NOTES AND NEWS. 63 



Mr. Eug-ene P. Bicknell has just announced his discovery [Bull. 

 Torr. Hot. Club, 24; 528.] of a new species of Wild Ginger, which he 

 names Asaruin reflexiiin, that has hitherto been confounded with the 

 common Asariim Canadense. The new form has the calyx-tube white 

 within and the calyx-lobes flat and reflexed and abrubtly acuminate 

 at .the apex into a straight obtuse point. The old name ( A Canadense) 

 now applies to the form in which the interior of the calyx-tube is 

 purple nearly down to the base, and the calyx-lobes spreading and 

 revolute, passing gradually into a slender, upcurved acumination. 

 Other diiTerences also exist, and are well brought out by the excellent 

 figures given. 



"Where the mosses abandon the scale of colors, the lichens take 

 it up. Although usually of a gray appearance, or of a greenish-yel- 

 low, there are some that are a vivid yellow or even orange color. One 

 will sometimes note a stone wall that looks like a sort of palette upon 

 which Nature has tried her brushes. Upon it will be seen a strange 

 confusion of lines, resolving themselves into a wild harmony. The 

 pigments are not yet ready for the painting of a cardinal flower. It is 

 with a few faint, tremulous touches of color that the artist first be- 

 gins. She works up through anemones, violets and columbines, to the 

 full splendor of the summer or the glory of the autumn." — W. W. 

 Bailey^ in '-'■ Among Rhode Island VVildflozvers" 



All who visit Nantucket express surprise at the number and vari- 

 ety of plants to be found on the little, hilly, sand-blown island. One 

 sees many dooryard friends in the clovers, plantains, wild mustard, 

 wild parsnips, fall dandelions, burdocks, etc. The bogs and roadsides 

 near the beach were interesting- collecting grounds. Here in grassy 

 bogs grows the cranberry, with its little shining, bright-green leaves 

 and conspicuous terminal berries, which become quite ripe in Sep- 

 tember. Just on the borders of these bogs and growing in great pro- 

 fusion is the sweet-smelling, glossy-leaved Bayberry, Wax Myrtle or 

 Sweet Bay, mixed with which one finds the interesting little Choke 

 Cherry. Bordering the meadow fences near the low beach is the fra- 

 grant-flowered Pepperbush, its racemes of white blossoms reminding 

 one somewhat of the wild cherry. The sandy meadows and lawns are 

 well sodded with handsome grasses which gradually grow coarser and 

 thinner as we reach the shore. The coarse, harsh Seamat-weed grows 

 to within a few feet of the water's edge. Its roots and shoots are so 

 strong that it takes a hard pull to dislodge them Among this grass, 

 forming dense patches, is the bladdery-looking Sea-Rocket, while its 

 near neighbor, the pretty little Beach-Pea, grows in thick masses over 

 the dry sand. Perhaps the most attractive grass found in meadows 



