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VOL. XXXVI NOVEMBER, 1935 No. 431 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF DELPHINIUM AJACIS B. O. DODGE REMARKABLE VITALITY AMONG PALMS JOHN K. SMALL IT PAID TO TREAT THE LAWNS 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- office in Lancaster, Pa., as second- class matter. Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents Free to members of the Garden THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN B O A R D O F M A N A G E RS I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS Until 1936: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, HENRY W. DE FOREST ( President), CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D. MERRILL ( Secretary), HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE, JR. ( Assistant Treasurer), and LEWIS RUTHERFURD 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. Until 1938: L. H. BAILEY, MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON HUNTINGTON HOOKER, JOHN L. MERRILL ( Vice- president and Treasurer), COL. ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, H. HOBART PORTER, and RAYMOND H. TORREY. II. EX- OFFICIO M A N A G E RS 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. G A R D E N S T A FF MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Director H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Deputy Director and Head Curator HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE, JR Assistant Director 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 W. H. CAMP, 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 OTTO DEGENER, B. S., M. S Collaborator in Hawaiian Botany 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. XXXVI NOVEMBER, 1935 No. 431 A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF DELPHINIUM AJACIS Some time in July this year the writer's attention was directed to a disease in a bed of Delphinium Ajacis in the border planting at The New York Botanical Garden. Individual plants here and there were considerably stunted, showing dead or dying tops. Their roots and lower leaves appeared to be perfectly healthy. These stunted plants were then only a few inches tall. Few ever recovered from the disease, which gradually worked downward nearly to the base. Such plants were pulled out and destroyed but the disease continued to spread. FIGURE I shows two stunted plants with tops somewhat blackened or discolored with a soft, rather foul- smelling rot. When the stems of such plants were split down to the base it was found that most of the pith had been destroyed and mucilaginous masses of bacteria soon oozed out from the torn tissues. At the left in FIGURE 2 is shown the top of a plant which was about a foot high. All of the leaves and the stem below the part shown here were perfectly healthy, only the top being rotted; at least, the base and root- system were of normal size. The bacteria must have been at work for considerable time, for they were present clear down to the crown, but blackening and disorganization were confined more to irregular streaks and pockets, as can be seen in the picture. Another interesting feature was, usually, the presence of white masses of long thin crystals, which under the microscope looked much like those described by McCul-loch1 in connection with her studies of Bacterium marginatum, the scab disease of gladioli. 1 McCulloch, L. A bacterial blight of Gladioli. Jour. Agr. Research 27: 225- 229. 1924. 258 It was seen that we were likely to lose all of the plants in this bed of Delphinium Ajacis. As an experiment, we sprayed the plants with Bordeaux mixture and thoroughly soaked the ground with it. Whether this had any beneficial effect or not, it is a fact that there was a great improvement, and little further spread. A fairly good showing of flowers developed. Another small bed planted out later nearby was not treated. These all died out. Very likely they were either all infected when transplanted or became in- FIGURE I. Two plants of Delphinium Ajacis infected with a rather foul-smelling bacterial disease. The tips of the stems were discolored brownish or blackish and were soft and watery. The bacteria had invaded the pith region and the surrounding softer tissues. The stems have been split open to show the blackening of the infected tissues. 259 FIGURE 2. At the left, top of a plant, the main axis of which had been killed. At the right, a plant much stunted, its tip- end dead from the soft rot, the pith somewhat blackened in streaks or patches. 260 fected soon after. Bordeaux mixture has also been recommended to help control delphinium " blacks." If the bacteria causing the disease described here enter the plants through either the stomata or water pores, a covering with Bordeaux mixture would help to prevent its spreading. Dr. F. D. Chester, of our laboratory, and Miss Lucia McCul-loch, of the office of diseases of ornamentals, United States Department of Agriculture, are both studying the disease and will no doubt have further information concerning the causative organism and methods for its control. This report is presented merely to direct attention to the disease and point out some of the differences between it and the common delphinium " blacks." The bacterial leaf- spot disease, " the blacks," of varieties of delphinium, as described by Bryan2 and referred to by Gregory and Davis3 and by White, 4 is familiar to growers and home gardeners. Infection is manifested by the appearance of a number of irregular black spots on the leaves. These spots may increase in size, and, by running together, disfigure the leaves considerably. Leaves may also become curled and otherwise distorted. This disease is said to infect the blossoms occasionally, and also the stems. It is not a root- rot disease, although the bacteria live over in the soil. It is a local spot- disease and not at all inclined to be systemic even when it is found on the stems. The sclerotium or root- rot disease, which attacks the feeding roots and later the main roots and base of the stems, can also readily be distinguished. B. O. DODGE. 2 Bryan, M. K. Bacterial leafspot of Delphinium. Jour. Agr. Research 28: 261- 269. 1924. 3 Gregory, C. T., and Davis, J. J. Common garden pests, what they are and how to control them. 1- 150. 1928. Published by Better Homes and Gardens, Des Moines, Iowa. 4 White, R. P. Diseases of ornamental plants. New Jersey Agr. Exp. Sta. Circ. 226: 1- 98. 1931. 26l REMARKABLE VITALITY AMONG PALMS ( CABBAGE- TREE AND ROYAL- PALM) Plants are wasteful in many ways. They often produce vast numbers of leaves, flowers, and fruits, apparently far in excess of what is necessary for growth, replacement, and distribution. There are, doubtless, different occult reasons for this apparent prodigality. In fact, indications pointing to possible reasons for the excess production of tissues and organs are sometimes apparently discernible. During our explorations in Florida, examples of the apparent excess production of certain tissues in palms came to our attention. It became evident that palms through long ancestral experiences have developed different ways of dealing with adverse conditions. The cabbage- tree ( Sabal Palmetto), for example, is a remarkable plant in many ways. Among other things, growing as it does in all kinds of soil, on rock and in water, it exists in many forms. In fact, the forms are so numerous that they defy classification. The cabbage- tree is amphibious. Its habitat ranges from perpetual water to permanently dry rocks. A few examples have shown the cabbage- tree as an epiphyte. It thrives also in localities that are dry part of the year and submerged the remaining part. It will flourish perfectly well where there is periodic change of the water- level amounting to six feet. This adjustment to varying depths of water is accomplished by a massive and excessive root development which extends beyond the normal growth below the surface of the ground, along the trunk to the highest water level. Thus, on the lower part of the trunk one may find a solid mass of roots, in the form of a dome or a cylinder, often six to eight feet in diameter. When the water is high these tightly packed roots are evidently active; when it is low, so that they are exposed, they are, of necessity, dormant. But, protected as they are at the tips by large root- caps, they stay alive and ready for action as soon as the water rises again. This palm is not particular as to the kind of water from which it gets moisture. Fresh or salt, hard or soft, or even sulphur water— all suit it equally well. The great excess of stem- tissue sometimes essential for the life of the palm is shown in the accompanying figures of the cabbage- palm, one of a wild specimen, the other of a cultivated one. The plant shown in FIGURE I is growing on rock in Royal Palm ^'^ a^ issisi^"-^^^ j * . - w fi& A-' s « , ^ 3 J^ SnyutM ^ ifeeliBfl HE lipllii •^ fHajHMJgr %$ fh 3 H ^^ EflR arH^ Bfl i^!