264 THE PI.ANT WORLD 



Even outside of pomology Genipa americana, standing at the head of 

 the highly respectable family Rubiaceae, deserves attention as a timber 

 tree of the first rank. The heart-wood is of a pale olive-brown, while 

 the sap-wood is a clear creamy white ; the specific gravity is given as 

 .80 to .86 ; is very fine-grained, strong, and susceptible of a good polish, 

 and to be found in every carpenter-shop on the island. Though it does 

 not come well from cuttings, it is readily started from seed and is one of 

 our quickest-growing trees. The trunk is nearly always straight, with 

 few branches, which are tipped with large, obovate or lanceolate leaves ; 

 the bark is thickish, smooth, and olive-brown in color. The flowers are 

 about one inch across, with a suggestion of the fragrance of the closely- 

 related Gardenia, white at first, but soon turn to a dull yellow. 



Mayagiiez, Porto Rico. O. W. BARRETT. 



FIELD NOTES. 



In a rich woodland eight or nine miles north of Baltimore we came 

 across a plant of the yellow coral-root {.Corallorhiza ')miltiflora flavida) 

 which had hitherto been found in Nebraska and New York. The whole 

 plant was light yellow and the white lip had no purple spots on it. That 

 was about September 1. Later search brought to light eight more stalks, 

 all of which had only the seed vessels, the flowers having withered. 



It has been suggested in the case of many plants that they have 

 their " off years " in which they bloom but sparingly. This seems to be 

 true of Pogonia verticillata. In June, 1901, while in Connecticut, I spent 

 one entire afternoon trying to find it in bloom, but failed, though at least 

 one hundred and fifty plants were carefully examined . They appeared to be 

 perfectly healthy and were of a good size. It may not be fair to compare 

 them with Maryland plants, but in 1902 I found dozens of them near 

 Baltimore, a rare find, by the way, in that region. It was too late for 

 flowers, but nearly every plant had a well-developed seed vessel upon it. 

 Next year is looked forward to with interest to see whether they will 

 bloom freely or not. ________..^ C. E. Waters. 



Dr. C. E. Waters's note in the October number of the Plant World, 

 on " Some Abnormal Flowers of the Wild Columbine," recalls to my 

 mind a large colony of these plants which I found in South Deerfield, 

 Mass. , last spring. There were perhaps fifty plants growing among loose 

 boulders at the foot of a mountain near the Connecticut River. Nearly 

 all of the flowers were erect, and appeared to have been stunted in their 

 development. All were green with a slight red tint. At the time this 

 phenomenon was attributed to a heavy frost which occurred a short time 

 before. A. Vincent Osmun. 



Amherst, Mass. 



