220 BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



made by Pool.^ The physiognomy and floristic content of the fonnations 

 and associations are described, and much information is given re- 

 garding the habitats and ecological behavior of characteristic species. 

 The prairie grass and short grass formations are given the most ex- 

 tended treatment, as their areal dominance deserves. The role of 

 shrubs and trees in the vegetation of the region is also given extended 

 treatment. Among the most striking phenomena described are the 

 ''pockets" of Celtis occidentalis, Symphoricarpos occidentalis and other 

 species in the midst of the grassland, the occurrence of the northern 

 Betula papyrifera in narrow ravines, and the extension of the western 

 yellow pine along the northern boundary of the state on outcropping 

 rocks of the Loup Fork series, and their derived soils, to a point at which 

 it grows intermixed with eastern tree species. The physical features of 

 the region and the chief soil and climatic factors are briefly treated. The 

 illustrations are very effective aids to the descriptive text. 



A few years ago Pool 's paper would have been considered an eminently 

 complete and satisfactory treatment of the sandhill region, but it is 

 extremely gratifying to note that he alludes to it as a preliminary paper 

 and promises a further study of the region, especially with respect to 

 the operation of environmental conditions. — F.S. 



Flora of Washington and Idaho. — Piper and Beattie have pub- 

 lished a flora of southeastern Washington,^ embracing an area of about 

 7500 square miles lying south of Spokane and east of Walla Walla, and 

 an adjacent strip of Idaho approximately 2000 square miles in size. 

 This region comprises sage-brush plains with Artemisia and Chrysotham- 

 nus, bunch-grass lands with Agropyron spicatum and Poa sandbergii, 

 yellow pine forests and mountain areas rising to 6000 feet, with Abies 

 grandis, Pseudotsuga mucronata and Abies lasiocarpa. The flora accom- 

 panying this range of vegetationaJ conditions numbers 1139 species of 

 ferns and flowering plants. There are keys to families, genera and spe- 

 cies, as well as descriptions of the species. The taxonomi'c treatment of 

 a small area affords an excellent opportunity for making specific state- 

 ments regarding the habitats and local distribution of the plants con- 

 cerned. The authors of this flora have, nevertheless, made it scarcely 

 more satisfactory in this particular than are the floras of large areas. — 

 F.S. 



' Pool, Raymond J., A Study of the Vegetation of the Sandhills of Nebraska. 

 Minn. Bot. Studies*: 189-312, 30 pis., 1.5 figs, in text. 1914. 



-Piper, Charles V. and Beattie, R. Kent, Flora o' Southeastern Washington 

 and Adjacent Idaho. 296 pp., with map. Lancaster, Pa. 1914. ($1.20; sold by 

 The Auditor, State College of Washington, Pullman.) 



