proceedings: botanical society 117 



2 parts well rotted manure. In fact, 25 per cent muck practically 

 equalled 33.5 per cent manure. 



The speaker concludes that a good type of cultivated muck soil is 

 valuable for greenhouse work and might be used to take the place of a 

 part or all of the manure. However, it is doubtful if it would be prac- 

 ticable to use muck soil for greenhouse work except where it could be 

 secured near at hand at a low cost. 



The origin and use of upland peat (with lantern) : Frederick V. 



COVILLE. 



Upland peat, formed in thickets of laurel (Kalmia latifolia), was 

 used experimentally in growing various species of plants. Among 

 those successfully grown were a number of rare species seldom seen in 

 cultivation and very difficult to propagate, including plants belonging 

 to the Ericaceae, or heath family, which cannot be grown with suc- 

 cess in ordinary soils. The list includes also several insectivorous 

 plants and orchids. 



Perhaps the most interesting and striking of all is an ornamental 

 tree, Franklinia alatamaha, discovered in 1765 by Bartram and named 

 in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It has beautiful white, sweet-scented 

 flowers resembling those of a magnolia, but with one of the petals 

 modified to a pouch-like form. This plant, originally from Georgia, 

 is not now known to exist in the wild state. Closely allied to it but 

 with evergreen instead of deciduous leaves is the Gordonia lasianthus, 

 of the Southern States, sometimes known as black laurel or loblolly 

 bay. Among our native orchids are the royal lady's slipper, Cypri- 

 pedium reginae, and the pink-flowered C. acaule. A fit companion 

 to them is an exquisite climbing lily-like plant sometimes called the 

 empress lily (Lapageria rosea) with pendant flowers. This plant, dis- 

 covered in the forest region of Chile, takes its generic name from 

 that of the family of the Empress Josephine. Among insectivorous 

 plants successfully grown are Drosera rotundifolia and other sundews; 

 the curious Venus's flytrap {Dionaea muscipula) ; Utricularia subulata 

 and U. cleistogama of sandy swamps and pine barrens. Other plants 

 are Cornus canadensis, the dwarf dogwood or bunch berry; the fra- 

 grant twin-flower (Linnaea borealis) ; Pinckneya pubens, with flowers 

 having inconspicuous petals but with a remarkable calyx of which one 

 or two of the lobes are expanded into large conspicuous blades; and 

 Viola pedata, the pansy violet of our rocky woods and sterile hills, 

 with palmate leaves and velvety upper petals. 



Among the Ericales are Clethra alnifolia, the sweet pepper bush of 

 the Atlantic coast; Dendrium prostratum, the sand myrtle of the pine 

 barrens; Azalea vaseyi, a remarkably beautiful pink-flowered species 

 from the Appalachian region; A. lutea, with orange or yellow flowers; 

 the common A. nudifiora; A. viscosa, with sweet-scented white flowers; 

 and the cultivated Indian Azalea (A. indica). The list also includes 

 Rhododendron maximum, the rose bay laurel; R. carolinianum; and R. 

 praecoz, an interesting early-blooming hybrid formed from R. dahuri- 

 cam from the Lake Baikal district of Siberia and R. ciliatum of the 



