Journal of the New York Botanical Garden

              VOL. XXXV NOVEMBER, 1934 No. 419
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
A CENTURY- OLD AMERICAN HERBARIUM
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART
THE 1934 DAHLIA COLLECTION
MARSHALL A. HOWE
WINTER INJURY OF HYBRID RHODODENDRONS
HENRY TEUSCHER
ARISTOLOCHIA GRANDIFLORA
T. H. EVERETT
THE REPUBLICATION OF FUNDAMENTAL BOTANICAL
WORKS OF JAPAN
E. D. MERRILL
YEAR- BOOK OF AMERICAN AMARYLLIS SOCIETY
T. H. EVERETT
TWO AGED EPIPHYTIC ORCHIDS
JOHN K_ SMALL
A GLANCE A T CURRENT LITERATURE
CAROL H. WOODWARD
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
PUBLISHED FOR THE GARDEN
AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA.
T H E SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY
Entered at the post- 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
I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS
Until 1935: L. H. BAILEY, THOMAS J. DOLEN, MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON
HUNTINGTON HOOKER, JOHN L. MERRILL ( Vice- president and Treasurer), and
H. HOBART PORTER.
Until 1936: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, HENRY W. DE FOREST ( President),
CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D. MERRILL ( Director and Secretary), HENRY DE LA MON­TAGNE,
JR. ( Assistant Treasurer & Business Manager), and LEWIS RUTHER-FURD
MORRIS.
Until 1937: HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN ( Vice- president), GEORGE S.
BREWSTER, CHILDS FRICK, ADOLPH LEWISOHN, HENRY LOCKHART, JR., D. T.
MACDOUGAL, and JOSEPH R. SWAN.
II. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS
FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA, Mayor of the City of New York.
ROBERT MOSES, Park Commissioner.
GEORGE J. RYAN, President of the Board of Education.
III. APPOINTIVE MANAGERS
TRACY E. HAZEN, appointed by the Torrey Botanical Club.
R. A. HARPER, SAM F. TRELEASE, EDMUND W. SINNOTT, and MARSTON T.
BOGERT, appointed by Columbia University.
GARDEN STAFF
E. D. MERRILL, SC. D Director
MARSHALL A. HOWE, PH. D., SC. D Assistant Director
H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Head Curator
JOHN K. SMALL, P H . D., SC. D Chief Research Associate and Curator
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
FORMAN T. MCLEAN, M. F., P H . D Supervisor of Public Education
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D.. . Bibliographer and Admin. Assistant
PERCY WILSON Associate Curator
ALBERT C. SMITH, P H . D Associate Curator
SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian
H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections
FLEDA GRIFFITH Artist and Photographer
ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Research Associate in Bryology
E. J. ALEXANDER . . . . Assistant Curator and Curator of the Local Herbarium
HAROLD N. MOLDENKE, P H . D Assistant Curator
CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant
ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical Assistant
CAROL H. WOODWARD, A. B Editorial Assistant
THOMAS H. EVERETT, N. D. HORT Horticulturist
HENRY TEUSCHER, HORT. M Dendrologist
G. L. WITTROCK, A. M Docent
ROBERT HAGELSTEIN Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM, Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections
WALTER S. GROESBECK Clerk and Accountant
ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds
JOURNAL
OF
The New York Botanical Garden
VOL. XXXV NOVEMBER, 1934 No. 419
A CENTURY- OLD AMERICAN HERBARIUM
A very interesting American collection of dried plants, more
than a hundred years old, has recently been presented to The New-
York Botanical Garden by Mrs. Emma L. Oeder, of Ashland,
Oregon.
It was not an heirloom, and the donor knew nothing of its his­tory.*
Fortunately, however, it contains abundant internal evidence
of its original source.
The fly- leaf bears the name of David L. Coe, and the collection
was certainly brought together by him. Even now, after a cen­tury,
it comprises nearly 500 specimens, mounted in a large volume
of 96 pages. A few are of cultivated plants, but nearly all are
native in the regions where they were collected: eastern New York,
adjacent New England, and Ohio.
Who was this David L. Coe? His name is unknown to the pres­ent
generation of botanists. Yet here is his herbarium, nearly
* A subsequent letter from Mrs. Oeder explains how this herbarium
came into her hands:
" Ashland is a small town, whose early settlers in ' 45 came from Connec­ticut,
Pennsylvania, and New York. . The city dumps have afforded me
a fruitful hunting ground, for sometimes really rare things have been sent
out there, by descendants no doubt, who tired of caring for old things.
" On these city dumps is a very old lady. She pokes about collecting
materials to sell. To her I have said ' . anything that looks old or curi­ous,
always lay aside and show me. .' One day she called my attention
to this book, asking if I could use it.
" Every evening all burnable, waste material is destroyed upon the Ash­land
city dump, so you see that if ' Grandma's' watchful eyes had not sal­vaged
the collection, the careful work of David L. Coe and Elias \ Y.
