STUDIES ON SUBTERRANEAN ORGANS. I. COM- 

 POSITAE OF THE VICINITY OF MANHATTAN, 



KANSAS.* 



A. S. Hitchcock. 



The following notes include observations made during the 

 fall of 1898, and also some made while preparing Bulletin No. 

 76, of the Kansas Experiment Station. 



So far as the duration of the underground parts is con- 

 cerned the plants fall naturally into three categories, annuals, 

 biennials and perennials. 



The following are annuals : Erigeron Canadensis, E. diva- 

 ricatus, E.sirigosus, Gnaphalium polycephalum, Iva ciliata^ I. 

 xanihiifolia y Ambrosia trifida^ A. artemisiaefolia , Xanthium 

 Canadense, Eclipta alba, Helianthus annuus, H. peiiolaris, 

 Coreopsis involucrata, Bidens frondosa, B. connata, B. chry- 

 santhemoides^B. cernua, Dysodia chrysanthemoides, Erechtites 

 Meracifolia, Sonchus asper. Most of these are found in low 

 ground, waste places, or cultivated soil, and would be classed 

 as mesophytes. A few are hydrophytes or at least lovers of 

 damp places, Eclipta, Coreopsis, and the last three species of 

 Bidens. Two are lovers of sandy soil (psammophytes), 

 Gnaphalium and Helianthus petiolaris. Three are prairie 

 xerophytes, Erigeron divaricatus, E. strigosus and Dysodia, 

 The last is frequently abundant on limestone bluffs and is the 

 only annual that is properly a member of such communities. 



The following are apparently biennials, though more obser- 

 vations are needed upon some of the species to determine this- 

 point: Grindelia squarrosa, Arctium Lappa, Cnicus altissi- 

 mus, Uieracium longipilum, Prenanthes asper, Lactuca Can- 

 adensis, L. Ludoviciana, L. Eloridana. Cnicus altissimus 

 produces the first year a fleshy tap-root and often several 

 ateral tuberous roots in addition. GiHndelia, Lactuca and 



* Presented to The Academy of Science of St. Louis, January 23, 1899. 



