VOL. XXXI OCTOBER, 1930 No. 370

JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN

IRIS STUDIES IN THE GULF STATES JOHN K. SMALL

BEARDLESS IRIS AND IRIS SPECIES ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM

A "BIG TREE" SECTION REACHES THE GARDEN E. D. MERRILL

PLANT ECOLOGY COURSE STARTED

FORMAN T. MCLEAN

NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT

ACCESSIONS

PUBLISHED FOB THE GARDEN AT LIME AND GREEN STREETS, LANCASTER, PA.

THE SCIENCE PRESS PRINTING COMPANY Entered at the post-office in Lancaster, Fa., as second-class matter.

Annual subscription $1.00 Single copies 10 cents Free to members of the Garden THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF MANAGERS HENRY W. DE FOREST, President JOSEPH P. HENNESSY HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN, Vice President CLARENCE LEWIS F. K. STURGIS, Vice President ADOLPH LEWISOHN JOHN L. MERRILL, Treasurer D- T- MACDOUGAL E. D. MERRILL, Secretary £ENNET?„^ MACKENZIE EDWARD D. ADAMS £ARKER MCCOLLESTER r „ „ H. DE LA MONTAGNE, JR. CHARLES P. BERKEY BARRINGTON MOORE

MARSTON T BOGERT J PIERPONT MORGAN GEORCE b. BREWSTER LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS

N. L. BRITTON H HOBART PORTER NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER HENRY H. RUSBY ROBERT W. DE FOREST GEORGE J. RYAN THOMAS A. EDISON MORTIMER L. SCHIFF CHILDS FRICK EDMUND W. SINNOTT R. A. HARPER SAM F. TRELEASE JAMES J. WALKER, Mayor of the City of New York WALTER R. HERRICK, President of ihe Department of Parks SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORS R. A. HARPER, PH. D., SC. D., Chairman D. T. MACDOUGAL, PH. D., LL. D. CHARLES P. BERKEY, PH. D, SC. D. BARRINGTON MOORE A. B„ M. F.

,.-,.„,„ -r •• c r, T T T^ HENRY H. RUSBY, M. D., SC. D.

MARSTON T. BOGERT, SC. D., LL. D. GEORGE T RYAN| LL D NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, PH. D., EDMUND W. SINNOTT, PH. D. LL. D., LITT. D. SAM F. TRELEASE, PH. D. DIRECTOR EMERITUS N. L. BRITTON, PH. D., SC. D., LL. D. GARDEN STAFF E. D. MERRILL, SC. D Director-in-Chief MARSHALL A. HOWE, PH. D., SC. D Assistant Director JOHN K. SMALL, PH. D., SC. D Head Curator of the Museums A. B. STOUT, PH. D Director of the Laboratories P. A. RYDBERG, PH. D Curator H. A. GLEASON, PH. D Curator FRED J. SEAVER, PH. D : Curator ARTHUR HOLLICK, PH. D Paleobotanist BERNARD O. DODGE, PH. D Plant Pathologist FORMAN T. MCLEAN, M. F., PH. D Supervisor of Public Education JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D Bibliographer PERCY WILSON Associate Curator PALMYRE DE C. MITCHELL Associate Curator SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections ELIZABETH G. BRITTON Honorary Curator of Mosses MARY E. EATON Artist ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Administrative Assistant E. J. ALEXANDER Assistant Curator ALBERT C. SMITH, A. B Assistant Curator CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant MARJORIE E. SWIFT, A. M Assistant Pathologist ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical Assistant KENNETH R. BOYNTON, B. S Head Gardener G. L. WITTROCK, A. M Docent H. M. DENSLOW, A. M., D. D Honorary Custodian of Local Herbarium ROBERT HAGELSTEIN Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes E. B. SOUTHWICK, PH. D Custodian of Herbaceous Grounds ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections JOHN R. BRINLEY, C. E Landscape Engineer WALTER S. GROESBECK Clerk and Accountant ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds JOURNAL OF The New York Botanical Garden

VOL. XXXI OCTOBER, 1930 No. 370

IRIS STUDIES IN THE GULF STATES

Opportunity was afforded last spring for a more thorough than usual study of the native irises of the Gulf States. Attention was devoted largely to the two main iris centers of that region, namely, Florida and Louisiana. However, the Florida iris fields being fairly well known, only limited time was devoted to them, but further observations were made on the seven species native in that state. Seasonally, the irises of Florida fall into two groups—early- flowering and late-flowering. The first group contains five spe­ cies, Iris Carolina, I. savannarum, I. Kimballiae, I. rivularis, and I. Albispiritus; the second comprises two species, Iris hexagona and I. tripetala. In the peninsula, in mid-March, the iris season was well under way, in some places nearly over. However, our main object was accomplished, namely, the photographing and collecting of Iris Albispiritus. In northern Florida, the plants representing the second season had not yet come into flower. Reports from the Mississippi Delta led us to hasten to our headquarters in New Orleans. The remarkable natural iris fields discovered in southern Loui­ siana in 1925 have been visited by the writer several times pre­ vious to this year, for short periods. The discovery was a mere incident, en route, on a botanical trip from Florida to western Texas. The iris display between Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans was so unusual that several plants were packed in passing and mailed to the Garden. These flour­ ished in the cold frames and flowered the following spring. Each succeeding spring, up to and including this year, brought more Louisiana iris plants to the Garden plantations. In 1926, 237 238

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FIGURE I.—In the flatwoods along Twelve-mile Creek near the Caloosa- hatchee, Florida. Iris Albispiritus growing along a pool. This white- flowered iris inhabits the flatwoods on both sides of the Caloosahatchee. Photo by W. M. Buswell. 239 240

