

BOTANICAL 



TTE, 



i/OL 3 



JUNE, 1878. 



No. 6 



Vitality OF the Seeds of Datura Tatula, L. — In iiaswcr to the call for facts 

 bearing ou tlie vitality of seeds, I venture to contribute what follows: 



From tiie spring of 1855 to the autumn of 1860 I occupied a house on Duke street, 

 in the heart of the cit}^ of Lancaster, Penu. To this house was attached a garden, 

 whicli extended to an alley in the rear and was separated from il and the neiglil)oriiig 

 gardens l)y high, close board fences. Its cultivation had been neglected, and,, on taking 

 possession, I observed in tlie lower end of it a huge stalk of Uatara Tatida, L., which 

 Inul been allowed to grow and spread itself an<[ ripen and shed a large crop of seeds. 

 That summer, after the ground was dug and planted, a numerous host of young Jimp- 

 sons came up. These were extirpated. The next season another set api)eared, and 

 were dealt with in like manner, and so on, uji to the- lOth year, the numbers diniiuisiiiug 

 each year. I am sure they all sprang from seed of the same sowing. The second year 

 I began to teel curious about their persistence, and then and during the years that suc- 

 ceeded carefully searched the alley far and near and all the gardens and vacant lots in 

 the neighborhood and discovered no parent from which they could have come. It was 

 i)arely possible for the seeds to have been introduced in manure, but then the occur- 

 rence of the plants only around the spot ichere the "Id gtitlk sioad, and their gradual 

 diminution in numbers forbade the supposition, /m «/^ |)(^/7« of the garden seedlings 

 of the honey-locust and ailanthus would at times show themselves. These were readily 

 traced to cultivated trees at sonu' distance. The stra!)-like i)0(ls of the former and the 

 wingeil fruits of the latter are scattered widely by the winds, but the seeds of Datura 

 require other means of transport. — Tiios. C. Pouter, E(t,st(/)i, Pc/tu. 



From the Indian Tkrkitorv we have received a collection of Plants numbering 

 several hundred, made during the years 1875-7, by Timothy E. AVilcox, M. D., Ast. 

 Surg. U. S. A. Below is a list of all the species among them not growing east of the 

 Mississipjii River, and conseipiently n t described in \Vood's Class Book, nor in the 

 Botanist and Florist. It will be noted with surprise that only one species had been seen 

 by Linnaeus: Jtt P* 



Delplnuuuu orridentalc (D elaltuii, var. Dcridenfulc, Watson.) Hoary pubescent 

 al)ove. Flowers bluish-while, the spur lonsr, ascending, down^y-cauescent, the lower 

 (ap|)arently upper) petals bearded with cotton and their long (daws si)urred at the base. 



iitreptanthus hyariidlioides, Hook. Flowers large, deep bluish-pur])le. An attract- 



ive plant. 



BixcuU'lla Widizi'iti, Eug. Found 

 large, 2-orbed. Flowers white. 



Lepidiuiii iulegrifolium, Nutt. 



Vetiicarid JjUdnviriaiut, DC. 



PariDij/rhiii Jiii/ieKii, T. (k G. 



RliKs trU.dlxitd . Nutt. Uegarded 



also in Texas and Southern California. Fruit 



Taliniiiii ]inrr(tii'riiiii, Nutt. 

 Malvnstrain rdcrlunun. (Nutt.) (^ray. 

 Krmiieriti l(i)treo/'ifii, Torr. 

 ])y souu' as a variety of Ji. iironintini. Ait. 

 Daleti (lu)-eii, Torr. Large oblong spikes with golden yellow corollas >ci in the 

 white plumage of the calyxes. 



Pefiilosfeinon oillotnim, Nutt. ♦ 



'N A.striiffiilus /iiolliss/'iiniK, Torr. Called "Pony Weed." It is an object of ilread in 

 the Territory, being considered /W^^t to the horses that fei d ujion it. The plant is 

 densely silky-canescentall over, erect near 1 foot. Leaflets about 12 |)airs, oval. Spikes 



