448 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. XV, No. 4, 



11. Trifolium hybridum L. Alsike Clover. 



Perennial; erect or ascending; stem 3 ft. high; leaves 2-5 in. 

 long, 3 in. wide; leaflets 1>4 in. long, 3^ in. wide, obovate, cuneate 

 at the base, serrate; flowers pinkish. Open woodlands and waste 

 places. General. From Europe. 



12. Trifolium repens L. White Clover. 



Perennial; branching at the base; branches creeping, often 

 rooting at the nodes; leaves 5 in. long, 1 in. wide; leaflets 1 in. 

 long, ^4 ill- wide, cuneate at the base, denticulate, usually with a 

 prominent white or reddish ornamental spot in the center; flowers 

 white; pod about 4-seeded. General and abundant. Naturalized 

 from Europe. 



Essentials of College Botany — This new textbook by 

 Dr. C. E. Bessey and his son E. A. Bessey, published by Henry 

 Holt and Company, shows a decided advance over the senior 

 author's "The Essentials of Botany" first published 35 years 

 ago. In comparing the two books one cannot but be profoundly 

 impressed with the great change that botany has undergone in 

 this short period of time. 



The book is well balanced in its presentation of the various 

 fundamental subjects usually covered in the first course of college 

 botany in America and should be found ideal for use in many 

 colleges and normal schools. One of its highly desirable features 

 is its modem presentation of plant classification, the authors 

 having entirely discarded the antiquated systems still in general 

 use. The phyletic arrangement given will certainly lead the 

 student to a thoughtful study of plant relationships and the 

 evolutionary processes which have brought about the system as 

 one finds it in living plants. The reviewer can well remeinber 

 some desperate struggles in attempting to harmonize the facts of 

 morphology and evolution as an abstract principle with the 

 classification which was in vogue when he first began the serious 

 study of plants. The student who begins with the "Essentials" 

 will experience no such difficulty and save time for a deeper study 

 of the facts involved. 



It appears that just as Bessey's original text presented a new 

 phase in botanical study in America so will the present book 

 lead to a new and better method in the teaching of plant phylogeny 

 and in the arrangement of plant groups and series in taxonomic 

 work and systematic manuals. 



J. H. S. 



