Distribution of Vernonia in the United States. 137 



of tropical nnture will, on the other hand, account for its limited 

 extension northward. 



The two most wide-spread species are fasciculaUi. and Novebora- 

 ernsis. Tl->e first of these is mainly a central species, extending 

 southward into Tennessee and northward into Canada. It is given 

 in catalogues of plants of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota. It is also mentioned in one list 

 (Flora Columbiana) as occurring about Washington, although not 

 in another (Ward's Guide to the Flora of Washmgton and vicinity), 

 and is recorded from North Carolina (Curtis). These are /"^.ci-//;/^ 

 errors. It would thus appear to be almost exclusively a Missis- 

 sippi valley species, and wherever it grows it is certainly abundant. 

 The other one, Novebo^acensis, is, on the other hand, almost exclu- 

 sively an eastern coast species, although recorded from tlie central 

 States. It is given in catalogues of plants of Vermont, Massachusetts, 

 New York (Long Island, Buffalo and Chautauqua), New Jersey, 

 District of Columbia and North Carolina, but also from Tennessee 

 (Nashville), Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Min- 

 nesota There is a strong probability that variety latifolia, whose 

 habitat is given as " Pennsylvania and Ohio to Florida," (Synop. 

 Flora) is the prevalent form in the west rather than the type 

 species. The suggestion is made that students look into their 

 specimens named Noveboracensis and see if they really are the type 

 and not the variety. 



The additional species, altissima, newly added to the area covered 

 by the "Manual," will probably be found in many places when 

 sought after. It has as yet been recorded from Nashville only 

 (Gattinger). 



Two species, angvstifolia and oligophylla, are strictly southern, 

 neither of them being found north of North Carolina. The first, 

 with one variety, Texana, extends west to Texas, but the second 

 is an eastern species, extending from North Carolina to Florida, 

 near the coast. Four of the others, viz., Arkansana, Jantesii, 

 Lindheimeri and Lettermani are all strictly trans Mississippi forms, 

 found only in Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and east New 

 Mexico. The one remaining species, Baldwinii, is given as west- 

 ern (east Missouri to Texas), but it is recorded from western 

 Tennessee (Gattinger), buc likewise from Michigan (Wheeler and 

 Smith). We query whether this last may not be a mistake in iden- 

 tification. If correctly recorded in Tennessee it would indicate a 

 tendency to s])read eastward across the Mississippi. 