*** © BMB^ B ifiLJla* ^ BEWW BE; - fBI - S ^ i l l ^ l " ' TO ^^ SlRWr ' Jl ^ y^ S^^^ yfrft\ IM/ J( V^^^ S^^^ BMJJM^ M / j t *" J^ W'^^ H^^ KS^ B^^ HHJH iMteiSjP^/ ll& H ^ liiiP ralH^ i^ V " JllBftr^' | HKBIilTMr* v^ HBj|^ BBH H « 91 ^ S u § j n ^ « lK%! ito; SHE. SttfSl HJM^^ S Kw^^^ f, BE^^^ taS^ Sf^^^^ STHHFII''''' \ Jr • * I * ' « is K/. fejj'i, - -. I H B K Q ^ 4 ^ . W a ^^ W^ • y ^ AB' ,- BlPPf^ jifi'lfe ' 9^ HB£^ i j- 9^ Hs •**?^ HMB? I vmfftZk l^ wB^ KPwiBiiKi- Wag ^ sSaEsWisr^' S FIGURE I. In Royal Palm Hammock, Dade County, Florida. A small cabbage- tree— Sabal Palmetto— growing on plate rock. Fire some years back had burned part of the base of the trunk and other parts, but particularly a section of the trunk near the crown. With all this tissue gone, the tree still thrived. 263 FIGURE 2. A close view of the section of the palm trunk, showing the car. The mosses and lichens in and about the scar attest that the burn ' as not of recent occurrence— but perhaps a half century ago. 264 Hammock, Dade County, Florida. A fire many years ago burned out a section of the trunk, leaving about one third of the diameter intact. The palm continued to grow, showing no additional sign of the accident, except a slight bend in the trunk due to the lack of support and to the weight of the crown of leaves— even though this crown is small because of the tree's growing on plate rock. The palm not only survived, but stood the brunt of hurricane winds. FIGURE 2 gives a better idea of the amount of damage done by the fire. A certain amount of burning is also evident at the base of the trunk. The cabbage- tree is often planted along roads in the country and along streets in towns and cities. FIGURE 3 shows a cabbage- tree on a street in Crystal River, Florida. The luxuriance of the crown of leaves— which is always large and heavy in palms grown in sandy or clay soil— is evident. A box had been placed around the trunk for its protection from external damage. However, when the box was removed, much internal damage was evident. Some gnawing insects1 had been at work reducing the trunk for a long time. When the photograph was taken scarcely one third of the diameter of the trunk remained, still the crown of leaves was in perfect condition. FIGURE 4 gives an idea of how little of the trunk was left to nourish and support the crown of many leaves. So much for the stem- system. The root- system is sometimes interesting. The royal- palm ( Roystonea regia) is not as versatile as the cabbage- tree in the matter of habitat, but its geographic range this side of the Gulf Stream is much less extensive. However, in its restricted range— the southern tip of the Florida peninsula— it has shown itself the master of a variety of habitats, among which are plate rock, sand, marl, dry soil found high above the maximum water- table; also periodically wet and dry locations and practically aquatic situations in either fresh water or salt, or at least brackish water with the salt- saturation requisite for growth of the mangrove and oyster. Among various examples of the excessive development of roots, FIGURES 5 and 6 show graphically a case in point. In FIGURE 6 the 1 " The only insect that I might consider capable of causing such an amount of destruction is the palm- borer in its larval stage. This rather large beetle of the weevil family is not rare in Florida."— SIGMUND GRAENICHER. 26s ^ s ? - * ' : >* * • * . *- FIGURE 3. On a street in Crystal River, Florida. A cabbage tree— Sabal Palmetto— whose trunk has been pretty thoroughly eaten away by palm-borers. About two- thirds of the trunk had been destroyed when the photo was taken, and the work of destruction was still in progress. The trunk was protected from mechanical injury by a box, but the insects got in their work. 266 °& Mk • ' * '. » ^ MwLJ v l 5p-; ^ J '?., 4 '-",<• * 1 '< : • . / A • j l if? i , v. ^ ' . •. tv.' ,'. .': • k• Ii* nkA . ^ H B "^^ fej**^ g ' ^ ^ ^ sipft'f'^. FIGURE 4. A section of the trunk of the cabbage- tree shown in FIGURE 3. The extensive damage to the diameter of the trunk did not have any detrimental effect on the large crown of leaves. 267. upper part of the trunk of a royal- palm felled by hurricane winds may be seen. This specimen is in Royal Palm Hammock, not far from the cabbage- tree shown in FIGURE I. The trunk was over seventy- five feet tall when it stood erect. In Royal Palm Hammock these palms grow on plate rock with little or no soil in which to anchor, the main anchorage being the slightly and unevenly weathered surface of the one- time exposed rock. With no place to bury themselves, the roots are often largely aerial, piled up on one another in myriad layers, as shown in FIGURE 5. This exposed root- system is not the result of a vacillating water- table, as it is in the case of the cabbage- tree cited above, but of their peculiar local habit of living, to be explained presently, in relation to their associated plants and animals. The royal- palm is a rapid grower and produces an amazing amount of tissue— stem, leaves, ferrule, and blades, flowers, and fruits— from apparently very little nourishment. With little or no natural soil in their habitat, they themselves make enough to live on. The rock on which they grow is constantly filled with capillary water. This the palm takes up through those roots that cling to the rock. After a palm gets a start and grows, the leaves fall periodically and decay about the base of the trunk. When it reaches the flowering stage, the flowers and fruits, borne in myriads, fall as do the leaves, and all this matter decays about the base of the trunk. This is the reason for the aerial or subaerial mass of roots shown in FIGURE 5, for they are at all times more or less buried in the mass of debris. As the debris decays, mycorrhizas doubtless appear to help the palm grow. Furthermore, rodents come to do their part. As they eat the interior of the fruits, they discard the hulls which soon change into humus, also supplying at the same time not a little manure, which is very advantageous to the growth of the plant. Thus the palm grows largely and not so indirectly by eating itself, and may prosper to tower high above its broad- leaved hammock associates. As these palms rise many feet above the hammock roof they are exposed to the fury of hurricanes and sometimes topple over, as did the one shown in FIGURE 6, the root mass acting as a large disk with but one edge on the ground. When the tree fell, at least 80 per cent of the roots were pulled out of their anchorage, leaving only a small percentage to continue feeding the massive plant. Nat- 268 269 FIGURE 6. The upper part of a fallen royal- palm. In storms these tall palms with little grip on the plate rook topple over just as toy trees with flat, disk- like bases, at the same time exposing the root- system to the air, except for the few roots on one side left in contact with the rock. As may be seen in the print, the horizontal tip of the crown gradually curved upward into an erect position, and leaves, flowers, and fruits continued to grow. 270 urally, new roots began to form in company with those not pulled out, while those sticking up in the air became inactive. However, the loss of most of its root- system did not especially bother the palm in question. It continued not only to grow but to thrive. The bud strove to assume its natural erect posture, and after a few years succeeded. The reduced root- system is reflected in the more than normal tapering of the trunk below the