10 Rhodora [JANUARY 
In cross section these are shown to have a loosely cellular structure, 
consisting of thin-walled parenchyma, with a few slender, scarcely 
lignified vascular bundles interspersed. Mr. C. S. Hudson examined 
these corms and states that they contain no starch. We have not as 
yet obtained a sufficient quantity to enable him to determine the 
chemical nature of the cell contents. 
The connecting rootstocks or runners are 3 to 10 or 15 em. long, 
about 1 mm. thick, obscurely angled, with irregular internodes, and 
sparingly branching or simple. The thin scales are often reduced to 
shreds. 
The illustration shows one of the moniliform corms with runners 
connecting it to young plants. Two very young buds may be seen 
at the nodes and a third short runner with a slightly swollen internode 
at the end. 
The habit here shown is unlike that of any grass so far as we know, 
Panicum bulbosum H. B. K. most nearly approximating it. At first 
sight these moniliform corms suggest some pathological condition 
or that the swellings may be occupied by nematodes but a dozen or 
more of these corms were dissected without finding either worms or 
diseased tissue. 
It would be greatly appreciated if local botanists will examine 
colonies of either species of Cinna for these subterranean organs and 
send specimens fresh if possible to the writer at the Department of 
Agriculture. 
BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, Washington, D. C. 
ERUCASTRUM POLLICHII ADVENTIVE IN AMERICA. 
B. L. ROBINSON. 
Tue difficulty which has been experienced in ascertaining the pre- 
cise dates and places at which some European plants, such as Lactuca 
Scariola L., Sisymbrium altissimum L., Brassica juncea (L.) Cosson., 
etc., now widely distributed as weeds in America, first reached our 
continent, suggests the desirability of putting promptly on record 
the appearance of such related species as may be discovered getting 
a foothold upon American soil, for these also may in future become 
equally important elements in our flora. 
