Notes from my herbarium. I. 
WALTER DEANE. 
A few notes from my herbarium, relating to some of the 
plants which I have collected from time to time, may be of in- 
terest. Roots, runners, rootstocks and the like are rarely well 
represented in collections, and yet how incomplete the plant 
is without these characteristics, and what important functions 
they often fulfil in the economy of nature. 
LATHYRUS MARITIMUS Bigelow. Beach pea. 
I have a specimen of this species, represented on three sheets. 
I collected it on Aug. 31, 1888, at Hyannisport, Mass. It was 
growing in the clear sand near the water, and its importance 
in helping to bind the sands, and thus to resist the ever- 
encroaching waves of the sea, can be seen from the following 
note which I made at the time, and copied on one of the 
sheets: ‘‘ The main rootstock of this plant was nineteen feet 
long. The stock ran along but a few inches, from one to 
four, under the sand. The nodes of the rootstock were from 
six inches to one foot apart. At intervals of from one to 
three feet, short roots were thrown off from the stock at the 
nodes. There were three branches from the main stock, the 
longest one being six and one-half feet. These branches 
were also branching. The fresh young stocks were very 
white, succulent and brittle. The root descended abruptly 
two and one-half feet, branching slightly at the end. From 
the stocks rose eight fresh plants, and three dead stalks of 
last year’s plants.” This is certainly a most astonishing 
record for a single plant. I retained for my herbarium enough 
of the plant to show all its features, even including the nine- 
teen feet of rootstock. By coiling the stock, I easily managed 
it. It is about one-eighth of an inch thick, and makes a flat 
mat, which is readily mounted. 
AMMOPHILA ARUNDINACEA Host. Sea sand-reed. ; 
On Aug. 13, 1886, at Rye Beach, N. H., ona sandy beach, 
I dug up a complete tussock of this tough grass. By a judi- 
cious cutting off of the top of the plant, leaving enough to 
show a few leaves and the inflorescence, and by using a very 
heavy pressure, a fine specimen was made, showing the size 
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