lOO IPOMCEA LACUNOSA. WHITE STAR IPOMCEA. 



showy as in the other species. Nature was too intent on the 

 leaves to sfive much thought to the flower. 



The specific designation, lacunosa, is supposed to refer to a 

 pecuHar roughness of the leaves, as the word signifies that 

 which is full of holes, pits, or "little lakes." But in all the 

 living specimens which we have been able to examine, this 

 feature was not very apparent. These specimens, however, 

 were from Pennsylvania, which is the most northern point in 

 the geographical range of our plant, and it may be that the 

 peculiar character of the leaves is more prominently developed 

 in the South, where the species is likely to flourish more vigor- 

 ously. The flowers also seem a little less in size than they ap- 

 pear by the figures of other botanists. 



Nuttall found the Ipoiiioca lacnnosa growing very abundantly 

 on the banks of the Arkansas, and according to Prof. Wood it 

 extends as far south as Louisiana and Florida. It probably 

 occurs also in Texas, and is at home in Nebraska, Kansas, 

 Illinois, and Ohio. On the alluvial soil along the Ohio River, 

 according to an article by Mr. Butler in the " Botanical Ga- 

 zette," the herbaceous vegetation is so rank that it is very 

 difficult to force a way through it, and one of the chief com- 

 ponents of this tangled and luxuriant mass is our species, which 

 twines over everything. Dr. Chapman states that it is also 

 found in low grounds in the middle districts of Georgia, and we 

 have already mentioned that its northern limit is Pennsylvania. 

 Curiously enough, it seems to be wanting entirely in the neigh- 

 boring state of New Jersey. On the Pacific slope neither our 

 own nor any other species of the genus Ipomoca appears to be 

 represented, although several closely allied genera are native in 

 California. 



Our plant is in flower from August to October. 



As the Ipomoea lacunosa has heretofore been without any 

 common name, we have ventured to call it the " White Star 

 Ipomoea," in allusion to the pretty little stars formed by its 

 flowers. 



