BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 355 



the Himalayas, is an evergreen species with edible fruit which, 

 dried as raisins, is sent down to the plains for sale (Royle); B. 

 nervosa, Putsh., is an Oregon species with edible fruit (Howell); 

 B. pinnatd, Benth. in New Mexico, has blue berries of pleasant 

 taste, sweet with a slight acidity (Bigelow) ; B. repens, Lind., is 

 common in Utah, where its fruit is highly prized (Jones), and is 

 made into confections and freely eaten (Lloyd) ; B. trifoliata, 

 Gray, of Western Texas, has red acid berries, used for tarts (Tor- 

 rey);.\B. vulgaris, L. was early introduced into the gardens of 

 New England, and increased so rapidly that in 1754 the Province 

 of Massachusetts passed an act to prevent damage to wheat aris- 

 ing from its presence in the vicinity of grain fields. The leaves 

 were formerly used to season meats with in England (Gerarde) ; 

 and its fruit is now used for preserves. A stoneless variety is 

 sometimes found. There are four kinds known, the common red, 

 large red, purple and white (Bucke). A black fruited variety is 

 said by Tournefort to occur on the banks of the Euphrates and 

 to be of a delicious flavor. Bongardia Bauwolfi, C. A. Meyer, 

 occurs from Greece to the Caucasus. The Persians roast or boil 

 the tubers, and eat the leaves as sorrel (A. A. Black). Nandina 

 domestica, Thunb., is a handsome evergreen shrub of China and 

 Japan, and extensively cultivated for its fruit, which are red ber- 

 ries of the size of a pea (Don). Podophyllum callicarpurn, Raf., 

 is said by Robin and Rafinesque, in their Flora of Louisiana, to 

 have fruit the size of a large filbert, sweet, good to eat, and of 

 which preserves are made ; P. emodi, Wall, of India, has edible 

 berries, but tasteless (Hooker & Thomson) ; P. peltatum, L., is 

 the May apple, the mawkish fruit eaten by piy;s and boys (A. 

 Gray), relished by many persons (Porcher), extremely delicious 

 to m.ost persons (Barton), a pleasant fruit (Newport), but to our 

 taste mawkish and disagreeable. 



Forestry Notes. 



BY F. t,. HARVEY. 



Catalpa speciosa, Warder. The distribution of Catalpa 

 speciosa is of considerable interest, as it has been the belief of 

 botanists that it is not found native west of the Mississippi river 

 north of the Louisiana line. In a former number of the Ga- 

 zette we gave an account of fine specimens, four feet in diame- 

 ter, growing in the hotel yard, and in the grounds of Judge A. 

 B. Williams at Washington, Hempstead county. If one was 

 not informed that the seeds were introduced from Louisiana he 



