Journal of the New York Botanical Garden

              VOL. XXXIX
No. 463
JULY, 1938 PAGES
145— 168
JOURNAL
of
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
Published monthly by The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York, N. Y.
Entered at the Post Office in New York, N. Y., as second- class matter.
Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents
Free to members of the Garden
JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
CAROL H. WOODWARD, Editor
JULY, 1938
IN THE WATERLILY POOL Cover Photographed by Fleda Griffith
RESULTS OF RECENT RESEARCH IN THE CONTROL OF
PESTS ON TREES E. Porter Felt 145
A PLEA FOR THE AMATEUR Sarah V. Coombs 151
A MOTHER OF ISLANDS H. H. Rusby 154
T H E RECOGNITION OF SOME COMMON NATIVE TREES
BY THEIR LEAVES Harold N. Moldenke 156
REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 164
CURRENT LITERATURE AT A GLANCE Carol H. Woodward 166
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT 167
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JOURNAL
of
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
VOL. XXXIX JULY, 1938 No. 463
Results of Recent Research
In the Qontrol of
( PestS On Trees By E. Porter Felt
Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories, Stamford, Conn.
' T'HE satisfactory control of insect pests depends to a large
•*• degree upon an accurate knowledge of the life history and
habits of the species under consideration. An important phase,
in the case of a number of insects, is the means of distribution or
dissemination. It was shown a number of years ago, for example,
that although the female gypsy moth, Porthetria dispar, was un­able
to fly, there was an extensive dissemination by wind carriage
of the recently hatched caterpillars, and until this was ascertained
there were a number of puzzling situations of vital importance to
those attempting to eradicate or control the pest.
A somewhat analogous situation exists in relation to the
European elm bark beetle, Scolytus multistriatus, now believed to
be a most important agent in the dissemination of the Dutch elm
disease. There is no doubt as to the factors in relation to the
spread of the infection in the immediate vicinity of diseased trees,
but there has been a question as to whether the beetles could carry
the infection a considerable distance. It has been held by some
that the beetles' flight was limited and apparently little considera­tion
had been given to the possibilities of wind drift, in spite of
the fact that swarms of related species have been known to be
carried considerable distances by wind currents.
145
146
In an effort to throw light upon this problem the Bartlett Tree
Research Laboratories started a balloon release project in 1936,
continuing it in 1937. During that period nearly ten thousand
tag- bearing . toy balloons inflated with hydrogen to a minimum
buoyancy were released at various points within fifty miles of
New York City. There were nearly five hundred returns, and a
number of drift records of thirty to forty- five miles an hour.
They showed a decidedly easterly drift, both northerly and south­erly,
and relatively little drift directly north or westerly. The
northeasterly drift gave fairly abundant returns in an area from
Stamford, Conn., the point at which most balloons were released,
nearly to Hartford, with a very considerable number landing
along the south shore of Connecticut both in 1936 and 1937. This
concentration along the south shore agrees very closely with the
extension of the Dutch elm disease infected area, the number of
diseased trees decreasing with the distance from the presumable
center of infection, namely, an area in northern New Jersey. The
northeasterly drift in 1937 resulted in one return from Popham
Beach, Maine, a drift of 260 miles, several returns from the Cape
Cod area, and twelve from well distributed points in Rhode Island.
Returns in 1936 showed a distinct southeasterly drift with so
many recoveries on the south shore of Long Island as to indi­cate
a considerable drift out to sea. This latter is significant,
since it shows that millions of beetles from the earlier badly in­fected
area in New Jersey and southeastern New York must
have been lost at sea. This probability is further suggested by
the hosts of Japanese beetles in midsummer drift on both New
Jersey and Long Island beaches. These latter insects, which are
fairly large and metallic green in color, would be readily seen,
while the elm bark beetle, which is brown or black, only a tenth
of an inch long, would presumably escape notice in the tidal drift.
It is believed the prevalence of easterly and southeasterly drift
during much of the time when European elm bark beetles are in
flight accounts to a considerable extent for the somewhat close
limitation of the Dutch elm disease to the southern portion of
New York and the coast line of Connecticut. The probabilities
are that the spread of the disease will be considerably slower
than heretofore because of the systematic destruction of diseased
and weakly trees throughout the infected area, thus greatly re­ducing
opportunities for these beetles to multiply.
147
Spruce Trees in Danger
The appearance of the European spruce sawfly, Diprion poly-tomum,
in widely separated sections of New England in 1935, is
another illustration of the influence of wind drift upon the dis­tribution
of insects, since it is quite probable that this species
drifted in considerable numbers from the Gaspe Peninsula over
New England and northern New York. The extensive defolia­tions
of spruce in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont localities
in 1937 suggests that this insect may become a serious enemy of
the widely planted Norway spruce. The larvae or false cater­pillars
are light green with five more or less complete white stripes.
They are about seven- eighths of an inch long when fully grown
and harmonize so closely with the foliage upon which they occur
that it is unusually difficult to see the pests. They feed by prefer­ence
on the old foliage, consequently badly injured trees present
a tufted appearance because of the fringe of usually unharmed
new needles on the tips of the branches. There are two genera­tions
in Maine, the larvae of the first occurring in late May and
those of the second in August. There is presumably a third and
possibly a fourth generation in southern New England and in
southern New York State. This pest probably requires several
years to develop a serious infestation locally, much depending
upon climatic conditions. Spraying ornamental spruce with arsen­ate
of lead while the larvae are small should give satisfactory
control.
Saving the Holly
The holly leaf miner, Phytotnyca ilicis, seriously disfigures
foliage of this beautiful evergreen, and prior to last summer no
satisfactory method of control was known. Experiments with
nicotine oil combination failed to give a satisfactory kill of the
miners within the leaves. Spraying the newly developed foliage
with arsenate of lead at the time the flies were abundant resulted
in a rather quick kill and entirely satisfactory control. The date
for Stamford was May 25, 1937. Arsenate of lead was used at
the rate of 5 pounds to 100 gallons of water with a suitable
spreader or sticker, such as S. S. S., at the rate of 1 pound to 100
gallons of spray. Equally satisfactory results were secured by
outdoor applications to badly infested plants.
148
Difficulties with Dogwood
Studies on the dogwood club gall were continued the past season
and an unusual situation developed. Two gall midges were reared
in almost equal numbers from a large number of galls and neither
was identical with the species previously supposed to produce this
deformation. Observations in 1936 showed that the yellowish
maggots deserted the galls in September or early in October, and
in 1936 sixty percent of the galls were empty October 15. The
molasses nicotine combination similar to that used for the con­trol
of the box leaf miner appeared of some value in shaded
localities, though not on dogwoods exposed to full sunlight. This
gall producer becomes extremely abundant locally and seemingly
displays a marked preference for the pink dogwood. Cutting and
burning the galls before mid- September should give reasonably
satisfactory control in small or somewhat isolated plantings.
