vol. III. Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischer­ville,
New York, by A. Hollick and E. C. Jeffrey, xiii - f- 138 pp., with 29
plates. 1909.
Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart
Gager. viii + 478 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 + 683 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, 1921- 1922, by H. H. Rusby;
and The Flora of the Saint Eugene Silts, Kootenay Valley, British Co­lumbia,
by Arthur Hollick. v i i i + 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. Price, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per vol­ume.
In the thirteenth 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, lilacs, 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 39,000 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
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possesses now nearly two thousand members, and applications for
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Benefactor single contribution $ 25,000
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Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes.
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I hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under
the Laws of New Yorlc, Chapter 885 of 1891, the sum of
All requests for further information should be sent to
T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, NEW YORK CITY