288 



THE AMERICAN 



NEW PLANTS. 



"We have received from Mr. S. A. Forbes spe- 

 cimens of two plants, which, if not really new 

 species, are so remarkable in their appearance, 

 and so different from the ordinary forms of any 

 species to which they are related, that they cer- 

 tainly merit description at least as marked vari- 

 eties. They are a Saxifraga and a Heuchera, 

 both growing on shaded clifTs near Makanda 

 and Cobden, Southern Illinois. The Saxifraga 

 in general appearance is intermediate between 

 Saxifraga virginiensis, Mx., and S. pennsyl- 

 vanica, L., or, as Dr. Gray suggests, between 

 S. erosa, Pursh., and S. virginiensis, Mx., ap- 

 proaching nearest to the last-named. It is an 

 herbaceous plant, presenting at the ground a 

 cluster of half a dozen soft, hairy leaves, four to 

 eight inches long, thin, lanceolate, and toothed 

 on the mai'gin, or sometimes nearly entire. 

 From the root rises a flower-stalk two to three 

 feet high, without leaves, but with a few slender 

 bracts at the base of the branches. The upper 

 half or third of the stalk divides into six or eight 

 branches, forming a pretty large open panicle; 

 the main branches again subdivide into very 

 slender pedicels, with small flowers having the 

 general characters of the genus to which it 

 belongs. The stem or scape is clothed with 

 rather sticky or glandular hairs. We append 

 a botanical description and dedicate the species 

 to the enthusiastic young naturalist who first 

 detected it: 



Saxifraga Forbesii (n. sp).— Leaves lanceo- 

 late, or elliptical-oblong, rather thin and pointed, 

 taperiuginto a short margined petiole, pubescent, 

 especially on the margin, veins and petiole, cre- 

 nate or rei^and dentate, -i — 8 inches long. Scape 

 leafless, slender, viscid pubescent, two to three 

 feet high ; upper third or half forming an ample, 

 loose and open panicle of 6—8 branches. Flow- 

 ers small, in cymose clusters at the extremities 

 of the branches ; pedicels slender, bracts linear; 

 sepals obtuse refiexed, shorter than the linear 

 (two lines long) white petals; filaments slen- 

 der, nearly equaling the petals; pods two, small, 

 slightly united below, divergent at the summit. 

 Shaded clifls. Southern Illinois. 



The plant difFers from the ordinary form of 

 S. Virginiensis, Mx., in its much larger size, 

 in its larger and differently shaped leaves, in 

 its more diffuse panicle, more slender pedicels, 

 smaller flower, smaller, linear petals, and small- 

 er, more pointed and rejlexed pods. 



Of the other plant mentioned, the Heuchera, 

 we have not received siifiiciently mature and 

 perfect specimens to give it a complete descrip- 

 tion, and we therefore will refer to it at a future 

 time. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Plants 'Sa.vae A— Samuel Thompson, M. B., Albion, 

 Ills. —The specimen you sent! is tlic Goat's Beard 

 {Spirea aruncus, L.), one^of the few cUcccious plants of 

 the Order Rosacea. It is not infrequent in rocky woods 

 in Southern Illinois. 



Jonathan Periam, Chatsworth, His. — Your plant is the 

 Buffalo Clover (Trifolium reflenm, L.)\ as Dr. Morse 

 says, it is practically of no value— too stalky, and foli- 

 age too scanty. 



Arthur ISryant, Princeton, Ills. — Xo. 1 "is the Ked 

 Ash (Fraximvs puiescens) common in the northern and 

 other sections of this State?" We have met with it 

 frequently in Northern Illinois, near Elgin and Chicago, 

 also near Peoria and Springfield . The Green Ash (F. 

 viiidis, Michx.) is of frequent occurrence iu the same 

 region, and still more common in the bottom lands of 

 the Mississippi river, and some forms of these species 

 approach closely to each other, and are not easily dis- 

 tinguished 2 . "In what part of the State is the Red 

 Maple most common? All the soft Maples for miles 

 around here produce apetatous flowers, and the broad- 

 winged greenish seeds o( Acu Jascycarpum. I have 

 procured what was called the Red Slaple from Ellwan- 

 ger & Barry, of Rochester, and from Phtcnix, of Bloom- 

 iiigton , but they were in no respect different from those 

 growing here . ' ' The true Red Maple occui's iu consider- 

 able abiuidance on low rich river borders in Southern 

 Illinois. We doubt if, in Illinois, it extends much north of 

 the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. We have noticed that 

 the Soft Maple shade trees ol Bloomington are nearly 

 all the Silver-leaved Maple (A. dascycarpu/n). 3. "An- 

 other matter about which I am puzzled relates to the 

 Populus anijulata and P. monilifera. The two species 

 are usually confounded under the name of Cottonwood, 

 and certainly the botanical difference is not very strongly 

 marked. Cottonwood trees are usually difficult to split, 

 and when sawed into lumber, warp and twist in every 

 possible direction. Yet some of them, which have heart- 

 wood of a yelloioish color, like that of the tulip tree, can 

 be split into rails and shingles, and do not warp when 

 sawed into lumber. Are these the P . angulata, or a 

 variety common to both species?" We have observed 

 with great care the Cottonwoods in all parts of the State, 

 and have failed to establish distinguishing marks for 

 the two species referred to above, and have concluded 

 that there was really but one species. We know some 

 thorough Botanists in the West who coincide in this 

 opinion. The distinction with respect to the wood, 

 mentioned by Mr. Bryant, truiy furnish a clue by which 

 to unravel the difficulty, and we hope that the trees 

 which present these loood-iiffei'enccs may be carefully 

 observed , so that if any distinctive botanical characters 

 exist they may be noted and recorded. 



Miss Mary MuHfddt, Kirlwooi, Mo .—^0. 1, Scirpxis 

 lineutus, Michx., a coarse sedge with graceful di'ooping 

 brown spikes. No. 2 is the llair-jjrass {Agrostls scabra, 

 Willd.) very common on damp clayey soils. When old 

 the culms break off and are sometimes thrown into 

 heaps against lences, &c. No. 3 is the common Rush- 

 grass {Juneus tenuis, AViUd.), too common in many places. 

 No. 4 is Mclic-grass {.MeUca mutica, Walt.), a tall and 

 handsome grass growing in thickets and in low, rich 

 ground. No. 5 is a sedge, a species of the very large 

 genus Carex, and a form of Carex triceps, the Three- 

 headed Carcx. No. 6 is the purple flowered Milkweed 

 (Asclepias purpurascms , L.) 



