December 11, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



861 



Vegetation due to Sulimersion and Desicca- 

 tion of Land Areas in tlie Salton Sink," and 

 the final " General Discussion." In the third 

 of these there is given a catalogue of 202 spe- 

 cies of plants collected in the Salton Sink. 

 Of these, 23 species are lower (spore-bearing) 

 plants, while 179 are seed-bearing. Of the 

 seed-plants 131 are indigenous, and 48, intro- 

 duced, the latter almost wholly confined to the 

 reclaimed areas (by irrigation and cultiva- 

 tion), and it is said that in no ease have they 

 been able to intrude where natural («'. e., des- 

 ert) conditions remain. 



In the fourth chapter " the main thesis has 

 been the manner in which seed-plants were 

 carried into moist zones or strands around the 

 receding lake which had been completely ster- 

 ilized by immersion in the salt water." Dur- 

 ing the six years of close observation five 

 trees, 17 shrubby species, and 38 herbaceous 

 forms appeared upon the beaches of the reced- 

 ing lalje. Lists are given of the earlier spe- 

 cies to appear on the newly emersed beaches, 

 but their significance is hard to understand, 

 no doubt because of the many factors enter- 

 ing into the problems of dissemination, suc- 

 cession, elimination, etc. The transformation 

 of a waterless desert of excessively high tem- 

 perature into a saline lake with broad beaches, 

 which range through all degrees of moisture 

 from soft mud to almost complete desiccation, 

 involves a great number of physical and bio- 

 logical factors, and this paper is a notable 

 contribution to this phase of botany, which 

 will be of interest to all ecologists. 



VASCULAR PLANTS OF OHIO 



The state of Ohio is fortunate in having 

 had for so many years a succession of syste- 

 matic botanists who have gone over their terri- 

 tory again and again until its higher plants 

 are now very well known. Fifteen years ago 

 the lamented Professor W. A. Kellerman with 

 the help of a considerable number of contrib- 

 utors published the " Fourth State Catalogue 

 of Ohio Plants," and now his successor, Pro- 

 fessor J. H. Schaffner, issues another list 

 under the title " Catalogue of Ohio Vascular 



Plants." 1 As indicated by its title it is con- 

 fined to the higher plants, and includes 2,065 

 species, " about one fourth of which are non- 

 indigenous." 



The nomenclature conforms mainly to that 

 of the second edition of Britton and Brown's 

 "Illustrated Flora of the Northern United 

 States, Canada, and the British Possessions," 

 and the arrangement is in accordance with the 

 well-known phyletic classification proposed by 

 the author of the publication. Thus the phyla 

 are Ptenophyta (Ferns, 49 species) ; Calamo- 

 phyta (Horsetails, 8 species) ; Lepidophyta 

 (Lycopods, 8 species) ; Strobilophyta (conifers, 

 11 species) ; Anthophyta (Flowering Plants, 

 1,989 species). Among the flowering plants 

 one finds 526 monocotyledons, against 1,463 

 dicotyledons. Again we find 161 sedges 

 (Cyperaceae), and 178 grasses (Graminaceae). 

 So, in the dicotyledons we find 72 mustards 

 (Brassicaceae) ; 94 rosaceous plants (Eosaceae, 

 in the wider sense) ; 87 legumes (Leguminosae, 

 in the old sense, although listed under Fab- 

 aceae) ; 6 ragweeds (Ambrosiaceae) ; 202 com- 

 posites (Helianthaceae) ; 25 chicories (Cicho- 

 riaceae) . 



A convenient map of Ohio showing the 

 counties, and a full index complete this nota- 

 ble catalogue. 



A STDDY OF A CARBONIFEROUS FLORA 



In a paper entitled " The ' Fern Ledges ' 

 Carboniferous Flora of St. John, New Bruns- 

 wick," published as Memoir 41, of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey of Canada (1914) Dr. Marie 0. 

 Stopes gives descriptions of the species of 

 plants from these interesting deposits. The 

 genera Calaraites, AsterophyllUes, Annularia, 

 Sphenophyllum, Lepidodendron, Sigillaria, 

 Btigmaria, Psilophyton, Sphenopieris, Cros- 

 sotheca, Diplothema, Oligocarpia, Pecopteris, 

 Alethopteris, Mega!opieris, Adianiides, Neu- 

 ropteris, Trigonocarpum, Rhacopteris, 8po- 

 rangites, Pterispermostroius, Whittleseya, 

 Dicranophyllum, Cordaites, Poacordaites, 

 Dadoxylon, Cordaianthus and Oardiocarpon are 

 represented by one or more species. Many of 

 these are illustrated by half-tone reproductions 



1 Ohio State University Bulletin, No. 24. 



