no BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



It is distinguished from Salsify, T. porrifolius, chiefly by its yel- 

 low flowers. The root is edible. 



Crepis virens, L., occurs on the College grounds, Lansing, 

 where it has flourished for at least three years. It is a very ordi- 

 nary looking composite of the suborder Liguliflorse, specifically 

 characterized as follows: "Glabrous below, lower leaves toothed 

 runcinate or lyrate, upper linear sagittate, inner bracts glabrous 

 within, as long as the pappus, in one row. Waste and cultivated 

 ground, cottage roofs, etc. Fls. yellow. June-Sept. Annual, very 

 variable. Stems 1-3 ft, furrowed, much branched; iuflorescens 

 usually glandular hairy. Heads i-| in. diam., campanulate; outer 

 bracts subulate, inner linear. Fruit red-brown, ribs 10 or more, 

 smooth. 11 — Hooker, Stud. Fl. 



Veronica Chamcedrys, L., the Germander Speedwell of Eng- 

 gland, is common on the College grounds along with V. officinaisl 

 and TJujmus Serpyllum, all of which are thoroughly established. 

 Hooker describes it as " hair} 7 , stem pubescent on opposite sides, 

 leaves subsessile, ovate-cordate, deeply serrate, pedicels slender, 

 axillary, raceme long, lax; capsule obcordate, shorter than the 

 calyx; fls. blue. 11 



Polygonum Hartwrightii, Gray, is reported from Kalamazoo. 

 For note and description see Gazette for February, 1876. 



Amarantus blitoides, Watson, occurs on the beach of Lake 

 Michigan at South Haven. This peculiar amaranth has very much 

 the appearance of purslane at a little distance. It was first de- 

 tected as a distinct species by Dr. Bessey who sent specimens from 

 Iowa to Prof. Watson. It was at first thought to be a variety of 

 A. albus and was later mistaken for A. blitum of Europe. Mr. H. 

 N. Patterson, of Oquawka, 111., kindly furnishes the following 

 description and notes: 



Amarantus (Pyxidium) blitoides, S. Watson. (Proc. Am. 

 Acad. XII, 273, 1876.) Prostrate or decumbent, the slender 

 stems becoming a foot or two long, glabrous or nearly so; leaves 

 broadly spatulate to narrowly oblanceolate, attenuate to a slender 

 petiole, an inch long or usually less; flowers in small contracted 

 axillary spikelets; bracts nearly equal, ovate-oblong, shortly acumi- 

 nate, 1 to li lines long, little exceeding the oblong, obtuse and rau- 

 cronulate or acute sepals; utricle not rugose, slightly longer than 

 the sepals; seed nearly a line broad. Frequent in the valleys and 

 plains of the interior from Mexico to Northern Nevada and Iowa, 

 and becoming introduced in some of the Northern States eastward. 

 Mr. Patterson adds: "It grows all through Northern Illinois, 

 especially along railroads. I think it is not truly indigenous in 

 this state, but has come in lately. 11 — L. H. Bailey, Jk., Lansing, 

 Mich. 