Azalea and Pine Borers
The azalea stem borer, Oberca myops, hollows the tips of azalea
branches and girdles rhododendron stems. The nearly grown
grubs are yellowish, less than an inch long and distinctly swollen
in the region just behind the head. Two years are required to
complete the life cycle. The second summer the grubs work their
way down to the roots and the beetles fly at about the time the
plants are in bloom. Cutting and burning branches showing wilted
or dead leaves is the most satisfactory control. The pitted am­brosia
beetle, Corthylus puiictatissimus, produces similar condi­tions
in rhododendron stems, except that the entire stem is affected
and the closely placed series of small blackened galleries causes
it to break readily at the surface of the ground.
The Scotch pine borer, Hylobius radios, the grubs of which
work at the base of Scotch pine in particular, is becoming more
abundant. Infestation is indicated by a weakened yellowish foli­age
and stunted growth and at the base of the tree by masses of
pitch- impregnated soil overlying the injured areas. It is possible
that a considerable degree of protection can be secured by paint­ing
a band several inches wide of thick lime sulphur wash at the
base of the tree and in addition spreading around the trunk of
the tree a small amount of Go West, since this product is attrac­tive
to a number of the weevils and is very effective in killing
the related black vine weevil, Brachyrhinus suhatus. so injurious
to the roots of Taxus.
149
Scale Insects
Scale insects continue to attract notice. A new mealy bug, the
recently described Pseudococcus cuspidatae, was found somewhat
abundant on yew, Taxus citspidata, at Greenwich, Conn. The
area of occurrence and the degree of infestation has so far been
limited. This mealy bug does not produce the masses of cottony
matter hanging in festoons and loaded with eggs so characteristic
of Comstock's mealy bug, Pseudococcus comstocki, which also
occurs on Taxus. A species of Pulvinaria, believed to be new, has
also been found upon Taxus and is reported as likely to become
quite serious. Another new scale insect, an undescribed species
of Ccrococcus, was found extremely abundant in a laurel planting
at Haverford, Pennsylvania. This brown, somewhat star- shaped
scale insect is related to the much more common Lecaniums. A
somewhat abundant infestation of locust trees by a species of
Lccaniodiaspis was also found at Haverford, Penn.
The European beech scale, Cryptococcus fagi, has been abundant
and injurious on beech at Hartford, Conn., for some years and
is known to occur in relatively sparse numbers in several locali­ties
in southern Westchester County, New York. This insect
produces conditions on beech favorable to invasion by a nectria
and the combination is considered responsible for extensive kill­ing
of beech during recent years in Nova Scotia and parts of
Maine. Fortunately, this deadly alliance has not, to our knowledge,
become established farther south. Forcible spraying in midsum­mer
with nicotine at the usual strength with two percent of a
white or summer oil to serve as a spreader appears to give reason­ably
satisfactory control of the scale insect.
The abundant occurrence of the English walnut scale, Aspidiotus
juglaits- regiae, on Austrian pines in the Philadelphia area means
that a new food plant has been adopted by this species, which
occurs on a considerable variety of deciduous trees, such as wal­nut,
linden, locust, maple, and box- elder, as well as on most fruit
trees.
An unusual infestation of the well known oyster- shell scale,
Lcpidosaphes ulmi, occurred on beech in a woodland at Stock-bridge,
Mass. The scale insect was so abundant as to kill many
of the small branches. The infestation was easily recognized in
midsummer by the somewhat general occurrence of twigs with
dead leaves attached.
150
On Rhododendrons
A European white fly, Dialeitrodes chittendenii, is becoming
abundant and destructive on rhododendron in the greater New
York area. It was first found in a Long Island nursery in 1934
and is considered to be a possibly destructive insect, since an
infestation builds up rapidly. A two percent summer oil spray is
said to give satisfactory control.
Tested Sprays
Experiments at the Laboratories the past two seasons with
several colloidal arsenates of lead in which the arsenical was in a
very fine suspension failed to indicate a markedly greater toxicity
for these compounds as compared with the more usual arsenates
of lead now on the market. One of these colloidal forms has been
recommended at such great dilutions as 1 pound to 500 or 700
gallons of water. This treatment was found ineffective in con­trolling
abundant infestations of cankerworms, although satis­factory
results were obtained when the dosage was increased to
approximately that recommended for the standard arsenates of
lead.
Extensive tests with derris powder or cube powder in rosin
residue emulsions were conducted by a group of tree men, mem­bers
of the National Shade Tree Conference, in co- operation with
Dr. C. C. Hamilton of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station. The summary given by Dr. Hamilton shows that in the
case of cankerworms there were two adverse and eleven satis­factory
reports. While the reports on scale insects and red spiders
were contradictory, good results were obtained against the tent
caterpillars, fall webworms, catalpa sphinx caterpillars, spiny elm
caterpillars, pear slugs, European spruce sawfly larvae, and cur­rant
worms, and fairly good results were obtained in the control
of the larch case bearer, Japanese beetle, the Asiatic garden beetle
and June bugs. Generally speaking, the results were reasonably
good in the case of more susceptible species and not so favorable
with pests possessing a higher resistance.
151
( A Vha For ihe cAntateUr By Sarah V. Coombs
SOME professional horticulturists think with moderately con­cealed
scorn of the amateur and his or her— generally her—
contribution to the science of gardening, especially as shown in
flower shows. By amateur, I mean the one who grows plants
with no help or only a moderate amount.
It is true that the amateur's contribution to " straight" horti­culture
has not, as a rule, been outstanding. The daffodils, roses,
gladioli, are often a sorry lot. Dahlias, for some reason, possibly
that the man of the family is often responsible, may be good.
Men specialize in growing flowers more than women do. Plain
flower types such as zinnias and marigolds, when seen at a flower
show, are probably fine. Yet on the whole, the standard is not
very high so that the professional who often is good enough to
act as judge does not expect much and awards prizes rather
lavishly. He gives much time and judges with the utmost con­scientiousness,
going over each exhibit carefully, even when the
whole class should rightfully be dismissed with a wave of the
hand.
How are we going to raise the standard of growing' and ex­hibiting
in this country, never forgetting that amateurs are some­times
incipient scientists and may go far? The forward- looking
professionals are hopeful, but the amateurs must feel the urge
themselves, must jack themselves up or we shall not get very far.
Yet they can be helped.
Though good horticulture is professedly the aim of gardening,
it is often lost in the maze of other interests. To say that for
many amateurs it rests on the shaky foundation of the " Minia­ture
Arrangements" in flower shows is pretty far- fetched, yet
there is more than a grain of truth in this statement, for it is by
means of such apparently unimportant and foolish lures that the
person we want to influence is first attracted. The owner of a
small garden is persuaded to put a miniature arrangement in a
flower show. It looks easy. It isn't, for it is even more difficult
to make a good design, with good color, in a tiny picture where
everything is reduced to its simplest terms than in a large arrange­ment.