Leavenworth would have been burned and lost forever."
241
242
every specimen correctly named in accordance with the knowledge
of his day; the common name usually added after the scientific
one; the locality, habitat, and month of collection frequently noted.
The specimens are of course small, as they must be to average five
to a page, but they are well chosen to illustrate the characters of
the plants, and are as good as are customarily found in herbaria of
that period, when paper for mounting specimens was expensive
and difficult to secure. There are no exact dates with the speci­mens,
but as we shall see the herbarium was probably begun in
1817, and completed essentially as it now exists in 1822.
And now let us direct our attention to Williams College, in the year
1817, when that institution was less than twenty- five years old.
Chester Dewey ( 1784- 1867) had been on the faculty from 1808,
and had held the professorship of mathematics and natural philoso­phy
from 1810. His field was large, but he stressed botany, and
was widely known as a student of the genus Carex. It was doubt­less
through his influence that Amos Eaton ( 1776- 1842) was
secured to give a series of popular lectures on mineralogy at Wil­liams.
Eaton was never a member of the faculty, but his magnetic
personality made an astonishing impression upon the students. His
services were secured to give a course of botanical lectures in the
spring of 1817. But how was he to teach satisfactorily without a
text- book describing succinctly the plants likely to be met with? No
such work existed, so he prepared one, and this was published semi-anonymously,
at Albany, the expense being borne by those who
planned to attend the lectures. This was the first edition of " A
manual of botany for the Xorthern States" which in seven subse­quent
editions up to 1840 was the most popular work in the field
that had been opened by it. This first edition was prefaced by a
dedication " to the author of Richard's Botanical dictionary"
( Eaton), which was dated at Williams College, " 8th April, 1817";
it was signed by every member of the senior, junior, and sopho­more
classes, and nearly all of the freshmen. There were 63 names
in all, and among them we find " David L. Coe."
David Lyman Coe was born at Granville, Massachusetts, in
1795. Soon after his graduation, in 1818, he went to the " Western
Reserve" in Ohio, where he taught in various schools. It was at
Charlestown, Ohio, that he penciled on the fly- leaf of his herba-
243
rium, under his name, " Oct. 1822. This book contains about five
hundred and forty- five species [ of] plants." ( There are still about
475, after the vicissitudes of a century, and many more may yet be
salvaged, now lying loose between the leaves of the book.) He
was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Charlestown from 1828
to 1832, and then resumed his profession as a teacher, at Tall-madge,
Ohio. He died at Richfield, Ohio, 20 July, 1836, at the
early age of forty. But a large proportion of the plants in his her­barium
were not collected by him. On page 47 he wrote this note:
'' Nearly all the specimens from this page to the end were col­lected
and presented to me by Mr. Elias W. Leavenworth of Great
Barrington, [ collected] during the years i82[ o]- 2i- 22 at Gt. Bar-rington,
Willi am stown and Newhaven. I hope ever to rem [ em]-
ber his generosity in presenting] these specimens as well as for
his many friendly attentions to me. D. L. Coe, Charlestown, Oct.
1822."
It is impossible to distinguish the Coe and Leavenworth collec­tions
with certainty, although many of the specimens bear collec­tion-
numbers which are probably all those of Leavenworth. Many
of the finest and rarest specimens seem to have come from him,
but they were evidently duplicates from his herbarium; one label
shows that he had divided his meager material with Coe. Evi­dently
his was no mere schoolboy collection, for it showed the
same care in preparation and labeling and contained some greater
rarities. In October, 1822, Leavenworth was not yet nineteen
years old, but he had already come under the influence of Chester
Dewey at " Williams and Eli Ives ( 1779- 1861) at Yale, both among
the most eminent American botanists of that day.
Elias Warner Leavenworth was born at Canaan, Columbia
County, New York, 20 December, 1803, but removed with his par­ents
before his third birthday to Great Barrington, Mass., and this
was his home until 1827. In 1820 he entered Williams College as
a sophomore, and a year later entered Yale, where the standards
were a trifle higher, again as a sophomore. It seems, therefore,
that he was still an undergraduate when his gifts approximately
doubled Coe's herbarium. He was elected a member of Phi Beta
Kappa in 1823, and in the following year was graduated with the
degree of B. A. He then began his law studies, and it was from
this time, if not earlier, that his interest in botany was crowded
244
out; in fact, I have found no reference to his early botanical studies
in an)- account of his life, even in the 18- page autobiography in his
genealogy of the Leavenworth family ( 1873). He studied law
with William Cullen Bryant ( 1794- 1878) at Great Barrington,
and at the Litchfield ( Connecticut) Law School, and in 1827 went
to Syracuse, New York, where he practiced his profession until
1850, and lived until his death. He was long one of the most hon­ored
citizens of Syracuse; president of the village twice, and later
twice mayor of the city, member of the state legislature, Secretary
of State of New York and one of the Regents of the State Uni­versity,
and for one term a Member of Congress. His great inter­est
in parks and in the state geological survey may have resulted
from his early studies in natural science. He died in Syracuse, 25
November, 1887.
