THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 167 



soiiKr than the l\ pc and an albino form is not difficult to find. 

 The most beautiful of all the aster species in the Middle West, 

 however, is Aster laevis. whose large, deep vi(jlet-colored 

 flower heads, borne in profusion are fully the e(|ual of any 

 plant culti\ated in the flower garden at tlie same season. Why 

 this [)lant is not oftener given a place beside the chrysanthe- 

 mums is a puzzle. The plants seem fond of the waste land 

 along tlie railroads and would make traveling by rail a contin- 

 ual delight for some weeks in autumn were it not for the fact 

 that thoughtful railroad officials, impressed with the beauty 

 of l)are cinders, send out a few laborers with scythes, just as 

 the blooming season opens, to lay the [)lants low. Here and 

 tliere, however, enough plants escape to provide the flower 

 lover with the materials for a planting that will eclipse both 

 the late garden asters and the early chrysanthemums. 



Fringed Gentians. — Most people speak of the fringed 

 gentian as if there was but one species of the kind in the world. 

 No doubt this is due to the influence of Bryant's poern on the 

 subject, l)ut it may be well to note that there is another spe- 

 cies, Gcntiana procera, found from New York to Iowa and 

 northward into Canada. Gcntiana criuita, however, is best 

 entitled to the adjective "fringed" for the tips of its petals 

 are cut into fine segments of some length, while those of G. 

 procera are merely ciliate on the edges. In other respects the 

 two species are much alike and the inexperienced might easily 

 collect procera with the idea that he had found its more fa- 

 mous relative. Westward the two species have practically 

 the same range but on the east, criuita pushes up into INIaine 

 and south to Georgia. 



Quack Grass. — The farmer or gardener who does not 

 know quack-grass {Agropynim re pens) is to be congratulated. 

 It easily excels the Canada thistle in general pestiferousness 



