Journal of the New York Botanical Garden

              VOL. XXXV JUNE, 1934 No. 414
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
HARDINESS IN PLANTS
HENRY TEUSCHER
NEW ROSES FROM PERSIA
REPORT OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN EXPEDITION— II
EDWARD J. ALEXANDER
HYBRIDS BETWEEN THE NECKLACE COTTONWOOD AND
THE LARGE- LEAVED ASPEN
A. B. STOUT
TWO IMPORTANT NEW BOOKS FOR GARDENERS
CAROL H. WOODWARD
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E. D. MERRILL, SC. D Director
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H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Head Curator
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A. B. STOUT, P H . D Director of the Laboratories
FRED J. SEAVER, P H . D., SC. D Curator
BERNARD O. DODGE, P H . D Plant Pathologist
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FLEDA GRIFFITH Artist and Photographer
ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Research Associate in Bryology
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HENRY TEUSCHER, HORT. M Dendrologist
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JOURNAL
OF
The New York Botanical Garden
VOL. XXXV JUNE, 1934 No. 414
HARDINESS IN PLANTS1
As long as I have been engaged in horticulture, I have been
interested in the problems pertaining to hardiness in plants.
Anxious from the first to familiarize myself with the peculiarities
of the plant material with which I was working, I began taking
local notes on the manner in which various plants survived the
winter.
That seemed simple enough. But the second year, when I set
out to verify and complete my notes, I found that plants which I
had marked down as hardy during the previous severe winter
appeared to be tender, though the season had been much milder.
I concluded that my observations had been at fault, and continued
taking notes, extending my observations from the Imperial Parks
at Potsdam to the Botanical Garden at Dahlem- Berlin. But after
three or four winters my notes had become so complicated and
contradictory that I commenced to suspect that temperature was
not alone the deciding factor in the hardiness of plants. My
view was confirmed by many experienced gardeners whom I con­sulted.
It became apparent that the condition in which a plant
entered the winter— which in turn depended upon the preceding
growing season, as well as on local conditions— was of at least as
much, if not of greater, importance.
In the twenty years since then, the subject has never ceased to
absorb my attention. Out of the innumerable strange instances
of hardiness which I observed ( some of which I shall cite later
on), I have learned, in particular, two things:
1 A lecture given before the Conference of the Scientific Staff and
Registered Students of The New York Botanical Garden, on April 12,
1934.
121
First: That it is possible to grow a great many more plants out
of doors than is generally believed, provided that we do not give
up in despair after the first failure but rather follow the plant
closely through its life cycle for several years and adjust gradually
the conditions under which it grows until they are most favorable
to bring about hardiness. The first trial has to be based on a
guess, and it is a method of hit or miss, but this is still the best
we can do. After a few successes we will find that it will become
easier and ever easier to guess right from the start.
Second: I have learned that it is frequently quite impossible to
say of a plant outright, " It is hardy." I have learned to say
instead, " It can be grown successfully outdoors in this vicinity,"
which implies that it is hardy provided that conditions and treat­ment
are right.
In outlining what constitutes and what influences hardiness I
shall commence with the results of the investigations of the physi­ologists,
then quote the observations of the practical horticulturist
and gardener, and conclude with a preliminary report on the in­juries
which have resulted from this past severe winter.
The physiologists, in general, agree that winter hardiness is a
very indefinite and complex matter, depending on numerous widely
different factors which often exclude one another, and that it is
not necessarily identical with frost resistance. The resistance to
severe dehydration, the ability to remain dormant through pro­longed
warm spells in the winter, and the capacity to stop and
start growth at the most opportune times in autumn and spring,
which means to be in tune with the changing seasons, are at least
as important as the ability to withstand low temperatures.
What actually is the life- sustaining factor at very low tempera­tures
and what is the quality that renders one plant more resistant
than another are still very much of a mystery, even to physiolo­gists.
The theory advanced by the Russian investigator, Govorov,
that hardy plants fall into a state of anabiosis, during which respi­ration
is almost suspended, certainly is interesting. He contends
that in this state of anabiosis the hardy plant does not suffer from
the deficiency of oxygen in the soil which, according to his opinion,
is the main cause of death for non- hardy plants in the winter.
Similar conditions of suspended life occur also in animals and even
in human beings, as we all know, but in what this condition actually
123
consists, and what brings it about, we cannot expect to be able to
explain until we have solved the eternal mysteries of life and death.
What we do know, thanks to the research work of the plant physi­ologists
of the world, is what goes on in the plant cell when it
freezes and. when it dies from freezing; to a certain extent, also,
what goes on in a cell which freezes but survives.
From these researches it appears that when plant tissue is sub­jected
to a sufficiently low temperature, ice is formed, in particular
in the intercellular spaces toward which, with further lowering of
the temperature, more and more water is drawn, first from the cell
sap and finally also from the plasma. The physiologists are
divided as to what causes the death of the plasma, if the tempera­ture
sinks too low. Some of them insist that death results from
the chemical influence of the increased concentration of salts and
acids on the colloids of the plasma, while others maintain that the
plasma is injured mechanically by the compression of the cells
caused by the ice crystals which accumulate in the intercellular
spaces. I am not a judge, since I am not a plant physiologist and
have never investigated these conditions, but it seems to me quite
possible that both parties are right, and that either type of injury,
perhaps even both simultaneously, may result, depending upon the
kind of plant and the condition of the plant which is used for the
experiment. In either case it seems to be important for the plant
cell, in order to increase its hardiness, to decrease its content of
free water which may be frozen, and this is, quite apparently, what
actually happens.