It goes in, however, and perhaps because the exhibitor is
something of an artist or because of the weirdness of much
152
" artistic" amateur judging, it gets a prize. Many clubs now have
a class for novices in which they are pitted against those only
who are as ignorant as they. In any case, the exhibitor is en­couraged
to try some of the other classes in the next show. This
goes on for a year or two when— it would seem suddenly— the
exhibitor's attention is held by the flowers themselves. Perhaps
she has taken a course in Judging for Amateur Shows in which
a large share is given to straight horticulture. In any case, she
compares her flowers with those grown by others and the start is
made.
Just here is where others can help. Perhaps the exhibitor's eyes
have been opened to the beauty and variety of daffodils in one of
the big shows. The names of the classes mean nothing. What is
a Barrii or an iitcomparabilis or a cyclamineus hybrid? Why,
instead of the big trumpet daffodils which the florist sells under
the name of jonquils, is the jonquil class filled with sweet- scented
little clustered flowers?
Most garden clubs now have horticultural chairmen whose duty
it is to tell the members just such things, but botanic gardens,
horticultural magazines and, above all, the scientists themselves
can help the ignorant but eager amateur.
When daffodils are in season, every person who can be in­duced,
beaten, bribed or kidnapped should be taken to see one or
more of the great glorious blooming spots and the different types
should be pointed out. Once shown such a place, a springtime
hereafter when those people miss that sight will be considered by
them a springtime wasted. It is a rewarding task, for the ama­teurs
are on the whole a rather meek and grateful lot. Will they
not grow better daffodils hereafter? They should be helped In-classified
lists of varieties suitable for the full and for the rather
flat purse. If they grow one fine daffodil as a result, even that
is something.
How many amateurs see the flowering crabapples and cherries
in our botanic gardens? Or the irises or the roses, the gladioli
or the dahlias, the berried shrubs or the rhododendrons? The
botanists are over- busy with their research and their classifica­tion,
the horticulturists are hard at work planting all these lovely
things, but the amateur needs their help.
We are supposed to be a literate race, yet most of us hark back
to our remote ancestors in learning more quickly and easily by
153
seeing. Perhaps we have read about the beauty- bush or the
Louisiana irises or the dove- tree. We may have seen colored illus­trations
which are vivid and interesting but when we have once
seen a glorious waterfall of the pink flowers of the Kolkwitzia
or the strange tawny color of some of the irises, or especially, if
we have seen the dove- tree's fluttering white " bird", we shall
never forget them. The more flowers the amateur can see, the
more likely he is to develop into a real horticulturist.
In the mediaeval dimness of the early years of the century,
when many facts had to be dug out painfully by the amateur,
Bailey's " Cyclopedia of American Horticulture" was, to the
writer of this, then an eager but entirely ignorant gardener, the
lamp which lighted many midnight hours of study. Dr. Bailey's
books are standards still and there are many others nowadays,
yet we still must learn by seeing, by doing and by our mistakes.
Having done it once, not again will this writer plant twenty- five
different perennials in a bed 25 feet by 5, her only salvation hav­ing
been that many of them never came up! Our amateur must
learn, in one way if not in another, and guiding hands will save
many a false step and many a time- wasting mistake.
A Word to the Amateur
This has been a plea to the scientist to help the amateur. Now
a few words to the amateur herself. There are men's garden
clubs now and more power to them. May they live long and
prosper! Yet the rank amateur is more likely so far to belong to
the " female sect." If you want to get anywhere, you must work.
You must plant good stuff. That is rather easy. The catalogs are
tempting and dramatic, and visions of splendid new marigolds
and lupins and delphiniums and roses and shrubs fill the mind
with delightful pictures. Having acquired and planted these
treasures in suitable soil, it is awfully easy to forget them. Enthu­siasm
wanes as the thermometer climbs. It is so easy not to go
out with the hose or the sprayer— I know just how easy— but
remember that when somebody else's dahlias and late roses and
new annuals are better than yours at the show, you are going to
wish you had done what was needed. When the judges turn
thumbs down on your exhibit because there are holes in the
foliage or the flowers are not as big as they should be for that
variety, it will be just too bad.
154
Since the path to horticulture is strewn with flower shows, a
hint or two about preparing for them may not be out of place.
Cut your flowers the night before and set in deep water in a
cool place over night. Wrap a paper about your dahlias, your
poppies, your heliotrope and your mignonette and burn the ends
of the stems over a flame till a porous carbon is formed which
will let the water enter. Cut your roses in bud, your poppies also.
Plants with a milky juice will be helped by salt or ashes in the
water which keeps the sap from hardening. A pail half- filled with
damp sand and with chicken- wire over the top may be a good
carrier for your flowers. Lay your dahlias in a long box if you
don't want them to decapitate themselves. Wrap the open flowers
of your gladioli in paper to hold them back till the buds open.
If in a spring show, cut your tulips from 24 to 48 hours ahead
of time and set in deep water, giving them time to decide whether
to have a back bone or a " Hogarth line of beauty"! If they curve
annoyingly but gracefully, use them in an arrangement. Cut red-or
orange- cupped narcissi just before they open, as the sun fades
the color, but let the sun bleach the white ones. When you get
to the show, arrange your flowers if you have a chance. A collec­tion
may be made or spoiled by arrangement.
Above all, have good flowers. Have something those fine pro­fessional
horticulturists will really like to judge; and thus shall
we who are amateurs win favor in their eyes, and whether our
days are long in the land or not, we shall have had a grand time.
cA cMother of Islands By H. H. Rusby
' I ' HE mangrove, which may be found at the edge of salt water
•*- in tropical regions, has been well characterized as a " mother
of islands." It also slowly extends the area of the land toward
the ocean wherever it takes root. The principal mangrove of the
coast and the islands off southeastern United States is Rhizophora
Mangle L. Other species of essentially the same, though slightly
different habit, occupy similar regions in other parts of the world.
Torn loose by the waves during a storm, a small native man­grove
shrub is carried away by the tide until it becomes stranded
at some place where the water is shallow. Here it takes root and
155
develops into a large erect shrub or small tree. Eventually it bears
flowers and fruits.
After flowering, the mature pod does not fall, neither does it
discharge its seed, but it remains closed and sometimes attached
as long as a year, its stem continuing to grow indefinitely. The
seed contained in the pod then germinates in situ, its root be­coming
extruded and turning downward, gradually increasing in
thickness and strength as it elongates. When the root is about
12 or 15 inches long, the seedling becomes detached from the
parent plant, and either becomes lodged in the mud directly
below, or is carried away by wind or tide to some other point,
where, if the water is shallow, the young root gets a foothold
and draws up nourishment for the young growing plant.
As the mangrove matures, it sends down adventitious roots
from the under side of the branches, either vertically or at an
angle. As these reach the water, and later the mud below, the
branches, strengthened by this new support, and by others which
develop later, extend themselves indefinitely, spreading outward
in all directions. By continuation of this process, these adven­titious
roots often branching, the original plant develops into a
miniature forest with hundreds and finally thousands of stem- like
roots standing thickly in the shallow water, and so firmly anchored
that they safely resist the action of wind and wave.