1927, and 1928 comparatively few plants were added to the grow­ ing collections, but much was learned about the habitats and habits of these irises cf the lower Mississippi Delta. In the spring of 1929 extensive collections were made and additional plantations were established in New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. In the meantime it was learned that these irises native in the gumbo near the mouth of the Mississippi were hardy in the cli­ mate of the latitude of New York and that they flourished in the ordinary soils of that region. Enough material had been assembled and studied to indicate the magnitude of the iris development in the vicinity of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Fortunately for our iris studies, the past spring (1930), curi­ ously enough, following a very severe winter, was especially fav­ orable, for the flowering season lasted for a period of two months. The plants flowered profusely. Mr. Alexander and the writer spent six weeks in continuous field work about New Orleans and at several localities remote from that city. We are indebted to numerous friends resident in that region for their helpful coop­ eration. At least 8000 plants were sent to the Garden and to other co­ operating northern plantations in which southern irises are being given a trial. These are intended, along with those collected in former years, for study, hybridizing, and propagation, and ulti­ mately, in large part, for distribution to other iris plantations in America and in the Old World. Mr. Alexander's color notes and descriptions based on sepals, i.e., the color of the blade and of the crest, indicate some 200 dis­ tinguishable forms, which may be summarized as follows:

six various shades of violet-blue, with about fifteen different combinations of crest and color; four various shades of lavender-blue, with about twelve differ­ ent combinations of crest and color; eleven various shades of violet, with about forty different com­ binations of crest and color. seventeen various shades of red-violet, with about thirty-five different combinations of crest and color; fourteen various shades of lilac, with about twenty-five differ­ ent combinations of crest and color; 241 242 243

nine various shades of cerise and magenta, with about eighteen different combinations of crest and color; fifteen various shades of pink and old-rose, with about twenty different combinations of crest and color; twenty-six various shades of red, orange-red, and orange, with about thirty-five different combinations of crest and color. The flower and fruit of one of the new species discovered in the spring of 1925 was published in 1927,1 as Iris vinicolor. This was one of the "red"-flowered kinds. Its publication re­ sulted in the sending of thousands of miscellaneous iris plants from the vicinity of New Orleans, through the state inspection office, to many parts of the United States, and there is no telling how many were "bootlegged" out of. the State of Louisiana. The publication of six additional new species, Iris violipurpurea, f. giganticaerulea, I. chry so phoenicea, f. miraculosa, I. chrysaeola, and /. atrocyanea, in 1929,2 resulted in further drafts on the fields of southern Louisiana. There, seemingly large depredations have had no visible effect on the iris fields, the richest of which lie in the immediate vicinity of New Orleans, so far as is at present known. We are safe in assuming that they have not been so dis­ astrous to the natural growth of iris there as has been the growth of the city for two centuries. The number of plants destroyed and perhaps the kind of species exterminated through the drain­ age and filling of the city will never be known. At the present stage of the study nearly fifty species and a num­ ber of natural hybrids are indicated. Our usual criterion for assigning the status of species is an isolated colony, persisting through propagation by rootstocks and an annual accretion of seedlings without any variation in the characters of the perianth. This remarkable local development of iris in the tip of the Mississippi Delta is as yet inexplicable. Aside from its magni­ tude, the outstanding points are the often vast colonies of species, the great range and combination of colors, and the unusual size of the plants. Flowering stalks six feet tall are not unusual. Stalks seven feet high have been found during our explorations. In such cases a six-foot man has to look up in order to see the 1 Addisonia 12: 1. pl. 365. 1927. * Addisonia 14: 1-4. pl. 449, 451-455. 1929. 244 terminal flower. In view of these facts, the Lower Mississippi Delta natural iris field constitutes the one most spectacular botan- cal and horticultural discovery in North America from the stand­ point of a single genus within such a limited area. JOHN K. SMALL.

BEARDLESS IRIS AND IRIS SPECIES1

The genus Iris is a large one, the various species and their hybrid forms being found in a band completely around the north­ ern half of the world from well up towards the arctic circle to the end of the semi-tropics on the south. Below this line we get closely allied plants, such as Moraeas, Gladioli, Sparaxis, Ixias, etc., but no real iris. Australia and New Zealand, although they may have cooler weather in some parts, have no native irises but two or three "Sylphs," to use the local parlance, grow there which botanically are classed as Moraeas. Irises fall into several large natural groups arranged according to their most noticeable differences and the differences in the culture in most cases follow these same group lines. These divisions are Bearded, plants having a conspicuous signal or beard on the lower perianth segments or "falls"; Beardless, plants with no such signal; Bulbous, those with roots in the form of bulbs; Oncocyclus, those with thickened root-stocks, one flower to a stem and seeds with conspicuous white arils almost as large as the seeds themselves; Regelia, like the Oncocyclus but with more than one flower to a stem. Besides these there are hybrids be­ tween groups and in some of the larger groups there are numerous subdivisions. The Bearded group is perhaps the best known to the general public and much hybridizing is now being done to produce fine varieties for our gardens. There are few real species in this group; what we think of, perhaps, as species are collected wild hybrids and forms of a very few species; thus it is hard to draw the line and say just what is and what is not a species. A species should be a sort that comes true from seed. That means true to

1 Abstract of an illustrated lecture given at The New York Botanical Garden on the afternoon of Saturday, September 6, 1930. 245