And now a few words more about the herbarium. Many of the
original specimens have been broken or torn from the strips with
which they were mounted, apparently by careless handling, but
there is little if any evidence of depredation by insects; this is per­haps
explained by a note at the bottom of page 30: " From this
page a mercurial preparation is used." Many of the specimens bear
no indication of locality or habitat; frequently there are such an­notations
as " wet land," " side of the road," " pine woods," or " mar­gin
of a pond." Some are definitely placed, from the standpoint
of the label- writer, but would now be unidentifiable, such as " Mrs.
Gridley's," " Mr. Day's," " Burying ground," and " S. bay." Most
of the plants collected by Coe himself seem to have come from Co­lumbia
County, New York, where I imagine that he must have
lived while in college ( Hudson, Claverack, Mount Washington—
this last was the highest peak of the Taconic range, on the Massa­chusetts
state line, not the famous mountain of the same name in
New Hampshire), a number were from the Catskill Mountains
( labeled Caatskill M., or C. Mount., or C. Mountains), and some
from Charlestown ( Ohio) and Burton ( Ohio, not many miles north
of Charlestown). Leavenworth's chief localities were Great Bar­rington,
Sheffield, and Deerfield, all in western Massachusetts, and
a few labeled " N. H." ( New Haven, Conn., not New Hampshire).
A few specimens that might have been collected by either Coe or
Leavenworth are labeled " Williams College," " Mount Saddle"
( now called Saddle Mountain, southeast of Williamstown), or
245
" Pownal" ( north of Williamstown, just over the state line in
Vermont).
Of course scattered specimens of plants collected in America at
much earlier dates are to be found in various herbaria, but a col­lection
such as this that has remained virtually intact since 1822 is
certainly noteworthy.
JOHN HENDLEY BARXHART.
THE 1934 DAHLIA COLLECTION
The 1934 dahlia season may be considered to rank among the
most successful of the seventeen in which the collection of dahlias
has been a special feature at The New York Botanical Garden.
July and August were a bit dry, but September brought nearly ten
inches of rain. On some days the precipitation was heavier than
was desirable and on two occasions the accompanying wind caused
a considerable amount of breakage, but, on the whole, the copious
September rainfall appeared to be distinctly favorable. The main
collection, as m recent years, consisted of about 1100 plants, repre­senting
somewhat more than 400 varieties. In addition, the special
bed of 160 essentially disease- free plants of two especially sus­ceptible
varieties, was maintained at a distance from the main plant­ing.
And numerous dahlias were to be found in the general flower
borders north, east, and west of Conservatory Range No. 1.
The collection, as usual, continued to exhibit a few of the reliable
old- timers, like the pompon Brunette ( 1885) and the cactus variety
Countess of Lonsdale ( 1896), but the newer kinds, one to five
years old, and a few not yet introduced to the trade, constituted
the more conspicuous parts of the display. As is the case with
irises, peonies, and roses, many of recent introduction represent
little or no advance over the older varieties, yet a comparison of
the leading varieties of 1934 with the favorites of 1914 or 1924
would show striking progress. Such a comparison indicates that
the older varieties are being rapidly replaced by the newer ones.
Of the 458 varieties grown at The New York Botanical Garden
in 1924, only 20 persist in the collection of 410 kinds grown here
in 1934. In the newer varieties increases in the size of the flower
and in the strength of the stem have been attained and wonderful
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247
new combinations of color are now exhibited. With the diameters
of the flowers of certain varieties now reaching 16 or 17 inches, it
would seem that there need be no further effort to produce bigger
ones, but there is still a field for the development of vigorous dis­ease-
resistant varieties.
The balloting on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for the best-liked
variety, initiated in October of last year, has been continued
this season, beginning on the last Sunday of September. The
favorites naturally vary with the progress of the season and the
condition of individual plants at the moment. And it may happen
that top- notch varieties, for one cause or another, may not be doing
themselves full justice at any time during the whole season in our
particular collection. The last Sunday afternoon in September,
Pastel Glow, a large informal decorative, white, with an orchid-violet
flush, was the favorite. The early and mid- October vote
favored Adirondack Sunset, a scarlet informal decorative, usually
with old- gold edges and backs. A close rival was Lord of Autumn,
a large canary- yellow informal decorative. Other leading favorites
were Spotlight, Snowdrift, Buckeye King, Ching, Goldene Sonne,
Maryland's Glory, Monmouth Champion, Christinas Candy, Rain­bow's
End, Lugdunum Batavorum, King of the Blacks, Star of
Bethlehem, Orchid Moonlight, Yankee Royal, Man o'War, and
White Knight. The dahlias were killed by frost the morning of
November 3.
