EARLY SAXIFRAGE, BLOODROOT, AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 



87 



its fruit (Fig. 4). Hence "Indian Turnip," as before noted. 



This plant grows rapidly, its erect stem (scape) being 



pinkish and green as it shoots upwards; and the plants 



vary greatly in height, from a few inches to a foot and a 



^M. 



{Photograph of living insects by the author. Specimens collected by Master Edward 

 E. Court, near Washington, D. C.) 



HORN PASSALUS OR HORN-BUG (PASSALUS CORNUTUS) 

 Fig. 5. — Four specimens are seen in the illustration, and the forward-projecting, 

 tiny "horn" is plainly seen upon three of them. These beetles belong to the 

 family Lucanida, members of which are known as Stag-beetles or Stag-horns, 

 their branching mandibles being compared to the antlers of a stag. The common 

 Stag-beetle is Lucanus dama, and it is also found in decayed tree-stumps of 

 certain trees, as the apple, oak, and others. 



half and more. At first this stem is sheathed in the two 

 leaves; but the latter soon open and grow far above the 

 part containing the flower. Each leaf is divided into three 

 ovate, pointed leaflets, and are of a dull green color. In 

 some specimens these leaves grow to be of enormous size 

 and length. Where the leaf -stems part company they are 

 sheathed, and from between the sheaths springs the stem 

 of the floral part (Figs. 3 and 4). This latter consists of 

 a hood or spathe, within which we find a soft, club-like 

 wand or spadix. The spathe varies in its coloration, being 



sometimes a beautiful pale green, with delicate longitud- 

 inal stripes. Again, it is a dark rich purple, with pale 

 yellowish stripes. It is surmised that the former has grown 

 in the bright sunlight, and the latter where they have been 

 deprived of it. 



The minute flowers of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit are green- 

 ish-yellow in color, and are clustered about the base of 

 the spadix. The arrangement can be easily studied by 

 taking a fresh plant and splitting the hood or spathe, down 

 the side as far as the stem. Doctor Torrey believes that 

 those very light-colored ones, or where the flap of the 

 spathe is very light-colored, are sterile plants, while the 

 fertile ones have the dark purple spathes. This is an opin- 

 ion at variance with the one expressed above, but it may 

 none the less be the correct one. In any event, late in the 

 summer the ripened seeds form a bunch on the summit 

 of the stem, about as big as a large horsechestnut or larger, 

 being at first of a very dark green color, and later a mag- 

 nificent and brilliant scarlet, rendering the plant so con- 

 sjjicuous that it may be seen at some considerable dis- 

 tance in the woods (Fig. 4). Additional information in 

 regard to this plant is set forth in the legends beneath 

 Figures 3 and 4. 



Personally, I have never collected the near relative of 

 the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, the Green Dragon or Dragon Root 

 {Arisama dracontium); but a good account of it may be 

 found in any general work on our wild flowers. Next stam- 

 mer I will probably be able to present a reproduced photo- 

 graph of a specimen here. 



In the damp woods where we find the Jack-in-the- 

 Pulpit flourishing in the spring, we often come across 

 a great log of a fallen pine tree, or perhaps that of an 

 oak. Upon tearing off the loosened bark of this, all the 

 evidences of the decayed trunk are in view. A large 

 larva is also to be seen in the pulverized, rotten wood 

 and bark, while channels, borings, and grooves run in all 

 directions, having been cut not only by the lar^'a, but 

 by the adult insect itself. These insects are soon to be 

 seen, and many a collector has asked me the name of them. 

 They are known in entomology as the Horn-Bugs or 

 Homed Passalus {Passalus cornutus), and very elegant 

 beetles they surely are (Fig. 5). 



PENNSYLVANIA TREE PLANTING 



THAT the 5,000,000 acres of barren land in Pennsyl- 

 vania can be reclaimed by reforesting is finally es- 

 tablished by reports given out by the Pennsylvania 

 Department of Forestry. These reports cover the plant- 

 ing of 21,000,000 trees on 13,000 acres of State Forest land. 

 Pennsylvania set a record last year when almost 6,000,000 

 trees were planted in one season, and a single plantation 

 was made which contained over half a million trees. The 

 nurseries will produce many more trees this year, but the 

 work of planting will be hampered considerably by 

 scarcity of labor and lack of funds. 



FOREST products of Finland now constitute 70 per cent 

 of the total exports or $96,500,000 and the govenunent 

 has appointed a committee to look into ways and 

 means for better preserving the forests and enhancing 

 their yield. 