leaf- sheaths. However, sufficient nourishment was provided to develop the inflorescence which is shown in immature form just below the ferrules of the leaves. From the foregoing examples it seems that palms make certain tissues in excess of their needs under ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. JOHN K. SMALL. IT PAID TO TREAT T H E LAWNS Since the note on Japanese beetles in the October JOURNAL was written, 1 additional information on the subject has been literally unearthed by Dr. Dodge. The old story, often reported in State and Federal bulletins, that arsenate of lead helps to control Japanese beetles in lawns, gains fresh support from a recent sampling made since the larvae have developed from the eggs laid in August. There is no denying the conclusion that it paid to treat the lawns, and it seems apparent that it is now time to give them another treatment. In April, 1932, in cooperation with Mr. H. C. Hallock, of the United States Department of Agriculture, one of our lawns was staked off in six strips, each 30 feet wide and running the whole length of this lawn. The first strip was treated with arsenate of lead, 10 pounds to 1000 square feet, the second with 15 pounds, and the third strip was left untreated, as a check. The arsenate for the two strips was applied as a spray and was washed in with water from a hose. The fourth strip was treated with 10 pounds per 1000 square feet and the fifth with 15 pounds, the arsenate being mixed with soil and the mixture spread on as evenly as was convenient. The sixth strip was again left untreated as a check. On October 15, 1935, the fourth autumn season since the arse- 1 Dodge, B. O. The Situation Regarding Dutch Elm- disease, the Japanese Beetle, and the Gypsy Moth at The Botanical Garden. 36: 247- 252. I935- 271 nate was originally applied, 54 sample diggings were made to determine the number of larvae working in the different strips. The holes were . one foot square and one foot deep. Three holes were dug in each of the six strips in three different lines across the lawn, the lines being about 100 feet apart. It was particularly desired to ' learn whether crab- grass to be found chiefly in the two untreated strips and elsewhere in the neighborhood was correlated in any way with the arsenate treatment. It was seen that, wherever the beetles had not been killed and hence had destroyed the good grass, crab- grass had taken its place in abundance. The following table gives the number of larvae in the eighteen sample diggings along each of the three lines across the lawn. 10 lbs. 5, 0, ° 6, 1, 2 5, S, 0 15 lbs. 0, 0, 0 . 5, 5, 9 0, 3, 9 untreated 75, o » , 63 53, 80, 67 30, 38, 66 10 lbs. 0, 2, 0 1, i, 0 0, 3, 0 15 lbs. 0, 0, I9b r, 2, 0 0, 1, 0 untreated 77, 68, 60 oc, 0, 2 61, 66, 7d a— The location of this digging happened to be a spot where there was no grass, the soil being yellow and without vegetation, probably due to a fill in recent years. b— This digging was practically on the line separating the untreated from the treated strips. c— The three diggings in the untreated strip here showed only two larvae. This is no doubt due to the very dry soil near a hickory tree, where eggs would not be laid. d— In the corner under a small maple tree. It is clear from the data that the treatment was very effective. The presence of a few larvae in the treated strips might indicate that it is about time to make another application. Ten sample diggings made in nearby untreated lawns gave an average of 58 larvae for each cubic foot. In 1932 when the sample diggings were originally made there were very few Japanese beetle grubs, the larger percentage being larvae of the brown Asiatic beetle. The reverse is now the case, the Japanese beetle larvae predominating. . A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE1 The latest publication in that excellent project of reproducing important original botanical papers in facsimile is " Miscellaneous Papers Regarding Japanese Plants," by C. P. Thunberg. Thun- 1 All publications mentioned here— and many others— may be found in the library of The New York Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building. 272 berg's " Flora Japonica" has already appeared through this same Japanese firm, Shokubutsu Bunken, Kanko- Kai, Tokyo. The present volume includes a collection of scattered theses, with illustrations, giving technical descriptions of the native flora. * * * * Grasses and other plants brought from Asia to use on the Great Plains of North America to prevent erosion are now being propagated in nurseries and greenhouses through the West, according to a report in Science for October 11. As soon as sufficient stock has been developed, they will be tested by the United States Department of Agriculture in regions where they are needed. The same issue of Science tells how new trees are now seen from a distance on inaccessible mountain slopes in Hawaii, as a result of seeds being scattered from airplanes ten years ago. Areas thus planted had previously been denuded by forest fires. * * * * A biography and critical estimate of the work of Hugo de Vries, the Dutch biologist, who recently died at the age of 87, appears in The Journal of Heredity for August. De Vries is most celebrated for his mutation theory of evolution, which he developed largely from experiments in the Oenotherae, and which challenged Darwinism and led to developments of prime importance in the progress of biological thought. De Vries likewise altered the conception of cell mechanics, originated a method for determining molecular weights of substances, and conducted pioneer researches in the action of osmotic membranes in living cells. A bibliography of his works is appended. * * * * Several unusually interesting articles on ferns are featured in recent magazines. In The American Fern Journal for July- September, Rogers McVaugh has a paper on " Spores of Some Northeastern Ferns" with line drawings and an artificial key. The conclusion is that spore characteristics are not reliable for distinguishing species, however authentic for separating genera. In the same issue " A List of Varieties and Forms of the Ferns of Eastern North America" by C. A. Weatherby is continued, through Bo-trychium, Ophioglossum, and Osmunda. In The National Horticultural Magazine for April, Edith A. Roberts writes a well- illustrated article on " American Ferns: How to Grow and Use Them." 273 Maps are included, showing the distribution of ferns in the United States. The Tokyo Botanical Magazine for June describes and pictures thirteen species and varieties of Dryopteris native to Japan, with an interesting chart. * * = H * " Clematis for the Rock Garden" is the title of a paper reprinted in pamphlet form from the September Bulletin of the Garden Club of America, by J. E. Spingarn. Low herbaceous species are especially mentioned; also two slender climbers from the southern states, Clematis texensis in its brighter- colored forms, and C. crispa, whose flowers are pale- pink or lavender. Dr. Spingarn follows this article with one on " The Clematis Lover's Debt to Japan." * * * * Practical pointers on where to look for the trouble when garden perennials do not prove hardy are briefly given by Stephen F. Hamblin in Lexington Leaflets for September 28. Soil— both mechanical and chemical condition, moisture, sun, shade in summer, shade in winter, snow, thawing, wind, and general climatic conditions, as well as the habit and natural peculiarities of the plant, its health, and the region from which it came, are factors mentioned for their effect on hardiness. Farm Research, the quarterly paper issued by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, entered its second year of publication October 1 with 12 pages instead of the original eight. It is hoped in this paper, according to a statement addressed to the readers in the initial number, to " make clear to the farm constituency of the Experiment Station just what is being done with the funds appropriated by the State of New York for research at Geneva and just how you can best realize on this investment in your Experiment Station." The latest issue contains informative articles on the commercial production of sauerkraut, detection and treatment of bean mosaic, the history of the hop industry in New York State, fall planting of peonies, pollination of grapes, cheese-making, fruit- breeding, nitrogenous bacteria in the soil, storage of winter squash, problems of dairy scientists, and insect problems for Mcintosh apple growers in the Champlain valley. 