A method to use the condensation of the cell sap or the decreased
free water content of the hardened cell, respectively, in order to
measure the degree of hardiness of a plant, was first suggested
by Newton, who experimented with different varieties of winter
wheat. Pressing out the sap of uninjured leaves under pressure
of 400 atmospheres, he found that hardened leaves gave up only
an insignificant amount of sap, while tender leaves gave up their
sap easily.
In the protoplasm the water is bound by hydrophilic colloids
which are formed during the process of hardening and which, to
a certain extent, seem to prevent fatal dehydration. In the cell
sap, water may be bound, for instance, by an increased sugar con­tent.
A concentrated sugar solution gives water off only slowly,
124
and the slower, the more concentrated it becomes. It seems, how­ever,
that the importance of the protective role of the sugars has
been considerably overstressed. In the dormant, or, as the gar­dener
says, ripened twigs of trees in the fall, there is noticeable
a very marked condensation of the cell sap and a decrease in free
water content, but there is no sugar. The cells of these dormant
twigs are filled with starch. Sugar is not formed in these cells
until after they have been subjected to low temperatures, and the
sugar content gradually increases during the winter.
In this connection I wish to mention the extremely interesting
observations of Coville, who experimented at first with blueberries,
but later also with many other plants, and who suggests quite a
different role for the sugars in the cells of wintering plants ( as
reported in the Journal of Agricultural Research, Oct., 1920).
For purposes of cross- fertilization Coville brought some blueberry
plants into a greenhouse with favorable growing temperature at
the end of the summer. These plants refused to continue their
growth, however. They gradually dropped their leaves and went
into a state of complete dormancy, remaining in this condition in
spite of a greenhouse temperature which in spring and summer
would have kept the plants in luxuriant growth. When finally
towards the end of winter other plants were brought in from the
field, these latter at once burst into leaf and flower, while the in­door
plants remained dormant as before. At first it was supposed
that the plants needed to be frozen to start them into growth, but
a single freezing proved ineffective. Then it was found that the
dormant plants would start into growth without any freezing what­ever.
It was necessary only that they be subjected to a period of
prolonged chilling, usually two or three months, at a temperature
a few degrees above freezing. Plants kept continuously warm,
without chilling, in some instances remained dormant for a whole
year.
In the course of his observations Coville reached the conclusion
that the transformation of the stored starch into sugar which
occurred in the dormant twigs during the period of chilling was
the vital factor, and suggested that the development of high osmotic
pressure caused by the concentrated sugar solutions in the cells
might be the mechanism which started the plants into growth. In
explanation of the formation of sugar during the process of
125
chilling, he advanced the theory that the starch grains stored in the
cells of the plant are at first separated by the living cell membranes
from the enzyme that would transform the starch into sugar, but
when the plant is chilled the vital activity of the cell membrane is
weakened, so that the enzyme leaks through it, comes in contact
with the starch, and turns it into sugar.
In view of these interesting suggestions it would be of vital im­portance
for truly hardy plants to be able to remain dormant dur­ing
prolonged spells of warm weather in February, after several
months of chilling, and in spite of the rich sugar content of their
cells. An explanation for this ability of many plants has not been
advanced so far.
The most interesting paper on the problem of hardiness in plants
which I have come across, and to which Dr. Stout directed my
attention, is one by the Russian, N. A. Maximow, entitled, " In­ternal
Factors of Frost and Drought Resistance in Plants," pub­lished
in 1929 in the Journal " Protoplasma." Maximow seems
to have been the first to recognize the analogy between frost and
drought resistance, and he gives an excellent review of the present
state of both questions.
From his own investigations, as well as by an extensive litera­ture
which he cites, he points out that in both cases the resistance
lies in the capacity of the protoplasm to withstand the dehydrating
influence of a direct or indirect deprivation of water, but warns
at the end that this analogy must not be understood as identity.
As we all know, plants resistant to drought are not always also
frost resistant, and the capacity to resist low temperatures is not
always accompanied by the capacity to endure severe desiccation.
The controversy concerning the difference to a frozen plant, as
to whether it is thawed out quickly or slowly, is perhaps not yet
altogether settled. Molisch, who has experimented with a great
many different plants, reached the conclusion that a plant either is
killed in the freezing or remains uninjured also when thawed out
quickly. This is in contradiction with the claim of all experienced
gardeners. However, one has to consider that Molisch carried
out his experiments in the laboratory while the gardener is dealing
with plants in the open, where the drying effect of wind and sun
is frequently the actual cause of injury during the process of
thawing. The shading or sprinkling with water of frozen plants
126
in the early morning, which the gardener claims he does in order
to slow down the thawing- out process, really serves mainly to pre­vent
undue evaporation. Some exceptional cases where quick
thawing actually proved injurious while slow thawing saved the
tissue ( as, for instance, in the case of the leaves of Agave ameri­cana
and flower buds of apple, which Molisch mentions) have not
been explained as yet.
The so- called " burning" of evergreen leaves and " sunscald" on
tree trunks or twigs is also in reality a drying out. The tissues
struck by the sun are unevenly warmed up, and the water which
has been drawn out of the cells by the formation of ice is more
quickly evaporated than it can be replaced, since the water- carry­ing
vessels lower down in the tissue remain cold much longer and
respond only sluggishly to the sudden demand.
What causes and influences dormancy, or, as the gardener says,
" ripening" of the wood, is not by any means perfectly clear. To
a considerable extent it consists, undoubtedly, in an acquired habit
and forms a part of the normal life cycle of a plant, most con­spicuous
in the plants of northern latitudes.