Many of the leaves which fall become entangled in the roots
and decay, thus making continual additions to the soil at the
bottom. This same network of stems and roots catches and holds
other floating vegetation which comes its way. When storms
occur, stirring up the sand and earth beneath the water, more or
less of this earthy material is caught in the network of vegeta­tion,
and it in turn becomes a resting place for further additions
of the same kind. As the years go by, this mangrove growth, at
first insignificant, may come to cover acres or even square miles,
and a soil which at first barely showed above the surface at a
single point becomes an island or an extension of the shore, where
ultimately human habitations may be established.
This is no fancy sketch of a process that is merely possible, but
an accurate description of one that is now in operation in hun­dreds
of places. It is not too much to say that much of the land
now constituting the southwestern portion of the peninsula of
Florida and the adjacent islands originated in this way.
156
The Recognition of Some
Qommon ^ Native Trees
< ® y Their J^ eaVeS By Harold N. Moldenke
YV/ 777/ descriptions of the leaves of eight of the fifteen common native
W trees which have been treated in previous numbers of the Journal* the
year- around series of articles on identification of trees is continued in this
issue. Leaves of the seven remaining trees zvill be described by Dr.
Moldenke in u forthcoming number of the Journal. The series zvill be con­tinued
zvith an illustrated presentation of the flowers and fruits of these
same trees by Dr. W. H. Camp. The photographs of the leaves in this and
the next number, zvhich have been made by Miss Fleda Griffith, have all
been taken at the same distance from the subject, and are reproduced here
at approximately one- fifth natural size.— C. H. W.
Sweet- gum { Liquidambar Styraciflua). The characteristic leaves
of the sweet- gum render it one of the easiest of our native trees
to identify, for no other tree in our flora possesses star- shaped
leaves. Only with some of the maples could it remotely be con­fused,
but the sweet- gum's leaves are less irregular in outline,
are equipped with long petioles, and arranged on the twigs in
alternate fashion instead of opposite in pairs. They are fragrant
when bruised and turn to a deep crimson color in the autumn.
The blades, which are three to nine inches in diameter, are mostly
broader than long, and they vary from almost truncate to slightly-heart-
shaped at the base. Smooth and shining above, the leaves
are often pubescent beneath in the axils of the larger veins. The
three to seven deeply cut, sharply pointed lobes are surprisingly
uniform and regular. Their margins are evenly serrate with fine,
sharp, gland- tipped teeth. The main venation is palmate— that is,
the principal veins issue from a single point at the base of the
leaf from where they spread outward somewdiat in the manner of
the fingers of one's hand.
American Linden ( Tiiia americana). Of the dozen or more
lindens found in the eastern United States, this one is perhaps
the most common in our immediate region, where it is frequently
called either basswood or whitewood. The leaves, which are com­paratively
large, occur in alternate fashion on the twigs. Unlike
* Trees in Profile by Forman T. McLean, Dec. 1937; Bark and Buds to
Identify Some Native Trees in Winter by E. J. Alexander, March and
April 1938.
157
those of the sweet- gum, however, they are not arranged spirally,
but are borne on directly opposite sides of the twigs in a distichous
The sweet'gum ( above) is the only native tree with definitely star'shaped
leaves. The base of each leaf of the American linden ( below) is inequilateral.
158
or two- ranked fashion. A twig of sweet- gum will not lie flat on
the table, because the leaves issue from all sides of it, but a twig
of the linden will lie perfectly flat, with every leaf in its natural
position. The leaves are simple and comparatively short- petiolate,
thick- textured when mature, smooth and dark dull green above,
paler beneath and also smooth except for tufts of rusty- brown
hairs in the axils of the prominent veins. Broadly ovate in out­line,
the leaves are usually about five to six inches long and two
to five inches wide. The apex is very abruptly acuminate or pro­longed
into a short, sharp point. The base is mostly heart- shaped
or more rarely truncate and is conspicuously oblique or inequi­lateral.
The margins are rather coarsely serrate with incurved
glandular teeth. The venation is pinnate— that is, like the branches
of a feather, except at the very base on the longer side.
Silver Maple ( Acer saccharinum). The maples belong in that
comparatively small group of native trees whose leaves are ar­ranged
in pairs opposite each other on the twigs. The pairs, as
can be plainly seen in the upper illustration, lie at right angles
to each other, so that a perfect mosaic is formed when the branch
is viewed from above. Normally each blade is thus exposed fully
to the sunlight so necessary to the growth of the tree. The slender,
often drooping, red petioles are four to five inches in length. If
the point of a compass were placed in the center of the mid- vein
of a silver maple leaf, a circle drawn would touch the tip and
base of the leaf and would pass just inside the tips of the two
main lateral lobes. Thus, though the lobes are slender, the blade
itself is nearly orbicular in outline, usually about four to six
inches long and six to seven inches wide. Even at maturity the
leaf- blade is thin- textured, being smooth and pale green above
and silvery- glaucous and more or less pubescent below, especially
when young. Though the leaves are definitely palmately five-veined,
often only three of the lobes are distinct, the lower pair
being much smaller than the others. At the base the leaves are
truncate or slightly heart- shaped. The lobes are rather narrow,
coarsely and irregularly dentate or incised, sharply acuminate at
the apex, and separated from each other by very acute sinuses.
The terminal lobe usually has a small divergent secondary lobe on
each side at about the middle.
Sugar Maple ( Acer saccharum). Of the dozen or more maples
of the eastern states, the sugar maple and silver maple ( described
above) are perhaps the commonest in this area, although the red
159
and Carolina maples are also locally abundant. The individual
lobes of the leaf of the sugar maple, shown in the upper left-
The twig at the right shows the typical arrangement of maple leaves, as
exemplified by the silver maple. Above, at the left, is a single leaf of the
native sugar maple. Similar in form but different in texture are the leaves of
the buttonwood, shown below at both the left and right.
160
hand corner of the illustration, are much broader than those of
the silver maple. The blades, which are palmately three- to five-veined
and three- to five- lobed, are usually about three to six
inches in both breadth and length. They are rather thin at
maturity, smooth on both surfaces, dark green and dull above,
paler beneath, and heart- shaped or truncate at the base. The
broad lobes are sparingly and irregularly sinuate- toothed, and
both lobes and teeth are sharply acuminate at the apex— that is,
they are drawn out into an elongated point. The sinuses between
the lobes are broadly rounded, causing the leaf- surface to appear
more or less wavy and the lobes to overlap when a leaf is laid
flat for photographing.
