THE PLANT WOKLD 15 



impossible that the species has been introduced, I think. The season 

 of flowering of this plant is very long, extending from about April to 

 November ; at present not so many liowers are to be seen as might 

 have been found a month ago, but they are still common. 



Thanking you for the trouble you have already taken, and in ad- 

 vance for your further examinations, I remain, 



Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Andhew Allison. 



October, 1901. 



General Items. 



According to the Queensland Agricultural Journal, the water hya- 

 cinth (Piaropus) has been introduced into and is rapidly spreading in 

 certain of the rivers of Australia. 



The Department of Agriculture has just issued a pamphlet by the 

 late Dr. Charles Mohr, under the caption of " Notes on the Red Cedar." 

 It contains notes on the distribution of this valuable tree, its growth 

 and development, enemies and its botanical description and morphology. 

 It is intended to follow this preliminary' report by a more detailed study 

 of the tree in the field. 



It is a rather common error among people not very familiar with 

 plants that the trunks or stems of all plants elongate, and that the 

 branches starting from the main stem of a tree, five feet from the ground, 

 say, will a year or two later be six or seven above the ground. This is 

 not so. The first year, while the main stem or axis is growing, a small 

 young branch may be carried with the growth, but usually only in the 

 shape of a bud, even then. After that, the position of the branch is 

 fixed. — Meehans' Monthly for January. 



Dr. Edward Palmer, the veteran botanical explorer of Mexico, left 

 Washington, January 15tli, for a collecting expedition in the province 

 of Santiago, Cuba. He will obtain the usual number of sets, which will 

 be offered for sale upon his return. Dr. Palmer will be accompanied by 

 Mr. Charles Louis Pollard and Mr. William Palmer, both of the United 

 States National Museum, who will collect plants, mammals, birds and 

 reptiles for that institution. As the party will pay especial attention 

 to the unexplored mountains in the southern portion of the province, it 

 is expected that the scientific results will be considerable. 



Prof. C. F. Wheeler has recently published [Michigan Ag. Sta. Bull. 

 186], a brief account of the occurrence of the dwarf mistletoe (Arceutho- 