The physiologist, as I said, admits that hardiness in plants is a
very complex problem. The gardener does not always realize that,
and the layman still more is frequently confused by the injury or
the death of a plant which occurs— or seemingly occurs— in the
winter, but which has nothing to do with hardiness. I have in
mind, in particular, conifers and other evergreens which have
suffered from severe drought during the summer. They are fre­quently
already in a hopeless condition in the fall, though they do
not show it, or their balls may have become so dry that no autumn
rain can wet them and the further dehydration caused by the frost
may kill them. That is why it is justly recommended to water
conifers in the fall, or at least to make sure that they do not go
into the winter with a dry root system. Other normally hardy
plants may enter the winter in a weakened condition from having
been planted in unsuitable soil; sun- loving plants from having
been planted in the shade, or shade- loving plants in the sun. High
alpine plants, or plants from the far North which in their native
habitat are able to endure much lower temperatures than we ever
get, may succumb to a mild winter with us after they have been
weakened by our very long growing season or by other climatic
127
factors which are beyond our control. Such plants usually are
adapted to a long winter during which they are covered with snow,
which holds an even temperature, then a sudden transition from
winter to spring and a rather short summer during which they
have to finish their growth. They are therefore inclined to start
growth in the spring as soon as the first warm days have thawed
out the ground, which frequently proves their undoing in cultiva­tion
in the lowland.
The experienced gardener knows that the way he will bring his
plants through the winter depends very much on how he has
treated them during the growing season and that, in particular,
the following mistakes in treatment, or faulty conditions, or other
factors frequently result in winter injury of some sort or other, or
may cause tenderness in normally hardy plants:
i— Late cultivation of the ground, which induces late growth and
may result in the production of tender, unripened wood.
2— Late fertilising or over- fertilizing, especially with nitrogen
fertilizers, which also may cause late, tender growth.
3— Superabundance of moisture, especially in rich soil with poor
drainage, which causes a lush watery growth, suffering
easily from freezing. This condition seems to favor, in
particular, injury to the flower buds.
4— Permitting the plants to suffer from drought in the summer,
which may cause a check in growth and may induce the
plant to start growing again in late fall.
5— Mulching with moisture- holding or air- excluding litter, which
may easily lead to rotting of the crowns of perennials.
6— Permitting a smothering overgrowth of aggressive neighbors
and removing this overgrowth during the autumn cleaning.
7— Wrong pruning, especially sharp summer pruning of vigorous
growing plants, which results in late growth and unripened
wood ( climbing roses).
8— Propagation by cuttings, which, at least with certain plants,
may result in the absence of a taproot ( this has been ob­served
in particular with Phlomis fruticosa). The claim
of many nurserymen that certain evergreens are hardier
when raised from cuttings than from seeds, is not sup­ported
by facts. Seeds obtained from commercial seed-houses
frequently come from southern strains which are
tender, while cuttings are taken from plants which survived
in the vicinity where the nurseryman is located, therefore
they represent a hardier strain. This is especially true of
Thuja plicata and Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana.
128
9— Production of a heavy crop of fruits, especially with grapes
and certain fruit trees. The plant apparently extends its
energies to the maturation of the fruits at the expense of
wood and bud maturity, with the consequence that many
of the unripened twigs and buds suffer frost injury during
the winter. A light crop or crop failure frequently results
in the following year.
10— Individual inclination of the plant, which closely resembles
what is termed " emotional makeup" in man. Many plants
vary considerably in hardiness if raised from seeds, as I
had occasion to observe in particular in a set of several hun­dred
seedlings of Cornus Kousa at the Boyce- Thompson
Arboretum.
Similar variations I observed this spring on larger sets of
seedling plants of Albizcia Julibrissin, Castanea crenata,
Diospyros Lotus, Prunus cyclaminea, Pterocarya stenoptera,
Rosa omeiensis pteracantlw, Stranvaesia Davidiana, and
Cytisus scoparius. Of all of these, some plants were killed
to the ground while others remained entirely, or almost,
uninjured, yet they were growing side by side under abso­lutely
identical conditions.
11— Exposure. Many shrubs which during the summer are bene­fitted
by a southern exposure, suffer during the winter more
or less severely on their southern side if not shaded. Others
( also young trees) suffer severe injury in southern exposure
while they may pass through the winter with no, or with
only slight, injury in western or even northern exposure,
provided they are protected against north winds.
12— Wrong planting, too deep as well as too high.
13— Late fall planting. Perennials, especially fleshy- rooted kinds,
should not be planted late. Well- established shrubs or trees
withstand sudden cold spells much better than those which
have been planted within the last year or two, since their
far- spreading root system is better in balance with their
yearly growth.
14— Spring planting of pot- bound plants, which therefrom get a
late start and may not be able to send their roots down deep
enough to withstand the winter.
15— Neglecting to lift, divide, and replant certain perennials at rea­sonable
periods causes aging and weakening of the plant.
Old plants which are past the prime of their life and are on
the down grade are more easily injured in the winter than
are younger plants. In certain woody plants, especially, the
very young plant also is tender to a certain age. In some
instances there appears to be even a difference in the re-
129
sistance of the flower buds between young shrubs and
older specimens.
16— Planting of trees which had dried out in shipment, especially
in the fall. Such trees may frequently be saved by a cover­ing
of trunk and branches with paraffin wax.
17— Planting in so- called frost holes. The most excellent and con­cise
explanation of the condition termed " frost- hole" which
I have found, is given in a leaflet of the Weather Bureau of
the United States Department of Agriculture, entitled,
" Frost, when to expect it and how to prevent injury there­from,"
written by W. H. Hammon, Professor of Meteor­ology.
It may suffice to quote here from this text, which says
that: In clear, calm nights the air arranges itself in layers,
according to its density. The heavier cold air rests on the
ground and in the valleys flows down the slopes, accumu-
- lating on the lowest point when it can drain away no further.
