- 126 



H 



J 



360.* Glyceria procumbens, Sm.— June. 8th Ave. 

 361. Poa trivialis, L. — May. 107th St. 

 t362.* Festuca Myurus, L.— May. 107th St. 

 ..h^S* Jfordeum murinum, L. — July. Com. 8th Ave. 

 364.* Paspalum disiichum, L.— June-Aug. Com. So. 

 365.* Equisetum variegatum, Schlecht.— June. Com. 



New York, Dec. 3, 1880. Addison Brown. 



J 



§ 100. The Value of Herbaria.— The following extracts froni La 

 Phyfographie par Alph. De Candolle, Paris, 1S80, merit the consider- 

 ation of those who may have it in their power to promote the growth 

 . of our public collections of dried plants : 



The purposes of Herbaria are to acquaint us with the exact names 

 of plants, to furnish the materials necessary for their description, and 

 to preserve the evidences or explanations in regard to descriptions 

 already published. ' . 



Collections of this nature are superior to those we can have in 

 Zoology. Dried plants are in a condition of completeness or nearly 

 so. whereas shells, skeletons or stuffed animals exhibit rtierely certain 

 portions of the organism. They have usually several flowers or fruit, 

 and these admit of additional dissection for their verification Spec- 

 imens are so little altered in drying, that it is easy by means of a sim- 

 ple immersion to view the most minyte and delicate organs In cer- 

 tain cases we see them, even better than in the living plant; as 

 tor instance when we examine ovules involved in a pulpy sub- 

 stance, or membranes that become very nicely separated by desiccation. 



If we compare collections of dried plants with those of living ones 

 the respective advantages are more evenly balanced than is gener- 

 ally supposed. In a Herbarium we see simuUaneously specimens of 

 neighboring species, and of those from different localities ; also spec- 

 imens of different ages, or of different states of the same species. 

 U e know the name of the plant if the collection has been well deter- 

 mmed and are referred directly to the authors who have spoken of 



-ru r •^'"^ '/""^ °^ "' I''-'^^ ^^ °'"^g'"' ^^ it is indicated on the label. 

 1 he living plant, on the other hand, affords more opportunities for 



certain anatomical observations ; it admits of a better description of 

 some characters of little importance, such as color, odor, etc. But 

 ; plants m the field and forest are not named, and in Botanical Gar- 

 dens they are often very badly named. The geographical origin of 

 their plants IS almost always uncertain or unknown. Individuals are 

 often modified by cultivation and by hybridation ; seldom can we see 

 fru,t_ along with the flower ; seldom numerous individuals of the same 

 species ; and more seldom still is a botanist permitted to gather suf- 

 ficient specimens of an exotic plant, so that he can examine it as he 

 would and can preserve the evidences to substantiate his work 



When we reflect upon these differences, we are surprised to see so 

 much lukewarmness shown by anatomists and physiologists to all that 



" Te'o? tL'^^'^f • '^•f'^""^" '^'''' ^>^ '^^'^ gentlemen could not be 

 sure of the name of any plants except the most common ones. They go 