For supplying roots and green plants of the newer and better
kinds, the Garden is indebted especially to the following firms and
individuals:
Dahliadel Nurseries, Vineland, N. J.; Success Dahlia Gardens,
171 Ferry St., Lawrence, Mass.; Sanhican Gardens, Trenton,
N. J.; Albert Parrella, 3380 Ely Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. C.; Park­way
Dahlia Gardens, 1012 E. 178th St.; Ruschmohr Dahlia Grow­ers,
52 S. Kensington Ave., Rockville Center, N. Y.; William
Meshirer, 43- 55 Robinson St., Flushing, N. Y.; C. Louis Ailing,
251 Court St., West Haven, Conn.; F. Ed. Spooner, Summit, N.
J.; Dr. A. B. Scott, Fairmont, W. Va.; Golden Rule Dahlia Farm,
Lebanon, Ohio; E. L. Kunzman, New Albany, Ind.; J. E. Hulin,
5964 24th Ave.. S. W., Seattle, Wash.; A. A. Tower, Arlington,
Wash.; A. G. Goodacre, Gardena, Calif.; Stephenson Dahlia Gar­dens,
2318 Hill St., Santa Monica, Calif.; Richard W. Petrie, Gar­dena,
Calif.; Carl Salbach, 657 Woodmont Ave., Berkeley, Calif.;
248
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Alice Meussdorffer, 4S7 Hanover St.. San Francisco, Calif.: N.
Harold Cottam & Son, Wappingers Falls, X. Y.; John Toth, Fair­field,
Conn.; W. J. Etherington, 125 Lexington Ave.. Westwood,
X. J.; A. H. Schlesinger. Rochelle Park. X. J . : Thomas L. Galvin,
4 Bedford St.. Peabodv. Mass.: Badettv Bros., Huntington. X. Y.;
Edward A. Jelile. 9218- 215 Place, Queens Village, X. Y.; W. E.
Birrell & Sons. Summerville, Ontario; Vincent Sigismundi. 2
Manor Court, Teaneck, X. J.; F. A. Greenough. 25 French St.,
Braintree, Mass.; Salem Dahlia Gardens, 236 Grant St.. Salem.
X. J.; Frederick E. Dixon, Scotch Plains. X. J.; Supreme Dahlias,
Tiverton Four Corners. R. I . ; Chautauqua Dahlia Fields. Mayville,
N. Y.: Walter Bissell. Austiuburg, Ohio: Dr. H. Trossbach, Bo­gota.
X. Y.; Valeria Home. Oscawana. X. Y.; Bertha Linduff.
Xew Cumberland, W. Va.; Lee Cochran, 21} X. 8th St.. Martins
Ferry, Ohio: S. W. Smith. Port Jervis, X. Y.; L. X. Davis.
Stoneham, Mass.: Fred Gresh. Zionsville, Ind.; Shelby E. Taylor.
R. 3, Morgantown. W. Va.; Charles H. Smith. Mav's Landing.
X. J.; and Mrs. J. C. Maxwell. Brevard. X. C. Mr. Stanley G.
Ranger generously purchased roots of some of the newer English
miniatures and mignons and presented them to the Garden. In­teresting
novelties were three Australian varieties presented by L.
Fitzgerald, 35 Barrow St.. Brunswick, Xo. 10, Victoria, Australia.
Besides the regular Saturday afternoon lantern- slide lecture on
" Dahlias" in tlie Museum Building on September 29. there was a
largely attended informal talk on the lawn in front of the Dahlia
Border on Sunday afternoon, October 14. Informal talks were
given also to visiting delegations from the Woman's Club of Port
Chester on October 15 and from the Chappaqua Garden Club on
October 17.
The New York Times published statements to the effect that
tlie dahlias were seen by 5,000 people on September 30, by 10.000
on October 7, and by 9,000 on October 14. While these figures are
doubtless exaggerated, it is a fact that the dahlias attracted the at­tention
of thousands of admiring visitors on each of these Sundays
and of smaller crowds on week- days. For tlie success of the 1934
Dahlia Border, the undersigned owes much to tlie helpful coopera­tion
of Director Merrill. Horticulturist Thomas H. Everett. Fore­man
Gardener Patrick J. McKenna. and Miss Rosalie Weikert.
For their devoted and efficient care of the plants great credit should
be given to Gardener James Cahill and his volunteer assistant, J.
Leslie Heitel.
MARSHALL A. HOWE.
250
WINTER INJURY OF HYBRID RHODODENDRONS
The hybrid evergreen rhododendrons of our gardens behaved
last winter in a way that has been quite puzzling to many of their
special friends. Here in the eastern states we are wont to consider
a western or at least partly northern exposure as most favorable
for evergreen rhododendrons. Last spring it could be observed,
however, that in many instances rhododendrons flowered more
satisfactorily in a southern than in a northwestern exposure, which
seems to be in contradiction to all previous experience. But we
have to consider that the past winter was abnormal in more than its
extremely low temperature; and the blasting of the buds in north­western
exposure can readily be blamed on the strong and very
cold northwest winds which we had to experience twice during
February.
