BOTANICAL GAZETE. iy8 



Satisfied that this must be a recently introduced g'ass I sent a specimen 

 to Dr. Geo. Thurber who considers it an important find. It is 

 Cynosurus cristati/s, Linn., the "crested dog tail grass," rather common 

 in Europe, but heretofore not reported in the U. S. 



Botanists who visit Chautauqua this year are requested to be on 

 the lookout for this grass in order to ascertain whether it can hold its 

 own and can be considered as thoroughly established. — G. Gut- 



TENBERG. 



Podophyllum peltatum. — I believe the May apple is exclusive- 

 ly a native of North America, but it is found in great profusion from 

 the northern to the southern boundaries of the United States. Now 

 it is precisely because this plant is so very common that nothing is 

 said of its beauty or virtues. Why it has been given the name of 

 May-ai)ple would be difficult to conjecture, as it rarely blooms before 

 June, but occasionally I have found it blooming about the end of May. 

 It delights in moist, rich soil, and is always most luxuriant in damp, 

 shady woods. Its fruit is never ripe until the latter part of Septem- 

 ber, and indeed the plant is propagated so abundantly by the creep- 

 ing of its roots, that Dr. Barton says only a small proportion of its 

 flowers produce fruit. What the cause of it is I do not pretend to 

 know, but the fact remains the same, that while I am well acquainted 

 with the flowers of this plant, I have never seen the fruit more than 

 once or twice. In May 1879, I noticed large patches of its light 

 green leaves above, and pale beneath, supported on yellowish green 

 stems about a foot high. Later on when the plants are in flower, 

 the drooping habit of these blossoms found in the fork that the junc- 

 tion of the petioles makes, gives to the whole bed an elegant appear- 

 ance. The number of its white i)etals varies frmn six to nine, and they 

 are thickly laced with vein. The pistil is of a yellowish color, and 

 crowned by a stigma much darker. The stamens vary from thirteen 

 to twenty, and are yellow. The fruit that I have seen was small and 

 about the cdor of a half ripe lemon, but Dr. Birton says, 'the size 

 varies accoiding to the different situations the pLmt may have been 

 grown in, and when mature is lemon yellow slightly maculated with 

 round brovvnhsh dots." 



The proper time for collecting the roots for medicinal purposes 

 is after the leaves have fallen. Porcher says in his "Resources of the 

 Southern Fields and Forests," that the pulp of the fruit when squeezed 

 into a wine gla-^s and with the addition of sugar and old Madeira, is 

 said to be equal as a drink to the luscious golden granadilla of the 

 tropics. Many people like the taste of the fruit when eaten, without 

 other flavor than its own. — E. Hunter, Essex Co., Fa. 



Recent Periodicals. — T/ic American Naturalist for January is 

 strong in Botany. Mr. William Treleasehas been studying the Fertil- 

 ization of Calamintha Nepeta and finds it cross-fertilized by many in- 

 sects, though capable of close-fertilization in one or two unlikely 



