24 
4 
Coast Flora, 1881. Distinguished from other species by the more 
rounded long-petiolate leaves, which, as well as the bracts, are mainly 
in pairs instead of ternate (as occurs more or less frequently in some 
other species), by the closely sessile and unequally parted involucres, 
and by the yellowish flowers ; in all other respects according with the 
the generic character, thus increasing the accepted species of the 
genus to eight. 
The Bulbs of Epilobium palustre.— Those who wish to see the 
bulbs of Epilobium palustre^ L. (the E. squamatum of Nuttall) may 
find them in moist low grounds when they first appear in spring. 
Later, the fleshy scales of the bulbs decay and disappear. In autumn, 
they are found at the ends of slender stolons attached to the parent 
root. They are then about an inch long, of a dusky flesh-color, the 
scales regularly overlapping each other along the axis of growth, 
with the bud at the end. The roots spring from between the scales, 
and, as the latter decay as soon as their nutriment is absorbed by the 
growing plant, there are no bulbs to be seen by the time the flowers 
appear. The same bulbs appear on E. molle, Torr., and possibly 
on all the rest of the family. 
Lucy A. Millington. 
h 
Distribution of Weeds.— Among the means whereby weeds are 
distributed, their being generally objectionable to cattle should not 
be overlooked. When in North Carolina, I noticed that wherever 
Verbesina Siegesbeckia had to struggle unaided with other native vege- 
tation there were only plants here and there among scores of other 
species of vegetation. When it was growing in a pasture or along 
the roadside where cattle ate, it soon took possession of the whole 
surface, simply because cattle kept other species from seeding, 
while avoiding this, and thus it had the whole ground to itself. 
It is very often an argument that an introduced plant is better adap- 
ted to the new location than the native, because it seems to spread so 
rapidly ; but in most cases it may be because cattle will not touch 
it, and there happen to be few other competitors of its class. It 
gets the whole field to itself. The ox-eye daisy and the buttercup 
spread so amazingly quite as much because cattle let them go to 
seed as that^ the climate or soil is unusually favorable. Around 
our large cities, Siramonium, wild chamomile, Canada thistle, worm- 
seed and other well-known weeds spread only because goats, sheep, 
cows and geese avoid them, and they have thus nothing to interfere 
with their rapid spread. These remarks are suggested by an idea 
thrown out in a foreign periodical I have just been reading, that the 
great spread of some European weeds in America is a proof that they 
have found a soil and climate superior to those '' for which they were 
specially created.'' 
Thomas Meehan. 
New Species of Ferns.— in our next number, Prof. D. C. Eaton 
will describe some new United States ferns, give new stations for a 
number of old species, and notice Prof. Lemmon's very interesting 
discoveries made last August in Arizona. 
