THE PLANT WORLD 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



F. H. KNOWLTON, Ph.D., Editor, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



ARTICLES AND NOTES ON ANY SUBJECT OF INTEREST TO PLANT-LOVERS ARE SOLICITED, AND SHOULD 



BE ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR. 



Subscription Price, $1.00 per annum. c^ Advertising Rates upon Application. 



WILLARD N. CLUTE & CO., Publishers, - - BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 



Entered at the postofRce, Binghamton, N. Y., as second-class mail matter. 



We desire to call the attention of readers of Plant World to the 

 fiftieth anniversary meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, the sessions of which open in Boston on 

 August 2 2. Various affiliated botanical organizations will hold meet- 

 ings during the same week, and the opportunity offered to all plant 

 lovers to meet leading botanists of the country, and participate in 

 numerous attractive excursions, and to visit the historic Gray Her- 

 barium, its botanical gardens, and the Arnold Arboretum at Jamaica 

 Plain, is one that should not be missed. Membership in the Botanical 

 Club is open to all those interested in its objects, and the admission 

 fee is nominal. We understand that a congress of fern lovers will be 

 held at the same time, and it is probable that a large attendance will 

 be attracted. The railroads will offer reduced rates to Boston during 

 the period, and excursions to Cape Cod and the White Mountains will 

 take place at the close of the week. The value of these large scien- 

 tific gatherings, even to the student and investigator, depends less 

 upon the papers presented than upon the opportunity for social inter- 

 course and the interchange of experiences between members. The 

 technical papers are usually published subsequently in more complete 

 form than that in which they are delivered, and can therefore be read 

 and studied to greater advantage in moments of comparative leisure. 

 It is, however, impossible to keep in touch with fellow-workers in 

 botany unless one is able occasionally to meet them personally, dis- 

 cuss current problems, and form new ties of friendship. It often 

 happens that a member of the Association meets at these gatherings 

 some person whom he has never before seen, but with whom he has 

 corresponded on botanical matters for many years. The Board of 

 Editors of this journal will have one, and probably several represen- 

 tatives at the meeting, and we hope such of our readers as may con- 