shape and other characteristics, though the size and color may vary considerably. So many of the old Bearded varieties that we have in our gardens that have been collected as "wild" are com­ pletely sterile or when they do produce seed give such variations that it is generally conceeded they are nothing but old, old hy­ brids—perhaps produced naturally between two or more species— but hybrids just the same. This makes the work that is done by the usual Iris hybridist of the present day begin right in the middle and scientists cannot feel that the results give any conclusions based on more than guesswork. In old gardens there were such species as Iris pumila, I. Chamaeiris, I. aphylla, I. variegata, I. pallida, and the hybrid (?) /. Swertii. Probably the earliest crosses were made by bees between these species in and out of gardens. Certainly, our knowledge as to when man really began to do the pollenization shows the date as so late and the horticul­ tural and botanical worlds so full of irises that surely are hybrids that the problem is a very serious one. The hybridist would hardly know where to begin or what lines to work on to come to results within his lifetime. One brave man, Mr. Paul Cook of Indiana, has set to work purely with the idea of deciding some of these questions. Not for him the production merely of a large and handsome garden subject and the discarding of all the rest. No, he makes his beginnings only with species or supposed species. He checks carefully all the seedlings and their variations. All results are tabulated. His iris fields show ugly and "poor" varie­ ties but he and Mrs. Cook have put ten years of hard labor on this background work and expect to continue it. He now sees that many theories at present held by breeders can be exploded and we are anxiously awaiting the publication of his findings. For instance, in tulips we feel there is a ground color with other colors superimposed. After a time, if the bulbs are submitted to certain conditions (which some people now say may be caused by disease or insects) the color "breaks." The ground-color still stays but the upper colors recede, causing veinings and featherings of con­ centrated darker colors. Now, we have irises that are feathered and we call them "Plicatas." Iris Swertii is of this style, a white ground and a feathering or "button-holing" on the edges of the falls of lavender purple, while the petals or standards are a dirty white with faint markings of the lavender. Mr. Cook says that 246 his research has convinced him that the feathered irises are the original and correct color form and the suffused color (which we know as "self") is the freak. This seems very surprising and gives rise to many speculations. We have veining on native irises of this country but it is more or less confined to heavy dark masses near the crests and ridges where crests would be, and spreading veins that run out towards the edges from the ridge or from the haft. I can think of no case where the color is confined to the edges and fades towards the centre as is the case in these Plicatas of the Bearded group. Other Bearded species that have been used in more modern work are I. cypriana and /. trojana. These are tall, well-branched varieties and have been excellent for bring­ ing better "spacing" of flowers and wider branching into the group. The Bulbous group is divided into several sections, the most important being that headed by Iris reticulata. Here the bulbs have a fibrous covering which is criss-crossed like a net, hence the name. There are several species and quite a few hybrids, though few are in cultivation in the United States. The plants are short of stature and the bulbs small. A rock-garden is indicated as a suitable location. The Juno irises are a subdivision of the Bulb­ ous group. These bulbs have large, fleshy roots which are re­ tained while dormant and as the plants come, practically all of them, from desert regions or places that have long dry spells, they need special treatment. Iris xiphium is a bulbous iris and heads a division with numerous species, collected and garden forms. This is the most widely distributed set of bulbous irises of any, while the section formed around /. xiphioides in the wild state is confined to only one part of the Pyrennees mountains. These so-called English irises have been "improved," crossed with the Spanish varieties and with /. filifolia and a race called Dutch irises have been obtained. Iris filifolia is of African origin and is not hardy here itself. The Oncocyclus group is little known in this part of the United States. The members of it are difficult to deal with as they come from countries that have a long period of drought during which the plants get a complete rest and do not grow at all. Unless we can give them these conditions we have no success. Some varie­ ties come from Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia and are rather 247 tender, not accustomed to our cold winters. Others from eastern Asia Minor and western and northern Persia would be hardier but they must all be dry part of the time. Here this is difficult to manage and some people accomplish it by lifting the plants directly the bloom is over and storing them in dry sand until October when they are replanted. Mr. Wayman of Bayside, Long Island, grows his in frames with hinged glass lights that are opened during the blooming season and closed most of the sum­ mer. The difficulty with keeping the plants in a frame is that with any bottom moisture the plants do not rest and growth starts too early in the autumn. This new growth is partially destroyed with winter cold and then there is no bloom and after a year or two the plants are weakened and die. Iris susiana, however, grows very well in a hot, dry quarry I know of outside of Philadelphia. It is never lifted but is absolutely dry below for several months in summer, has a natural covering of rough grass for winter and the protection of a back-wall of stone that radiates heat with the slightest shine of the sun. The plants of this group like a soil well mixed with sand and mortar-rubble, object to stable manure, and enjoy lime. Commercial fertilizer suitable for vegetables may be used in very small quantities to stimulate growth. Crosses have been made with the Oncocyclus and Bearded irises, a famous ex­ ample being Iris William Mohr. This iris, introduced in 1925, is a good grower and seems fairly hardy and may be treated the same way as the usual Bearded iris. Mr. E. B. Williamson of Bluffton, Indiana, raised an Oncocyclus hybrid, Maud Tribolet, about fifteen years ago, which apparently disappeared from view but has turned up in the garden of Sir William Lawrence in England, where he grows it very successfully—so much so that he received favorable comment upon it at the big iris show in London this year. Crosses have been made also with the Regelia group, particularly by the firm of Van Tubergen in Holland. Some of these hybrids have conspicuous beards and some only widely diffused hairs which hardly constitute a beard and some have so few hairs one would almost call them beardless. Among hybrids made between two groups some will resemble one group more closely than the other, causing confusion in the mind of the uninitiated. 248