Buttonwood ( Platanus occidentalis). The leaves of the button-wood,
also known as the buttonball, plane- tree, or sycamore, re­semble
somewhat those of the maples, but may be distinguished
at once by their thicker texture, the hairiness of the young leaves,
and their spirally alternate arrangement on the twigs. Both a
single leaf and a twig are shown in the illustration. The conically
hollowed petiole- base is also characteristic, completely enclosing
and hiding the new bud for the next year, instead of each bud
being borne openly in the axil of the leaf, as is the case with the
maples and most of our other trees. The petioles are stout and
about three to five inches long, which means they are usually
shorter than the blade. The firm- textured leaf- blades are four to
nine inches wide ( or much broader on vigorous shoots) and
measure slightly less in length. Shallowly three- to five- lobed and
palmately veined, they vary at the base from truncate or slightly
heart- shaped to wedge- shaped, like the one at the right in the
picture. When young, they are densely floccose- pubescent with
whitish branched hairs, especially beneath, but they become nearly
glabrous on maturity except for a slight pubescence on the prin­cipal
veins beneath. One leaf on the left in the illustration and
a small one on the right are shown in reverse. The leaves vary
greatly in shape, even on a single tree, though the lobes are
always broad, mostly large, and acuminate at the apex. The mar­gins
may be sinuate- dentate with rather remote acuminate teeth,
as in the photograph, or entire and merely undulate.
Sassafras ( Sassafras variifoliuin). Unmistakable is the sassa­fras
tree in leaf. No other tree in our local flora has leaves which
vary so conspicuously on the same branch from entire- margined
161
to mitten- shaped and even plainly three- lobed! Also, none of our
other trees has leaves which are mucilaginous when chewed, and
The sassafras bears three types of leaves on a single branch— entire, mitten-shaped,
and three- lobed.
162
these have the distinctive sassafras flavor. The leaves are spirally
alternate in their arrangement on the twig, and their blades are
ovate or obovate in outline, four to six inches long, two to four
inches wide, and plainly cuneate ( wedge- shaped) at the base.
Smooth, bright green above, they are glaucescent and smooth or
slightly pubescent beneath, becoming less pubescent in age. Their
thin texture is revealed in the impression of the twig through
several of the leaves in the illustration. The lobes, when present,
are broadly ovate or elliptic in shape and acute at the apex, with
sinuses which are broad and rounded. The petioles are very short
and slender, usually only j4 to lyi inches in length. The vena­tion
is pinnate, the principal veins arising from different positions
along the midrib, although the veins leading to the lobes are
mostly stronger and more conspicuous than the rest.
Tulip- tree ( Liriodendron Tulipifera). Another tree whose foli­age
is unmistakable is the tulip- tree or yellow poplar. The broad
notch at the apex gives each leaf a squarish or saddle- shaped ap­pearance,
which prevents an observer from confusing it with the
leaf of any other tree in the region. The blades vary from three
to six inches in length and width and are borne on long petioles
which are spirally alternate on the twigs. At the base they vary
from slightly heart- shaped or wedge- shaped ( as in the picture)
to truncate or rounded. Ordinarily four- lobed, the blades some­times
have two small additional basal lobes. At maturity the leaves
are rather thin in texture. They are smooth and lustrous above
and of a paler dull green beneath. A few of them turn color as
soon as the flowering season is over the last of June, so that by
early autumn an entire tree is brilliant yellow.
Sour- gum ( Nyssa sylvatica). This tree, which is also known
as tupelo or pepperidge, is most common along streams and about
the margin of ponds, although it may be found also on hillsides
and in abandoned pastures, where its seeds have been dropped by
passing birds. Its glossy leaves are uniformly smaller than any
of those thus far discussed. Though they are spirally alternate,
they are mostly crowded at the ends of short lateral branches, or
more remotely scattered on vigorous shoots. In shape the blades
vary from elliptic to obovate- elliptic or obovate. They are two to
five inches long, rather thick in texture at maturity, dark green
and very lustrous above, and glaucescent and smooth beneath or
more or less pubescent along the veins. At the apex the leaves
are rather abruptly acute, while they are cuneate at the base. The
163
petioles are one- quarter to one and one- half inches long and are
usually fringed on the margins. The' leaves turn bright scarlet
on the upper surface in rather early autumn before they fall.
The tulip- tree ( left) is \ nown by ihe indentation at the tip of each leaf;
the sour- gum ( right) by its glossy, clustered, entire- margined leaves.
164
Reviews of Recent ( Books
( All publications reviewed here may be consulted in the Library of
The New York Botanical Garden.)
Good Reading for Gardeners
THE GARDENER'S DAY BOOK.
Richardson Wright. 384 pages, in­dexed.
J. B. Lippincott Co. 1938. $ 2.50.
" The question of what inveterate gar­deners
do when they are not gardening
can be easily answered— they read about
it. . You may know a good gardener
by the fact that, although his feet are set
firmly on earth, his interests range with­out
limit through space and time. With­in
the bounds of his particular world and
beyond them, he is constantly widening
his vision, polishing his imagination and
heightening his experience. That is the
reason I, who vowed never to write an­other
gardening book, am hereby throw­ing
my good resolution out the window.
Each year piles experience on experience
and vision on vision. The garden be­comes
crowded not alone with plants but
with gardeners also, some of them in the
flesh— friendly, helpful and generous-others
mere ghosts from out the dim
past. Across these pages they will walk.
. . . ." Thus speaks Richardson Wright
in " The Gardener's Day Book."
Praises be that this ever popular flower
show judge, toastmaster, lecturer, edi­tor,
philosopher, historian and humorist
has stolen time again to jot down and
present another collection of assorted
juicy bits of garden gossip sprinkled gen­erously
with witty thumb- nail sketches
gleaned from his own rich storeroom of
readings, reminiscences and present- day
cronies.
This Day Book follows the form and
format of the famous Gardener's Bed
Books— for each of the 365 days there is
a selection of some 200 words terminating
with a daily reminder such as " Oil the
mole traps. You'll be needing them
soon," or " Be stingy with water on
Christmas Cactus and the buds won't fall
off." At the end of each month Mr.
Wright just can't keep within bounds so
he throws in for good measure an extra
2,000- word sketch and calls it the Long
Piece—" At the Tavern of the Old Tax­onomist"
is his choice for the close ot
January.
It is as difficult to present a true pic­ture
of the rich contents of this book as
it is to predict what Mr. Wright will
think of next. However, if you enjoy a
bit of frivolity mixed iii with a goodly
measure of gardening common sense you
will not be disappointed when you read
" The Gardener's Day Book."
ELIZABETH C. HALL.
On Flower Shows
FLOWER SHOWS AND HOW TO
STAGE THEM. Adele S. Fisher.
Illustrated with photographs. Richard
R. Smith, New York. 1938. $ 5.
This book has much to recommend it.
For one thing, it is, I believe, the first
one to offer so complete a picture of
flower show procedure, though there have
been a number of pamphlets with sugges­tions.
