79 



The trouble caused !)>' the |)hint is due to the long tough 

 stems, crowded with toothed lea\es above, and finely cut leaves 

 below water, which fill canals, ponds, and other quiet waters, 

 so as to prevent bathing and boating. The name is abridged 

 from calcitriipa, a caltrop, in allusion to the spreading points 

 of the fruit. (The Bur-grass, Cetirhrus, has a species, tribuloides, 

 named for tribuJns, another word for the caltrop, which was a 

 sphere of iron, with sharp points sticking in every direction, to 

 catch the feet of ca\alry horses. The extent of the plant seems 

 hardly to justify such potentous measures on the Mohawk. If it 

 is established there, the chances are it will appear elsewhere 

 down the Hudson before long. 



Dr. Alexander W. Evans, professor of botany at Yale Uni- 

 versity celebrated his seventieth birthday on May 17. Dr. 

 Evans is well known for his work on the Hepaticae and lichens. 

 A special volume of Annales Bryologici is being prepared — with 

 a biographical note and a portrait of Dr. Evans, together with 

 some twenty five contributions from leading American and 

 European bryologists and hepaticologists. (Science) 



The New York Botanical Garden has recently acquired two 

 large and important collections of Myxomycetes. Mr. Robert 

 Hagelstein, Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes, has presented 

 his collection of over 4800 specimens, the majority of which were 

 personally collected by Mr. Hagelstein and his associates in the 

 States along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Virginia, and in 

 the West Indies. Among them, also, are about 1500 specimens 

 from other parts of the world received in exchange. The Garden 

 has acquired by purchase the collection of nearly 3000 speci- 

 mens made by Dr. William C. Sturgis, the result of a lifetime's 

 collection and study, and accompanied by his literature, notes, 

 drawings, and the correspondence with other students covering 

 a period of 40 years. Both collections are rich in type material, 

 rare species and varieties, and unusual phases. The entire col- 

 lection of the Garden, which includes also the specimens col- 

 lected by the late J. B. Ellis, now comprises more than 10,000 

 specimens and is probably the largest and finest in North 

 America, and one of the important collections of the world. It 

 is catalogued and arranged so that any particular specimen may 

 be found. There is a large amount of duplicate material — even 

 in rare species — which is available for exchange with other insti- 

 tutions and students, and correspondence is invited. 



Louise Beebe Wilder, horticulturist and author, died in New 

 York on April 20. Mrs. Wilder had been a member of the Ad- 