The really Beardless irises never have a beard, though they may have a pronounced ridge where the beard would be and this ridge is usually a brilliant white or yellow, serving to attract insects to the place where they should alight. There are many divisions to the Beardless group, the largest being, perhaps, if we consider only species, that known as the Siberian division. If we were to include all the hybrids the Kaempferi division would be quite the biggest, as the garden varieties are legion. I suppose the three largest divisions are the Siberian, Kaempferi and Hexagona. In the Siberian the two principal species are Iris sibirica which branches rather low down the stem and /. orientalis, branching near the top. Iris sibirica is a native of Europe, though it is widely spread and forms turn up in Asia. In this country per­ haps the nearest to it is /. prismatica. The Laevigata section is best known by /. Pseudacorus, which is of European origin also and has become "naturalized" in a number of places here. This is the true Fleur de Lys of France and not the white Iris Floren­ tina which is so often mentioned in this connection. Our princi­ pal American representative of the Laevigata division would be I. versicolor, the ordinary swamp Blue Flag of the northeastern United States. To go back to the Siberian group, Iris orientalis has been collected in an albino form and named Snow Queen and there are newer and handsomer white hybrids, Snow Queen hav­ ing been one of the parents. A fine collected form, Emperor, is a dark blue, while a hybrid, Red Emperor, is quite red and blue. The divisions of the Beardless group have been arranged alpha­ betically in the American Iris Society Check List of 1929 and if we were to follow that list we should now come to the California section. There are many of these California and western irises, incompletely studied at present, the best known being Iris Doug- lasiana and /. tena.v. These plants all have fibrous roots with such tiny rhizomes that they dry out almost at once after digging, making transportation difficult. They grow easily from seed, so it is really advisable to start them that way and, for these California sorts where seeds are so small, pots in a green-house or small boxes in the house are the best method. With Sibiricas, seed can be sown outside in October, mulched with an inch of granulated peat-moss and the plants will appear in spring. Irises of the California section are charming in the rock-garden as most of 249 them are slender-stemmed and short of stature. Another subdi­ vision is the Chinese, to which belong the yellow Iris Forrestii and /. Wilsoni, and the blue /. Clarkei. The best-known species, how­ ever, is Iris chrysographes, a rich red-purple with gold markings. It is difficult to get the real thing from nurseries, as there seems to be a form of /. Kaempferi substituted for it. /. ensata belongs to a division of its own. Here the foliage is extremely tough, the flowers, though they are borne freely, are almost hidden by the leaves. A pale blue form named Hyacinthiana has longer stems and is best for the amateur. Raise this iris from seed and be patient. It needs to be established to bloom. The crested or Evansia irises, those with crests instead of beards, have been included with the beardless group by the Ameri­ can Iris Society and would be encountered by us next. Iris tec­ torum, from China and Japan, has been romanced about many times. It is grown on roofs in Japan, so many legends have been fabricated about it but I believe legends always grow up after a thing has been put for a practical purpose in an unusual place. Iris Chamaeiris is grown on thatched roofs in France, not because face-powder or perfume was made from it and it was forbidden during famine and war (as is told about I. tectorum), but for exactly the reason /. tectorum is put on roofs—to hold the thatch and to keep out leaks! A beautiful crested iris, /. japonica, is not hardy here and must be grown in a greenhouse. /. dichotoma belongs to the same division, is hardy, and is easily raised from seed. It blooms in late August and early September. The gar­ dener should sow the seeds each year to keep a succession of plants, as it is short-lived. The flowers are small for the length of the stem, but they keep opening each afternoon for several weeks. We have some native crested irises, perhaps the prettiest being Iris cristata and it seems the easiest to grow. Semi-shade and a well-drained location are general requirements. The white form is especially beautiful, as is that of I. tectorum mentioned before. These with our native crested irises are all good plants for the rock-garden in semi-shaded positions. The Fulva division may prove to be larger than was at first thought, as a number of forms are being discovered. Iris fulva is distinctly different from other irises in that it is a brick-red, a color rarely found in irises. The bearded variety nearest to this 250 color is Apache, which is tawny but blended with many other colors. Iris fulva has a number of forms, some light, some dark, some large and tall, some small and short. There even is a yellow, which is probably the albino. This iris has been used to cross with plants of other groups, notably Iris foliosa. The hybrids vary tremendously and a charming pink of fulva habit is known while Fulvala and Dorothea K. Williamson are red-purple and blue-purple with the characteristics of /. foliosa. After this comes the Hexagona group, named for an iris native of the coast along the southeastern LTnited States. Dr Small calls this the "botanical Iris wastebasket," as so many of our native irises have been collected and sold for /. hexagona that the true hexagona is little known in horticulture. The most beautiful member of this division is Iris chrysophoenicea, found by Dr. Small and Dr. Wherry in southern Louisiana. It is quite hardy up here and is a magnificent bloomer, a rich red-purple with gold markings, broad flowers with wide segments, strong stems that hold the flowers up well—a gorgeous garden subject and one well worth introducing to the horticultural world. Iris foliosa has been known for some time. It is decorative when cut for use in floral arrangements but its habit of sprawling on the ground makes it unsuitable for garden use. /. flexicaulis is another that behaves in this way, only even more so. The flowers have hardly any stem at all and are found practically on the ground at the base of the leaves. Iris giganticaerulea will prove useful in our gardens. It is tall and the flowers are showy, being a good light blue and it seems to grow with little difficulty in the vicinity of New York. A native iris with a distinctly red-purple color is /. chrysaeola, an­ other of the beautiful plants found by Dr. Small in the lower Mis­ sissippi Delta. While this is not quite so startling a flower as Iris chrysophoenicea, it is very lovely and any gardener would be glad to grow both, even in a small garden. An attractive thing is /. violipurpurea, which gives just as fine an effect as any of the Jap­ anese varieties, as it is broad and flat and a rich blue-purple. The treatment for these southern irises is a surprising one. In the north they do not care for positions where water stands in winter. They must not dry out too much in midsummer. They enjoy full sun but semi-shade does not harm Iris vinicolor. A covering of peat-moss is certainly very beneficial, as it helps retain moisture, 251 acts as a protection during early frosts. A very light covering of salt hay held up by branches of deciduous trees or shrubs is worth while, as growth made during late summer is retained. Where the plants are well established and there is a mat of leaves, no covering other than the peat moss seems to be necessary. Some of these plants make heavy growth during summer, some do not, and one has to watch and use one's judgment about the amount of cover required. Too heavy a cover is worse than none. Some sheep manure and wood ashes added between the plants in early spring stimulates them but care should be exercised that the plants are not given too much, so they grow too rapidly and make weak stems. In our climate near New York these irises do best on level ground. It might be inadvisable to use lime, just as in the case of the Kaempferi division, popularly known as Japanese irises. These are miffy things and are best kept in a bed together where one treatment can be given. Experiments in their culture are be­ ing carried on at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I think we know very little about the culture of most of the Beardless irises. It is supposed to be very easy but the plants die just the same. Cer­ tainly most of the losses come through the ravages of the iris borer, which attacks these varieties just as much as the Bearded sorts. The borer is harder to deal with here, too, as he does not show up so easily among this narrow foliage and one cannot lift and reset the plants with the facility that one can handle other groups. If there are many leaves turning brown the plant may be suffering from root rot. This can be treated with semesan. A solution of one tablespoon of semesan to five gallons of water may be poured about the plant or the dry material can be worked into the soil. This is expensive but seems to save many a rare iris. Iris foetidissima cannot be grown here out of doors with suc­ cess but we can have the Spuria group, of which there are many handsome ones. They are treated just like the Siberian irises and may even be put along streams if above the water where their roots are not liable to rot in winter. Among new divisions of Beardless we have Trigona, and to this belongs the blue /. savannarum. Maybe this is not so exquisite as /. giganticaerulea but it flowers very well and would be a fine thing for naturalizing. It grows freely, making sheets of color in Peninsular Florida and is well named, Prairie Iris. 252

