172 TORREYA 



We spent the evening and night at Seaside Park (this closely built-up 

 town is on the seashore but none of us was able to find any trace of a "park"). 

 The town is connected with the mainland by a railroad which runs over a 

 trestle across Barnegat Bay. It was originally planned to reach Toms River 

 by this railroad, but our director of transportation, Dr. Small, had found that 

 a motorboat could be obtained for a little more than the train fare. 



At an early hour on Saturday morning, under a threatening sky, we were 

 embarked for Barnegat Landing, some four or five miles across the bay to the 

 westward, with a walk of five miles ahead for Toms River. Shortly after leav- 

 ing the boat it began to rain in earnest, but this rain proved to be only a shower 

 and the weather soon partially cleared. After we had disembarked, our road 

 led through salt marshes and finally to the sandy pine woods characteristic of 

 the pine barrens. Nothing striking was seen in these salt marshes ; but at the 

 upper margin was a good stand of RyncJiospora Torreyana, a species which is 

 not too abtmdant, and well-marked clumps of Eleocharis amhigens, the repre- 

 sentative of Eleocharis palustris along the southern coastal plain. As we left 

 the salt marsh area the rain had stopped and we visited bogs with cotton grass 

 (Eriophorum) , pitcher plants, and Calopogon on the way. Some of the party 

 stopped to browse over a burned area which was studded with Arenaria 

 caroliniana and Lobelia Canhyi, Liairis graininijolia not yet in flower, and the 

 five coastal Eupatoriums, E. album, E. hyssopifolium, E. leucolepis, E. ver- 

 benaejolium and E. roiundijolium, and a long discussion was held over the 

 differentiation of these species. The oaks, especially possible hybrids, were the 

 subject of a good deal of argument, as was also the question of whether Pinus 

 rigida could always be determined from P. cchinata by the character of the 

 bark. Both species of pine were here in approximately equal numbers. Probably 

 the most interesting discovery of the whole trip was that of Oenothera rhonibi- 

 pctala in a vacant lot at River Bank ; this species is reported in Gray's Manual 

 as being known from Indiana to ^Minnesota. Nebraska, and Texas. Our five 

 mile walk having been completed without much rain, we landed in the village 

 of Beachwood in time for lunch and a heavy downpour. Since our party now 

 numbered about twenty-six we pretty nearly cleaned out the eating facilities 

 of the village. A few who had important business in New York left the group 

 at this point, but the rest of us proceeded in a bus southward to the botanical 

 stamping ground of Forked River, and especially to the middle branch where 

 there is a bus-stop bearing the name of Ostrom. From here it was only a short 

 walk down to the river. Our principal plant of interest was the curly grass 

 iSchizaca pusilla) , a small fern which has always been the most interesting 

 single attraction of the barrens. Although one may know the exact location of 

 the plant from past experience, it is not always easy to find. This was true in 

 the present case, but the tiny plants were finally located in little hollows among 



