104 THE PLANT WOELD 



has very little in common witli tliat of onr more noi*tliern Atlantic sea- 

 board. It is largely' that of southern Florida and the West Indies. 

 The entire absence of the genera Fticus and AscophyUam, which consti- 

 tute the conspicuous rockweeds of our own coast, is a noteworthy fea- 

 ture. This is apt to give one the impression at first that seaweeds are 

 scarce, but such is far from being the case, for the marine flora is a 

 fairly rich one, considering the size of the islands. The Report of the 

 Challenger Expedition enumerates 132 species, including those re- 

 ported by previous collectors. My own collections have been so little 

 studied as yet that any estimate as to the number of species repre- 

 sented therein would be premature. 



It would be unfair to bring these remarks to a close without en- 

 thusing a little over the delightful clearness of the Bermudian waters, 

 the exquisite coloring and beautiful forms of the living corals, sea-fans, 

 sponges, and other inhabitants of the subtropical seas. It was, to be 

 sure, my first experience with the coral-reef formation, but it was an 

 experience which any one with a trace of love for the beautiful in na- 

 ture would hope to be able some time to repeat. 



New York City. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF THE HAWTHORNS. 



By W. W, Ashe. 



FOR many years the hawthorns have been a trying puzzle to the 

 American botanist, especially that wonderfully variable species, 

 Crataegus coccinea. Under the name of scarlet thorn were placed 

 forms with fruits of all sizes and shapes, from the brightest yellow to 

 the deepest crimson, ripening early or very late, with various flowers 

 and inflorescence, and all degrees of pubescence — in fact, every form 

 which could not be " squeezed " into the descriptions of the ten other 

 species of eastern America, so that Crataegus coccinea was a most elas- 

 tic and convenient species. Not only the scarlet thorn, but the other 

 species as well, were regarded as variable, and the descriptions in sys- 

 tematic works were generalized to include a variety of forms. 



For many years several American species not recognized by Amer- 

 ican botanists, have been well known in Europe, among them Crataegus 

 rotimdifolia, C. intricata, C. lucida, C. succulents, and C pruinosa. Some 

 of these, like C. rotundifolia and C. macracantlia, were gradually being 

 recognized on this side of the Atlantic as species of fixed character and 

 general distribution. The other species cultivated in Europe, were 