Even if this be taken into account, however, strange differences in
the behavior of individual plants remain unexplained. These were
most puzzling to those garden owners who did not realize that the
varieties which made up their rhododendron groups were hybrids,
and that they showed in their varying hardiness their varying affin­ity
to their respective parents.
There are in particular six species which have been crossed and
recrossed to produce our garden Rhododendrons, and these can
readily be classified into two groups: ( i ) the hardy R. catawbiense,
R. caucasicum, and R. maximum, and ( 2) the quite tender R. pon­ticum,
the still more tender R. arboreum, and of late also the quite
tender R. Griffithianum.
The hybrids among these which we have in our gardens are
rarely straight crosses between two species, but are usually quite
complicated. A combination like the following, for instance, is fre­quent:
[{ catawbiense x arboreum) x {{ catawbiense x arboreum) X
catawbiense] ] x ( ponticum album x caucasicum). There are four
parent species involved in this cross, one of them three times, and
one twice. If from such a complicated hybrid one collects seeds
and raises plants from them, it can readily be imagined what will
happen. Among the offspring some of the grandparents— or even
more remote ancestors— will reappear almost pure; other plants
are likely to combine in them undesirable traits of several of the in-
251
252
volved species. Their behavior, if they are exposed to a severe
winter, will be according to their inherited qualities.
The accompanying picture shows this quite clearly. The two
rhododendron plants in the foreground belong to the same set of
seedlings, raised from the seeds of some hybrid variety. They are
growing side by side in a nursery row under entirely identical con­ditions,
and have been treated alike in every way. The conspicuous
difference in their reaction to the severe winter can be referred
only to their different genetic make- up, which, in this case, is quite
evident also in their outward appearance.
The left plant resembles very closely R. catawbiense and, as the
picture shows, has proved just as hardy. It is in full bloom, and
not one of its flower- buds showed signs of injury.
The right plant looks very much like R. ponticum which, appar­ently,
was one of the species used in the original cross. This plant
shows the tenderness inherited from R. ponticum in its flower-buds,
which were all killed during the past winter.
HENRY TEUSCHER.
ARISTOLOCHIA GRANDIFLORA
Aristotochia grandiflora is a tropical relative of the common
Dutchman's Pipe ( A. macrophylla). It is a native of several of the
West Indian Islands and of northern South America and is re­markable
because of the strikingly handsome flowers it produces.
The peculiar shape of these earn for this species the common names
of Pelican Flower, Swan Flower, Goose Flower, and Duck Flower,
all names suggested by the resemblance which the unopened buds
bear to the body and head of a bird.
The flowers are large, with a curiously curved and inflated tube,
which expands into a heart- shaped limb several inches in diameter.
From this limb depends a long twisted ciliate tail. The showy
part of the flower is really the petaloid calyx for, as in all Aristo-lochias,
the corolla is wanting. In color the flowers are creamy-white,
attractively reticulated and blotched with purple and towards
the center and in the throat becoming a rich vinous- purple self.
They remain expanded for only about forty- eight hours and dur­ing
the earlier part of this period emit a most disgusting odor,
which is said to attract carrion- loving insects.
253
FIGURE I. The pelican- flower, Aristolochia grandiflora, in bloom.
254
Aristolochia grandiflora is rarely seen in cultivation and a plant
bloomed for the first time at the Garden in mid- October. This
specimen was raised from seeds received from the Botanic Garden
at Copenhagen, Denmark, eighteen months ago, and the flower pro­duced
measured more than seven inches across and had a tail eleven
inches long.
The cultivation of the tropical Aristolochias presents no particu­lar
difficulties. They are readily raised from seed or from cut­tings
of young growth taken in the spring. The plants thrive in a
well- drained, loamy soil, in a greenhouse where a winter minimum
temperature of from 58 to 60 degrees is maintained. Full ex­posure
to sun is desirable and during the growing season they
should be sprayed freely with clear water. Well- established speci­mens
benefit from regular feeding with liquid organic fertilizers.
Although in its native state Aristolochia grandiflora is a woody
climber, it is advisable under greenhouse cultivation to prune the
plants severely each spring and train up the annual shoots which
will produce flowers in the late summer and fall.
T. H. EVERETT.
THE REPUBLICATION OF FUNDAMENTAL
BOTANICAL WORKS OF JAPAN
The botanical public is under obligations to Professor T. Nakai
for his interest in furthering the republication of various funda­mental
works pertaining to the flora of Japan. These are being
republished by the offset process and are hence exact reproductions
of the originals. They are printed on excellent paper and are well
bound.
