12 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



nishes much the largest part of the timber of this part of the 

 world. This is as unreasonable as it would be to take a few 

 of the furniture woods of North America, as black walnut 

 {Juglans nigra) or the wild black cherry {Prunus serotinus) 

 as representatives of the woods of the country. In the eastern 

 tropics the woods of the family Dipterocarpaceae are to the 

 trade what the pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks, oaks and beeches 

 are to the trade of temperate North America and Europe. 

 This family, while it supplies many valuable hardwoods, sup- 

 plies also the most widely used soft and medium grade woods 

 of the eastern tropics. So wide is its distribution and so gen- 

 eral the use of its wood that I believe that all the other woods 

 could be spared from many eastern markets without seriously 

 hampering work or affecting prices. — Philippine Journal of 

 Science. 



Rare Plants in Cities. — There seems to be a very pre- 

 vailing idea that in order to find plants worthy of notice, one 

 must go "to the heart of Nature" or to some other equally in- 

 definite region. It has become customary to neglect the 

 plants near at home as mere weeds and hence insignificant. As 

 a matter of fact, these sturdy intruders, unwelcome though 

 they may be, offer most interesting studies as to mode of life 

 and as to dispersal of seed. We should not be so ready to 

 sneer at the "weed" — it is a living example of the great law 

 of survival, living on and accomplishing its continuance in an 

 environment where other plants would have failed. From a 

 "plants-eye view" it is a vigorous, virile and successful indi- 

 vidual. The adaptations of root, stem or fruit that thus en- 

 able the plant to survive in face of most vigorous warfare are 

 worthy of more detailed study than is usually given. From 

 another point of view — it is surprising to note what plants 

 may be found where we would least expect them. There is 

 interesting field for "botanizing" even in the heart of Chi- 



