J 66 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 474. 



with visiting botanists, had the pleasure 

 of paying a visit to the Missouri Botan- 

 ical Garden, where, under the guidance of 

 Dr. Wm. Trelease and his staff, the various 

 appointments and collections were exam- 

 ined with great profit and enjoyment. 

 The section returned a vote of thanks to 

 Dr. Trelease for his courtesy to the visiting 

 botanists. 



The following papers were presented: 



The Work of the Year 1903 in Ecology: 

 H. C. CowLES. (By special invitation 

 of the sectional committee.) This paper 

 will be published in full in Science. 

 Notes on the Botany of the Caucasus 

 fountains: C. E. Besset. 

 General characteristics of the moun- 

 tains and their climate. The steppes north 

 of the range. The vegetation of Kislo- 

 vodsk, Bermamut, Kasabek and Ardon, on 

 the north side. Vegetation of the Ardon 

 Valley, the higher mountain slopes and 

 the Rion Valley to Kutais. The forests of 

 Colchis. Tiflis and its botanical garden. 

 The region of Upper Armenia. The 

 plains of Erivan on the Zenga River. The 

 gardens at Batum and Chackva. Tea 

 plantations and bamboo thickets at 

 Chackva. The forests of the northeast 

 shores of the Black Sea. 



The Cypress Swamps of the Saint Francis 



River: S. M. Coulter. 



The Saint Francis River covers wide 

 stretches of lowland in Missouri and Ar- 

 kansas Avith a varying depth of water. At 

 some seasons these lands are dry, at others 

 covered with two feet of Avater. Sub- 

 merged aquatic plants cover the river bot- 

 tom, and Polygonum densiflorum seems to 

 be the first aerial plant; Zizaniopsis mil- 

 iacea succeeds it very closely; Peltandra 

 undidata, Saururus cernuus and Typha 

 latifolia are next in order, then a willowy 

 undergrowth, succeeded by Cephalanthus 



occidentalis ; Nyssa uniflora and Taxodium 

 distichum occupy the next zone and are 

 the principal forms which have worked 

 out so-called adaptations to their habitat. 

 The young trees of Nyssa uniflora, the 

 tupelo gum, are crowded in pure groves, 

 and as they increase in size they develop 

 a peculiar bulging in the trunk near the 

 water line. These dome-shaped bases be- 

 come as much as twelve feet in diameter 

 and are accompanied by the decay of the 

 central tissue in base and trunk. Upper 

 portions of the trees are usually blown 

 away, leaving a hollow shaft thirty or 

 forty feet high. The habitat of the cypress 

 is similar. The young groves are not so 

 unmixed as those of the tupelo. The cy- 

 press base, instead of being dome-shaped, 

 becomes conical, but does not decay in the 

 center. The development of the cypress 

 'knees' or upward enlargements of the 

 roots is another peculiarity of the cypress 

 growing in water. They are enormously 

 developed in the Saint Francis region, 

 sometimes reaching a height of eight feet 

 above the ground. When cypress grows 

 under mesophytic surroundings, neither 

 the enlargement of the base occurs nor the 

 development of Imees. Beyond the cy- 

 press-tupelo gum association is found a 

 large variety of- shrubs and trees. The 

 tension line between the cypress and most 

 broad-leaved trees seems dependent upon 

 the amount of water; the cypress can live 

 on land or water, but the other forms only 

 on land. However, they are more vigorous 

 under those favorable conditions and soon 

 occupy the land to the exclusion of the 

 cypress. These marginal forms include 

 Liquidambar styraciflua, white and red 

 oaks, sassafras, sycamore, Celtis Mississip- 

 piensis, Nyssa sylvatica and a large num- 

 ber of shrubs. 



Ecological Notes on the Islands of Ber- 

 muda: S. M. Coulter. 



