296 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



grew quite prostrate, and others, though closely allied species, 

 might be strictl}^ erect. At the present season of the year we 

 ma}^ note plants witli prostrate leaves or branches, which in spring 

 will have them of a sharp, uj^right angle. Tlie verbascums at the 

 present time, especially V. blattaria^ had their root leaves so 

 firml}'' pressed against the ground, that on lifting they would fall 

 back with a spring ; as soon as the central axis grew, the leaves 

 from that would be almost upright. In some respects, erection 

 or prostration became almost specific characters. The Bubus 

 viUosits usnall}'' grew erect even from infancy, and the Hubus 

 canadensis generally trailed ; yet the last-named would sometimes 

 throw up strong erect stems, which could scarcely be distinguished 

 in that stage from B. villosus. Again, the same species of tree 

 would often produce individuals quite erect, and at other times 

 ver}' pendent, and hence we had in Horticulture the class of weep- 

 ing trees. All trees seemed to have this power of producing pen- 

 dent individuals. The oaks, ashes, poiDlars, elms, all furnished 

 familiar examples. 



It was usual with botanists to pass these things over as " weak- 

 nesses." But the term weakness explained nothing. To say 

 that these plants had lost the power of erection, was simply re- 

 stating the primar}^ fact. Moreover, some of these prostrate forms 

 had apparently more vigor than the erect ones. Biibus canaden- 

 sis was weaker than B. villosus, truly ; but, on the other hand, 

 some of the Russian trailing junipers were far more vigorous 

 than an3' of the upright forms. The weeping beech also was in 

 appearance more vigorous than the ordinary forms. All beeches 

 had their young growth pendent. As the growth matured, the 

 branches became erect ; but in the weeping form erection did not 

 come with maturit}', and hence it remained pendent. In the ashes, 

 however, there was no pendency in the young growth ; but the 

 " weeping ash" was one of the most decided of all drooping trees. 

 In such cases as these, the law which governed the angles of 

 divergence must either be different in each case, or operate at 

 different stages of the development of the branches. 



In his late travels in the Rocky Mountains, he came on a tract 

 covered profusely with one of the small creeping Euphorbias, 

 probably E. cordata, in which a large quantity grew perfectly 

 erect. Sometimes only a portion of the plant exhibited this 

 character, at other times all the plant was upright. The speci- 

 mens he exhibited were of the erect class. In all these cases the 

 plant was attacked by a small fungus, jEcidium eiqjhorbise., hy- 

 pericsefolia of Schweinitz. He thought that the fact that this 

 little fungus should be able to make a usually creeping plant, 

 rooting from every joint, entirely lose this character and become 

 erect, was worthy of some notice by students in this branch of 

 botan3^ 



[Februarj^ 13, 



