46 Rhodora [March 
RHODE ISLAND PLANT-NOTES, — I. WASTES. 
J. FRANKLIN COLLINS. 
PROBABLY no botanist living in or near a large town or city is 
ignorant of the fact that the waste-lots and refuse-heaps in the vicinity 
are prolific sources of botanical surprises. Observations upon the un- 
usual plants of such places, however, though worthy of local note, are 
usually of little scientific value unless the plants demonstrate their 
ability to survive adverse conditions of soil and climate and persist or 
spread. 
During the last ten’ years, I have been considerably interested in 
these waste spots about Providence, and in 1893, published a few 
notes! on some of the plants found in such situations. Since then 
additional notes have been made, either upon these or upon later 
arrivals within our range, and the object of this article is to present, 
briefly, the more interesting of these later notes. None of the plants 
here mentioned are listed in the latest catalogue of Rhode Island 
plants, published in 1888, and doubtless many botanists will think, with 
reason, that some of them ought not to be included in such a catalogue. 
However, I propose to present them in such a way that each reader 
may, to a certain extent, be his own judge as to the value or worthless- 
ness of each as a member of our state flora. 
Nearly all species mentioned are represented by specimens in my 
herbarium, and all were, unless otherwise noted, collected on the wastes 
about Providence, by the writer. For the purpose of making these 
notes a little more complete, I have inserted the names (marked with*) 
of the few plants of waste places mentioned in my notes of 1893 (l.c.), 
and the reader is referred to that article for the original observations. 
Only the later notes are here given. 
Artemisia Kansana Britt. [Britt. and Brown’s Flora, 3: 466], 
has been sent to me from Pawtucket by Miss M. L. McCudden, in 
sufficient quantity to permit specimens being placed in the Brown 
University, Gray and New England Club herbaria. 
*Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh, has persisted for the past eight years 
at one station. 
*Grindelia squarrosa Dunal, is quite abundant at one station 
1 Bull. Torr. Bot, Club, 20: 240. 