Iris tripetala from the southeastern United States is another plant about which a division has been built. Here the petals are so tiny as to be almost non-existent and the "falls" are of good size. This plant is troublesome to grow in our climate and hard to transplant. It is a late bloomer, coming into flower with us after all the other native irises. A white form is a dainty, pretty thing worth struggling with. To this section belong the little Iris canadensis, known formerly as /. Hookeri, and /. setosa canadensis, and the larger /. setosa of China and Alaska. In the last division we find those irises closely related to the striking /. vinicolor, which comes from Louisiana. The wine-colored iris is effective in the garden and, after one has a good clump of it and can bring himself to cut the large stalks, it is a splendid subject for floral arrangement, as flowers will open one after the other and the bouquet may be kept for a number of days. Combined with very pale pink or dark blue annual larkspur, it makes an unique dis­ play. These newer native irises will be introduced to commerce very shortly, as a supply with check plants is being sent gradu­ ally to a reliable dealer, who will propagate and introduce them very soon now.

ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM.

A " BIG TREE " SECTION REACHES THE GARDEN The New York Botanical Garden has just acquired a cross sec­ tion of the trunk of the California big tree (Sequoia gigantea) for its museum. This section is about ten feet in diameter and is now being installed. When finished and in place, it is planned to work out the exact age of the tree from which it was taken, and then indicate on the annual rings the more important historical dates with special reference to American and New York history. It is estimated that the tree from which the section was taken was between 1200 and 1500 years old when it fell in 1914. For this important addition to its museum exhibit the Garden is indebted to Colonel Charles R. White, Superintendent of the Sequoia National Park in California. Colonel White made all arrangements for cutting and crating the section in the Sequoia National Park, and arranged for its transportation by truck to the 253 nearest railroad station at Lemon Cove, California. The Lucken- bach Steamship Company voluntarily supplied free transportation from Oakland, California, to New York, a very material contribu­ tion to the garden in view of the size of the section, and its weight which approximated 5000 pounds. The institution is under deep obligations to Colonel White, representing the National Park Ser­ vice, and to the Luckenbach Steamship Company for their con­ tributions. Because of the large size of the section (as seen in the illustration), it was found that on delivery it could not be

brought into the museum building except by temporary removal of the doors and transoms. There is an excellent section of the California " Big Tree " in the American Museum of Natural History, and sections are to be found in a few other institutions in America and in Europe. It is felt that when this exhibit is properly installed an impor­ tant addition will have been made to the museum exhibit at the Botanical Garden. E. D. MERRILL. 254 PLANT ECOLOGY COURSE STARTED

At the second session of the course of study of Plants and Their Home Environment at The New York Botanical Garden, Professor George E. Nichols, head of the Botany Department at Yale University, gave a most interesting talk on the successive changes that are constantly taking place in the plant life around us; 1. How the old fields on abandoned farms of this region gradu­ ally change from grassland by the growth of juniper, cedar, sumac, and bayberries, followed by gray birch and by oaks and hickories, and, if the situation is a favorable one, finally by hem­ lock, beech, and sugar-maple forest. 2. He further told how high rocky ridges of trap rock devel­ oped first a coating of lichens, then mosses and finally grass and then the hardier kinds of trees, such as post oaks and red cedars. If the disintegration of the rock and the soil continues, there may even result a forest of mixed oaks and hickories. This change is so slow that in twenty years' time successive pictures of the same area showed no progress that we could observe, but in a number of other instances, as in the revegetation of a sand plain, he showed the changes that occurred in fifteen or twenty years by successive pictures of the same area taken from the same point. 3. On the sand dunes and on sandy lands, such as those of Long Island, the first growth is of small and scanty herbaceous peren­ nials. These do not prevent the drifting of the sands. The next step is the growth of bunch grass, which binds the sand together by its perennial roots. As this sprouts and completely covers the land, we first get a grassy prairie, next a development of shrubs, such as sweet fern, then the first of the pioneer trees, the pitch pine, takes possession. These trees need full sunlight and cannot develop under their own shade but where the pitch pines have protected the ground and reduced evaporation the more shade- enduring oaks, such as blackjack, scrub oak, and others come in and sometimes even oust the pines. 4. In lakes and ponds, the process of change is just as apparent and here it is essentially a leveling process, in other words, social­ ism carried to the extreme. First, submerged plants grow up in the bottom of the pond, then as the sediment and plant remains 255

