69 



American Associations in Philadelphia in 1884, the whole subject 

 seemed new and interesting to the many distinguished botanists 

 present. 



I desire now to add that, in the years that have followed, I 

 note that this condition is quite common among Compositse. It 

 would be more easy to give a list of species in which it does not 

 exist, than where it does. Heliopsis is, however, one of the best 

 illustrations {H. l^vis, H. scahei"), as the anther-tube is so very 

 long, and the filaments must be drawn out before they contract 

 on the emergence of the pistil, to a length greater than in many 



other species. 



At the time I refer to, some of the distinguished botanists 

 present, conceding the renewed interest my observations threw 

 around the subject, were not quite prepared to accept the *' elas- 

 tic" view of the filaments, — the interesting and repeated observa- 

 tions of the botanists cited by Sachs' seeming to give to irritability 

 alone power to accomplish all the phenomena. I have since 

 made an observation on Heliantlms {H. doronicoides) which clear- 

 ly establishes the fact that the anther-column is not pushed up, 

 and again drawn down by irritable action in the filaments, but 

 is simply pushed up by the growth of the pistil, and drawn down 

 by the elastic filaments as soon as the apex of the pistil manages 

 to escape. In this Helianthns the anthers are but lightly co- 

 herent, and the pistil has an evident tendency to a lateral instead 

 of the usual erect tendency. It breaks through the side of the 

 anther-column, and the anthers themselves mostly get free from 

 their usual contact with each other before they have been drawn 

 far above the limb of tlie floret. In this case there is no attempt 

 at elongation, while there is no reason why there should not be as 

 in the other cases, if irritability in the filaments were the active 



cause 



Thomas Meehan. 



Additions to the Iowa Florar 



' The following is a list of additions to the Anthophyte flora 

 of Iowa founded upon Dr. J. C. Arthur's ** Contributions to the 

 Flora of Iowa." I owe many thanks to Dr. Sereno Watson and 

 Dr. Geo. Vasey, for assistance in determining some of the 

 species. 



