212 



ebeneum, Alt), which is frequent along the same ridge farther to 

 the south. The most striking feature of the vegetation near the 

 Cheilanthes '^t^ixon is the vigorous abundance of Opnntia vulgaris. 

 Haw. I also found, close by, Asclepias verticillata, L., which I 

 have not detected anywhere else on the island. 



E. E. Sterns. 



P. S.— Since writing the above, I learn that Judge Addison 

 Brown detected the plant during the interval between Denslow's 

 collection and mine. He says, in a note dated July 25th: '* I 

 suspect the location of your specimens is the same that I founds 



My loca- 

 tion was near the top of the high ridge, looking west, and about 

 one-fourth mile to the south of the Inwood railroad station. 

 When passing last, in haste, a year or two ago, I missed it. 

 This indicates clearly two stations, as mine has an eastern expo- 

 sure, and so had Denslow's, as appears from the ticket on his 



though I do not remember * Beck's Inwood House.' 



M 



specimens in the Columbia College Herbarium, 



E. E. S. 



Abnormal Ash Leaves. 



A single tree of the green ash {Fraximis viridis, Michx. f.), 

 bore last year a large number of abnormal leaves. Instead of 

 the ordinary three pairs of lateral leaflets and the single one at 

 the top» many of the leaves had two pairs of leaflets in place of 

 the lower pair; others developed two pairs in place of the second 

 pair, and in others the leaf was normal, excepting one additional 

 leaflet at one or the other of the pairs of leaflets. In order to 

 arrive at an idea of the prevailing abnormal forms, one hundred 

 leaves were gathered from various branches of the tree and exam- 

 ined, with the following tabulated results : 



Extra pair 



at 



1st and 3d 



nodes. 



15 



Extra pair 

 at 1st node. 



19 



Extra pair 



at 1st and 



one extra at 



•2d node. 



20 



j Extra pair 



at 2d and one 



extra at Ist 



node. 



7 



One extra 



at Ist and 



at 2d 



node. 



7 



Ono extra at 

 1st node- 



18 



One extra at 

 2d node. 



14 



It will be seen that the larger number have one or two extra 

 leaflets at the basal pair. The abnormality here indicated would 

 have been passed without comment had it been common to all 



4 