Places where cold air may accumulate in this manner must
naturally be avoided, since especially during the vital weeks
from early April to the later part of May, the temperature
may drop considerably lower in such a frost- hole than on the
surrounding slopes.
When, after a late spring frost, only the lower branches or
buds are found injured on a shrub or young tree, while the
upper parts remain intact, there is suspicion of conditions
resembling'a frost- hole, or at least insufficient air drainage
on that particular place. When, on the contrary, for in­stance
on a Forsythia bush, only the lowermost branches
flower, the chances are that superabundance of moisture,
viz., poor drainage, lowered the frost resistance of the buds.
The lower branches were probably protected by snow or
through shading from the upper branches.
To INCREASE HARDINESS
Conditions which assist in bringing about or in increasing the
hardiness of plants are in particular, of course, the opposite of the
above.
The importance of drainage, which causes a stockier, hardier
growth, I shall have occasion to point out later by examples.
A cover crop of rye, wheat, oats, barley, or buckwheat sown in
the summer similarly induces earlier ripening and consequent
hardier growth, by taking care of surplus moisture as well as of
surplus fertilizer. Such cover crops are employed in particular in
peach orchards.
130
Winter protection consists in most cases in a protection against
winter sun, drying winds, and the violent fluctuations of tempera­ture
which this winter sun causes, rather than in a protection
against cold. Wrapping up may easily be overdone and will then
cause more harm than benefit. Shading with burlap, as is done for
instance with boxwood, or covering with pine branches, is usually
much more effective. The wrapping- up with oil- paper, as has been
recommended recently for roses in popular gardening magazines,
is a dangerous practice, since the oil- paper acts as a sun trap and
the fluctuations of temperatures between day and night are much
more extreme under the paper than outside.
Mulching, that is, a covering of the ground around the plant with
leaf mould or old, well- rotted manure, can be recommended par­ticularly
for all recently planted or young plants and for all types
of evergreens. Recent investigations have proved that the roots of
most conifers especially remain active and continue to grow all
through the winter. Since they are frequently rather shallow-rooting,
the benefit derived from a mulch, which prevents violent
fluctuations of the temperature of the soil, becomes easily under­standable.
REPORT
I am now coming to the report on damages which have resulted
from this last severe winter, and you are undoubtedly prepared to
hear a long and sad list of losses. However, I can give you the
cheerful news that the damage is by no means as serious as one
might have expected. Most of the plants which I shall enumerate
as having been killed altogether will hardly be known to you as
outdoor plants— with the exception, of course, of the hybrid tea
roses which were killed in many places, especially in light soil and
where they had not been protected in the usual manner by heaping
soil around the base of the bushes. The great majority of those
plants had simply been under test, and, though many of them
had done extremely well during the last two or three winters, I was
well aware that their hardiness was doubtful and that the first
really severe winter might cause their loss.
When assembling plants for a botanical collection one has to
test every plant that seems to have the slightest chance to succeed,
since it is impossible to know of such a plant how hardy or how
i3i
tender it may prove to be until it has been tried. Nor, as I said
before, does one trial and failure ever tell a fair story.
In the above outline I explained how many factors there are
which influence hardiness in plants. Not until all means have been
exhausted to bring about the most favorable conditions for a plant,
can it, in fairness, be called tender. Furthermore, most of the
plants which I have to list today as dead, or severely injured, were
plants, three to four years old, which were still in very vigorous
growth. I said before that such young plants are almost always
more tender than older, well- established plants. Most of these
plants, also, were growing in nursery rows where cultivation had
been kept up all through the summer to control weeds. This also
tends to produce lush, tender growth.
HENRY TEUSCHER.
( The death notices of the winter of 1933— 34 w^ oe given in sub­sequent
issues of the JOURNAL.)
NEW ROSES FROM PERSIA
Several plants of a native rose from Persia which is believed to
be nowhere in cultivation in the United States have been received
by The New York Botanical Garden and now are growing where
their flowering can be watched, in order to check the identification.
They were secured by Mrs. William H. Moore, of 4 East Fifty-fourth
Street, New York, a member of the Corporation of the
Garden, while on a trip in the Near East during the spring. A re­lease
from the Federal Horticultural Board, when Mrs. Moore re­turned
to New York in May, made it possible for the Garden to
receive the plants for cultivation.
132
REPORT OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
EXPEDITION— II
( Continued from the May issue)
Turning our attention west, we went out to Newport, Tennessee,
and then down to Sevierville, from there entering the Great Smoky
Mountains. There we collected seed of Cebatha Carolina, the red
moonseed, a vine bearing dense clusters of red berries; Aralia
spinosa, Cimicifuga americana, and Senecio Rugelia, and plants of
Stcllaria pubera, the largest- flowered of the chickweeds, not at all
weedy and very attractive for a shaded spot in the rock- garden.
Cimicifuga americana is a much more handsome plant than the
common C. racemosa, having spikes of much larger flowers, not so
stiffly erect, and much lower in height, averaging 2— 3 feet. Senecio
Rugelia is an extremely rare plant, known from only four or five
stations high up in the Great Smokies. It is very unlike a Senecio,
having large leaves somewhat similar to Aster macrophyllus and
flower stalks with only 1- 5 large drooping heads of smoky- cream-colored
flowers. It is not of great beauty, but is interesting for
those who desire great rarities or unusual members of a genus usu­ally
markedly different. It grows in deep, mossy humus under the
light shade at the edge of hemlock and spruce forests.