build up the water level and the edges of the pond become as shal­ low as six feet deep, the water lilies with floating leaves form a fringe around the borders. These are particularly attractive to the wild fowl and the wild animals because of their succulent, juicy roots. As the waters become still shallower and gradually fill in with plant remains, then the cat-tails and pickerel weeds take possession and in turn smother out the water lilies. As the built-up earth emerges above the water then sedges and marsh grasses take possession of the saturated soil and these are gradu­ ally driven out by the taller shrubs, such as alders and in the moist shade, the first of the forest trees, such as maple and ash, take possession, with the shade-loving rhododendrons beneath them. Along the seashore and the brackish water, the maples and ash are replaced by the more salt-enduring white cedar. Thus, the origi­ nal pond area is gradually filled up and converted into flat forest land. 5. Sometimes in poorly drained areas, where the water is acid because of decaying vegetable matter, then there is a different type of development over the ponds, the floating bog type. Here the sedges form mats out over the water, sometimes two feet deep, with clear water underneath and the pond is gradually filled up by the deposits of decaying vegetation dropped down from above. As these floating bogs become anchored to the shallow bottom, then, sphagnum moss with some of the odd insectiferous plants, such as the sundews and pitcher plants, develop. These are fol­ lowed by swamp blueberries and finally by black spruce, white alder, and other woody plants. 6. He also described the changes taking place on flood plains and rivers, where the ground is built up by deposits of silt rather than plant remains. Here the submerged aquatic plants anchored to the bottom are followed by wild rice, so much enjoyed by the migratory birds, then by poplars and willows, and finally by mixed forest of oak, ash, maple, and other deciduous trees. There are similar changes on our sandy beaches and in our salt marshes, always tending to produce flat dry land from the irregular or sub­ merged areas. On the one hand, there is constant erosion of the land and flattening down of the hills by geological processes. On the other hand, vegetation covering the country has a tendency to level and to fill up the low places. These changes are constantly 256 going on about us and it is the study of such successions in plant life and of the conditions obtained-in them that is considered here in this course. At The New York Botanical Garden we have sev­ eral good examples of pond-filling and of the spread of forest trees into open areas. The people enrolled in the course are: Mrs. James J. Montague, 204 Drake Avenue, New Rochelle, N. Y. Mrs. Florence P. Ernst, 88 Buena Vista Drive, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. Miss Rosalie Weikert, 325 East 206th Street, Bronx, N. Y. Mr. Edmund Baermann, 640 East 236th Street, New York, N. Y. Mrs. Dorothy H. Baermann, 640 East 236th Street, New York, N.Y. Miss Josephine M. Hannon, 4142 Boyd Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. Miss Adele M. Hoesten, 2292 Bronx Park East, New York, N. Y. Miss Frances L. Marshall, 210 East 73rd Street, New York, N. Y. Miss Mary F. Hall, 2085 Valentine Avenue, New York, N. Y. Miss Amelia C. S. Petermann, 310 East 161st St., New York N. Y. Miss Minnie L. Levine, 2321 Andrews Avenue, New York, N. Y. Miss Mary T. Person, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. Miss Irene E. Nelson, 524 East 236th Street, New York, N. Y. Miss Ida Enklewitz, 215 East 164th Street, New York, N. Y. Miss Helen Konigsberg, P. S. 90, 166th St. & Sheridan Avenue, New York City. Miss Mary M. Rosenberg, 2065 Grand Concourse, Bronx, N. Y. Miss Mary J. Lynch, 2810 Morris Avenue, New York City. Mr. Oscar Goldman, 3204 Holland Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. Mr. Walter H. Boyce, 78 First Street, Yonkers, N. Y. FORMAN T. MCLEAN, Supervisor of Public Education. 257

NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT

A " Celebration of the Three-Hundredth Anniversary of the First Recognized Use of Cinchona " is to be held at the Missouri Botanical Garden October 31 and November 1. Papers are to be presented dealing with the history, culture, chemical composition, and medicinal uses of cinchona. Mr. Paul F. Shope, Mycologist in the University of Colorado at Boulder, spent a few days in September at The New York Botanical Garden, looking over Colorado polypores. Mr. Shope is on leave of absence from the University of Colorado and will spend the year in graduate study at the Missouri Botanical Gar­ den, St. Louis, Missouri. Professor Sam F. Trelease succeeded Professor Robert A. Harper as executive officer of the Department of Botany of Co­ lumbia University on July 1. Under the terms of the Act of In­ corporation of The New York Botanical Garden, Professor Tre­ lease became on that date ex-officio a member of the Corporation, the Board of Managers, and Board of Scientific Directors of the Garden, in succession to Professor Harper. The following visiting botanists have registered in the library during the summer: Mr. W. Clement Percival, Syracuse, N. Y. Prof. W. T. Fitzpatrick, Ithaca, N. Y.; Prof. J. H. Clark, New Brunswick, N. Y.; Dr. Francis W. Pennell, Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Earl L. Core, West Virginia University; Dr. Walter T Swingle, Dr. M. A. Raines, and Mr. V. H. Florell, Washington D. C.; Prof. Shigeo Yamanouchi, Lmiversity of Chicago; Mr. Howard S. Fawcett and Mr. Fred M. Reed, Riverside, Cal.; Prof W. L. Jepson, Berkeley, Cal.; Mr. J. E. Higgins, Canal Zone Ex­ periment Gardens, Summit, C. Z.; Mr. Carlos E. Chardon, San Juan, P. R.; Dr. George Stroh, Berlin, Germany; Mr. R. H. Compton, Kirstenbosch, S. Africa; and Mr. Felipe M. Salvoza, University of the Philippines.

On September 8th, Dr. Fred J. Seaver and Mr. Edmund H. Fulling represented The New York Botanical Garden at the "Get- Together" of the Bartlett Associates as guests of the F. A. Bart­ lett Tree Expert Company at Stamford, Connecticut. During the 258 forenoon a series of very interesting discussions of the various phases of tree protection work were given, the meeting having been presided over by Dr. E. P. Felt, former state entomologist of New York. Some of the topics discussed were: Japanese Beetle Quarantine; The Effect of the Recent Drought; and Notes on Birch Leaf-Miner, European Pine-Shoot Moth, and Spruce Gall Aphids. The afternoon was devoted to inspection of cavity-fill­ ing and tree-climbing by the Bartlett experts. One of the features of the day was a clambake given in the grounds of the institution. The entire occasion was both instructive and profitable.

Meteorology for September. The maximum temperatures re­ corded at The New York Botanical Garden for each week or part of a week were: 88° F on the 2nd; 83" on the 12th; 86° on the 16th; and 88° on the 22nd and the 26th. The minimum tempera­ tures recorded were: 53° on the 4th; 51" on the 9th; 54° on the 19th; and 49° on the 29th. The total precipitation for the month was 1.80 inches.

