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BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



I/OL. 8 



SEPTEMBER, 1878. 



No. 9 



Orobanche minor. lis New Jersey. — In the early part of June I collected near 

 Haddontield in Saw Jersey, about five miles from Camden, a specimen of Orohnnche 

 iiiiiKir. This plant has been on my mind for a long while, as I had seen a few speci- 

 mens that were said tu have been collected in this vicinity some years ago. The ad- 

 denda to tiie last edition of Gray's Manual mentions it, as having been found "in the 

 vicinity of Washington, and has been met with in Ncav Jersey ; but it may not long 

 abide." As is well known this class of plants are parasites on the roots of other plants, 

 and this species is mentioned as being parasitic on clover. It is a native of Europe 

 where it is one of the widest spread species, extending into Asia. The finding of a sin- 

 gle plant was an occasion for me to rejoice, but about an hoiir later I detected it in 

 great abundance, hundreds if not thousands of specimens within a space of two or 

 more acres. The owner of the property states that this is the second year he has no- 

 ticed il in tlie yard altaclicd to his dwelling, but could give no reason for its presence 

 tiiere. The ground had not been disturbed for yeaj's ; no grass seed had been recently 

 sown, nor fertilizers ai)i)lied, whereby the seed could have l)een introduced; it seems, 

 therefore, very singular that it should api)eai in such abundance and from no ascer- 

 tainable cause. The height of the specimens varied from three inches to two feet two 

 inches, and only in this extraoixlinary size does it ditier from the European plant. The 

 parasitic habit was easily determined, and generally was found attached to the roots of 

 7'/-//'o/'////// ^y/'t(/^//.s7', sometimes, however, on Trifi>liuiii repcntf and Poa pratensis^hwi 

 very often it was growing independent of the foster plant entirely. Sometimes the 

 attachment was on the main roots, often on the lateral rootlets, generally one specimen 

 in a place, Imt in one instance eight si)ecimens were growing on a single clover root. 

 Tlic pur|ile a|)pearance of the flowers was very manifest, but one robust plant attracted 

 my attention by its A-ellowish color; this on examination I found to be attached to the 

 roots of Wild Carot, y^r/^/YWf.s Qirota. This specimen, according to DeCandolle, is Orfl- 

 liaiirhe 'iiriiKir, vin\,fliirfftri'ns, at one time regarded as a distinct species, under the name 

 of Oi'(>ht(ii(iii' Carota. One week later I collected a specimen on the deposits of ballast 

 at ('amden, N. J., growing on Trifidiion iwpeii-x: this is the tirst instance of a parasitic 

 l)lant occurring on oui' ballast grounds. 



At a recent meeting of the Botanical section of the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 of Philadelphia, considerable discussion was had, as to the manner of the attachment 

 beina' formed, whether the seed germinated near the surface of the ground, and sent a 

 radicle downward until it reached a root to cling to, or whether the attachment was 

 made while the root was near the surface, and carried into the ground in some other 

 way. On a second visit to the locality, I collected a si)ecimen that seemed to illustrate 

 the case, as the cdover root, at a depth of three inclies below the surfiice of the ground, 

 had on il an abundance of the roots of the OvdlxnuiJic, attached, so as to resemble mon- 

 iliform bnlljlets, or in a diminutive way, strings of onions. These were examined un- 

 der the microscojie and the tissues of the two plants were found to be so closely inter- 

 woven, as to render it uncertain as to the point of union. In this case it was evident 

 that the iittachment was made under ground, as the growth of the root of the clover 

 would be from the extremity, and consequently could not carry such a substance from 

 the surface of the ground downward. 



