Vol. V, No. 8.] BULLETIN or THE TorREY Botanicat Cus. [New York, Aug,, 1874. 
§ 105. Suffolk County Notes.—Onopordon acanthium, L.—In 
Prof. Peck’s Report for 1872 Greenport and Shelter Island are given 
’ as new stations of this rare plant. I sawit about a year ago grow- 
ing on the new camp-meeting grounds at the latter place, where it 
will doubtless soon be exterminated in the course of the improve- 
ments now waking. There it was small, and growing in dry, sandy 
soil, doubtless stunted by the drouth; no specimens seen were more 
than two feet in height, and none had bloomed by July 24th. 
This season I saw a patch growing herein Northville, where part of 
a boat load of ashes from the western part of the State or Canada 
had been dumped last season; also near Riverhead, just inside the 
fence bordering the highway, and in the edge of a field of oats a 
row two rods in length was very conspicuous through June and 
July, although I had never noticed any there before. They made a 
splendid growth, attaining a height of six or seven feet, bloom- 
ing abundantly all through July, and really looked as if they had 
been planted there. After some scratches in the endeavor to ob- 
tain specimens without a knife, I left them for a more convenient 
season, but, when I passed that way again, found them ignominiously 
pitched into the street. 
In the Manual description, among the generic characters, I read 
“bristles of the pappus—not’ plumose.” In all the specimens I 
have examined the bristles have fine barbs pointing upwards. Is 
not the term plumose rather indefinite ? 
Block Island-—A recent visit to this little island proved it to be 
the poorest locality for botanizing I had ever seen; the whole surface, 
which bears much resemblance in configuratiou and character to 
Montauk, being under cultivation and entirely destitute of trees or 
shrubs, excepting a very few silver poplars in the sheltered angles 
of dwellings. I don’t imagine that there is a single botanist among 
the fourteen hundred inhabitants. The only spontaneous vegeta- 
tion I noticed were Rumex crispus, Cirsium arvense, those horrible 
pests, very abundant in fields near the landing, Lycium vulgare, the 
Duke of Argyle’s “ tea-plant,” extensively planted for ornament and 
escaping from cultivation in many places, and two or three common 
water plants in a small pond. But the growth of marine alge was 
to my eyes something wonderful. Never, even in tropical waters, 
have I seen them growing with a tithe of the luxuriance they dis-_ 
play upon the rocks of a basin that is less than four years old. 
There were forests of fucus, which with the wwva made a dense 
covering for the rocks, and then there were huge rosettes ot kelp 
from four to six feet in diameter, with waving fronds almost as long, 
curving gracefully outwards. Altogether, they formed as brilliant 
a parterre for a “sea-garden ” as heart could wish. 
Cratzegus Crus-galli, L.—Notes made June 14th—Young thorns 
14-2’ long, still soft and flexible, have several minute but distinct 
triangular-lanceolate leaflets, thus adding another characteristic 
to that of position in proof of their branch-like nature. I have 
seen these thorns bearing true buds in winter—of course, from the 
axils of the scale-like leaves. ‘These ugly thorns are then .degener- 
ated or partially developed branches, serving to ward off animal 
enemies. And another singular fact in this connection 1s that only 