It is an agreeable book to look at,
many of the pictures being reproductions
of prize- winning flower arrangements,
wall- gardens, shadow box groups, garden
borders, etc. Mrs. Fisher has been for
years an intelligent and earnest worker
for flower shows and was instrumental in
starting the first garden center, that of
Hackensack. She has been interested in
civic planting and roadside improvement.
Her influence is far- reaching. Because
of her good work, I find it difficult and
ungracious to say that I think her book
nrght have been better.
There are many good suggestions.
One, especially, is the use of a card cat­alogue
for flower- committee chairmen,
each card containing a list of the duties
of the office, with an implication as to
what is not expected, so that departments
will not overlap.
I find especially helpful the suggestion
for a clean- up chairman and for a flower
distribution chairman. Having helped
with many flower shows, I know that
cleaning up after several days of hard
work, with the excitement all past, is one
165
of the dullest and most difficult jobs
imaginable, and the idea of having a
fresh, new individual in charge, one who
is not limp and tired out, is most attrac­tive.
Then the suggestion that the flowers
for the sick should be carefully arranged
in separate boxes brings to memory large
rather messy bunches of lovely flowers,
gathered together hastily after the show
and sent to hospitals. How much more
the flowers would mean to sick people if
they reached them carefully laid in suit­able
boxes, neatly wrapped and tied.
I do not agree with Mrs. Fisher that
artists make the best flower show judges;
that is, unless they have also a knowledge
of flowers. Line, color, balance, propor­tion
are all most important but there is,
in work with flowers, something further,
a technique impossible to be understood
by one unacquainted with the growth of
flowers. Many will not agree with me
but my conclusion has been reached after
many years of judging with many delight­ful
artists.
Since I am supposed to be horticultural
watchdog for a sizeable group of garden
club members, I shall have to do a little
barking. With all its good points, I find
the book deficient in one important par­ticular.
It all comes back to the ques­tion,
" What are flower shows for?" To
interest garden club members? To at­tract
the community? To start children
working ? To stage a beautiful plan ?
All these are worthy obj ects, yet our
real object, in show and in garden club,
should be to raise the standard of horti­culture,
to induce people to grow better
flowers than they ever did before. Sug­gestions
for simple, inexpensive, practi­cal
ways of making fences, backgrounds
and seats for flower shows are interesting
— but are they horticulture? I find little
emphasis laid on the flowers themselves,
few classes for specimens in the sched­ules,
except in the dahlia one and in
some of the school children's work. Peo­ple
can learn much from flower show
gardens and there are gardens galore, but
not enough importance has been given to
the flowers.
Now, having barked rather fiercely,
may I finish by saying that Mrs. Fisher's
book will help many people in their
flower show plans and that, if those peo­ple
will give " straight" horticulture at
least a fifty- fifty chance, all will be well.
SARAH V. COOMBS.
Ferns and Their Lore
OUR FERNS, THEIR HAUNTS,
HABITS AND FOLKLORE. Willard
Nelson Clute. 388 pages, illustrated,
indexed. Frederick A. Stokes Co.
1938. $ 4.
This is a very welcome revision of the
excellent book, " Our Ferns in Their
Haunts," which has been out of print
for some time.
Eighty- four species and their various
forms found east of the Rockies and
north of the Gulf States are included. In
this edition there are additional species
described, the illustrations and descrip­tions
have been much extended, and the
nomenclature has been brought up to
date. There are several short, concise
keys: two descriptive types, one for the
genera and one for species in each genera,
and one with illustrations of sporangia.
We thankfully note that the well estab­lished
common names have not been
changed and that synonyms for the scien­tific
are given. The author has, how­ever,
given a number of the less com­mon
forms new popular names.
He is conservative in his divisions of
species, as in Pellaea atro purpurea, where
he does not recognize glabella as a
species, but rather as a form.
The many quotations of poetry and the
references to the folklore and distribu­tion
in other countries add much spice to
the fine descriptions. " Our Ferns" will
make a valuable addition to the reference
library of the fern student or hobbyist.
FARIDA A. WILEY.
The Proper Care of Trees
PRACTICAL TREE SURGERY. Mil­lard
F. Blair. 297 pages, illustrated,
indexed. Christopher Publishing House,
Boston. 1938. $ 4.
" Practical Tree Surgery" by Millard
F. Blair is an attractively printed, well
illustrated volume, whose nearly 300
pages deal with a wide variety of topics
relating to trees and tree care, about one-half
of it being" devoted to brief discus­sions
of many insects and plant diseases.
The matter relating to tree surgery,
using the word in its restricted and
proper sense, occupies less than 100 pages
and deals with such subjects as tree struc­ture,
trimming, planting and pruning,
bracing, cavity work, feeding, moving,
grafting and budding, propagation by
cuttings and layering, pollination of
flowers, flower parts, and a somewhat un­usual
chapter on ropes and knots.
166
The large number of subjects treated
compels brevity, in some cases at the ex­pense
of clarity. The book appears to
have been written with the needs of the
expert in mind and is obviously western
in its discussions of insects and diseases
in particular. It is therefore of greatest
service to tree men on the Pacific slope.
E. P. FELT.
Magnificent Gardens
GARDENS AND GARDENING. Edi­ted
by F. A. Mercer. 132 pages, illus­trated
with photographs and plans.
The Studio, New York and London.
1938. $ 4.50.
While a British flavor and continental
air are bound to enter a gardening annual
which is published in England, the sev­enth
issue of Gardens and Gardening con­tains
enough American photographs and
sufficient practical material for any land,
to be of decided interest and usefulness
to American gardeners. Abundantly and
beautifully illustrated, the volume in­cludes,
among its main topics, Planning
and Replanning the Garden ( with a dozen
scale drawings) ; Plans by Leading Gar­den
Architects; Colour in the Garden;
Pools, Ponds and Streams and How to
Use Them; and Rocks, Their Meaning
and Use in Japanese Gardens. Of no less
interest are the notes and illustrations of
such garden and landscape features as
substitutes for rhododendrons, intimate
gardens, boundaries, and numerous other
topics, with special emphasis placed on
the garden of small or medium size. The
book gives one the feeling that every
garden is magnificent and every shrub
and flower is superb.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
Picture Books
HARDEN BULBS IN COLOR. J.
Horace McFarland, R. Marion Hatton,
and Daniel J. Foley. 296 pages, illus­trated
in color, indexed. Macmillan,
New York. 1938. $ 3.50.
ANNUALS FOR YOUR GARDEN.
Daniel J. Foley. 96 pages, illustrated
in color, indexed. Macmillan, New-
York, 1938. $ 1.
When a fair collection of catalogs,
most of which are free for the asking,
will provide an abundance of colored pic­tures
of garden flowers, one wonders why
these same pictures are collected into
books. But they are— here is one on bulbs
and one on annuals— and people seemed
to like the earlier one on garden flowers
enough to induce a publisher to put out
more. Their chief advantage is to en­able
the beginning gardener to select
( with high hopes) the flowers which are
so brilliantly pictured, or to make quick
identifications of plants which spring up
without benefit of labels. Information
and simple cultural directions are given
for each plant illustrated. The book of
annuals emphasizes the All- America se­lections.