274 Three thousand men are now at work on a $ 2,500,000 program to fight the Dutch elm- disease, according to the September Forestry News Digest, published by The American Tree Association. The work is being conducted largely, in New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but scouting will also be done in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Among other forestry notes in this issue are a statement that four million acres of denuded and cutover land in the north central region are to be planted with trees in the next ten years, 375,000,- 000 trees to be set out every year; that 120,000,000 trees, the largest number ever seeded in a government forest nursery, are now growing in the Chittenden Nursery in Michigan for future planting in Manistee National Forest; and that seeds of certain types are now being sown in large numbers by machinery, with a view to speeding up production of forest trees. CAROL H. WOODWARD. NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT The fourth year of the Science Course for Professional Gardeners, offered by The New York Botanical Garden to equip the student gardeners of the institution and experienced gardeners, nurserymen and florists from outside with the sciences underlying their work, opened September 30 with about 65 students enrolled. Classes meet every Monday evening for twelve weeks, then resume after Christmas and continue till March. Dr. W. H. Camp is teaching the 30 or more first- year students systematic botany. Other instructors are the same as in previous years: Dr. Forman T. McLean, plant morphology and, the second term, plant physiology to the beginners, meanwhile giving the second- year students a course in soils and fertilizers; Dr. E. P. Felt, of the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories, entomology; Dr. A. B. Stout, plant breeding, and Dr. B. O. Dodge, plant pathology. The course is conducted in the rooms of the Horticultural Society of New York. Forty- three new seedless grapes set fruit this year for the first time, Dr. A. B. Stout reported last month upon returning from Geneva, where he is working with the New York Agricultural Ex- 275 periment Station in the breeding of new hardy seedless varieties. Several of these are promising types, he says, for commercial culture, and are to be propagated as rapidly as possible. In all, eighty varieties have borne seedless fruit in the experiments at Geneva. Dr. W. H. Camp has been appointed an assistant curator at the Botanical Garden, coming here from Ohio State University, where he has been teaching botany since 1927. Especially interested in comparative anatomy, Dr. Camp has done extensive field- work throughout the United States, and last year he spent considerable time at the Garden, determining species on which he was working in the Vacciniaceae. He is interested also in the Fagaceae and Lemnaceae. Dr. Fred J. Seaver, Curator of the fungi, recently returned from Europe where he had been attending the International Botanic Congress in Amsterdam, Holland, as a delegate from The Kew York Botanical Garden and also from the Mycological Society of America. He was one of three Americans to be appointed a member of the international committee on the nomenclature of the fungi. Following the meeting he spent a few days in Leiden, studying the historic collection of Persoon, one of the pioneer European mycologists, and went botanizing over the sand dunes of Holland. Previously, while in Brussels he visited the Botanical Garden and other institutions of scientific interest. In addition to attending the scientific meetings Dr. Seaver took this opportunity to publicize, with substantial results, Mycologia, the official organ of the Mycological Society of America. Dr. David H. Linder, in charge of the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard University, recently spent a few days at the Garden, looking over specimens of fungi preparatory to a monograph of some of these forms. He took a collection of unnamed material back to Harvard to be critically studied and determined. He was accompanied by Rafael A. Toro, of the University of Puerto Rico, who is also conducting critical studies in some of the parasitic fungi of the tropics. Miss Clyde Chandler, Technical Assistant at The Xew York Botanical Garden, visited the botanical laboratories of Cornell Uni- 276 versity at Ithaca, N. Y., and the State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva last month to observe especially the technique of research in cytology being done at these two institutions by Dr. Barbara McClintock and by Dr. Bernhard R. Nebel and Dr. Mabel L. Ruttle- Nebel. Miss Alice Eastwood, who has charge of botanical work for the California Academy of Sciences, stopped at the Garden last month on her way back from Europe, where she attended the International Botanic Congress in Amsterdam. W. W. Eggleston, assistant botanist for the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Plant Industry, was also an October visitor at the Garden. He was at one time a research scholar at the Botanical Garden. Dr. E. J. Schreiner, formerly a student at the Botanical Garden and more recently co- worker with Dr. A. B. Stout in breeding fast-growing poplars for reforestation and pulp- production, has gone to the Tennessee Valley Authority to take charge of tree- breeding work. He will be working particularly with nut trees. Dr. A. C. Smith, assistant curator, and Mrs. Smith, after attending the International Botanic Congress in Holland and traveling through Finland and the Scandinavian countries, are now in London, where he is spending two months doing taxonomic research work at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Continuing the monograph on the genus Carex by the late K. K. McKenzie, part 6 of volume 18 of North American Flora, comprising pages 313- 392, has appeared this fall. More than 2,000 cone- bearing trees and shrubs, comprising more than 250 species and varieties from all parts of the world, have been presented to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, by Colonel Robert H. Montgomery, a member of the Board of Managers of The New 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 Prof. 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 • 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 A. Heckscher • Mrs. A. Barton Hepburn Capt. Henry B. Heylman Mrs. Christian R. Holmes • tMrs. 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 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 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 Dr. John K Small James Speyer Col. J. E. Spingarn Mrs. Charles H. Stout Nathan Straus, Jr. • Mrs. Theron G. Strong Joseph R. Swan B. B. Thayer Dr. William S. Thomas Charles G. Thompson 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. II Secretary of the Advisory Council. STreasurer of the Advisory Council. 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, 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; also historic microscopes. 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 and horticultural literature, comprising nearly 45,000 books and numerous pamphlets. Public lectures on a great variety of botanical topics, continuing throughout the autumn, winter and spring. 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. 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 Garden Club Membership annual fee for a club 25 Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. Bequests may be made in the form of securities, money, or additions to the collections. 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. Fellowships or scholarships either in perpetuity or limited to a definite period may be established for practical student- training in horticulture or for botanical research. All requests for further information should be sent to T H E NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, FORDHAM BRANCH P. O., NEW YORK, N. Y.