Among those already issued are Thunberg's Flora Japonica
( 1786), issued by Inoue Shotan, Morikawa- Cho, Tokyo, in 1933;
Thunberg's Icones Plantarum Japonicarum, five parts, 1794- 1805,
issued by Syokubuth Bunken Kankokai, 4 Kobikichiyo, Kyoba-shiku,
Tokyo, Japan. Other publications that have similarly been
reproduced are Siebold & Zuccarini: Flora Japonica ( 1843- 46), and
Siebold: Synopsis Plantarum Oeconomicarum ( 1827). Plans are
now being perfected for similarly reproducing the first edition of
the fundamental Linnaeus' Species Plantarum, and various papers
pertaining to the Japanese flora written by Thunberg.
255
The original editions of all these publications are long out of
print, many of them are exceedingly rare and expensive, and are
hence not available to numerous individuals who need to have ac­cess
to them. These modern offset reproductions, now being pub­lished
in Japan at nominal rates, will enable many botanists and
botanical institutions, not only in Japan but elsewhere, to acquire
copies of these fundamental works at nominal cost.
This project is financed by an anonymous Japanese patron of
science as a service to Japanese botanists.
E. D. MERRILL.
YEAR- BOOK OF AMERICAN AMARYLLIS SOCIETY
The American Amaryllis Society was organized in 1933 with
the object of promoting interest in Suborder I, Amarylleae, and
Suborder II, Alstroemerieae, Order Amaryllideae ( Baker, J. G.,
Handbook of Amaryllideae, 1888).
In February of the present year the Society published its first
year- book, a very creditable production of 106 pages, well printed
and carefully edited. This year- book contains, in addition to the
constitution and by- laws of the Society, a reprint of the keys to
the genera of Suborder T— Amarylleae, Suborder II— Alstroe­merieae
and the species of the genera Hippeastrum and Amaryllis
according to Baker. A preliminary check- list of horticultural varie­ties
of Hippeastrum and a number of important articles dealing
with the breeding and hybridizing of Amaryllids, their culture and
the insect and fungoid pests to which they are subject, are also
included.
The group of plants to which the American Amaryllis Society
devotes interest comprises 54 genera and is of great importance
horticulturally. It would seem that the society can be of very real
service to growers and fanciers of these subjects.
The year- book is apparently available only to members of the
Society. Annual dues are $ 2.00. Wyndham Howard, 2240 Fair­banks
Avenue, Winter Park, Florida, is Secretary.
T. H. EVERETT.
256
TWO AGKD EPIPHYTIC ORCHIDS
On one of our collecting trips to I lie lower Florida Keys in J 928,
two prodigious plants of a native epiphytic orchid were found,
growing on an island east of Key West. The locality was a small
hammock near the ocean front. The size of the plants may he
realized from the fact that a family of raccoons occupied the top of
each for a nesting place. Each plant or colony consisted of ap­proximately
twelve hundred green pseudobulbs. How many
pseudobulbs had naturally died and dried up during the life of the
colonies we do not know. As the multiplicafion of pseudobillbs is
apparently a slow process, one may assume lb, it ; i colony of twelve
hundred represents a considerable age.
FJOORE 1. A very old plant of lituyrlia tamf> ensis composed of about
1200 pseudobulbs. The flowers are of a yellow ground- color with mark­ings
and splotches of purple and brown on the sepals and petals.
257
During the season following the bringing of the plants to the
Garden they flowered while hanging from the rafters in Conserva­tory
Range number j . Several hundred flower stems on each plant
bloomed simultaneously, each stem bearing from three to eight
mainly yellow flowers with some of the parts marked with brown
and purple. The accompanying photograph of one side of one of
the plants in flower will give an idea of the plant in the flowering
stage. Furthermore, this orchid, Encyclia tampensis. normally
flowers once a year, but these plants for some reason flowered in a
desultory way out of season.
JOHN K. SMALL.
A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE1
In " The Iris' Near- of- kin" in the Gardeners' Chronicle of
America for October, Claire Norton describes many plants which
are said to be fascinating even to the amateur grower, but too in­frequently
seen. In the same number, Edith H. Banghart explains
what she calls the " moraine or scree idea." by which certain rock
garden plants are made to thrive by allowing their roots to reach
cool moist earth.
* * * *
Although " Common Weeds" by Paul C. Standley, published as
Botanical Leaflet ly of the Field Museum, refers directly to the
Chicago region, the contents of the booklet are applicable over a
much wider area.
On the strictly scientific side, Mr. Standley has lately produced
" The Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Panama"— a manual whose
descriptive introduction fires both scientist and traveler with a
desire to start at once for this fascinating isle in Gatun Lake. It
appears as Contributions from the Arnold Arboretum— V.
* * * *
The October Bulletin of the Horticultural Society of . Yrtc York
announces that the afternoon and evening meetings this season will
take place the same day of each month— the third Wednesday— to
enable out- of- towners to attend both sessions during one trip, and
1 All publications mentioned here— and many others— are to be found in
the library of The New York Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building.
