238 



(the day before Thanksgiving) was discussed, and a motion to 

 omit that meeting was lost. 



The resignation of Dr. William Austin Cannon was read and 

 accepted, subject to the approval of the treasurer. On motion, 

 the secretary cast the vote of the Club, electing to membership 

 the persons proposed as above. 



The following program was presented : 



N. L. Britton : Botanical exploration in Jamaica. 



Dr. Britton described his recent trip to the Island of Jamaica, 

 where he with Mrs. Britton spent the month of September in 

 exploring the south-central portion of Jamaica, in cooperation 

 with Hon. William Fawcett, Director of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations, and Mr. William Harris, Superintendent of Public 

 Gardens. Collections aggregating about one thousand field num- 

 bers were made in the vicinity of Kingston, in the vicinity of 

 Mandevnlle, on the Santa Cruz mountains and the Pedro plains 

 lying between these mountains and the southern coast. The 

 coast and morasses about Black River and Lacovia were exam- 

 ined ; and another base was made at New Market, on the western 

 border of the parish of St. Elizabeth, whence the hill country of 

 the vicinity and of Eastern Westmoreland were explored. A 

 stop was made also at Bluefields on the southern coast. 



The region explored had been little collected in since the visit 

 of William Purdie, an English collector sent to Jamaica from the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1843 ^"<^ ^844 ; ^"fi many species not 

 collected by Mr. Harris in his recent work were obtained. Speci- 

 mens of a considerable number of the more interesting trees and 

 shrubs obtained were exhibited. 



P. A. Rydberg : Remarks on the Water-weed, Pliilotria. 



The genus was first described in Michaux's Flora Boreali- 

 Americana under the name Elodea. Unfortunately this is ante- 

 dated by Elodes Adanson. Elodea is characterized as having her- 

 maphrodite flowers with three stamens and three bifid styles. 

 Muhlenberg, in his catalogue, referred the plant to the Old World 

 Scrpiada vcrticUlata L., now Hydrilla verticUlata, and charac- 

 terized the plant as being dioecious with 4-merous staminate 

 flowers. Pursh, in his Flora, retains the plant in Serpiada, but 



