BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



Vol. 2. AUGUST, 1877. Mo. 10. 



PiNUS SEUOTiN^, or, Pines, the coues of which open late, often long after maturity. 

 Michaux was the first to notice tliat the cones of a certain pine of tiie South Eastern 

 States "arrive at maturity the second year, but do not release tiieir seeds before the 

 third or fourth," and he therefore named it P. serotina. It is now thought that this 

 tree is scarcely distinct from the northern P. rigida, and I have seen specimens of the 

 latter in which, also, some cones remained thus closed after maturity. The same fact 

 has been observed by Dr. Chapman in a pine of Apalachicola, which he doubtfully 

 referred to P. inops. Though its much more slender and delicate leaves also distin- 

 guish it from true P. inops, every other character is the same as in that species, so that 

 we are justified in introducing it as P. inops, var. daiisK, Chapman. 



Here, then, we have two nortliern pines, southern forms of which show this "sero- 

 tine" character. But it seems not generally known that quite a number of Western and 

 of Mexican pines also often open the scales of their cones long after maturity or, some 

 times, never. Those of our flora are P. contorla (with P. Murrayana, P. Bohmderi, etc.), 

 P. muricata {Edgariana), P. tuhercidaUv and above all P. insigids {rcidiutio, Mouteragen- 

 sis, etc.). 



The following important biological questions remain as yet unanswered, waiting for 

 the patient investigation of students, who live in the countries where these trees grow : 



1. Do the cones of these species never open as soon as ripe, but always remain 

 closed until some time, a year or years, after maturity ? 



2. Do some cones open when ripe, and others of the same tree years later, and 

 some never ? 



3. Does season, locality or individual character of the trees have any influence on 

 this peculiarity? 



4. At what season do the late cones open, under what physical conditions, and 

 what is the cause of any of them remaining closed forever? 



5. How many years do the .seeds of such closed cones retain their vitality, and is 

 it possible, that the seeds may germinate after the cones have fallen to the ground and 

 rotted ? 



The supposition that the closed cones were sterile or contained too few seeds, did 

 not prove correct; it seems that all cones of the .several species in question contain com- 

 paratively few seeds ; the seeds of closed cones, many years old, proved perfectly sweet 

 and therefore probably sound. — G. E. 



SiSYRiNCHiUM Arizonicum, Rothrock. — 1-2 feet high ; stem proper smooth, ancipi- 

 tal; leaves 6-12 inches long, 2-6 lines wide, gradually attenuate into an acute point, 2^ 

 distinct white ribs in center, and one or more less distinct toward either margin, min- 

 utely pruinose glandular, slightly roughened on the margin; spathe of two lanceolate 

 leaves regularly tapering to the top, somewhat shorter than the peduncles of which each 

 branch bears from 2-5 (most frequently 2); flowers yellow \}4,-2 mches in diameter, 

 bright yellow segments of the perianth broadly lanceolate; anthers 6 lines long, linear, 

 twice as long as tlie dilated filaments which are united about one-third their length : 

 style cleft halfway down into linear divisions; seeds {immature) oval or nearly round, 

 margined on a funiculus longer than their diameter. 



