. . EDITORIAL . . . 



The meeting of the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science will be held in Columbus, Ohio, next month. An effort is 

 being made to make it a memorable botanical occasion, and it is 

 hoped that all who can do so will be present. The well-known 

 Botanical Club of the Association will be presided over by Dr. Byron 

 D. Halsted, and extends a cordial invitation to all botanists. 





Now that the Audubon Society has begun to take active measures 

 for the protection of our birds, it is pertinent to observe that similar 

 efforts should be exerted to preserve our native wild flowers from 

 complete extermination. This line of reflection has been brought 

 into prominence during the recent blooming season of the Sweet Bay 

 {Magnolia I irgtniana). The plant grows rather abundantly in 

 Southern New Jersey, and every evening the seashore excursion 

 trains returning to Philadelphia have brought large numbers of 

 people, each loaded down with bouquets, bundles and even baskets 

 full of the fragrant white flowers Inasmuch as the magnolia pro- 

 duces its blossoms on the new wood, one only on each branch, and the 

 latter being terminal in their growth, it will be readily perceived that 

 such wholesale stripping of the branches practically cripples the tree 

 for several years to come. The same devastation is wrought in more 

 southern cities, where the natives bring wagon loads of the flowers 

 into the markets for sale. In the vicinity of Washington we have 

 found it practically impossible to find a single blossom in the wild 

 state, while broken stubs of bushes, pitiful remnants of the original 

 plants, are of common occurrence in the localities where the magnolia 

 grows. This species affords a good instance of wholesale destruction 

 of flowers, but it is by no means the only sufferer. The trailing 

 arbutus, the Hartford fern, numerous orchids, and in the South, the 

 rare Georgia bark {Pinckneya) are all examples of plants thousands 

 of which are annually destroyed by indiscriminate picking and care- 

 less uprooting. The botanist needs but little warning in this respect, 

 for no one who is worthy to be called a scientist will wantonly ex- 

 terminate a rare plant; but we address ourselves particularly to that 

 large class of the public who, when attracted by a pretty flower, are 

 accustomed to gather it in large quantities, only to throw it aside in a 

 few hours, when it has wilted and lost its beauty. It is certainly 

 legitimate to use the products of nature for home decoration ; but it 

 is almost as unjustifiable to pick a rare flower and throw it away as to 

 kill a song bird without cause. Both have their places in the economy 

 of nature, and are not to be sacrificed to gratify a passing whim of 

 mankind. 



