1912] Fernald,— Sclerolepis uniflora in Massachusetts 23 
state my experiences with it. Occasionally during several years past 
I have found on a sandplain in Framingham where the bird’s-fc ot 
violet occurs in great abundance plants bearing flowers varying in 
color from a light to a deep magenta, or almost red. Though the 
positicn of these individuals was carefully noted, I have never been 
able to find flowers of the same color in the same spot the succeeding 
season. Finally two of the unusual plants were transplanted to a 
garden. A year later these very plants bore the usual lilac-purple 
flowers. The cause of my inability to rediscover these reddish flowers 
at their old stations was thus suggested, and I uprooted the fickle 
things. 
A similar experience befell me with Rudbeckia hirta. In July 1910 
a specimen of this handsome weed was noticed differing from the 
thousands of others about it on a dry hillside in that the proximal half 
of each ray was a deep brownish-purple, somewhat brighter than the 
disk. It was carefully transplanted to good garden soil. But 
prosperity ruined it, too; this summer’s flowers were plebeian in every 
way. Hence it suffered the fate of the violets. 
It seems, therefore, that in these two cases, weak or pathological 
conditions are *esponsible for the color forms, the death or recovery of 
the abnormal individuals making their rediscovery impossible.— 
A. J. EAMES, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
SCLEROLEPIS UNIFLORA IN MassACHUSETTS.— On the 29th of 
October, 1909, Messrs. J.-F. Collins, Thomas Hcpe and H. W. Preston 
found the unique little pine barren Composite, Sclerolepis, on the 
shores of Wallum Pond in Burrillville, Rhode Island,! the only station 
in New England except Dr. Lewis's at Bradford, New Hampshire.? 
Having occasion recently to look up the location of Wallum Pond, 
the writer was interested to note that it lies partly within the town of 
Douglas in Worcester County, Massachusetts; and since the Com- 
mittee on the Massachusetts Flora had nc record of Sclerolepis from 
the state it seemed worth while to settle whether the plant is as 
localized (found only in Rhode Island) as might be inferred from Pro- 
fessor Collins's note. Accordingly plans were made to visit the pond 
with Mr. F. F. Forbes on October 29 last — on which date in 1909 the 
1 Collins, Ruopora, xii. 13 (1910). 
? F. T. Lewis, RHuoponza, vii. 186 (1005). 
