1910] Deane,— Euphorbia Cyparissias in Fruit 59 
species for a long time without the need of fruit, and it is but one ex- 
ample in many to the same effect. 
After this experience I naturally wanted to know how other botan- 
ists had fared in this regard, and first I examined the large collection of 
specimens in the herbarium of the New England Botanical Club with- 
out finding a single fruit. In the Gray Herbarium, however, I found 
two developed capsules, one on a plant collected by the roadside in 
Almanarre, Department of Var, France, on April 17, 1905, by F. 
Raine, and the other on a plant collected at Deidesheim, Bavarian 
Palatinate, Germany, no date, by Schultz Bipontinus. The latter 
specimen is from the herbarium of George Thurber. I then wrote to 
over thirty botanists having herbaria and I received replies from all 
but two or three. In but two instances did I receive records of fruit. 
Mr. W. W. Eggleston wrote me that in the Columbia University 
Herbarium, now at the New York Botanical Garden, there are three 
fruiting specimens, one from this country and two from Europe. ‘The 
first one, which is mislabelled Euphorbia Esula L., was collected at 
Arrochar, Staten Island, N. Y., June 8, 1895, by W. C. Kerr. On 
this plant are more than twenty pods. Most of them "appear plump 
and are well filled." Another specimen which is from the Meisner 
Herbarium, was collected at Bern, Switzerland, in 1827. The col- 
lector's name is not given. "his specimen has no pods on the plant, 
but there are more than twenty-five seeds in a pocket. . . . Many of the 
seeds....are plainly ripe.” The third specimen was collected near 
Nyborg, Fyen, Denmark, June 15, 1901, by K. Wiinstedt. “This 
has at least seven pods.” Most of them “appear plump and are well 
filled." ' Judge J. R. Churchill has a specimen that he collected at 
Blumenthal, Mürren, Switzerland, on August 31, 1907. It “has at 
least 12 well developed fruits on its 16 peduncles. Some of the cap- 
sules are ripe and dehiscent, showing within the plump, large, seeds.” 
As the collector was not looking for a fruiting specimen, it is fair to 
infer that there was more fruit in the vicinity. 
The above records of fruit from but five stations in Europe and but 
two in this country, Shelburne, N. H., and Staten Island, N. Y., in so 
many herbaria examined, shows pretty conclusively that the plant has 
in a great measure lost its power of setting fruit, at least in America. It 
doubtless does fruit more or less freely in its native European home, 
but it is strange that so few fruiting specimens should exist in our large 
herbaria on this side of the water, the species being such a common one, 
