684 PEOCEEDINGS: BOTANICAL SOCIETY 



lections in the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco, found an Amaranthus 

 growing both in cultivation and spontaneously. Its ivory-white seeds, 

 resembling fish-eggs, corresponded exactly with the huauhtli as de- 

 scribed by early writers. Moreover its local name, "guauto," is only 

 a variation of the Nahuatl huauhtli. Near Guadalajara Dr. Palmer 

 found a paste made of this seed and sugar offered for sale in the form 

 of strings of dumplings enveloped in corn husks, under the name of 

 "suale," a corruption of the Nahuatl tzoali. He collected botanical 

 specimens of the plant producing the seed, which proved to be an 

 Amaranthus, evidently a white-seeded form of A. paniculatus. Al- 

 though Dr. Palmer did not realize that he had rediscovered an impor- 

 tant economic plant of the Aztecs, his botanical specimens together 

 with his field notes, found by the writer in the U. S. National Her- 

 barium, have served to establish the identity of the sacred huauhtli. 

 The possibility of cultivating this Amaranthus in suitable situations in 

 the southwestern United States was suggested by the writer. Very 

 closely allied plants, also producing white seeds, are cultivated as grain 

 crops in India, Thibet, South America, and Africa. Of the existence 

 of this particular form in pre-Columbian America there can be no 

 doubt. It remains to be determined whether or not the Asiatic and 

 African plants were endemic in the countries where they are now culti- 

 vated, or were introduced there after the discovery of America. Mr. 

 Safford's paper will appear in full in the Proceedings of the Ninth 

 Congress of Americanists. 



Fungus fairy rings in eastern Colorado and their effect on vegetation 

 (with lantern) : H. L. Shantz and R. L.. Piemeisel. (To be published 

 by the U. S. Department of Agriculture.) 



Report on the local flora: A. S. Hitchcock. 



W. E. Safford, Corresponding Secretary. 