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Contributor | New York Botanical Garden |
Date | 1935-11 |
Description-Table Of Contents | A Bacterial Disease of Delphinium Ajacis; Remarkable Vitality Among Palms; It Paid to Treat the Lawns; A Glance at Current Literature; Notes, News, and Comment. |
Format | application/pdf |
Format-Extent | 51 v. : ill. ; 25 cm. |
Identifier | 0885-4165 |
Language | eng |
Publisher | Bronx : New York Botanical Garden, 1900-1950 |
Relation-Is Part Of | Journal of the New York Botanical Garden : v. 1, no. 1-v. 51, no. 612 |
Relation-IsVersionOfURI | http://opac.nybg.org/record=b1104879 |
Rights | http://www.nybg.org/library/ |
Subject | Plants--Periodicals; Gardening--Periodicals; Plants, Cultivated--Periodicals; New York Botanical Garden--Periodicals. |
Title | Journal of the New York Botanical Garden |
Volume, Number | Vol. 36, no. 431 |
Type | text |
Transcript | VOL. XXXVI NOVEMBER, 1935 No. 431 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF DELPHINIUM AJACIS B. O. DODGE REMARKABLE VITALITY AMONG PALMS JOHN K. SMALL IT PAID TO TREAT THE LAWNS 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- office in Lancaster, Pa., as second- class matter. Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents Free to members of the Garden THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN B O A R D O F M A N A G E RS I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS Until 1936: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, HENRY W. DE FOREST ( President), CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D. MERRILL ( Secretary), HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE, JR. ( Assistant Treasurer), and LEWIS RUTHERFURD 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. Until 1938: L. H. BAILEY, MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON HUNTINGTON HOOKER, JOHN L. MERRILL ( Vice- president and Treasurer), COL. ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, H. HOBART PORTER, and RAYMOND H. TORREY. II. EX- OFFICIO M A N A G E RS 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. G A R D E N S T A FF MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Director H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Deputy Director and Head Curator HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE, JR Assistant Director 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 W. H. CAMP, 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 OTTO DEGENER, B. S., M. S Collaborator in Hawaiian Botany 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. XXXVI NOVEMBER, 1935 No. 431 A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF DELPHINIUM AJACIS Some time in July this year the writer's attention was directed to a disease in a bed of Delphinium Ajacis in the border planting at The New York Botanical Garden. Individual plants here and there were considerably stunted, showing dead or dying tops. Their roots and lower leaves appeared to be perfectly healthy. These stunted plants were then only a few inches tall. Few ever recovered from the disease, which gradually worked downward nearly to the base. Such plants were pulled out and destroyed but the disease continued to spread. FIGURE I shows two stunted plants with tops somewhat blackened or discolored with a soft, rather foul- smelling rot. When the stems of such plants were split down to the base it was found that most of the pith had been destroyed and mucilaginous masses of bacteria soon oozed out from the torn tissues. At the left in FIGURE 2 is shown the top of a plant which was about a foot high. All of the leaves and the stem below the part shown here were perfectly healthy, only the top being rotted; at least, the base and root- system were of normal size. The bacteria must have been at work for considerable time, for they were present clear down to the crown, but blackening and disorganization were confined more to irregular streaks and pockets, as can be seen in the picture. Another interesting feature was, usually, the presence of white masses of long thin crystals, which under the microscope looked much like those described by McCul-loch1 in connection with her studies of Bacterium marginatum, the scab disease of gladioli. 1 McCulloch, L. A bacterial blight of Gladioli. Jour. Agr. Research 27: 225- 229. 1924. 258 It was seen that we were likely to lose all of the plants in this bed of Delphinium Ajacis. As an experiment, we sprayed the plants with Bordeaux mixture and thoroughly soaked the ground with it. Whether this had any beneficial effect or not, it is a fact that there was a great improvement, and little further spread. A fairly good showing of flowers developed. Another small bed planted out later nearby was not treated. These all died out. Very likely they were either all infected when transplanted or became in- FIGURE I. Two plants of Delphinium Ajacis infected with a rather foul-smelling bacterial disease. The tips of the stems were discolored brownish or blackish and were soft and watery. The bacteria had invaded the pith region and the surrounding softer tissues. The stems have been split open to show the blackening of the infected tissues. 259 FIGURE 2. At the left, top of a plant, the main axis of which had been killed. At the right, a plant much stunted, its tip- end dead from the soft rot, the pith somewhat blackened in streaks or patches. 260 fected soon after. Bordeaux mixture has also been recommended to help control delphinium " blacks." If the bacteria causing the disease described here enter the plants through either the stomata or water pores, a covering with Bordeaux mixture would help to prevent its spreading. Dr. F. D. Chester, of our laboratory, and Miss Lucia McCul-loch, of the office of diseases of ornamentals, United States Department of Agriculture, are both studying the disease and will no doubt have further information concerning the causative organism and methods for its control. This report is presented merely to direct attention to the disease and point out some of the differences between it and the common delphinium " blacks." The bacterial leaf- spot disease, " the blacks," of varieties of delphinium, as described by Bryan2 and referred to by Gregory and Davis3 and by White, 4 is familiar to growers and home gardeners. Infection is manifested by the appearance of a number of irregular black spots on the leaves. These spots may increase in size, and, by running together, disfigure the leaves considerably. Leaves may also become curled and otherwise distorted. This disease is said to infect the blossoms occasionally, and also the stems. It is not a root- rot disease, although the bacteria live over in the soil. It is a local spot- disease and not at all inclined to be systemic even when it is found on the stems. The sclerotium or root- rot disease, which attacks the feeding roots and later the main roots and base of the stems, can also readily be distinguished. B. O. DODGE. 2 Bryan, M. K. Bacterial leafspot of Delphinium. Jour. Agr. Research 28: 261- 269. 1924. 3 Gregory, C. T., and Davis, J. J. Common garden pests, what they are and how to control them. 1- 150. 1928. Published by Better Homes and Gardens, Des Moines, Iowa. 4 White, R. P. Diseases of ornamental plants. New Jersey Agr. Exp. Sta. Circ. 226: 1- 98. 1931. 