The bulb book contains pictures
of several indoor subjects as well as of
hardy garden material. In view of the
recent warnings against such tulips as
the Rembrandts, which are likely to
spread their virus disease through the
garden, it seems a bit out of place in
speaking of the " broken" tulips for the
authors to remark: " Gardeners are miss­ing
much pleasure by not growing more
of them."
However, the books on the whole are
well handled, and no doubt serve a good
purpose in acquainting their purchasers
pictorially with many colorful garden
flowers.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
Current Literature*
At a Glance
By Carol H. Woodward
Ferns. The May- June issue of Torreya
will be of special interest to anyone visit­ing
the Pine Barrens of New Jersey this
summer, for Martha H. Hollinshead has
described the ferns to be found in that
region.
City Trees. How a program for the
planting of street trees in New York City
is now being carried out is explained by
E. L. D. Seymour in the City Gardens
Club Bulletin. By arrangement with
Anthony V. Grande in the Park Depart­ment
offices in the Central Park Arsenal,
a single tree may be planted at the re­quest
of an individual in metropolitan
New York for a cost of about fifty dol­lars.
In other sections and for trees in
quantity, the cost of each specimen be­comes
less.
* All publications mentioned here— and many
others— may be found in the Library of The
Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building.
167
Florida Trees. Ornamental trees of
Florida are described by Harold Mowry
in Bulletin 95 of the Agricultural Experi­ment
Station at Gainesville, Fla.
Trough Gardening. A new type of re­ceptacle
for growing alpine plants is de­scribed
by Dr. R. C. C. Clay in Garden­ing
Illustrated ( London) May 28. Old
stone troughs, some of them dating back
200 years, are used. Dr. Clay exhibited
a number of them at the Chelsea Flower
Show in London this year.
Phlox. Dwarf species and varieties of
phlox are described in the May 14 num­ber
of Lexington Leaflets. A score of
named color forms of Phlox subulata are
listed.
Storage. Brief, up- to- date directions
for the commercial storage of fruits,
vegetables, and florists* stocks are given
in the revised edition of U. S. D. A. Cir­cular
278, which is obtainable from the
Superintendent of Documents, Washing­ton,
D. C, for 10 cents.
Walls. A series of articles on plants to
use in wall gardens, written by C. W.
Wood, is running in The American Nur­seryman
this summer.
Nuttalt. The travels and the scientific
collections of Thomas Nuttall are the
subject of an extensive article in Bartonia,
the Proceedings of the Philadelphia
Botanical Club, No. 18. Material which
had been prepared by Willard W. Eggles­ton
prior to his death late in 1935 was
incorporated in the final work by Francis
W. Pennell.
Franklinia. " A Supplementary Chapter
on Franklinia alatamaha" has been written
by Francis Harper and Arthur N. Leeds
for Bartonia ( No. 19). It records some
recent expeditions in search of Bartram's
famed " Gordonia"— but still the shrub's
disappearance from the wild remains a
mystery.
Australia. A new handbook, paper-covered
and illustrated in color, lists 86
common Australian wild flowers.
Soybeans. A new green vegetable for
the American table is forthcoming through
the careful selection and use of soybeans.
A study of soybeans for the American
diet has been made by Sybil WoodrufL
and Helen Klaas, published as Bulletin
443 of the University of Illinois Agri­cultural
Experiment Station. The mature
beans give promise as a low- cost source
of protein in the diet, while the green
beans may be picked and cooked imme­diately
or preserved by freezing for later
use. Flour is also made from soybeans.
" Broken" Tulips. Specific answers are
given to some of the questions frequently
asked regarding the " breaking" of tulips.
in an article by Frank P. McWhorter
and Philip Brierley in the Florists' Ex­change
for June 11. Two opposing viruses
are involved, they explain, in the color
distortions in tulips which give rise to
" broken" flowers. Broken tulips may in­fect
healthy stock in a field. The virus
may be carried from the bulbs of Lilium
candidum or L. tigrinu » t, and the most
common cause for the spread of the
disease in large plantings is the presence
of the potato and peach aphids. The
disease does not show until the year after
the infection. Parrot tulips do not belong
to the " broken" class, but Rembrandts
do. This means that a grower who
wishes to maintain healthy stock should
destroy all tulips of the Rembrandt and
similar types, as they are diseased.
Gardening. Three of the outstanding
practical articles in Real Gardening for
June are " Sprays and Dusts for Garden
Troubles'' by L. C. Chadwick, " What
Makes a Good Rock Garden" by Marcel
Le Piniec, and " The Needs of a Native
Plant Garden" by the editor, Robert S.
Lemmon. Among other topics of the
month are lilacs, lilies, sedums, irises,
eriogonums, and vegetables. Arthur Her-rington
writes especially for garden club
members on " Just How to Organize a
Flower Show."
Notes, Neivs, and Comment
From England. Professor Sir Albert
C. Seward, botanist, formerly Master of
Downing College and Vice- Chancellor of
Cambridge University, was a visitor at
The New York Botanical Garden on May
25 and was a guest of staff members at
lunch. Professor Seward is well known
for his work on fossil plants and par­ticularly
in this country for his book,
" Plant Life Through the Ages."
168
Scholarship Students. Working at The
New York Botanical Garden this summer
on scholarships are Dr. Margaret Fulford
from the University of Cincinnati, who is
spending two months on the liverwort
genus Bazzania; Edna Kobs of Black­burn
College in Virginia, doing a month's
research on sugar; Joseph Allerton of
New York University and Betty Water-bury
of New Jersey College for Women,
both working under Dr. A. B. Stout for
a month; and Josephine McAllister, a
Columbia graduate student, who is con­tinuing
her studies on diseases of Opuntia
with a month of special work under Dr.
B. O. Dodge. During the spring, Oswaldo
Lourenso spent a month with Dr. Dodge
on a scholarship making illustrations and
cultures of the pink bread- mold, Neuro­spora.
Laboratory. Mrs. Mary Bartley Schmidt
came to the Garden July 1 from the Uni­versity
of Missouri to do four months
of special laboratory work on the nutri­tion
of roots under the direction of Dr.
William J. Robbins.
Summer Studies. Dr. Ernest Nailor,
Assistant Professor of Botany at the
University of Missouri, is at the Botani­cal
Garden this summer doing some re­search
on vegetative propagation. John
Middleton, a graduate student at Mis­souri,
spent two weeks here in June do­ing
some special work in mycology.
Prize- winners. A group of daylily seed­lings
exhibited by The New York Botani­cal
Garden at the headquarters of the
Horticultural Society of New York June
20 and 21 received a gold medal. Other
prize displays included five stalks of
Lilium candidum, another group of lilies,
and a group of campanulas shown by
Mrs. Helen M. Fox; a standard hy­drangea
exhibited by Mrs. Christian R.
