THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 69 



It is interesting to know, also, tliat when the plants are given 

 the right conditions, a large miniher will live out of doors all 

 winter even as far north as Chicago. Cacti from Santa Fe 

 and from the middle of the Painted Desert have survived 

 winter lhu> when the temi)erature went to 25'^ below zero, 

 cacti of your region therefore is to kick specimens into a com- 

 so long as it is exceptionally well drained. They will grow 

 in ashes, sand, or \ery stony soil and in the wild are often 

 found in the "dobe" soil from which the sun-dried bricks for 

 building are made. In [)assing' it may be mentioned that the 

 city of Joliet now has one of the best collections of cacti in 

 the noriJiern States having had collectors in the field for the 

 I)ast four years. The curators now feel warranted in offering 

 to name specimens for others. All that is needed to know the 

 cacti of your region therefore is to kick specimens into com- 

 mon fiber box and mail to the editor, who will turn them over 

 to the proper authorities. No packing is needed, except to 

 keep them from rattling about in the box. 



Phlox Stkli.akia. — Who knows where Phlox stcllaria 

 can be found? The plant is very much like PJilox bifida in 

 appearance, the principal difference being that the corolla lobes 

 oi P. hiji'la 'dvc ddt down to the middle while those of P. 

 stcllaria are merely deeply notched into oblong lobes. This lat- 

 ter species is also regarded as smootlier than the other, but the 

 I)lants from Grand T(nver, Jackson C<nmty. Illinois, reported 

 by Professors Trelease and MacDougal are pubescent. Both 

 plants are species of the Middle West with fairly limited 

 ranges. Gray reports f*. j/^/Zan't/ from the cliffs of the Ken- 

 tucky river, southern Illinois and barrens of Kentucky, but a 

 subscriber who searched such cliffs as he could find along the 

 Kentucky river failed to discover the plant and explorations 

 in the vicinity of Lavergne, Tennessee, from whence Gat- 