Coming back into North Carolina and entering the Nantahala
Gorge, we collected plants of Cymophyllus Fraseri, a sedge with
Billbergia- like leaves and long- peduncled heads of feathery cream-colored
flowers. Here also we found one plant of an albino of
Lobelia siphilitica.
Then passing across the south end of the Great Smokies back
into Tennessee, we collected seed of Coreopsis major Oemleri; also
Uniola latifolia, a grass with drooping slender- branched sprays, the
branches terminating in flattened, oval heads which become reddish-tinged
in fall; Helenium tenuifolium, an annual species with very
slender leaves ; and plants of Silene virginica.
Going to Knoxville, we turned west, collecting, on the limestone
bluffs of the Clinch River, seeds of Manfreda virginica, a relative
of the agaves. Helenium poly phyllum, a perennial species about
one foot tall with numerous brown- centered heads, was collected
near Rockwood. In a river swamp several miles from Chattanooga,
133
we collected seeds of Batodendron arboreum, the tree- blueberry,
with numbers of drooping white flowers; Steironema tonsum, a
relative of the Lysimachias; Elephantopus tomentosus, a composite
with large basal leaves and heads of lavender flowers; Callicarpa
americana, much more handsome than the usual cultivated species
but not quite hardy in the north; Scutellaria ovalifolia, and Rham��nus
caroliniana.
W^ SMSMMFMI
SHMPJHE
K^ t- j^ HKBg., '"-^ t
l& OTtuHn
iiSaloiii^ l
Hffm> wn^ nn^ Bi^ i^ El:! ilBOffiHi
aaJSyllHPi
FIGURE 5. A portion of the colony of Pamassia asarifolia in Neel's Gap,
Ga., showing a typical healthy growth of this plant.
Turning west again, we went out to Tullahoma and back to Chat­tanooga,
collecting along the way seeds of Cassia marilandica, a
perennial growing 2- 3 feet tall, with terminal sprays of yellow flow­ers;
Verbena angustifolia, with upright spikes of small, lavender
flowers; Liatris squarrosa and Liatris microcephala; Eupatorium
incarnation, a sprawling plant with rosy- lavender flowers; Chry-sopsts
Nuttallii; Bradburya virginica, a sprawling vine with laven­der-
purple, pea- like flowers 1- 1^ 2 inches across; and a pink- flow­ered,
narrow- leaved Rhexia.
134
Back at Chattanooga, we ascended Lookout Mountain and there
collected seed of Silene rotundifolia and a species of Penstemon.
This Silene has round- ovate leaves and bright red flowers. It usu­ally
grows under shelving rocks, where it reaches a height of 10- 12
inches. When in the open it is much lower. Going back into North
Carolina at Murphy, we collected along the way seed of Leonotis
nepetaefolia, an introduced rather weedy plant from South Amer­ica
; Vernonia altissima, and Liatris spicata. Near the Tennessee-
North Carolina line, we collected plants of an albino of Aster sur-culosus.
Returning to Asheville, we took a run out to Chimney Rock, ob­taining
along the Broad River seeds of Helianthus tomentosus, a
handsome species with large, lemon- yellow heads; and collecting
on Chimney Rock Mountain seeds of Talinum teretifolium, a fine
rock plant with slender, fleshy leaves and rosy- purple flowers;
Opidaster australis, Rhododendron minus, Coreopsis pubescens, a
Penstemon, Rudbeckia triloba, Lonicera flava, Trautvesseria caro-linensis,
two species of Philadelphus, and three species of Heu­chera.
It might here be stated that the eastern Heucheras cannot
compare with H. sanguinca in showiness of flower. Their charm
lies in the foliage and in the rather delicate small flowers, usually in
graceful panicles.
Back at Asheville, Mr. Everett left the party and returned to
New York by train. We then went down into South Carolina, col­lecting
a few plants of Senecio Millefolium at Caesar's Head, and
seed of Coreopsis major at Westminster.
Then passing over into Georgia, we zigzagged through the moun­tains
to Blairsville, collecting en route seeds of Rhynchosia erecta,
a plant about one foot tall with close clusters of pea- like, yellow
flowers in the leaf- axils; Galactia volubilis, a sprawling or low-climbing
relative of the beans, with short spikes of purplish- pink
flowers; Isopappus divaricatus, an annual composite with a much-branched
spray of small yellow heads, which should prove useful
for bouquet arrangement; Passiflora incarnata, the native passion­flower;
a dwarf Ilex, covered with large red berries, though
scarcely a foot tall; and Morongia angustata, the sensitive- brier, a
vine which runs on the ground, bearing mimosa- like heads of pink
flowers.
135
In Neel Gap, south of Blairsville, we came across a large colony
of Pamassia asarifolia, by far the finest we had yet seen. The drip­ping
ledges in a small stream and around it were covered with thou­sands
of plants, many of which were in full flower.
Continuing down to Atlanta, we climbed Stone Mountain and
collected seeds of Gymnolomia Porteri, a sunflower- like annual
composite, rarely exceeding a foot in height; Coreopsis saxicola,
and Amorpha virgata; this being the type locality for all three of
FIGURE 6. The range of mountains in North Carolina containing Table
Rock, the sharp pinnacle in the left distance. Here one views the summit
cap on edge from the north. The peak in the right distance is Hawksbill,
ioo feet higher than Table Rock.
these plants. We found also an Aster which appears to represent
an entirely new group in the genus.
Going from Atlanta to Rome, we collected seed of Brauneria
pallida and a Penstemon. At Rome we collected seed of two spe­cies
of Philadelphus, one Amorpha, and Clitoria mariana, a semi-vine
with pea- like, lavender flowers 1— 1^ 2 inches long.
