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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 PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA. THE SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY Entered at the posf- offlce 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 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 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: 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
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Contributor | New York Botanical Garden |
Date | 1930-02 |
Description-Table Of Contents | Further Notes on Iris Troubles; The New Species Hemerocallis multiflora; Chronicle of Eastern American Iris; The Planting of Stahlia on Arbor Day in Porto Rico; What Ferns Grow Best in the House?; The Tumors of Plants and How They Differ from Animal Cancer; Conference Notes for December; Conference Notes for January; 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. 31, no. 362 |
Type | text |
Transcript | 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 PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA. THE SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY Entered at the posf- offlce 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 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 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: 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 |
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