164 Harper: Explorations in Georgia 1903 



Lythrum Curtissii Fernald, Bot Gaz. 33 : 155. 1902 



Not rare in the muddy swamp of Spring Creek near Colquitt, 

 Miller County, Aug. 4 {^no. ipiS); also seen on the bank of the 

 same creek near Brinson, Decatur County, eight days later. 

 These two stations are almost in a direct line between the type- 

 locality in Calhoun County and the other station (Aspalaga, 

 Florida) mentioned in the original description. 



This species is not mentioned in Koehne's recent monograph of 

 the Lythraceae (Engler's Pflanzenreich, Heft 17. October, 1903). 



Eryngium praealtum Gray, Bost. Jour. Nat Hist. 6 : 210. 



1850. (PL Lindh.) 



This species has been united by Coulter and Rose with E. 

 aqiiaticnm L. {E. virginiainim Lam.), but it is distinct, certainly 

 varietally if not specifically. On June 18 I collected it for the first 

 time, in the swamp of the Savannah River in. the southeastern 

 corner oi Effingham County {tto, i8jg). It was not yet in flower, 

 and probably did not begin to flower until July or August. The 

 river was so high at the time* that the plants were about half sub- 

 merged, and I had to use a boat to get them. My station is 

 within 20 miles of Bluffton, S. C, where Dr. MelHchamp collected 

 the same plant. There is also a specimen in the herbarium 

 of the New York Botanical Garden collected by my friend Mr. 

 M. H. Hopkins in a '* marshy spot just below Savannah, Aug. 9, 

 1897." This station is about the same distance from the two just 

 mentioned as they are from each other. 



Dr. Gray's comparison of the leaves of this species to those of 

 a Rnmex is a very apt one. I mistook the plant for a Rianex my- 

 self until I saw its budding inflorescence. 



Many if not most of the larger leaves bore an appendage the 

 like of which I have never seen described, consisting of what was 

 essentially a smaller leaf 2-6 cm. long, attached near the middle 

 of the upper surface of the true leaf, with its ventral surface fac- 



r 



ing that of the leaf, its dorsal surface more or less concave, and 

 its midrib adnate for most of its length to that of the leaf. This 

 appendage was too common to be considered a mere monstrosity, 



■ 



but I will not attempt to explain it. I noticed that some insect 



* See second iooinoXt on page 149. 