Then turning west to Gadsden, Alabama, we collected en route
seed of Coreopsis tripteris, a very tall- growing species with brown-
136
centered heads; MarshalUa obovata, an Allium, Helianthus mollis,
Rudbeckia fulgida, with intense orange- yellow rays; Berchemia
scandens, a woody vine related to Rhamnus, with glossy leaves and
black fruits; Amorpha tenncsscensis, and Vernonia fiaccidifolia.
The Marshallias are a group of southeastern composites resembling
the Centaureas in the appearance of the flower heads, which are very
pale lavender or pinkish, but the leaves are mostly basal, and the
plants average about a foot in height. They are hardy perennials,
their long- stemmed heads excellent for cutting.
Returning to Chattanooga through Fort Payne, Alabama, we col­lected
seed of Smilax hispida; Ruellia parviflora, a member of the
Acanthus Family with short- lived deep- lavender flowers; and Ilex
longipes. At Chattanooga we collected seed of Porteranthus stipu-latus.
Going back down into Georgia, we crossed again through the
mountains into Blairsville from the west, collecting en route seed
of Helianthus angustifolius, a handsome species, with numerous
narrow leaves and many deep orange- yellow heads with black disks;
Mimulus ringens, Steironema hybrichuu, Viburnum nudum, Smilax
laurifolia, an evergreen species with leathery leaves, much used for
holiday decoration; Lobelia amoena; and Decumaria barbara, our
native climbing hydrangea.
We returned to North Carolina at Murphy and then returned to
Asheville via Franklin, obtaining seed of an Oligoneuron which
previously had not been ripe. The Oligoneurons are related to the
goldenrods, but they have flat- topped, wide- spreading heads of
flowers, and very large, dock- like leaves. At Asheville we collected
seed of Helianthus giganteus and of Falcata Pitcheri, a relative of
the hog- peanut, F. comosa, but with shaggy brown hairs and rose-purple
flowers.
Accompanied again by Mr. and Mrs. Clement, we made a trip
into the Pisgah National Forest to explore Looking- glass Rock, alti­tude
4,000 feet, collecting on its summit seed of Eubotrys recurva,
a relative of the Andromedas; Clethra acuminata, a tree- relative of
the white alder; Tsuga caroliniana, the finest of the hemlocks, and
Finns pungens.
Then ascending Mount Pisgah, altitude 5,749 feet, we experi­enced
the best collecting of any one spot, obtaining on that moun-
i37
tain seeds of Aristolochia macrophylla; a large purple- flowered
Penstemon; Viorna Viorna; Houstonia purpurea, a bluet rela­tive
with large ovate leaves and purplish flowers; Hydatica petio­laris,
Heuchera villosa, Pieris floribunda, an albino of Aster macro-phyllus,
Rhododendron minus, Galax aphylla, Clethra acuminata,
and a large- headed Heliopsis which may be a new species.
At Asheville we visited Mr. C. D. Beadle, superintendent of the
Biltmore Estate, who allowed us to collect seed of Hales'ia diptera,
FIGURE 7. The east face of Table Rock, showing the 500- foot summit
cliff of this spectacular peak. On the summit ledges were found Leiophyl-lum
Hugeri, Hudsonia montana, and Xerophyllum asphodeloides.
the rarest of the silverbells, and Ratibida columnaris from his cul­tivated
plants.
After making our final shipments, we bade Asheville goodbye
and started our return trip, going east to Marion, collecting en
route seed of Lobelia puberula, a tall species with dark blue flowers.
From Marion we went up the Linville River along a mountain-top
road to Linville Falls, collecting seed of Chamacliriuiu luteum,
a lily relative known as blazing star or devil's bit, with a long spike
of cream- colored, feathery flowers; and Therofon aconitifolium,
138
growing on wet, dripping rock ledges, a saxifrage with foliage like
that of aconite.
Crossing the Linville River, we went down the other side and
took a badly wrecked road in to the foot of Table Rock, a spec­tacular
peak 3,909 feet in altitude with a 500- foot pinnacle of stone
seated on its summit. As this peak and a few neighboring ones
were the only locality for Leiophyllum Hugeri, we ascended it and
obtained seeds of that plant as well as of Xerophyllum aspho-deloides,
a lily relative with leaves like pine needles and a long-stalked
head of feathery white flowers.
We then went on northeast to Blowing Rock, on whose cliffs at
3,800 feet altitude we collected seed of Paronychia argyrocoma,
and Liatris Helleri, a species of blazing- star which is rarely over
six inches tall in the wild state.
Near Boone we collected seed of Aster Curtisii, a tall species
with large light blue- purple heads.
Going back through Virginia, we ascended the Peaks of Otter,
altitude about 4,000 feet, where we obtained seed of Spiraea corym-bosa,
Kneiffia glauca; Coreopsis verticillata, a species with cosmos­like
foliage; Campanula divaricata, and a form of Liatris spicata,
different from that of our previous collection. Spiraea corymbosa
is a species with flat- topped heads of flowers, the plants rarely
growing over a foot tall. Kneiffia glauca is the best of the day-blooming
evening- primroses, being a perennial with numerous
stems bearing large bright yellow flowers, the stems averaging
12- 15 inches in height. Campanula divaricata is an attractive spe­cies,
growing from six inches to two feet tall in the wild state, and
in almost any soil in sun or light shade. The leafy stem is very
loosely much- branched, the branches spreading, ultimately droop­ing,
well covered with nodding blue flowers about J4 inch in diam­eter,
the color being deeper in shady moist places than in sun, but
the growth better in the sun.
