I02 Writings of Edward L. Greene. [zoE 



Mr. Orcutt, who however regards '■' Hookera Orcuttii" as a 

 valid species, has made some observations on the staminodia of 

 Brodtcca ?>i inor th.a.t are of interest. He says: "In examining 

 a large number of the flowers of Hookera vmioj-, Britten, in the 

 field this spring, I was somewhat surprised to find numerous 

 specimens in which the staminodia were changed to perfect fertile 

 stamens. The first instance noticed was in a flower evidently- 

 injured by some insect, but so many examples were found later, 

 where the staminodia were partially or wholly changed into 

 anther-bearing stamens, that I cannot ascribe it to the work of 

 insects. This illustrates how little value can be placed in this 

 genus on the unreliable characters of the stamens and staminodia."* 



The characters upon which Mr. Greene would separate his 

 *' Unifolmvi liliaceiun " from Smilacina stcllata Desf. or ►S. scs- 

 silifolia Wats., it is difficult to say from which for they are not 

 easily kept apart, are not at all constant. They vary much in 

 different climates and exposures, as Mr. Greene in effect admits 

 when at Lake Pend d' Oreille "where in deep shades of fir and 

 arbor vitse one meets with plenty of U. sessilifolium; and here 

 too outside of and above the wet woods, on open ground and in 

 dry soil, grows the unmistakable U. stellatuvi."^ Miss Eastwood 

 has carefully observed Smilacina stellata as it occurs in Colorado, 

 and finds the grown but unripe fruit dark green with darker 

 bands; the ripe fruit clear bright red. The distichous zigzag 

 stem and plicate leaves are not constant in any of the forms. 



Zygadeniis porrifoliiis Greene % is Z. elegans Pursh. Mr. 

 Greene says " none of the segments are unguiculate or much con- 

 tracted at base," but the type shows that the inner segments are 

 abruptly contracted into a broad claw. 



Calochortus aincemcs Greene, although compared by the author 

 with the yellow-flowered and much more distant C. pidchellus, 

 can hardly be considered more than a rose-colored variety of C. 

 albus. The color is not uncommon in typical C. albus, but the 

 gland is lower and its scales crisped with shorter hairs. 



* West. Am. Scientist vi, 63. 



t Pitt, ii, 33. 



% Bull. Torn Club, viii, 123. 