26l REMARKABLE VITALITY AMONG PALMS ( CABBAGE- TREE AND ROYAL- PALM) Plants are wasteful in many ways. They often produce vast numbers of leaves, flowers, and fruits, apparently far in excess of what is necessary for growth, replacement, and distribution. There are, doubtless, different occult reasons for this apparent prodigality. In fact, indications pointing to possible reasons for the excess production of tissues and organs are sometimes apparently discernible. During our explorations in Florida, examples of the apparent excess production of certain tissues in palms came to our attention. It became evident that palms through long ancestral experiences have developed different ways of dealing with adverse conditions. The cabbage- tree ( Sabal Palmetto), for example, is a remarkable plant in many ways. Among other things, growing as it does in all kinds of soil, on rock and in water, it exists in many forms. In fact, the forms are so numerous that they defy classification. The cabbage- tree is amphibious. Its habitat ranges from perpetual water to permanently dry rocks. A few examples have shown the cabbage- tree as an epiphyte. It thrives also in localities that are dry part of the year and submerged the remaining part. It will flourish perfectly well where there is periodic change of the water- level amounting to six feet. This adjustment to varying depths of water is accomplished by a massive and excessive root development which extends beyond the normal growth below the surface of the ground, along the trunk to the highest water level. Thus, on the lower part of the trunk one may find a solid mass of roots, in the form of a dome or a cylinder, often six to eight feet in diameter. When the water is high these tightly packed roots are evidently active; when it is low, so that they are exposed, they are, of necessity, dormant. But, protected as they are at the tips by large root- caps, they stay alive and ready for action as soon as the water rises again. This palm is not particular as to the kind of water from which it gets moisture. Fresh or salt, hard or soft, or even sulphur water— all suit it equally well. The great excess of stem- tissue sometimes essential for the life of the palm is shown in the accompanying figures of the cabbage- palm, one of a wild specimen, the other of a cultivated one. The plant shown in FIGURE I is growing on rock in Royal Palm ^'^ a^ issisi^"-^^^ j * . - w fi& A-' s « , ^ 3 J^ SnyutM ^ ifeeliBfl HE lipllii •^ fHajHMJgr %$ fh 3 H ^^ EflR arH^ Bfl i^!*** © BMB^ B ifiLJla* ^ BEWW BE; - fBI - S ^ i l l ^ l " ' TO ^^ SlRWr ' Jl ^ y^ S^^^ yfrft\ IM/ J( V^^^ S^^^ BMJJM^ M / j t *" J^ W'^^ H^^ KS^ B^^ HHJH iMteiSjP^/ ll& H ^ liiiP ralH^ i^ V " JllBftr^' | HKBIilTMr* v^ HBj|^ BBH H « 91 ^ S u § j n ^ « lK%! ito; SHE. SttfSl HJM^^ S Kw^^^ f, BE^^^ taS^ Sf^^^^ STHHFII''''' \ Jr • * I * ' « is K/. fejj'i, - -. I H B K Q ^ 4 ^ . W a ^^ W^ • y ^ AB' ,- BlPPf^ jifi'lfe ' 9^ HB£^ i j- 9^ Hs •**?^ HMB? I vmfftZk l^ wB^ KPwiBiiKi- Wag ^ sSaEsWisr^' S FIGURE I. In Royal Palm Hammock, Dade County, Florida. A small cabbage- tree— Sabal Palmetto— growing on plate rock. Fire some years back had burned part of the base of the trunk and other parts, but particularly a section of the trunk near the crown. With all this tissue gone, the tree still thrived. 263 FIGURE 2. A close view of the section of the palm trunk, showing the car. The mosses and lichens in and about the scar attest that the burn ' as not of recent occurrence— but perhaps a half century ago. 264 Hammock, Dade County, Florida. A fire many years ago burned out a section of the trunk, leaving about one third of the diameter intact. The palm continued to grow, showing no additional sign of the accident, except a slight bend in the trunk due to the lack of support and to the weight of the crown of leaves— even though this crown is small because of the tree's growing on plate rock. The palm not only survived, but stood the brunt of hurricane winds. FIGURE 2 gives a better idea of the amount of damage done by the fire. A certain amount of burning is also evident at the base of the trunk. The cabbage- tree is often planted along roads in the country and along streets in towns and cities. FIGURE 3 shows a cabbage- tree on a street in Crystal River, Florida. The luxuriance of the crown of leaves— which is always large and heavy in palms grown in sandy or clay soil— is evident. A box had been placed around the trunk for its protection from external damage. However, when the box was removed, much internal damage was evident. Some gnawing insects1 had been at work reducing the trunk for a long time. When the photograph was taken scarcely one third of the diameter of the trunk remained, still the crown of leaves was in perfect condition. FIGURE 4 gives an idea of how little of the trunk was left to nourish and support the crown of many leaves. So much for the stem- system. The root- system is sometimes interesting. The royal- palm ( Roystonea regia) is not as versatile as the cabbage- tree in the matter of habitat, but its geographic range this side of the Gulf Stream is much less extensive. However, in its restricted range— the southern tip of the Florida peninsula— it has shown itself the master of a variety of habitats, among which are plate rock, sand, marl, dry soil found high above the maximum water- table; also periodically wet and dry locations and practically aquatic situations in either fresh water or salt, or at least brackish water with the salt- saturation requisite for growth of the mangrove and oyster. Among various examples of the excessive development of roots, FIGURES 5 and 6 show graphically a case in point. In FIGURE 6 the 1 " The only insect that I might consider capable of causing such an amount of destruction is the palm- borer in its larval stage. This rather large beetle of the weevil family is not rare in Florida."— SIGMUND GRAENICHER. 26s ^ s ? - * ' : >* * • * . *- FIGURE 3. On a street in Crystal River, Florida. A cabbage tree— Sabal Palmetto— whose trunk has been pretty thoroughly eaten away by palm-borers. About two- thirds of the trunk had been destroyed when the photo was taken, and the work of destruction was still in progress. The trunk was protected from mechanical injury by a box, but the insects got in their work. 266 °& Mk • ' * '. » ^ MwLJ v l 5p-; ^ J '?., 4 '-",<• * 1 '< : • . / A • j l if? i , v. ^ ' . •. tv.' ,'. .': • k• Ii* nkA . ^ H B "^^ fej**^ g ' ^ ^ ^ sipft'f'^. FIGURE 4. A section of the trunk of the cabbage- tree shown in FIGURE 3. The extensive damage to the diameter of the trunk did not have any detrimental effect on the large crown of leaves. 267. upper part of the trunk of a royal- palm felled by hurricane winds may be seen. This specimen is in Royal Palm Hammock, not far from the cabbage- tree shown in FIGURE I. The trunk was over seventy- five feet tall when it stood erect. In Royal Palm Hammock these palms grow on plate rock with little or no soil in which to anchor, the main anchorage being the slightly and unevenly weathered surface of the one- time exposed rock. With no place to bury themselves, the roots are often largely aerial, piled up on one another in myriad layers, as shown in FIGURE 5. This exposed root- system is not the result of a vacillating water- table, as it is in the case of the cabbage- tree cited above, but of their peculiar local habit of living, to be explained presently, in relation to their associated plants and animals. The royal- palm is a rapid grower and produces an amazing amount of tissue— stem, leaves, ferrule, and blades, flowers, and fruits— from apparently very little nourishment. With little or no natural soil in their habitat, they themselves make enough to live on. The rock on which they grow is constantly filled with capillary water. This the palm takes up through those roots that cling to the rock. After a palm gets a start and grows, the leaves fall periodically and decay about the base of the trunk. When it reaches the flowering stage, the flowers and fruits, borne in myriads, fall as do the leaves, and all this matter decays about the base of the trunk. This is the reason for the aerial or subaerial mass of roots shown in FIGURE 5, for they are at all times more or less buried in the mass of debris. As the debris decays, mycorrhizas doubtless appear to help the palm grow. Furthermore, rodents come to do their part. As they eat the interior of the fruits, they discard the hulls which soon change into humus, also supplying at the same time not a little manure, which is very advantageous to the growth of the plant. Thus the palm grows largely and not so indirectly by eating itself, and may prosper to tower high above its broad- leaved hammock associates. As these palms rise many feet above the hammock roof they are exposed to the fury of hurricanes and sometimes topple over, as did the one shown in FIGURE 6, the root mass acting as a large disk with but one edge on the ground. When the tree fell, at least 80 per cent of the roots were pulled out of their anchorage, leaving only a small percentage to continue feeding the massive plant. Nat- 268 269 FIGURE 6. The upper part of a fallen royal- palm. In storms these tall palms with little grip on the plate rook topple over just as toy trees with flat, disk- like bases, at the same time exposing the root- system to the air, except for the few roots on one side left in contact with the rock. As may be seen in the print, the horizontal tip of the crown gradually curved upward into an erect position, and leaves, flowers, and fruits continued to grow. 270 urally, new roots began to form in company with