in life would have been at least lo centimeters long and 6 centi- 

 meters in maximum diameter. 



I have naturally not seen as mucJi recent comparative material 

 as I should like, but I liave been impressed with the resemblance 

 between the fossil and the fruits of the modern genus Calyco- 

 physum, which, according to Pittier, embraces at least five 

 species of vines of valleys below about 4000 feet in Colombia, 

 Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. It may be, of course, that 

 some related genus whose fruits I have not seen, as for example, 

 in the genus Sicana, may be more similar to the fossil, and there 

 may still exist, in the Mexican region, a less decidedly tropical 

 member of the Cucurbitaceae which the fossil represents. Those 

 who will take the trouble to compare the accompanying illus- 

 trations with Pittier's figures of Calycophysum brevipes* and 

 especially with the section shown on his plate 30, will, I think,. 

 be forced to admit the great similarity between the fossil and 

 this modern fruit, and will at least concede that its reference to> 

 the Cucurbitaceae is correct. 



It is regrettable that the exact age of the fossil can not be 

 determined. It is obviously Tertiary. If it be considered to 

 represent a modern tropical genus it can scarcely be younger 

 than late Eocene or Oligocene. If, on the other hand, it re- 

 presents a modern genus of the Mexican plateau region, which is 

 suggested by its geographical location, it might very well re- 

 present an element in the flora of the Panhandle and Clarendon 

 Miocene, or even the Blanco Pliocene. I am inclined to tliink 

 that one or the other of the latter alternatives is correct. 



Edward W. Berry. 



SHORTER NOTES 



Bulbous Bluegrass (Poa bulbosa L.) 



This grass has been established many years in the lawns of 

 Capitol Square, Richmond, Virginia. It is there regarded with 

 disfavor because while making a beautiful green turf in late fall, 

 winter and early spring, it turns black and apparently dies in 

 June and then makes very unsightly patches. The grass was 

 first brought to our attention in June, 191 5, by Mr. John \V. 



* Pittier, H., Cont. U. S. Natl. Herb., vol. 20, p. 4S7, pis. 27-30,. 1922. 



