Report of the State Botanist. 7 



Some special effort has been made to perfect the representa- 

 tion of our native pond weeds in the Herbarium. At the time 

 the State Flora Avas written by Doctor John Torrey nine species 

 of Potamogeton were recorded as inhabiting New York waters. 

 In the Monograph of the Naiadaceae of North America recently 

 prepared by Doctor Thomas Morong, 27 New York species 

 are recognized. Of these 26 are now represented in the 

 Herbarium. Some of these species are extremely variable and 

 require many specimens to properly represent them in all their 

 variations. Many forms and varieties new to the Herbarium 

 have been collected, also one species new to the Herbarium and 

 one new to the State. Potamogeton lucens var. Connecticutensis 

 was discovered by Mr. L. H. Hoysradt in Stissing pond sev- 

 eral years ago. This still remains its only known locality in our 

 State. From it specimens of this rare form have been obtained. 

 More typical forms were collected in Oneida and Cayuga lakes 

 where the plants are by no means scarce. A list of the New 

 York species of Potamogeton is given in another part of this 

 report. " The Plains " is a name given to a tract of land lying 

 along the upper waters of the Oswegatchie river in the southern 

 part of St. Lawrence county. Being desirous of observing the 

 character of its vegetation this place was visited. It is destitute 

 of trees with the exception of a few scattered poplars and tama- 

 racks. Clumps of willows and of the common meadow sweet 

 with some mountain fly honeysuckle, an abundance of 

 Canadian blueberry and some choke cherry and choke berry 

 bushes are the principal shrubs. The prickly blackberry, Rubus 

 setosus, a northern species, is here and the common winter- 

 green. Goldenrods were abundant, the Canadian goldenrod 

 prevailing and showing marked variations. The willow-leaved 

 goldenrod, Solidago uliginosa, which usually grows in swamps 

 and wet places, here grows on dry sandy soil. A peculiar depar- 

 ture from the ordinary habitat was also noticed in two grasses, 

 the white-grained mountain rice, Oryzopsis asperifoUa, and th« 

 purple wild-oat, Avena striata. These usually grow in the shade 

 of trees or i^n woods, but here both were abundant and growing 

 exposed to the full sunlight. The land of this tract is not level 

 but rises gradually as it recedes from the river, and in some 



