246 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[August, 



opportunites permitted, and was disposed to call 

 it a Livistonia, but sent it to Wendland who named 

 it Brahea edulis, as I have published it. I still 

 think, however, that I was more nearly right, 

 but with deference to Wendland's authority named 

 the second species from the Tantillas moun- 

 tains in Lower California, Brahea armaia, as it 

 was certainly of the same genus with the Gua- 

 dalupe species. 



But if these two are Braheas, what is the old 

 San Diego species? If you had represented me 

 as saying that it is not a Brahea you would have 

 hit it exactly, for in describing the differences in 

 the fruit I intended that that should be inferred- 

 And, in feet, since my paper appeared I learn 

 that Wendland has transferred it to Pritchardia, 

 and that the plant is now for sale under the Cat- 

 alogue name of P. filamentosa, or as some have 

 it, P. filifera; see May number of the Garden, 

 with a (made up) figure. 



Both Dr. Parry and Dr. Palmer are looking 

 into the matter of the palms of our Western 

 coast, and I trust that we will have more perfect 

 knowledge of them by the time that the second 

 volume of the Hora of California is ready for 

 publicatioji. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Elm Slug. — We find this enemy has been 

 fully recognized by the ever watchful Prof. Riley, 

 who detailed its operation in the New York Tn- 

 bune, for Aug. 7, 1873, as follows : 



"The elm is a favorite shade tree here, as well 

 as in New England, and we seem doomed to 

 have them all killed by an insect. One of my 

 neighbors thinks that the eggs are deposited by 

 a bug (see sample inclosed), which flies up into 

 the branches ; but others believe that the female 

 ascends by crawling up the body of the tree? 

 Can't you refer this note to some competent per- 

 6on, and publish the simplest known remedy — 

 Buitable for poor folk to practice. Tobacco juice 

 will drive them, but it is expensive, and in case 

 of large trees, impracticable." — [Thos. S. Watson> 

 Louisa Co., Va. 



Reply by Prof. Charles V. Riley, Entomologist. 



"The specimens inclosed in the above letter 

 were badly smashed (all correspondents who send 

 entomological specimens should enclose them in 

 a stout box, or other receptacle, and not loosely 

 in a letter), but were, nevertheless, easily recog- 

 nizable. There were several specimens of the 



perfect beetle, and a few of the larvas of one of 

 the most injurious insects of the elm, viz., the 

 striped elm leaf-beetle [Galernca Calmariensis, 

 Fabr). Almost every one is familiar with the 

 common striped cucumber-beetle {Dlabrotica vit- 

 tata) which infests cucurbitaceous vines, and 

 this little elm-leaf beetle bears a close resem- 

 blance to it both in size and markings; but in- 

 stead of having a smooth larva inhabiting the 

 root like its cucumber-feeding congener, the elm 

 species has a brown larva, ornamented with short, 

 stiff hairs springing from polished warts, and 

 feeding externally on the leaf In this respect it 

 resembles some of the flea beetles, e.g., the com- 

 moil grape-vine flea-beetle {Haltica chalybea, lUi- 

 ger), from whose larva it would hardly be dis- 

 tinguished by the ordinary observer. 



The striped elm-leaf beetle is winged in both 

 sexes, and the female consequently flies into the 

 trees with the greatest facility. Those who be- 

 lieve that the female ascends by crawling, con- 

 found it with another serious enemy of the elm 

 — the common canker-worm— which produces a 

 moth which in the female sex is apterous, and 

 consequently must climb up the tree to deposit 

 her eggs. The same blunder was once commit- 

 ted by the city fathers of Baltimore. This same 

 little beetle was skeletonizing the leaves of, and 

 doing great damage to, the elms planted for shade 

 and ornament in that city, and the authorities, 

 aware that the elms in' P^iiladelphia had been 

 effectually protected from certain defoliators (in 

 this instance genuine canker-worms) by the use 

 of leaden troughs fastened around the trunks 

 and filled with oil— went to a good deal of trou- 

 ble and expense to furnish their elms with simi- 

 lar troughs. They found to their sorrow that 

 their efforts were futile, since it was the leaf- 

 beetle, and not the canker-worm they had to 

 deal with. Had they, instead of blindly jumping 

 to conclusions, sought the advice of some ento- 

 mologist, both time and money would have been 

 spared. 



Galeruca Calmariensis is — like so many of our 

 worst insect enemies — an importation from Eu- 

 rope, and I have known elms in France to wear 

 a sad, blighted and scorched appearance from its 

 ravages. Fortunately, it does not yet occur in 

 fhe State of Missouri, and in suggesting a remedy 

 I cannot speak from personal experience. Nor 

 do our transatlantic friends help us much with 

 their experience, for though the species has 

 swarmed during certain years on the elms in 

 Paris and other large French cities, the French 



