THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. lo:! 



in this regard no longer so important as formerly, for tlie 

 canned vegetable industry serves to counteract the excessive 

 use of salt provender, the cause of the disease. 



Our tiny Draba, in common with nearly all weeds found 

 in the eastern United States, is adventive from Europe. This 

 reminds one of a story told of Sir Joseph Hooker when on 

 the Arctic Expedition with the Erebus and Terror. It is said 

 that Sir Joseph's ship stopped for one night off the South 

 Shetland Islands, as remote and inhospitable as almost any 

 place on earth, and he, desiring to ascertain in a general way, 

 what grew in such a spot, asked some sailors who were 

 bound ashore, to pluck any plants which, in the darkness, they 

 might encounter. They returned, much to his amusement 

 and chagrin, with a tuft of shepherd's-purse — one of this 

 family— which grows in every English lane. 



Draba vcrua, owing to its small size — it is only a few 

 inches in height, and owing also, to its thin, wiry stems and 

 rosette of small radical spatulate leaves, is very incon- 

 spicuous. Its flowers are white and, as they are almost im- 

 mediately go to seed, it requires a sharp eye to reveal them. 



The pods of Draba vcrua are ellipsoid but later, a native 

 species, Draba Caroliniana has long, narrow^ capsules. All the 

 species of the genus are classed as frequently "alpine," which 

 means, not that they are confined to the Swiss Alps, as people 

 are apt to interpret them, but are distinctive of high mountains 

 the world over, near the snow line. Such mountain forms are 

 very pretty, often with yellow flowers. They may easily be 

 transplanted and made available for rock-work. 



Providence, R. I. 



