I06 THE PLANT WORLD. 



which the few small trees and bushes seemed to have been cleared 

 within a few months previously, but whether or not this had any- 

 thing to do with the appearance of flowers at this unusual season 

 I am unable to say. 



( )n the dead stems of a species of T'ivbcsiiia (probably V. occi- 

 dciifah's) near this place were some magnificent " frost-flowers," 

 with ribbons of ice fully six inches long and wide (and this about 

 I p. M.). The freezing had evidently commenced in or near the 

 cambium layer, and the ice had pushed the bark completely off 

 for a distance of several inches in each case, usually in one piece.* 



On the same cliffs, which by this time were seventy-five to one 

 hundred feet high in some places, I found for the first time the 

 cowslip Dodccathcoii Mcadia, which was not reported from this 

 part of the state by Dr. Mohr, though Dr. E. A. Smith tells me 

 that he collected it in this county some vears a^o. Biimelia 

 lycioidcs, a small tree which usually grows on limestone, accom- 

 panied it. 



Just before turning back I made the most interesting find of the 

 day. one of the Spurge family, namely, Crofon Alabaiiicnsis. 

 This Euphorbiaceous shrub was discovered in an adjoining 

 county (Bibb) by Dr. Smith in 1874, and for nearly thirty-two 

 years was known only from that county, where it is said to grow 

 on shaded limestone rocks, and to be confined to a few scjuare 

 miles. f iVt the new station its habitat is on steep sandstone cliffs, 

 well exposed to the afternoon sun. Unlike all its North Amer- 

 ican congeners. Croton .-Uabaiiioisis is an evergreen shrub, and I 

 was able to recognize it at once from having seen specimens grow- 

 ing in Dr. Smith's yard. I did not have time to ascertain how far 

 up the river it extends, but hope to do so at some future time. 



On the return trip I noticed another interesting plant, which I 

 had overlooked on the way up. namely, Ma'^iiolia iiiacrophylla. 

 As its name implies, its leaves are very long, sometimes attaining 

 a length of over two feet, and when lying on the ground with 



* For an interesting summary of this subject see ]\IacDougal in Science 

 22: 351-352, Dec. 29, 1893. 



tSee ^lohr, Card. & For. 2: 592. /. 130. 1889; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 6: 93. 94- 591- 1901; Ferguson, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 12: 38. 1901. 



