NOTES AND COMMENT 



The Department of Botany of Stanford University has recently 

 been given control of the arboretum estabhshed by Leland Stanford 

 in 1882. A tract of approximately 200 acres was set aside by the 

 founder of the University for the purpose of bringing together "everj' 

 tree and shrub that would grow in California." Although Httle plant- 

 ing has been done in recent years the entire tract has been main- 

 tained as an arboretum under the management of the Stanford estate. 

 An annual appropriation is to be made for the acquisition of plants, 

 the amount for the current year being $1000. The original collections 

 in the arboretum comprise several hundred species and offer a variety 

 of valuable material for research and class use. The group of plants 

 best represented is the gjTnnosperms, with 20 genera and 88 species. 

 As it is possible to grow all but the most sensitive cycads out of doors, 

 as well as the northern species of spruce and pine, it should be pos- 

 sible to form a very representative collection of gymnosperms. Dr. 

 LeRoy Abrams, to whom the new development of the arboretum has 

 been entrusted, is endeavoring to bring together as complete a collec- 

 tion as possible of the trees and shrubs of western North America. 

 The assembling of such a group will be of great scientific value and will 

 stimulate the use of our native trees and plants as ornamentals. Co- 

 incident with the reorganization of the arboretum the University has 

 set aside as native plant preserves several tracts on its 8000 acre cam 

 pus. These reserves comprise several natural plant formations, such 

 as stream-bank, oak-madrono, redwood canon, and chaparral. Undis- 

 turbed native vegetation is thereby assured for work in plant ecology. 

 In a preliminary survey of the reserves there have been recorded 64 

 species of trees and shrubs, representing 29 families. 



In the third Technical Publication of the New York State College 

 of Forestry Dr. William L. Bray has described the Development of the 

 Vegetation of New York State. In this paper Dr. Bray has adopted a 

 popular style of treatment which enables him to lead easily from a 

 consideration of the more general aspects of his subjects to a treat- 

 ment of the most technical features of plant distribution and ecology 



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