in this locality, and, 



57 



in this town. Flowering in June, it is so abu 

 whole field of several acres a bright pink tint. 



Querctis palustris^ Du Roi, is quite common 

 in every specimen that I have examined, the acorns are marked with 

 longitudinal stripes of bright orange-color, I find no mention of 

 this in Gray, or in Emerson's Trees of Massachusetts oir in Michaux's 

 Sylva, and am at a loss to explain it. If it is a characteristic of the 

 type it would seem of sufficient importance to merit mention. If 

 merely a form it is interesting, and perhaps marks a hybrid between 

 the type and Q. coccinea^ Wang., var. tindoria, 

 knows volunteer an explaination ? 



Amherst. Mass.. March 20th. 1882. 



Will some one who 



W 



Vegetable Fibres in the Oriole's Nest.— A nest of the Icterus 



Baltimore sent me from Westchester, N.Y., by Mr. W, D. Abbott, 

 proves to be made of the fibres of Asdcpias Cornuii^ and lined with 

 tawny wool from the fruit of the buttonwood, Platanus occidentalis. 

 The liber-cells of the Asclepias are f of an inch long, very slender, 

 and pointed at both ends. If the bark could be gathered in sufficient 

 quantity it would make a very fine, soft, silky and tough paper, un- 

 like any now made in the country. 



D. C. Eaton. r\ 



Note on Alder Catkins. — I find, upon careful examination in my 

 usual haunts about this city, that the 7nale catkins of the alders seem 

 to have very generally failed this year. It might be well to observe 

 whether this is so elsewhere. Can any one guess the cause ? In 

 many years of herborizing I never knew them scarce before. Now 

 it is difficult to find any, and the few detected are stunted and poor. 



Providence, R. I, W. W. Bailey. 



Botanical Literature. 



A Synopsis of the North American Lie/tens : Part L, comprising the 



Parmeliacei, Cladoniei and Coenogoniei. By Edward Tuck- 

 erman^ A.M. Boston, S. E. Cassino, 1882. 

 The long-felt want of a guide to the North American Lichens is 

 at last supplied, and in a manner which leaves nothing to be desired. 

 It is now thirty-four years since the first Synopsis by the learned 

 author was published ; and that, though it gave the best descriptions 

 of our lichens in the language, had become to a large extent obso- 

 lete through the advance in knowledge both of the anatomy and of 

 the species of these most difficult plants; and the difficulties in the 

 way of ordinary students in their study were almost insurmountable. 

 The microscope, which, in 1848, had hardly been applied to 

 lichens, has revealed new wonders and rendered necessary modifi- 

 cations of the system then adopted, though this in its basis is not sub- 

 stantially changed. The Genera Lichenum of the author presented 

 these modifications in a very able and learned manner, and in the 

 present work we have its application in the study of our species. 

 In mechanical appearance the book is a worthy companion to the 

 Genera, one of the best printed botanical works ever issued in this 

 country, and it is only to be regretted that some errors of the press 

 have escaped correction. 



