September 19, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



477 



it include everything which it is desirable to 

 list, but do not make separate indexes. 



THE PRESERVATION OF Vt^ILD FLOWERS. 



The movement to preserve the wild flowers 

 from the destruction which threatens them at 

 the hands of thoughtless persons has taken 

 form, and we may now hope for some definite 

 results. It is not true that the people are in- 

 different to the fate of the wild flowers; they 

 are merely ignorant as to any threatened dan- 

 ger. When once they find that certain pretty 

 plants are in danger of extermination they 

 are ready enough to act. In the vicinity of 

 Colorado Springs, Colo., the ' tourists ' have 

 for years been at work eradicating the more 

 conspicuous plants from the canyons which 

 they visit in swarms. In some of these canyons 

 one can now find but few of the pretty plants 

 which once abounded there, and it has been a 

 constant source of irritation to lovers of 

 nature visiting these places to see these van- 

 dals clutching every beautiful thing within 

 reach. At last the residents of Colorado 

 Springs have waked to the fact that their 

 treasures have been stolen, and they are now 

 organizing for the purpose of protecting those 

 that remain. Every ' summer resort ' has 

 suffered in like manner, and it will be neces- 

 sary for the permanent residents to follow the 

 example of Colorado Springs if they hope 

 to preserve the plants which adorn the land- 

 scape. Wherever the feeling has arisen that 

 such work must be done, those interested 

 should at once consult with Charles L. Pol- 

 lard, Secretary of the Wild Flower Preserva- 

 tion Society of America, at Washington, D. C. 



THE SHRUBS OF WYOMING. 



In a recent bulletin of the Wyoming Ex- 

 periment Station, Mr. Elias Nelson enumer- 

 ates the shrubs of the state, and gives such 

 popular descriptions as will serve to distin- 

 guish the species. One hundred and five 

 species are included, of which five are Gym- 

 nosperms (of the genus Juniperus) the re- 

 mainder being Dicotyledons. No Monocoty- 

 ledons are included, apparently indicating that 

 there are no woody species in Wyoming. In 

 the list there are thirteen willows (Salix) ; 



five species of chenopods (Chenopodiacew) ; 

 nine of currants and gooseberries (Bibes) ; 

 five roses (Rosa) ; four honeysuckles (Lon- 

 icera) ; five sage-brushes {Artemisia) ; and ten 

 rabbit-bushes (Chrysothamnus). No less than 

 eighteen species of Compositse are more or 

 less shrubby. 



There is but one shrubby species of the pea 

 family (Papilionacew) , namely the false in- 

 digo (Amorpha fruticosa). So there is but 

 one shrubby dogwood (Gornus stolonifera). 

 Of the heaths and their allies only three 

 species are given. 



On comparing this list of the shrubs of 

 Wyoming with Professor Aven Nelson's 

 ' Trees of Wyoming ' published two or three 

 years ago, we find that of the thirty-one trees 

 there given no less than twelve are here intro- 

 duced as ' shrubs.' However, all these are 

 on the border line between trees and shrubs, 

 and it is perhaps better to list them twice 

 than to permanently assign them to one or the 

 other class. In the flora here represented there 

 are about one hundred and twenty-four species 

 of woody plants, of which less than one sixth 

 are certainly to be ranked as trees. This pre- 

 dominance of shrubs is a notable feature of 

 the woody vegetation of the highlands of the 

 West. 



AN OLD BROWN CEDAR. 



In the Garden of the Gods, near Pike's 

 Peak, Colo., there are many large specimens 

 of the brown cedar, Juniperus monosperma 

 (Engelm.) Sargent, and in a recent visit to 

 that place it occurred to the writer that these 

 trees must be very old. On the 13th of 

 August he was fortunate enough to find the 

 stump of a recently cut tree, on which it was 

 easy to distinguish the annual growth-rings. 

 These were counted for a section of the trunk, 

 care being taken to select a portion in which 

 the rings were of average thickness, and on 

 this basis the number for the whole stump 

 was calculated. In this way it was found that 

 this particular tree was between eight hun- 

 dred and one thousand years old. In other 

 words, this tree was a seedling some time be- 

 tween the years 900 and 1100 A. D. 



Charles E. Bessey. 



The University of Nebraska. 



