158 THE AMERICAN MIDI.AND NATURAUST 



make correct observations on such corispicuous characters. In 

 case this should not have satisfied the authors, they could have 

 expressed their doubt in the customary way by placing a question 

 mark after Chapman's statement. 



To do justice to Dr. Chapman, in bringing his diagnosis to the 

 test, the results of my own observations are herewith presented. 

 The following short statement is based on observations of the 

 species Arundinaria tecta Muhl, and is not, as it might seem, a 

 compilation of the characters of both species, A. tecta and A. 

 macrosperma. 



The following facts are obtained by observations and collections 

 of plants from a locality where, I am certain, A. macrosperma does 

 not occur, namely, about St. Bernard, Cullman County, Northern 

 Alabama. Mohr in his Plant Life of Alabama' expressly excludes 

 the table lands in his report on the habitat of A. tecta ,but this 

 report is superseded, at least in part, by later discoveries. 



According to my observations the inflorescence on Arundinaria 

 tecta Muhl is borne on the so called leafless radical culms (2-9 dm. 

 high) of the season and with sheaths terminated by minute blades : 

 on leafly radical culms of the season with blades somewhat dis- 

 similar in size and appearance from those of the vegetative culms, 

 10 cm.; or less long and i cm. or less wide: on radical culms of the 

 season with blades rather similar to those of the vegetative culms; 

 culms and leaf blades of moderate size: on the summit of leafly 

 branched and unbranched culms of the season, similar to the 

 vegetative culms in size and appearance: on the summit of the 

 culm and the end of the branches of leafly branched culms of the 

 season, and of the same habit as moderately branched vegetative 

 culms. Occasionally branched culms of the preceding season were 

 found with profuse flowering branches, which arose from the 

 crowded sheaths of the ultimate branches of the previous year. 

 The leaves in these cases had fallen during the winter. 



Spikelets 6.5 cm. long, and also spikelets up to 15-flowered have 

 Deen observed. (Herb. St. Bernard College, Nos. 445 and 446.) 



St. Bernard College, 

 St. Bernard, Ala. 



' PI. L. of Ala. Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6:389. 1901. 