those not pulled out, while those sticking up in the air became inactive. However, the loss of most of its root- system did not especially bother the palm in question. It continued not only to grow but to thrive. The bud strove to assume its natural erect posture, and after a few years succeeded. The reduced root- system is reflected in the more than normal tapering of the trunk below the leaf- sheaths. However, sufficient nourishment was provided to develop the inflorescence which is shown in immature form just below the ferrules of the leaves. From the foregoing examples it seems that palms make certain tissues in excess of their needs under ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. JOHN K. SMALL. IT PAID TO TREAT T H E LAWNS Since the note on Japanese beetles in the October JOURNAL was written, 1 additional information on the subject has been literally unearthed by Dr. Dodge. The old story, often reported in State and Federal bulletins, that arsenate of lead helps to control Japanese beetles in lawns, gains fresh support from a recent sampling made since the larvae have developed from the eggs laid in August. There is no denying the conclusion that it paid to treat the lawns, and it seems apparent that it is now time to give them another treatment. In April, 1932, in cooperation with Mr. H. C. Hallock, of the United States Department of Agriculture, one of our lawns was staked off in six strips, each 30 feet wide and running the whole length of this lawn. The first strip was treated with arsenate of lead, 10 pounds to 1000 square feet, the second with 15 pounds, and the third strip was left untreated, as a check. The arsenate for the two strips was applied as a spray and was washed in with water from a hose. The fourth strip was treated with 10 pounds per 1000 square feet and the fifth with 15 pounds, the arsenate being mixed with soil and the mixture spread on as evenly as was convenient. The sixth strip was again left untreated as a check. On October 15, 1935, the fourth autumn season since the arse- 1 Dodge, B. O. The Situation Regarding Dutch Elm- disease, the Japanese Beetle, and the Gypsy Moth at The Botanical Garden. 36: 247- 252. I935- 271 nate was originally applied, 54 sample diggings were made to determine the number of larvae working in the different strips. The holes were . one foot square and one foot deep. Three holes were dug in each of the six strips in three different lines across the lawn, the lines being about 100 feet apart. It was particularly desired to ' learn whether crab- grass to be found chiefly in the two untreated strips and elsewhere in the neighborhood was correlated in any way with the arsenate treatment. It was seen that, wherever the beetles had not been killed and hence had destroyed the good grass, crab- grass had taken its place in abundance. The following table gives the number of larvae in the eighteen sample diggings along each of the three lines across the lawn. 10 lbs. 5, 0, ° 6, 1, 2 5, S, 0 15 lbs. 0, 0, 0 . 5, 5, 9 0, 3, 9 untreated 75, o » , 63 53, 80, 67 30, 38, 66 10 lbs. 0, 2, 0 1, i, 0 0, 3, 0 15 lbs. 0, 0, I9b r, 2, 0 0, 1, 0 untreated 77, 68, 60 oc, 0, 2 61, 66, 7d a— The location of this digging happened to be a spot where there was no grass, the soil being yellow and without vegetation, probably due to a fill in recent years. b— This digging was practically on the line separating the untreated from the treated strips. c— The three diggings in the untreated strip here showed only two larvae. This is no doubt due to the very dry soil near a hickory tree, where eggs would not be laid. d— In the corner under a small maple tree. It is clear from the data that the treatment was very effective. The presence of a few larvae in the treated strips might indicate that it is about time to make another application. Ten sample diggings made in nearby untreated lawns gave an average of 58 larvae for each cubic foot. In 1932 when the sample diggings were originally made there were very few Japanese beetle grubs, the larger percentage being larvae of the brown Asiatic beetle. The reverse is now the case, the Japanese beetle larvae predominating. . A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE1 The latest publication in that excellent project of reproducing important original botanical papers in facsimile is " Miscellaneous Papers Regarding Japanese Plants," by C. P. Thunberg. Thun- 1 All publications mentioned here— and many others— may be found in the library of The New York Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building. 272 berg's " Flora Japonica" has already appeared through this same Japanese firm, Shokubutsu Bunken, Kanko- Kai, Tokyo. The present volume includes a collection of scattered theses, with illustrations, giving technical descriptions of the native flora. * * * * Grasses and other plants brought from Asia to use on the Great Plains of North America to prevent erosion are now being propagated in nurseries and greenhouses through the West, according to a report in Science for October 11. As soon as sufficient stock has been developed, they will be tested by the United States Department of Agriculture in regions where they are needed. The same issue of Science tells how new trees are now seen from a distance on inaccessible mountain slopes in Hawaii, as a result of seeds being scattered from airplanes ten years ago. Areas thus planted had previously been denuded by forest fires. * * * * A biography and critical estimate of the work of Hugo de Vries, the Dutch biologist, who recently died at the age of 87, appears in The Journal of Heredity for August. De Vries is most celebrated for his mutation theory of evolution, which he developed largely from experiments in the Oenotherae, and which challenged Darwinism and led to developments of prime importance in the progress of biological thought. De Vries likewise altered the conception of cell mechanics, originated a method for determining molecular weights of substances, and conducted pioneer researches in the action of osmotic membranes in living cells. A bibliography of his works is appended. * * * * Several unusually interesting articles on ferns are featured in recent magazines. In The American Fern Journal for July- September, Rogers McVaugh has a paper on " Spores of Some Northeastern Ferns" with line drawings and an artificial key. The conclusion is that spore characteristics are not reliable for distinguishing species, however authentic for separating genera. In the same issue " A List of Varieties and Forms of the Ferns of Eastern North America" by C. A. Weatherby is continued, through Bo-trychium, Ophioglossum, and Osmunda. In The National Horticultural Magazine for April, Edith A. Roberts writes a well- illustrated article on " American Ferns: How to Grow and Use Them." 273 Maps are included, showing the distribution of ferns in the United States. The Tokyo Botanical Magazine for June describes and pictures thirteen species and varieties of Dryopteris native to Japan, with an interesting chart. * * = H * " Clematis for the Rock Garden" is the title of a paper reprinted in pamphlet form from the September Bulletin of the Garden Club of America, by J. E. Spingarn. Low herbaceous species are especially mentioned; also two slender climbers from the southern states, Clematis texensis in its brighter- colored forms, and C. crispa, whose flowers are pale- pink or lavender. Dr. Spingarn follows this article with one on " The Clematis Lover's Debt to Japan." * * * * Practical pointers on where to look for the trouble when garden perennials do not prove hardy are briefly given by Stephen F. Hamblin in Lexington Leaflets for September 28. Soil— both mechanical and chemical condition, moisture, sun, shade in summer, shade in winter, snow, thawing, wind, and general climatic conditions, as well as the habit and natural peculiarities of the plant, its health, and the region from which it came, are factors mentioned for their effect on hardiness. Farm Research, the quarterly paper issued by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, entered its second year of publication October 1 with 12 pages instead of the original eight. It is hoped in this paper, according to a statement addressed to the readers in the initial number, to " make clear to the farm constituency of the Experiment Station just what is being done with the funds appropriated by the State of New York for research at Geneva and just how you can best realize on this investment in your Experiment Station." The latest issue contains informative articles on the commercial production of sauerkraut, detection and treatment of bean mosaic, the history of the hop industry in New York State, fall planting of peonies, pollination of grapes, cheese-making, fruit- breeding, nitrogenous bacteria in the soil, storage of winter squash, problems of dairy scientists, and insect problems for Mcintosh apple growers in the Champlain valley. 