Continuing north, we went out to Clifton Forge for seed of the
large- flowered Oenothera argillicola we had seen there. After ob­taining
it, we went up to Hot Springs, near which we collected seed
of Hypericum prolificum and Helenium latifolium. At Millboro
we collected seed of Clematis viticaulis, this being its only known
locality, and of Eriogonum Alleni, Asclepias tuberosa, and Scutel­laria
ovata.
139
Returning to the Cacapon River bluffs near Largent, West Vir­ginia,
we obtained seeds of Oenothera argillicola; Cunila origan-oides,
a perennial mint with masses of tiny rosy- lavender flowers;
Houstonia longifolia, Liatris scariosa, and Sorghastrum nutans, an
ornamental grass with yellow flowers and seeds. Near Berkeley
FIGURE 8. The summit cliffs of Table Rock. The dark patches are
clumps of Leiophyllum Hugeri, the taller growth is Rhododendron minus
and a few stunted hickories and wild cherries.
Springs, we collected seed of Ipomoea Nil, Asclepias incarnata, and
Ipomoea pandurata.
We then returned to New York by way of Harrisburg, Penn­sylvania,
having traveled 5,766 miles in our eight weeks of absence,
and collected, besides a few plants, about 375 lots of seeds.
EDWARD J. ALEXANDER.
140
HYBRIDS BETWEEN THE NECKLACE COTTONWOOD
AND THE LARGE- LEAVED ASPEN
The two species Popidus balsamifera virginiana Sarg. and P.
grandidentata Michx. belong to two very distinct groups of pop­lars
and present decided contrasts in various characteristics.
P. balsamifera virginiana is a cottonwood, having glabrous,
somewhat fragrant, deltoid to ovate- deltoid leaves with acuminate
apex, a truncate to slightly cordate or occasionally abruptly cuneate
base, and crenately serrate margin. The winter buds are very
resinous, viscid, and aromatic. Trees of this species, which is
known as the necklace cottonwood, grow rather rapidly while young
and they may become very large trees, with widely spreading
branches. The Lafayette tree of historical associations, located
near Geneva, N. Y., which is of this species and variety, has a
trunk over 20 feet in circumference and a crown about 100 feet
tall. This tree is perhaps 200 years old, for it was a large tree
when General Lafayette visited the country more than ioo years
ago. Other trees of this variety, of nearly the same age and size,
are to be found at various localities in New York State.
P. grandidentata belongs in the aspen group, and is characterized
by semi- orbicular to broad- ovate leaves with short- pointed apex, a
rounded to abruptly cuneate, or rarely truncate base, and coarsely
repand- dentate margin. The younger leaves and petioles of " this
species are covered with a white tomentum. The winter buds are
pubescent and not resinous, viscid, or aromatic. The largest trees
of this species seldom reach a trunk diameter of two feet. There
is also a very marked difference between the two species in their
ability to root from cuttings: cuttings of P. balsamifera virginiana
root fairly well, whereas cuttings of P. grandidentata root very
poorly, usually much less than one per cent, under identical nur­sery
conditions.
In 1926, in connection with a project in breeding populars, 1 seeds
were obtained on a female tree of P balsamifera virginiana after
controlled pollination with pollen of P- grandidentata, and from
this seed 178 seedlings were grown.
1 The breeding of forest trees for pulp wood. By A. B. Stout, Ralph H.
McKee, and E. J. Schreiner. Jour. N. Y. Bot. Garden 28: 49- 63. 1927.
H i
FIGURE I. Hybrids of Popidus balsamifera virginiana x P. grandidentata,
two years old from seed; snowing inherent differences in vigor, and a de­cided
resemblance to the pollen parent.
Description of the hybrids. Leaves: mostly broad- ovate, varying
from almost semi- orbicular to rather narrow- ovate, dark green
above, not aromatic; apex usually somewhat acuminate, varying
from acute, sharp- pointed to narrowly acute, points not entire;
base usually somewhat cordate, slightly rounded, varying from
strongly cordate to little or not at all cordate; margin crenately
serrate, incurved teeth glandular, individual seedlings varying in
fineness and sparseness of the crenate serrations; texture thin,
firm; younger leaves densely pubescent or tomentose. Stems:
terete, tips of most vigorous shoots very slightly angled, at first
coated with a thick hoary deciduous tomentum, later becoming
olive- brown to olive- gray; lenticels oblong to linear, on older wood
practically circular, usually orange- colored. Winter buds: terete,
142
rather broadly ovoid, acute; individual seedlings vary in narrow­ness
of buds and extent to which they are appressed; buds of some
seedlings slightly out- curved; color chestnut- brown; seedlings vary
in amount of pubescence on buds but none are glabrous, and they
are not resinous, viscid, or aromatic.
The 178 sister hybrids of this series were very uniform in respect
to the general characters of leaves, buds, and stems. There was,
however, much difference in vigor of growth; some of them were
weak and very slow- growing, as shown in FIGURE I. Brief men­tion
has been made of these hybrids and one is illustrated in a re­cent
report on the entire breeding project with poplars. 2
FIGURE 2. Showing large leaf of sucker branch, smaller leaf typical of
old trees, and twigs of ( 1) Populus balsamifera virginiana and ( 2) P.
grandidentata, and ( at 3) leaf and twig of one of the hybrids.
Comparisons with parents ( see FIGUKE 2). The leaves of the hy­brids
resemble the leaves of P grandidentata in shape, apex, tex­ture,
color, and tomentum. The leaf base is more or less inter­mediate
between P. grandidentata and P. balsamifera virginiana;
the leaf margin resembles that of the leaves on vigorous branches
of P balsamifera virginiana but is even more finely serrate. The
stems resemble those of the P grandidentata in shape, color, to­mentum,
and appearance of the lenticels. The winter buds of the
hybrids are more like those of P grandidentata in shape, pubes-
2 Stout, A. B., and Schreiner, E. J. Results of a project in hybridizing
populars. Jour, of Heredity 24: 216- 229. 1933-
143
cence, and absence of the aromatic, viscid, or resinous character.
