150 



magazine, which should prove interesting to all botanical students 

 in that region, is illustrated, and contains papers by the members 

 of the biological staff on the "botanical opportunity in Colorado", 

 on the mesa and foothill vegetation, especially with relation to 

 physiography and climate, with the distribution of conifers and 

 deciduous trees, and a bibliography and history of Colorado 

 botany. 



Dr. O. F. Cook in discussing the history of the cocoanut palm 

 says : " It has long been thought that the cocoanut palm presents 

 a perfect example of adaptation to a littoral environment, but this 

 idea is delusive. The tough outer rind which is popularly sup- 

 posed to have been developed as a protection against sea water 

 is really to guard the cocoanut when it falls, and give it favorable 

 conditions for germination, Cocoanuts require a certain amount 

 of salt in the soil, but this condition is satisfied by soils in some 

 interior locaHties as well as on the seacoast. Considerable sun- 

 shine is also needed. This, however, is met better in arid regions 

 than by a coastal habitat and the care with which the milk is pro- 

 tected would argue in the same direction. Far from being a wild 

 plant the cocoanut does not appear to thrive long away from 

 human beings and in spite of the supposed diffusion of the tree 

 by oceanic currents no instance of the kind is known." 



A freak dandelion. Taraxacum taraxacum (L.) Karst., is de- 

 scribed by M. P. Somes in the April American Botanist: 



" In place of the scape which all self-respecting dandelions 

 rear aloft, this ' freak ' had a stem, amply provided with leaves 

 — not in whorls, if you please, but alternate. The tip of the 

 flower stalk was bifurcate and bore two heads, rather smaller 

 than the average but perfect in other respects. Near the base of 

 the stem to still further emphasize the abnormality was an auxil- 

 iary peduncle tipped by an immature head. There were several 

 plants with this leafy stem habit and all very similar in the forked 

 flower stalk. The soil was an ordinary black earth quite moist 

 but in no way noticeably peculiar and six feet away in the same 

 soil were normal plants of the same species. A friend, who is 



