/ 



34 



pleasure of announcing a discovery of my own. On May 28th and 

 June 25th, i88i, I detected Arceuthobium pusillum, Peck, grow- 

 ing very abundantly on Abies nigra in the Graefenberg swamps 

 on the heights of Frankfort, Herkimer County, N. Y., about six 

 miles S. E. of Utica. My surprise was great, inasmuch as the same 

 region had been most thoroughly explored years ago, as shown by 

 the record m Paine's Catalogue. Prof. Asa Gray, Drs. Vasey and 

 Knieskern, John A. Paine, Jr., Edwin Hunt and others were all prob- 

 ably well acquainted with the locality, and it is truly remarkable that 

 the plant should have been overlooked by them, since its great abund- 

 ance now, mdicates that it has had its home there for years Suspi- 

 cion alone on my part led to its discovery. I had received speci- 

 mens from Oswego County from my friend Rev. J. H. Wibbe, and, 

 when his locahty was made known to me, I suspected that the plant 

 m.ght grow nearer home. In ,879 I looked for it in N. Herkimer and 

 Hamilton Counties but failed to find it ; but last year I made a 

 special effort and succeeded. It was an easy discovery, however 

 as almost the first spruce that I examined was literally covered with 

 It. The pistillate plants were the most abundant, and some of them 

 measured nearly an mch in length. The plants were not confined to 

 stunted trees, but were found sparingly on the lower branches of 

 healthy ones. I noticed that all growths of from five to fifteen feet 

 high were favored, especially where the tops had been broken off • 

 and new shoots in a circle at the tops were completely covered I 

 thougnt at the time that Abies alba and A. bahainca might be affect- 

 ed in the same way, but was prevented by ill health from making the 

 mvestigation, and was unable for the same reason to discover any 

 other station. As, in this immediate vicinitv, there are other locali- 

 ties almost identical, I think that another season will show the 



plant to be more widely distributed, and to grow in Oneida Countv 

 as well. . ^ 



Utica, N. Y. Joseph V. Haberer. 



Note on Oregon Grasses—The two grasses here named were 

 collected by Mr. C. G. Pringle at Roseburg, Oregon, Oct. 2d 188 r 



Gastndium australe, P. B. (Thurber in Bot. Cal. ii page 27c) — 

 Dr. Thurber states, upon the authority of Mr. Bolander that this 

 grass IS common in California on the coast, and "late in the season 

 covers the dry hills everywhere." I am not aware of any record 

 having been made of its occurrence in Oregon 



Aristida oliganiha, Mx. (Gray., Man. 5th ed., p. 6i8).-The awns 

 are a httle shorter than m specimens from the Eastern States, and 

 both the glumes and florets are deeply colored with purple This 

 grass has not before been reported west of Colorado. ^ ^ 



F. Lamson Scribner. 



.X. ?f'^'' f some Leaf-forms.-Most aquatic plants are so formed 

 that they offer but httle resistance to moving wafers. M^ny spec e of 



Nitella 



or stems U.,^.o^;^:^:^^"Tx^,S^l "f °"" '"^^^'^ 



rents of water. Ranuna,,.. „ J}^ a"d' P^.^X^Jr^^do^en 



