BOTANICAL GAZETTE. gs 



Jugla?is cinerea was found in abundance near Forest City, St. 

 Francis Co., on Crowley's Ridge, growing along with Magnolia acu- 

 7ninata, Liriodcndron Tulipifcra and Fagus fcrruginea. The latter at- 

 tains a diameter of over three feet. It was also found in Claik, Oua- 

 chita, Columbia, Union, Miller, Nevada, Hot Springs, Dallas, and 

 formerlv in Hempstead counties. 



Ostrya Virgiiiica is very common as far southwest as the border 

 of the State. 



'lunipenis Virginiana was found as far southwest as Hempstead 

 county. 



Castanea pumila attains a remarkable size in Hempstead Co., on 

 the sandy soil of the Tertiary. A tree in the suburbs of Washing 

 measured 13 feet 8 inches, one foot from the bottom, and several 

 trees were observed over 3 feet in diameter. 



There was a specimen o{ Juglnns nigra formerly standing in the Red 

 River bottom, of which only the stump now remains. This tree was 

 measured by Col. Graliot (Col. 2d Ark. Infantry), now County Sur- 

 veyor of Hempstead Co. It took 45 paces (?) to go around the tree, 

 and 5 feet above the roots the Colonel could just hold together, with 

 extended arms, the ends of a t^T} foot chain, making the circumference 

 at least 38 feet. 



The genus Cratczgus is represented by a large number of species 

 in N. W. Arkansas. 



The genus Carya is represented by seven, if not the eight, N. 

 Am. species. — F. L. Harvey, Ark. Ltd. Univ. Fay ett ■'Mile, Ark. 



"Saxifraga umbrosa" adorned with Brilliant Colors by 

 THE Selection of SvRPHiD.ii. — Among Diptera the most assiduous 

 visitors of flowers are certain Syrphida?, which, elegantly colored 

 themselves, are fond of splendid flower colors, and before eating pol- 

 len or sucking nectar, like to stop awhile, hovering free in the air, in 

 front of their favorites, apparently fascinated, or at least delighted, by 

 the brilliancy of their colors. Thus I repeatedly observed Syrphus 

 balteatus hovering before the flowers of Vcrbasciim nigrum, often Mdan- 

 osfoi?ia mclli?ia.&nd Ascia podagrica before Veronica e/ia?needrys ; in the 

 Alps the lank Sphegma clunipes before Saxifraga rotundifolia, and in 

 my garden Ascia podagrica before Saxifraga umbrosa. Of Verbascum ni- 

 grum the main fertilisers are humble-bees, Diptera co-operating only 

 in a subordinate degree ; in the case of the three other species, on the 

 contrary, the above named Syrphidae are such frequent visitors and 

 cross-fertilizers that we may safely conclude that it is by their selection 

 of elegantly colored varieties that these flowers have acquired their 

 beautiful peculiarity. Hence, in order to estimate the color-sense of 

 these Syrphidas, it is worth while to consider what color-combinations 

 they have been able to produce by their selection. 



Saxifraga umbrosa being, as far as hitherto known, their finest 

 masterpiece, we may in the first place look at the variegated decora- 

 tion of this species. Its snow-white petals are adorned with colored 

 spots, which in size and intensity of light gradually decrease from the 