274 Three thousand men are now at work on a $ 2,500,000 program to fight the Dutch elm- disease, according to the September Forestry News Digest, published by The American Tree Association. The work is being conducted largely, in New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but scouting will also be done in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Among other forestry notes in this issue are a statement that four million acres of denuded and cutover land in the north central region are to be planted with trees in the next ten years, 375,000,- 000 trees to be set out every year; that 120,000,000 trees, the largest number ever seeded in a government forest nursery, are now growing in the Chittenden Nursery in Michigan for future planting in Manistee National Forest; and that seeds of certain types are now being sown in large numbers by machinery, with a view to speeding up production of forest trees. CAROL H. WOODWARD. NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT The fourth year of the Science Course for Professional Gardeners, offered by The New York Botanical Garden to equip the student gardeners of the institution and experienced gardeners, nurserymen and florists from outside with the sciences underlying their work, opened September 30 with about 65 students enrolled. Classes meet every Monday evening for twelve weeks, then resume after Christmas and continue till March. Dr. W. H. Camp is teaching the 30 or more first- year students systematic botany. Other instructors are the same as in previous years: Dr. Forman T. McLean, plant morphology and, the second term, plant physiology to the beginners, meanwhile giving the second- year students a course in soils and fertilizers; Dr. E. P. Felt, of the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories, entomology; Dr. A. B. Stout, plant breeding, and Dr. B. O. Dodge, plant pathology. The course is conducted in the rooms of the Horticultural Society of New York. Forty- three new seedless grapes set fruit this year for the first time, Dr. A. B. Stout reported last month upon returning from Geneva, where he is working with the New York Agricultural Ex- 275 periment Station in the breeding of new hardy seedless varieties. Several of these are promising types, he says, for commercial culture, and are to be propagated as rapidly as possible. In all, eighty varieties have borne seedless fruit in the experiments at Geneva. Dr. W. H. Camp has been appointed an assistant curator at the Botanical Garden, coming here from Ohio State University, where he has been teaching botany since 1927. Especially interested in comparative anatomy, Dr. Camp has done extensive field- work throughout the United States, and last year he spent considerable time at the Garden, determining species on which he was working in the Vacciniaceae. He is interested also in the Fagaceae and Lemnaceae. Dr. Fred J. Seaver, Curator of the fungi, recently returned from Europe where he had been attending the International Botanic Congress in Amsterdam, Holland, as a delegate from The Kew York Botanical Garden and also from the Mycological Society of America. He was one of three Americans to be appointed a member of the international committee on the nomenclature of the fungi. Following the meeting he spent a few days in Leiden, studying the historic collection of Persoon, one of the pioneer European mycologists, and went botanizing over the sand dunes of Holland. Previously, while in Brussels he visited the Botanical Garden and other institutions of scientific interest. In addition to attending the scientific meetings Dr. Seaver took this opportunity to publicize, with substantial results, Mycologia, the official organ of the Mycological Society of America. Dr. David H. Linder, in charge of the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard University, recently spent a few days at the Garden, looking over specimens of fungi preparatory to a monograph of some of these forms. He took a collection of unnamed material back to Harvard to be critically studied and determined. He was accompanied by Rafael A. Toro, of the University of Puerto Rico, who is also conducting critical studies in some of the parasitic fungi of the tropics. Miss Clyde Chandler, Technical Assistant at The Xew York Botanical Garden, visited the botanical laboratories of Cornell Uni- 276 versity at Ithaca, N. Y., and the State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva last month to observe especially the technique of research in cytology being done at these two institutions by Dr. Barbara McClintock and by Dr. Bernhard R. Nebel and Dr. Mabel L. Ruttle- Nebel. Miss Alice Eastwood, who has charge of botanical work for the California Academy of Sciences, stopped at the Garden last month on her way back from Europe, where she attended the International Botanic Congress in Amsterdam. W. W. Eggleston, assistant botanist for the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Plant Industry, was also an October visitor at the Garden. He was at one time a research scholar at the Botanical Garden. Dr. E. J. Schreiner, formerly a student at the Botanical Garden and more recently co- worker with Dr. A. B. Stout in breeding fast-growing poplars for reforestation and pulp- production, has gone to the Tennessee Valley Authority to take charge of tree- breeding work. He will be working particularly with nut trees. Dr. A. C. Smith, assistant curator, and Mrs. Smith, after attending the International Botanic Congress in Holland and traveling through Finland and the Scandinavian countries, are now in London, where he is spending two months doing taxonomic research work at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Continuing the monograph on the genus Carex by the late K. K. McKenzie, part 6 of volume 18 of North American Flora, comprising pages 313- 392, has appeared this fall. More than 2,000 cone- bearing trees and shrubs, comprising more than 250 species and varieties from all parts of the world, have been presented to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, by Colonel Robert H. Montgomery, a member of the Board of Managers of The New 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 Prof. 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 • 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 A. Heckscher • Mrs. A. Barton Hepburn Capt. Henry B. Heylman Mrs. Christian R. Holmes • tMrs. 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 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 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 Dr. John K Small James Speyer Col. J. E. Spingarn Mrs. Charles H. Stout Nathan Straus, Jr. • Mrs. Theron G. Strong Joseph R. Swan B. B. Thayer Dr. William S. Thomas Charles G. Thompson 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. II Secretary of the Advisory Council. STreasurer of the Advisory Council. 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, 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; also historic microscopes. 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 and horticultural literature, comprising nearly 45,000 books and numerous pamphlets. Public lectures on a great variety of botanical topics, continuing throughout the autumn, winter and spring. 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. 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 Garden Club Membership annual fee for a club 25 Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. Bequests may be made in the form of securities, money, or additions to the collections. 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. Fellowships or scholarships either in perpetuity or limited to a definite period may be established for practical student- training in horticulture or for botanical research. All requests for further information should be sent to T H E NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, FORDHAM BRANCH P. O., NEW YORK, N. Y. |
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