ACCESSIONS

LIBRARY ACCESSIONS FROM MARCH 21 TO APRIL 30, 1930 (CONTINUED) LINDEMANN, EDUARD VON. Flora chersonesis. Odessae, 1881. LITARDIERE, RENE DE, & MALCUIT, G. Contributions a t'etude phyto- sociologique de la Corse; le massif du Renosa. Paris, 1926. LORET, HENRI, & BARRANDON, AUGUSTE. Flore de Montpellier; ou, analyse descriptive des plantes vasculaires de I'Herault. Ed. 2. Montpellier, 1886. LUCAS, ARTHUR HENRY SHAKESPEARE. The algae of Commonwealth Bay. Sydney, 1919. MANSFIELD, IRA F. Contributions to the flora of Beaver County [Penn­ sylvania] from the Mansfield Herbarium. 1865-1903. MARCHAND, NESTOR LEON. Recherches sur V organisation des Burseracees. Paris, 1868. MARCOTTE, JULES. £tude generate du Matico. Paris, 1863. MARRET, LEON. Les fieurs des montagnes. Paris, 1924. MARTIN-LAVIGNE, E. Recherches sur les bois de la Guyane; leur identi­ fication a I' aide des caracteres exterieurs et niicroscopiques. Lons- le-Saunier, 1909. MARTONNE, LOUIS EUGENE EMMANUEL DE CHEVALIER, AUGUSTE, J. B. & CUENOT, LUCIEN CLAUDE MARIE JULIEN. Biogeographie. Paris, 1927. 259

MATHIEU, JEAN JOSEPH AUGUSTE, & TRABUT, LOUIS. Les hauts-plateaux oranais. Alger, 1891. MAURY, PAUL JEAN BAPTISTE. Htudes sur I' organisation et la distribution geographique des Plombaginacees. Paris, 1886. MITCHELL, THOMAS LIVINGSTONE. Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia. 2 vols. London, 1838. MOREAU, FERNAND. Les Lichens; morphologic, biologie, systematique. Paris, 1928. NILSON, ARVID. The timber trees of Nezv South Wales. Sydney, 1884. NUSSLIN, OTTO. Forstinsektenkunde. Ed. 4. Herausgegeben von Dr. L. Rhumbler. Berlin, 1927. NYLANDT, PETRUS. De nederlandtse herbarius of kruydt-boeck. Amster­ dam, 1682. . Der verstandigen hovenier, over de twaelf maenden van't faer. Amsterdam, n.d. OWENS, CHARLES ELMER. Principles of plant pathology. New York, 1928. PARODI, LORENZO R. Las malesas de los cultivos en el partido de Per- gamino. Buenos Aires, 1926. PAUCHET, LEON. Recherches sur les Cupulifhres. Paris, 1909. PEREIRA COUTINHO, ANTONIO XAVIER. A flora de Portugal (plantas vasculares) disposta em chaves dichoiomaicas. Paris, 1913. PESCOTT, EDWARD EDGAR. Bulb growing in Australia. Melbourne, n.d. PLAUSZENSKI, P. Graines et plantes seches. n.p.n.d. POBEGUIN, CHARLES HENRI OLIVIER. Essai sur la flore de la Guinee fran- gaise. Paris, 1906. POETHIG, KURT, & SCHNEIDER, CAMILLO KARL. Hausgartentechnik. Ber­ lin, 1929. PRATT, MERRITT BERRY. Shade and ornamental trees of California. Sac­ ramento, 1922. QUINCY, JOHN. Pharmacopoeia officinalis & extemporanea; or, a com- pleat English dispensatory in four parts. Ed. 3. London, 1720. KEICHOW, HANS. Alte burgerlxche Gartenkunst. Berlin, 1927. REMY, £Z:ECHIEL JULES. Champignons. Paris, 1861. REYNOLDS, PHILIP KEEP. The banana; its history, cultivation and place among staple foods. Boston, 1927. PICHARD, OLIVER JULES. Florule des clochers et des toitures des eglises de Poitiers (Vienne). Paris, 1888. ROCHUSSEN, JAN JACOB. Culture et fecondation artxficielle des ceriales et des arbres fruitiers de Daniel Hooibrenk et leur application aux Indes neerlandaises. Paris, 1864. ROTHMAYR, JULIUS. Essbare und giftige Pilze des Waldes. Luzern, 1914. ROUSSEAU, JEAN. £tude de quelques especes des genres Malva et Lava­ tera. Lons-le-Saunier. 1925. ROUY, GEORGES C. CH. Conspectus de la flore de France. Paris, 1927. RUTTEN, LOUIS MARTIN ROBERT, ed. Science in the Netherlands East Indies. [Amsterdam, 1929?] 260 SAINT YVES, ALFRED. Claves analyticae Festucarum veteris orbis (Sub- gen. Eu-Festucarum). Rennes, 1927. . Les Festuca de la section Eu-Festuca et leurs variations dans les Alpes-Maritimes. Geneve, 1913. SANDERS, THOMAS WILLIAM. Flower foes. London, n.d. . Fruit foes. London, 1921, • . Vegetable foes. London, 1922. SAPORTA, LOUIS CHARLES JOSEPH GASTON DE. Die Pfianzenwelt von dem Erscheinen des Menschen. Vbersetzt von Carl Vogt. Braunsweig, 1881. SCHARFETTER, RUDOLF. Alpenpflanzen. Bielefeld, 1927. SCHEELE, GEORG HEINRICH ADOLF. Revue des Hieraciums d' Espagne et des Pyrenees . . . avec notes par M. Edouard Timbal-Lagrave. Auch, 1884. SCHWAIGHOFER, ANTON. Tabellen zur Bestimmung einheimscher Sporen- pflanzen. Wien, 1892. SEE, PIERRE. Les maladies du papier pique; les champignons chromogenes qui les provoquent; les modes de preservation. Paris, 1919. SMILES, SAMUEL. Life of a Scotch naturalist; Thomas Edward. New York, 1876. SOUBEIRAN, JEAN LEON. Essai sur la matiere organisee des sources sul- fureuses des Pyrenees. Paris, 1858. SPIRE, CAMILLE. Contribution a I' etude des Apocynees; en particular des lianes Indo-Chinoises. Paris, 1905. STERZEL, JOHANN TRAUCOTT. Die Flora des Roihliegenden im nordwest- lichen Sachsen. Berlin, 1886. STRASBURGER, EDOUARD, & OTHERS. Lehrbuch der Botanik filr Hoch- schxden. Ed. 11. Jena, 1911. . Ed. 16. Jena, 1923. Studi sulla vegetazione nel Piemonte pubblicatx a ricordo dell 11. cen- tenario della fondasione dell' Orto botanico della R. Universita di Torino J72g-ig2g. Torino, 1929. (Given by the Director of the Turin Botanic Garden.) SYDOW, PAUL. Anleitung zum Sammeln der Kryptogamen. Stuttgart, 1885. TANAKA, YOSHIO. Useful plants of Japan, described and illustrated. 4 vols, text in Japanese, 3 v. plates. Tokyo, n.d. . Index in English, Tokyo, 1891. . English translation. Tokyo; .1895. THOMPSON, JAMES PARK. British New-Guinea. London, 1892. TRAPPEN, JOHANN EBERHARD VAN DER. Herbarium vivum; of verzameling van gedroogde voorbeelden van nut tig e gewassen, . . . met derzelver beschrijving. 2 vols. Haarlem, 1839-43. Voss, ANDREAS. Botanisches Hilfs-und Wdrterbuch fiir Gartner, Garten^ freunde und Pflanzenliebhaber. Ed. 7. Berlin, 1927. VUYCK, LAURENS, & PAVORD SMITS, H. C. VAN DE. Naamlijst der neder- tandsche gewassen, afgebeeld en beschreven in Deel I—xxv der Flore Balava. s'Gravenhage, 1920. PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN

Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes, news, and non-technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To others, io cents a copy; $1.00 a year. Now in its thirty-first volume. Mycologia, bimonthly, devoted to fungi, including lichens; $4.00 a year; single copies not for sale. [Not offered in exchange.] Now in its twenty- second volume. Addisonia, quarterly, devoted exclusively to colored plates accompanied by popular descriptions of flowering plants; eight plates in each number, thirty-two in each volume. Subscription price, $10.00 a year. [Not offered in exchange.] Now in its fifteenth volume. Bulletin of The New York Botanical Garden, containing reports of the Director-in-Chief and other official documents, and technical articles em­ bodying results of investigations. Free to all members of the Garden; to others, $3.00 per volume. Now in its fourteenth volume. North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North Amer­ ica, including Greenland, the West Indies, and Central America. Planned to be completed in 34 volumes. Roy. 8vo. Each volume to consist of four or more parts. 64 parts now issued. Subscription price, $1.50 per part; a limited number of separate parts will be sold for $2.00 each. [Not offered in exchange.] Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden. Price to members of the Garden, vols. I-VI, $1.50 per volume; to others, $3.00. Vol. VII, $2.50 to members; to others, $5.00. Vol. I. An Annotated Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yel­ lowstone Park, by Per Axel Rydberg. ix + 492 pp., with detailed map. 1900. Vol. II. The Influence of Light and Darkness upon Growth and Devel­ opment, by D. T. MacDougal. xvi + 320 pp., with 176 figures. 1903. Vol. III. Studies of Cretaceous Coniferous Remains from Kreischer­ ville, New York, by A. Hollick and E. C. Jeffrey, xiii + 138 pp., with 29 plates. 1909. Vol. IV. Effects of the Rays of Radium on Plants, by Charles Stuart Gager. viii + 478 pp., with "J2> figures and 14 plates. 1908. Vol. V. Flora of the Vicinity of New York: A Contribution to Plant Geography, by Norman Taylor, vi -j- 683 pp., with 9 plates. 1915. Vol. VI. Papers presented at the Celebration of the Twentieth Anni­ versary of The New York Botanical Garden, viii + 594 pp., with 43 plates and many text figures. 1916. Vol. VII. Includes New Myxophyceae from Porto Rico, by N. L. Gardner; The Flower Behavior of Avocados, by A. B. Stout; Descrip­ tions of New Genera and Species of Plants Collected on the Mulford Biological Exploration of the Amazon Valley, 1921-1922, by H. H. Rusby; and The Flora of the Saint Eugene Silts, Kootenay Valley, British Co­ lumbia, by Arthur Hollick. viii + 464 pp., with 47 plates, 10 charts, and 11 text-figures. 1927. Contributions from The New York Botanical Garden. A series of tech­ nical papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted from journals other than the above. Price, 25 cents each. $5.00 per vol­ ume. In the thirteenth volume. THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN Bronx Park, New York, N. Y. GENERAL INFORMATION Some of the leading features of The New York Botanical Garden are: Four hundred acres of beautifully diversified land in the northern part of the City of New York, through which flows the Bronx River. A native hemlock forest is one of the features of the tract. Plantations of thousands of native and introduced trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Gardens, including a beautiful rose garden, a rock garden of rock-loving plants, and fern and herbaceous gardens. Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America and foreign countries. Flower shows throughout the year—in the spring, summer, and autumn displays of narcissi, daffodils, tulips, lilacs, irises, peonies, roses, lilies, water-lilies, gladioli, dahlias, and chrysanthemums; in the winter displays of greenhouse-blooming plants. A museum, containing exhibits of fossil plants, existing plant families, local plants occurring within one hundred miles of the City of New York, and the economic uses of plants. An herbarium, comprising more than one million specimens of Amer­ ican 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 character­ istic flora. Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified problems of plant life. A library of botanical literature, comprising more than 39,000 books and numerous pamphlets. Public lectures on a great variety of botanical topics, continuing throughout the year. Publications on botanical subjects, partly of technical, scientific and partly of popular, interest. The education of school children and the public through the above features and the giving of free information on botanical, horticultural, and forestal subjects. The Garden is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the City of New York, private benefactions and membership fees. It possesses now nearly two thousand members, and applications for membership are always welcome. The classes of membership are: Benefactor single contribution $25,000 Patron single contribution 5»000 Fellow for Life single contribution 1,000 Member for Life single contribution 250 Fellowship Member annual fee 100 Sustaining Member annual fee 25 Annual Member annual fee 10 Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes.

The following is an approved form of bequest: / hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1801, the sum of All requests for further information should be sent to THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN BRONX PARK, NEW YORK, N. Y.