THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



licious, some quite palatable, and others to be dis- 

 carded as tasteless or uninviting. Almost every 

 letter during the warmer months had something of 

 new discoveries in the gastronomic qualities of 

 Agarics or other allied genera of mushrooms; of 

 some of the Boleti, and of the fleshy Polypori or 

 other soft and tender species, which, found in suf- 

 ficient abundance, might be desirable. In no 

 single case that I recollect, did he suffer any evil 

 consequences from their use. Of course he exer- 

 cised judgment in this groping of his way, as it 

 were, in the dark. All the species noted in the 

 books as "edible" he used without hesitation. 

 Species of similar habits and appearance, though 

 botanically different, were also tested with some 

 care. Such as were known to be poisonous, or 

 had an offensive and repugnant look, were avoided. 

 Boletus Satanas, which Lenz, the discoverer, so 

 named, because he had tried it, and proved its 

 poisonous properties, "vitae periculo" was care- 

 fully avoided, whilst some other species of Boletus 

 were found to be good. 



Dr. Curtis in this way tested over one hundred 

 of our American species of mushrooms. He had 

 accurate drawings made by his son, and colored 

 from living specimens, he himself writing the 

 descriptions so they might be recognized by per- 

 sons who were not familiar with botanical terms, 

 with the intention of publication. " Mycophagia," 

 as its title indicated, I know was completed and 

 placed in the hands of the printers ; he so stated 

 to me in one of his last letters, but a few months 

 previous to his death ; but why, after an interval of 

 more than ten years, it has never been published, 

 I am unable to say. 



[The drift of the paper in the Medical Times is 

 that all mushrooms are poisonous "when they are 

 uncooked." — Ed. G. M.] 



cicles. No. 2, of Utah Flora, 1880; by Prof. Sar- 

 gent in Forest Trees of America, No. 103. We 

 may also quote Nuttall in Vol. i. North American 

 Sylva, as referring indefinitely to a doubtful form 

 from the same place, and perhaps many others not 

 at present recalled. But I am not sure that this 

 is the form you refer to, neither do I know which 

 Red River Drummond collected in — Red River 

 of Louisianna or Red River of the North. So this 

 may not be the form you have described under 

 the name of C. brachyacantha, and probably the 

 west Rocky Mountain species have not yet been 

 properly made out and published ; if so, hope you 

 will do so at an early date. But first, will you not 

 give us more information of C. brachyacantha, 

 particularly some of the synonyms and its habitat? 

 Perhaps Mr. Letterman would be willing to tell us 

 more of its peculiar characters and general condi- 

 tion ; at least I should ask him to do so if I had the 

 pleasure of his acquaintance, which unfortunately 

 I do not possess. 



CRATAEGUS BRACHYACANTHA. 



BY L. B. CASE, RICHMOND. IND. 



I have just finished reading the February number 

 of the Monthly, and am not quite satisfied with 

 the information I got from a few paragraphs. First, 

 in regard to Crataegus brachyacantha. We are all 

 familiar with the fact that there is an acknowledged 

 undescribed species of Cratsegus found along the 

 west slope of the Rocky Mountains, and usually 

 referred to C. rivularis, i. e. by Prof. Watson in 

 Vol. v., King's Report of the 4th Parallel, page 92 ; 

 by Prof. Porter, in Hayden's Report, 1871, page 482; 

 from Utah, by Prof. Coulter in Hayden's Report, 

 1872, page 765; by Prof. M. E. Jones in his Fas- 



SOME PLANTS OF MONTGOMERY CO., 

 KANSAS. 



BY E. N. PLANK, INDEPENDENCE, KANSAS. 



In making a botanical survey of this county, I 

 have found, unexpectedly, several plants rarely 

 found in this latitude, 37^ and others so interesting 

 and beautiful that the fact of their growing here 

 may be of general interest. 



Gilia coronopifolia. — This beautiful plant, the 

 "standing cypress" of the gardens, I have seen in 

 one locality only in this county. It is a common 

 inhabitant of the Southern States, extending west- 

 ward through Texas. 



Acacia filicitia (frilled) — A fine little shrub that 

 has worked its way up from a more southern hab- 

 itat. With us it does not grow more than two feet 

 high, though further south it is said to attain a 

 height of five or more feet. Its leaves are as finely 

 cut and beautiful as those of a fern. Its flowers are 

 whitish and globular in form. 



yEsciilus parviflora. — This pretty species of 

 Buckeye had not been reported as growing in 

 Kansas until I found it in this county, where it is 

 not uncommon. It is kept for sale in the eastern 

 nurseries, and is worthy of general cultivation. 



Eryjigium Leavenworthii. — A remarkable and 

 singularly beautiful plant, growing everywhere in 

 Southern Kansas, on limestone rocks. It deserves 

 a place in every garden where it will grow. Its 

 oddity, as well as its beauty, making it an object 

 of attraction. 