258
also to enable those at the evening meetings to see at least part of
the afternoon floral display.
* * * *
In the test garden for new roses, which was revived this year
under the auspices of the American Rose Society in Elizabeth
Park, Hartford, Conn., 148 plants were under observation. These
represented, according to the American Rose Magazine for Sep­tember-
October, 17 originators from America, France, Spain, Bel­gium,
and Holland, and included 18 American roses.
* * * *
Sweet Corn is the subject of Part 3 of Volume 1 of Vegetables
of Nczv York, being published by the State Agricultural Experi­ment
Station. The present part, which contains, besides magnifi­cent
colored illustrations, sections on the history and systematic
botany of maize, its development, and complete descriptions of
varieties, has been prepared by William T. Tapley, Walter D.
Enzie, and Glen P. Van Eseltine.
* * * *
From May 15 to July 1 is the most desirable time to scout for
the Dutch elm- disease, according to the September Nursery Dis­ease
Notes of the Xew Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.
Lack of funds, the article points out, has kept many diseased trees
standing ( 1600, for example, in New Jersey). These should be
removed before April 1, 1935, it emphasizes, if control is to be
successful.
* * * *
A convenient table for planting twenty kinds of bulbs for the
winter window garden is given in Horticulture for September 15.
Two articles on fall and winter decoration, in which wild plants
are principally used, are included in the October Flower Grower.
Rex D. Pearce contributes to that issue an article on the autumn
wild flowers of Xew Jersey, and Carleton Yerex " A Critical Con­sideration
of Hybrid Lilies.''
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
259
NOTES. NEWS. AND COMMENT
We much regret to record the death of Mr. Kenneth Kent
Mackenzie, which occurred at his home in Maplewood, X. J., on
October 22, at the age of 57 years. He was a member of the Board
of Managers of The Xew York Botanical Garden since 1933 and
for several years was one of its executive committee. A lawyer by
profession, Mr. Mackenzie had won distinction among botanists as
an authority on the genus Carex.
Dr. A. B. Stout spent several days during the autumn in Maine
with Dr. E. J. Schreiner in an inspection of the nursery and the
experimental plantings of poplars established by the Oxford
Paper Company. About 10,000 seedling poplars, obtained by
hybridization, have now had eight years of growth in a forestation
planting and several have already flowered.
Dr. H. A. Gleason has been appointed to the National Research
Council for Biology and Agriculture for a period of three years.
Dr. and Mrs. Agesilau A. Bitancourt,. of Sao Paulo, Brazil, vis­ited
the Garden late in September while spending a few days in the
Lnited States on their return from Europe. Dr. Bitancourt, who
is subdirector of the Instituto Biologico at Sao Paulo, has been
inspecting Brazilian fruit in European markets.
Dr. P. A. van der Bijl, professor of plant pathology and my­cology
at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, who has
been visiting laboratories of phytopathology and mycology in the
United States., was a caller at The New York Botanical Garden on
Octobers.
Dr. E. D. Merrill addressed an audience at the Brooklyn Insti­tute
of Arts and Sciences the evening of October 16 on plant life
of the Philippines.
A large exhibit of wild flowers of Long Island, prepared bv The
New \ ork Botanical Garden, was awarded a special prize at Brook­lyn's
Fall Flower Show, held in the Fourteenth Regiment Armory,
September 25 to 29.
260
The tall sugar- palm from Malaysia, Arenga pinnata ( A. sac-charifera),
which has been growing in Conservatory Range i for
about 25 years, until it now reaches the top of the 90- foot dome,
began blooming for the first time in September this year. A second
inflorescence appeared in October, and more will appear in se­quence
for a year or more, it is expected, each from the next
lower leaf- axil.
In the production of the small greenish flowers, which are like
beads along pendent branches about three feet in length, great
quantities of starch which has been gradually stored in the trunk
are utilized. So, after the fruits are produced, the entire tree dies.
The inflorescences, which yield an abundance of sap when cut,
are an important source of palm sugar in the Orient.
Soon after this palm began blooming, the Illawarra palm, Ar~
chontophoenix Cunninghami, from Australia, which has been grow­ing
in the same house, put forth a tassel of rose- colored flowers,
which hang from a point on the trunk about three feet below the
lowest leaf.
Announcement is made that Norman Taylor, editor for botany
of the new Webster's Dictionary, has been engaged by Houghton
Mifflin Company as editorial and promotion advisor in the field of
garden books and others in the realm of natural science and out­door
life. With Mr. Taylors cooperation the publishers contem­plate
more active publication of books on gardening, flowers, in­sects,
geology, exploration, and kindred subjects, including tree
books and forestry. He will carry on his work at the Xew York
office of Houghton Mifflin Company. Air. Taylor was formerly
Assistant Curator of The New York Botanical Garden and later
Curator of Plants at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He is the
author of the " Flora of the Vicinity of New York: a Contribution
to Plant Geography," which constituted Volume V of the Memoirs
of The Xew York Botanical Garden.
MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION
Arthur M. Anderson
* Mrs. Arthur M. Anderson
George Arents, Jr.
Mrs. George Arents, Jr.
Vincent Astor
John W. Auchincloss
Dr. Raymond F. Bacon
• Mrs. Robert Bacon
Prof. L. H. Bailey
Mrs. James Baird
Stephen Baker
Henry de Forest Baldwin
Sherman Baldwin
Prof. Charles P. Berkey
C. K. G. Billings
George Blumenthal
• Mrs. Edward C. Bodman
Col. Marston T. Bogert
Prof. William J. Bonisteel
George P. Brett
George S. Brewster
• Mrs. Jonathan Bulkley
Dr. Nicholas M. Butler
Prof. Gary N. Calkins
• Mrs. Andrew Carnegie
Prof. W. H. Carpenter
• Miss Mabel Choate
• Miss E. Mabel Clark
W. R. Coe
Richard C. Colt
Mrs. Jerome W. Coombs
Charles Curie
Mrs. C. I. DeBevoise
Henry W. de Forest
Moreau Delano
Rev. Dr. H. M. Denslow
Julian Detmer
• Mrs. Charles D. Dickey
Thomas J. Dolen
• Mrs. John W. Draper
Benjamin T. Fairchild
Marshall Field
William B. 0 . Field
Harry Harkness Flagler
• Mrs. Mortimer J. Fox
Childs Frick
• Miss Helen C. Frick
* Mrs. Carl A. de Gersdorff
Murry Guggenheim
Edward S. Harkness
Prof. R. A. Harper
T. A. Havemeyer
Prof. Tracy E. Hazen
A. Heckscher
• Mrs. A. Barton Hepburn
Capt. Henry B. Heylman
Mrs. Christian R. Holmes
• JMrs. Elon H. Hooker
Dr. Marshall A. Howe
Archer M. Huntington
Adrian Iselin
Pierre Jay
* Mrs. Walter Jennings
* Mrs. Delancey Kane
* § Mrs. F. Leonard Kellogg
* Mrs. Gustav E. Kissel
Clarence Lewis
Adolph Lewisohn
Frederick J. Lisman
Henry Lockhart, Jr.
* Mrs. William A. Lockwood
Dr. D. T. MacDougal
* Mrs. David Ives Mackie
Mrs. H. Edward Manville
Edgar L. Marston
George McAneny
Parker McCollester
* Mrs. John R. McGinley
Dr. E. D. Merrill
John L. Merrill
* Mrs. Roswell Miller, Jr.
Ogden L. Mills
George M. Moffett
H. de la Montagne, Jr.
Col. Robert H. Montgomery
Barrington Moore
Mrs. William H. Moore
J. Pierpont Morgan
Dr. Lewis R. Morris
Dr. Robert T. Morris
B. Y. Morrison
Prof. Henry F. Osborn
Chas. Lathrop Pack
* Mrs. Augustus G. Paine
* Mrs. James R. Parsons
Rufus L. Patterson
* Mrs. Wheeler H. Peckham
• Mrs. George W. Perkins
Howard Phipps
F. R. Pierson
James R. Pitcher
H. Hobart Porter
* Mrs. Harold I. Pratt
* Mrs. Henry St. C. Putnam
Stanley G. Ranger
Johnston L. Redmond
Ogden Mills Reid
John D. Rockefeller
Prof. H. H. Rusby
Hon. George J. Ryan
• Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee
John M. Schiff
* Mrs. Arthur H. Scribner
Prof. Edmund W. Sinnott
• Mrs. Samuel Sloan
John K. Small
Valentine P. Snyder
James Speyer
J. E. Spingarn
Mrs. Charles H. Stout
Nathan Straus, Jr.
Frederick Strauss
• Mrs. Theron G. Strong
Joseph R. Swan
B. B. Thayer
Dr. William S. Thomas
Charles G. Thompson
Robert Thorne
Raymond H. Torrey
Prof. Sam F. Trelease
• Mrs. Harold McL. Turner
Felix M. Warburg
Allen Wardwell
William H. Webster
• Mrs. Louise Beebe Wilder
•|| Mrs. Nelson B. Williams
Bronson Winthrop
Grenville L. Winthrop
John C. Wister
• Mrs. William H. Woodin
Richardson Wright
• Member also of the Advisory Council.
t Chairman of the Advisory Council.
jjSecjfiJgrv^ tjje A^ vi^ rx^ ouncil.
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 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.
Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified
problems of plant life.
A library of botanical literature, comprising more than 43,500 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
Patron single contribution 5,000
Fellow for Life single contribution 1,000
Member for Life single contribution 250
Fellowship Member annual fee 100
Sustaining Member annual fee 25
Annual Member annual fee 10
Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes.
The following is an approved form of bequest:
/ hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under
the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1891, ihe 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
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, NEW YORK, N. Y.