Holmes; and a bowl of cut clematis
hybrids from the gardens of J. E. Spin­garn.
Returned. Dr. A. C. Smith returned
to New York and the Garden early in
June after a nine- months' trip exploring
in South America, during which he
gathered specimens from unknown terri­tory
far in the interior of British Guiana.
Visitors. Dr. H. H. Whetzel of Cor­nell
University spent two days at the
Botanical Garden in June identifying
some fungus hosts from Santo Domingo.
Dr. Frank Egler of Syracuse University
worked for a day in the oriental herba­rium.
New Books. Among the books which
have recently been acquired by the
Library are several from the Stanford
University Press. " Alaska Wild Flow­ers"
by Ada White Sharpies fills a need
among northern travelers with many good
photographs illustrating its 156 pages of
descriptions. " Northern Rocky Moun­tain
Trees and Shrubs" by J. E. Kirk-wood,
with its complete descriptions, in
systematic order, and its photographs of
plants and drawings of floral and leaf
parts, has been a standard work ever
since its publication in 1930. John L.
Ridgway's " Scientific Illustration" is an
indispensable work for one who needs to
know the methods, technique, styles, and
codes to be used in illustrating scientific
works. " The Trees of Yosemite'' by
Mary Curry Tresidder is illustrated with
34 block linoleum prints by Della Taylor
Hoss. Chapters on ten explorers of the
nineteenth century are contained in " Nat­uralists
of the Frontier" by Samuel Wood
Geiser, published by the Southern Metho­dist
University Press. Biographical notes
on many others are provided in an
appendix.
Genetics. Professor Edmund W. Sin­nott
of Barnard College, a member of the
Botanical Garden's Board of Managers,
is to be transferred to Columbia Uni­versity's
new laboratory of genetics for
research on growth and inheritance. Be­ginning
July 1, Dr. Sinnott is dividing
his time between the college and the new
laboratory, where, after two years, he ex­pects
to devote all his time to the botani­cal
phases of the work.
Traveler. Dr. Carl Skottsberg, Direc­tor
of the Botanical Garden at Goteborg,
Sweden, stopped at The New York Bo­tanical
Garden June 9 on his way to
Hawaii, where he will do three months
of research, returning home to Sweden
via New Zealand.
Alaskan Flora. Dr. Eric Hulten of
Lund University, Sweden, spent two
weeks in June at the Botanical Garden
here working on the flora of Alaska in
the herbarium.
Grapes. Dr. A. B. Stout went to
Geneva, N. Y., June 15 to continue his
work in the breeding of hardy seedless
grapes.
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BOARD OF MANAGERS
I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS
Until 1939: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON ( Treasurer), CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D.
MERRILL, HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE ( Secretary and Assistant Treasurer),
WILLIAM J. ROBBINS, and J. E. SPINGARN.
Until 1040: HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN ( Vice- president), CHILDS FRICK,
ALLYN R. JENNINGS, HENRY LOCKHART, JR., D. T. MACDOUGAL, and JOSEPH
R. SWAN ( President).
Until 1941: MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON HUNTINGTON HOOKER, JOHN L.
MERRILL ( Vice- president), COL. ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, H. HOBART PORTER,
and RAYMOND H. TORREY.
II. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS
FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA, Mayor of the City of New York.
ROBERT MOSES, Park Commissioner.
HENRY C. TURNER, 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
WILLIAM J. ROBBINS, P H . D., SC. D Director
H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Assistant Director and Head Curator
HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE Assistant Director
A. B. STOUT, P H . D Curator of Education and Laboratories
FRED J. SEAVER, P H . D., SC. D Curator
BERNARD O, DODGE, P H . D Plant Pathologist
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D Bibliographer
PERCY WILSON Associate Curator
ALBERT C. SMITH, P H . D Associate Curator
HAROLD N. MOLDENKE, P H . D Associate Curator
ELIZABETH C. HALL, B. S 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
W. H. CAMP, P H . D Assistant Curator
CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant
ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical Assistant
FREDERICK KAVANAGH, M. A Technical Assistant
CAROL H. WOODWARD, A. B Editorial Assistant
THOMAS H. EVERETT, N. D. HORT Horticulturist
G. L. WITTROCK, A. M Docent '
OTTO DEGENER, M. S Collaborator in Hawaiian Botany
ROBERT HAGELSTEIN Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. . Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections
ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds
A. C PFANDER Assistant Superintendent
MEMBERSHIP IN THE GARDEN
Established as a privately endowed institution, aided partially by City appro­priations,
The New York Botanical Garden is dependent for its progress largely
upon benefactions and memberships. Through these means, though young as botani­cal
gardens go, it has become the third largest institution of its kind, its library,
herbarium, and horticultural collections ranking among the finest and most complete
in any country.
Membership in The New York Botanical Garden, therefore, means promotion
of scientific research in botany and the advancement of horticultural interests.
Scientifically, the Garden is able to serve as a clearing- house of information for
students and botanists all over the world; horticulturally, it often serves as a link
between the plant explorer or breeder and the gardening public.
Through memberships and benefactions, provision is made at the Botanical
Garden for the training of young scientists and student gardeners; hundreds of new
books are added annually to the library, which is open daily to the public for re­search
and reading; free exhibits are maintained in the museum, the greenhouses,
and gardens, and lectures, courses, and free information in botany and gardening
are given to the public.
Each individual member of the Garden receives:
( 1) A copy of the Journal every month.
( 2) A copy of Addisonia twice a year, each number illustrated with
eight colored plates of unusual plants, accompanied by complete descrip­tions
and other pertinent information.
( 3) A share of surplus plant material of interesting or new varieties
whenever it is distributed.
( 4) Announcements of special floral displays at the Garden from
season to season.
( 5) Credit, to the extent of the membership fee paid, toward courses
of study offered by the Garden.
A limited number of garden clubs are accepted as affiliates. The privileges of
affiliation are a subscription to the Journal, announcements of displays, a specially
conducted tour of the grounds and greenhouses, and a lecture once a year by a
selected member of the staff.
Fellowships or scholarships for practical student- training in horticulture or for
botanical research may be established by bequest or other benefaction either in
perpetuity or for a definite period.
The classes of membership and types of benefaction are as follows:
Annual Member
Sustaining Member
Garden Club Affiliation
Fellowship Member
Member for Life
Fellow for Life
Patron
Benefactor
annual fee
annual fee
annual fee for club
annual fee
single contribution
single contribution
single contribution
single contribution
$ 10
25
25
100
250
1,000
5,000
25,000
Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. The
following is a legally approved form of bequest:
I hereby bequeath to The New Tor\ Botanical Garden incorporated under the
Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1891, the sum of .
Conditional bequests may be made with income payable to donor or any
designated beneficiary during his or her lifetime.
All requests for further information should be addressed to The New York
Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York, N. Y.