137 
tween this form and S. graminoides may occur, especially as 
starved forms of the latter would naturally tend to assume the 
general character of S. angustifolium. 
An Allegheny Mountain form of S. angustifolium is very 
slender and delicate, with highly-colored spathe and linear-elon- 
gated outer bract ; the edges of the stem, in certain specimens at 
least, is perfectly smooth. This form also turns blackish in drying. 
Plants from the prairie region, from Minnesota to Kansas, do 
not blacken in drying, and commonly have the edges of the stem 
and leaves perfectly smooth. The bracts of the spathe are often 
minutely papillose or even puberulent, a character of which I have 
found no suggestion in eastern specimens. Both East and West, 
however, furnish ambiguous plants which seem to contradict the 
- indications of the general run of specimens from each region. 
Among the large number of specimens examined, three only 
have geminate spathes. These specimens are all from the same 
" general region, viz., Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois. Collectors’ 
_ notes on two of them record “ flowers white ;” another is labeled 
further by Dr. Englemann “ S. aldidum, Raf., Dry Hills, St. Louis, 
earlier than the blue form, May, 1863.” . 
In Rafinesque’s description of his S. a/bidum* (Atlantic Journ. 
17, 1832) we read “spathe unequally 4 valved,’ the habitat 
of the plant is given as “in West Kentucky.” These develop- 
ments certainly point strongly to the validity of S. aldzdum Raf., 
and suggest a promising subject of field study to anyone who 
may be in a position to prosecute it. 
Three Editions of Stansbury’s Report. 
By FREDERICK V. COVILLE. 
The report of Captain Stansbury’s exploration of the Great 
Salt Lake, was published as Senate Executive Document No. 3, 
Special Sesssion (32d Congress), March, 1851, with the following 
title : 
*It may be stated here asa matter of record that, eight years prior to his de- 
scription of S, a/bidum, Rafinesque wrote the plant down without description as a . : 
album Raf. So it will be found printed in the « First Catalogues and Circulars of the — 
Botanical Garden of Transylvania University at Lexington, in cusses for the - ee e 
1824,” p. 16, This reference is wanting in Index Kewensis. rie 
