1903] Robinson, — Wolffia columbiana in Massachusetts 287 
RECORDS OF WOLFFIA COLUMBIANA IN 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
B. L. ROBINSON. 
IN his valuable paper upon the Lemnaceae of America Mr. C. H. 
Thompson states that he has examined specimens of Wolffia colum- 
biana, Karst. from “ Massachusetts, Robbins, 1870.” ‘There seems 
to be good reason to doubt the accuracy of this record, and as at 
least one manual of our flora has already extended the range of the 
species in question, apparently on the basis of Mr. Thompson’s 
revision, it is worth while to inquire whether the Massachusetts 
record is not founded merely on a clerical error. 
It is true that Dr. J. W. Robbins did collect Wolfia columbiana 
on three occasions, namely in 1829, 1867, and 1870, but in all these 
instances he obtained his material from Connecticut. The earliest 
collection is represented in the Gray Herbarium and bears Dr. 
Robbins’s quaint and formal Latin label, which reads: PLANTAE 
Novak ANGLIAE RoBBiNsIANAE. Wolfia n. sp. Legit Sept. 1829 
e lacuscule prope pagum New Milford, Con., cum tribus Lemnae 
speciebus, J. W. Robbins, M. D., Uxbridge, Mass." On the same 
sheet is a second collection by Robbins from Salisbury, Connecticut, 
the label bearing in Dr. Gray's hand the following amplification of 
the locality: “N. Canaan depot. Ina large pool, a few rods (20- 
60) west of the bridge over the Housatonic, on the S. side of the 
road leading to Plumb’s Pond — say a mile from the depot." These 
specimens were borrowed and examined by Mr. Thompson during 
his work on the Lemnaceae and on the sheet he has noted his 
identification of the specimens as W. columbiana. It will be noted 
that Mr. Thompson has cited in his monograph no specimens of 
this species from Connecticut, and that the date which he assigns to 
Robbins's collection was 1870. Inferring that he might have seen 
specimens of Robbins's collecting in some other herbarium also, I 
have written to Professor William Trelease, Professor N. L. Britton, 
and Dr. J. N. Rose, to learn if such specimens were to be found in 
the herbaria of the Missouri Botanical Garden, the New York 
Botanical Garden, or the National Museum respectively. None was 
found at St. Louis or at Washington, but in the Torrey Herbarium 
at New York, Dr. Britton found, and very kindly forwarded to me in 
