j2 THE PLANT WORLD. 



of the poke-weed ( Phytolacca decandra ) pushing itself through the 

 soil, when none had been seen for years within ten miles. — J as. A. 

 Graves., Susquehanna, Pa. 



Several quite rare plants of the Southern Alleghanies were col- 

 lected in Cocke county, Tenn., during the last week in August of this 

 year. One was Silene ovata Pursh, a tall catchfly with white, fringed 

 petals, related to the Starry Campion (Silene stellata). It was abundant 

 at one point near Lemon's Gap, at an altitude of 3,500 feet or there- 

 abouts, growing in fertile, open woods. With it grew Thalictrtim 

 macrostylum, a very distinct species of Meadow- Rue, published a few 

 years ago by Dr. Small and Mr. Heller. The beautiful purple-flow- 

 ered Turtle-Head [Chelone Lyoni) was abundant near the head of 

 Wolf Creek, growing with the curious Umbrella-Leaf {Diphylleria 

 cymosa), whose cymes of blue berries were quite conspicuous. On 

 the Bluff Mountain, at about 4,500 feet altitude, that prettiest of dod- 

 ders, Cnscuta rostrata, with bright golden stems and delicate white 

 flowers grew in profusion, often upon a showy golden-rod, Solidago 

 Curtisii. On dry cliffs along the French Broad Pentstemon Smallii 

 made its home beside the Hairy Mock-Orange ( Philadelphus hirsutus), 

 both in mature fruit. In a dense tangle of blackberry-briars and mus- 

 dine vines, on the river bank, excellent fruiting specimens of a rare 

 loose-strife {Lysimachia Frascri) were found. Some of the plants 

 were four feet high. On a dry bank near the river quite a little thicket 

 of the Small Rhododendron {R. punctatnm) was discovered. Several 

 new stations were found along the French Broad for that rare and 

 beautiful shrub, Bnckleya distichopJiylla. The pistillate plants bore 

 an abundance of nearly ripe fruit. One of the most delicate of climb- 

 ing plants, Adliimia fwigosa, the Climbing Fumitory, hung in great 

 masses of blossom from the branches of shrubs on a bluff near Point 

 Rock. The YeWow-'W 006. {Cladrastis tinctoria), a singularly hand- 

 some tree, is quite abundant on the river bank about midway between 

 Point Rock and Wolf Creek. Four years ago I found it in full blos- 

 som in May. This time a long search failed to reveal any fruit. It 

 would be interesting to know whether the Yellow-Wood often sets 

 fruit. Fourteen species of orchids were found about Wolf Creek, the 

 rarest and most interesting being the odd, leafless Hexalectris aphyl- 

 lus, with striped brown sepals and petals, and white and crimson lip. 

 The blossoms exhale a faint odor of mignonette. A single ablino 

 Cardinal-flower was discovered growing among the usual brilliant red 

 forms. Its corollas were white, dashed with light pink. — Thos. H. 

 Kearney, Jr. , U. S. Department Agriculture. 



