472 Harper : Collection of Plants in Georgia 



Glottidium Floridanum (Willd.) DC. 



In a previous paper * I mentioned the remarkable woodiness 

 of the stem of this annual plant. On August 28, while in 

 Americus, I collected some specimens of it (no. 525), including 

 some of the largest stems which I could find. A portion of one 

 of these was recently tested in the engineering laboratories of 

 Columbia University, and found to have a tensile strength of 

 4, 1 3 5 pounds per square inch. I afterward determined the speci- 

 fic gravity of the wood, exclusive of pith, to be .358. So this is, 

 perhaps, the strongest and heaviest annual wood known. The 

 specimens I collected were in full bloom, and the wood of older 

 plants would probably be still stronger. A radial section of the 

 stem shows numerous medullary rays, and the microscopic struc- 

 ture of the wood is doubtless interesting. It may be of interest to 

 note that this species was much more abundant in Americus last 

 summer than it was in 1897, and it now forms dense thickets 

 along Muckalee Creek many square rods in extent, 



I find that this species was first described, with an excellent 

 colored plate, by N. J. Jacquin, under the name of Robinia vesicana 

 (Ic. Plant. Rar. i: 15. //. 148. 178 1-6; Collectanea, i: 105. 

 1786). The specific name Floridanum originated with Willdenow 

 (Sp. PI. 3 : 1252) in 1803. The name of the species should then 

 u be Glottidium vesicarium. A variety {atro-rnbrwn Nash) has 



been described,! bu t to rename it would be beyond the scope of 

 this paper. Several other synonyms for the species may 

 found in Watson's Bibliographical Index. 



Dolicholus simplicifolius (Walt.) Vail, Bull. Torr. Club, 26: 



114. 1899 



Specimens of this species were collected in Leslie, September 

 5 (no. 584). Intermingled with the normal simple-leaved form 

 were many specimens with the upper leaves trifoliolate, these 



be 



being 



D 



bed by Miss Vail (/. c, 115). From the manner in which 

 the two forms occur together and vary into each other they can 

 only be regarded as mere forms of the same species. Buw 



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* Bull. Torr. Club, 27 : 429. 1900. 

 f Bull. Torr. Club, 23 : 1 01. 1896. 



