160 proceedings of the academy of [1881. 



July 5. 



The President, Dr. Ruschenberoer, in the chair. 



Seventeen persons present. 



A paper entitled, " The Snare of the Ray Spider, Epeira radi- 

 osa, a new form of Orb-weh," by Rev. H. C McCook, D. D., was 

 presented for publication. 



Sarcodes sanguinea. — Mr. Thomas Meehan referred to discus- 

 sion among members at former meetings, as to the true character 

 of parasitic plants. They were believed to be in the main of two 

 classes,— one which might be represented by the common mistle- 

 toe, with woody stems continuing from year to j^ear, — the other 

 like the Arceuthobium, or pine parasite, which died to the surface 

 of the wood, but continued to grow up from the same spot every 

 year — a sort of parasitic herbaceous plant. It was a question 

 how far root parasites partook of these several characters. There 

 were some plants, as Caslilleia and Gomandra^ which might be 

 said to be in a transition state between an ordinar}' terrestrial 

 plant and a parasite. Usually they were as other plants, but some 

 of the roots would attach themselves to other roots, and form as 

 perfect a union as genuine parasites, and, by the decline in vigor 

 of the victim root beyond the point of union, evidently showed 

 they were really parasitic, deriving nourishment from the attach- 

 ment. Aphyllon unijiorum, germinated on the annual fibrous 

 roots of Asters and Solidagoes, as had been clearly traced, and 

 perhaps on other plants ; and after germination formed a mass of 

 innumerable coral-like spougelets, drawing moisture and perhaps 

 some other elements of nutrition from the surrounding medium. 

 Epiphegus Virgi7iiana behaved precisely in the same way. Mono- 

 tropaa\\d others had also this mass of pseudo-roots, or spongelets, 

 and had been supposed to germinate and live wholly on half de- 

 cayed vegetation, but he believed from analogy they would be 

 found, as in Epiphegus and others, to germinate at first on living 

 roots. Conopholis was the only root parasite he had found any 

 reason for believing to be a perennial. This had been found at- 

 tached to quite large roots, evidently coming up from the same 

 spot from year to year as Arceuthobium does. 



Having correspondents in regions where grows the beautiful 

 Snow-plant of the Sierras — Sarcodes sanguinea. — about which 

 nothing but its aerial character has been so far known, he had set 

 them to watching for him, their appearance and final end. The 

 places wliere they grew were carefully marked, and with the fol- 

 lowing results : — Mr. John M. Hutchings, of Yosemite, found the 

 bottom of the old plants 10 to 14 inches below the surface, with 

 not the slightest signs of attachment an} where. To him it ap- 