The growth thus far made by the hybrids indicates that the trees
will resemble the pollen parent ( P. grandidentata) in appearance.
Thus in only a few of the characters is there definite influence of
the seed parent; there is a decided dominance for nearly all the
characters of the pollen parent.
The best of these hybrids are less vigorous in growth than seed­lings
or plants grown from cuttings of the seed parent. Most, if
not all of them, appear to be less vigorous than plants of the pollen
parent. They are much less vigorous than many hybrids of other
crosses in the genus Populus. None of them has merit for use in
reforestation and it is doubtful if any have merit as shade trees.
The writers have found no references to hybrids between the
two species Populus balsamifera virginiana and P. balsamifera,
either of wild origin or of experimental production.
A. B. STOUT,
New York Botanical Garden.
E. J. SCHREINER,
Oxford Paper Company.
TWO IMPORTANT NEW BOOKS FOR GARDENERS
L. H. Bailey and M. G. Kains— as different in style of writing
as two horticulturists could hope to be— have each lately produced
a new book which in its way seems quite indispensable to the gar­dener
who wishes to know the what, how, when, and why of all
that he does with his plants.
Mr. Kains's volume, 1 " Modern Guide to Successful Gardening,"
treats each subject particularly from the point of view of methods
to be used in cultivation. The first 150 pages, approximately, deal
with flowers, shrubs, vines, and trees; the next 100 with fruits and
vegetables, and the last, almost 100 pages, with planning and carry­ing
out practical work in the garden.
The emphasis on fruits and vegetables seems a trifle strong, espe­cially
when one considers that strawberries are given a whole chap­ter,
while iris is merely mentioned in one line of one appendix;
geraniums are not mentioned at all— unless in some other undis-
1 Kains, M. G., Modern Guide to Successful Gardening. Pp. 370, illus.
Greenberg, New York. 1934. $ 2.50.
144
covered line— and peonies, asters, and delphiniums are given no
greater attention. But food plants have a powerful hold on many
gardeners, and the book is really amazingly complete for a volume
of its size. Each one of its 49 chapters, prefaced by an amusing
verse and an instructive sentence, both quoted, deals with some sub­ject
that really is of prime importance for the gardener to know.
The text is clear and entertaining, and is amplified by drawings,
diagrams, and tables, which are further amplified by the long ap­pendices,
listing members of some two dozen groups of plants,
from roses to vegetables that will withstand frost, and giving some
valuable information about each.
Dr. Bailey2 takes up the culture of nearly a thousand species of
plants in alphabetical order, from Abutilon to Zinnia, listing both
common and scientific names for each, and treating each subject
under the name most commonly used.
Instructions are brief, necessarily, but adequate for the average
gardener's use. Informative lists of perennials, annuals, vines,
ground- covers, and such groups are offered, and fairly detailed
directions are given for developing rock, water, and window gar­dens,
for propagating, fertilizing, and pruning, and similar essen­tial
operations, all concise and practical.
It is strange that neither of these new books, the one by its title
a " modern" guide, and the other by virtue of its authorship pre­sumably
the latest word in horticulture, mentions one of the new
California plants which are becoming increasingly popular in
rock gardens and borders. The names Brodiaea, Calochortus,
Lewisia, and Camassia, for example, appear in neither. South
African plants are almost as seriously neglected. Ursinia ane-thoides
is not mentioned; Dimorphotheca is barely cited in Dr.
Bailey's book, and Felicia has won a place in neither. The list
might perhaps be extended, but unnecessarily. Outside of this
lack, both books have outstanding value for any gardener's use.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
2 Bailey, L. H., Gardener's Handbook. Pp. 292, illus. Macmillan, New
York. 1934. $ 3.00.
PUBLICATIONS OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes,
news, and non- technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To
others, 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its thirty- fifth volume.
Mycologia, bimonthly, devoted to fungi, including lichens; $ 5.00 a year.
Now in its twenty- sixth volume. Official organ of the Mycological So­ciety
of America.
Addisonia, semi- annual, 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 volume
( two years). [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its eighteenth 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. 73 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 map. 1900.
Vol. I I . The Influence of Light and Darkness upon Growth and Devel­opment,
by D. T. MacDougal. xvi + 320 pp., with 176 figures. 1903.
Vol. I I I . Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischer-ville,
New York, by A. Hollick and E. C. Jeffrey, xiii + 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, v i i i + 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. viii + 464 pp., with 47 plates, 10 charts, and
II text- figures. 1927.
Brittonia. A series of botanical papers. Subscription price, $ 5.00 per
volume. Now in its first volume.
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 fourteenth volume.
Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America, by P. A.
Rydberg. 969 pp. and 601 figures. Price, $ 5.50 postpaid.
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
Bronx Park, New York, N. Y.
G E N E R A L I N F O R M A T I ON
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 new rock garden, a large rose garden, a perennial
border, small model gardens, and other types of plantings.
Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America
and foreign countries.
Flower shows throughout the year— in the spring, summer, and autumn
displays of daffodils, tulips, lilacs, irises, peonies, roses, lilies, water- lilies,
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 1,700,000 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.
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problems of plant life.
A library of botanical literature, comprising more than 43400 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
forestral 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
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Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes.
The following is an approved form of bequest:
/ hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under
the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1891, the sum of .
Conditional bequests may be made with income payable to donor
or any designated beneficiary during his or her lifetime.
All requests for further information should be sent to
T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, NEW YORK, N. Y.