26 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



scarcely any fall records. At Manhattan, flower heads of 

 T. erythrospermum were noted Nov, 11 and Dec. 15, 1916 

 with the additional note : "This has flowered abundantly this 

 fall but I have not seen any flowers of T. officinale:' At 

 Fargo I have not watched T. erythrospermum in the fall. 

 At the present writing (Oct. 7) a brief survey failed to show 

 flowering or fruiting heads of it although T. officinale is flow- 

 ering quite freely. — O. A. Stevens. 



MiivKWORTs — Some plants are called milkworts because 

 of their white juice or latex, others because they promote the 

 flow of milk in animals and still others because they curdle 

 milk and thus may be of use in cheese-making. The classic 

 milkwort of this latter group in Pingiiicula vulgaris which, in 

 spite of its use, is still called butterwort. Among others of 

 this class are the buttercup {Ranunculus hiilhosiis.,) shepherd's 

 purse {Capsclla bursa-pastoris,) the narrow-leaved plantain 

 {Plantago lanccolata,) the nonesuch {Medicago lupulina) 

 and the artichoke. The Poylgalaceae commonly referred to 

 when the word milkwort is used, do not curdle milk. 



Johnny Appleseed. — No history of the apple in 

 America appears to be complete without some mention of 

 Johnny Appleseed, the half -crazy preacher who travelled up 

 and down the Ohio valley about a century ago, scattering 

 appleseeds and pious thoughts by the wayside. The ency- 

 clopedias often fail to mention this unique character and in 

 the absence of any very definite information about him, a 

 delightful myth is gradually taking form. His real name 

 seems to have been Jonathan Chapman. He was born in 

 Boston in 1775 and died in the cabin of a poor settler in 

 Allen county, Indiana, in 1847. His last resting place, how- 

 ever, does not seem to be known. His first appeal to pub- 

 lic notice was in 1801 when he appeared in Licking county. 



