265 



mat; and the Sparsae, in which there is a shorter or longer 

 underground root-stock (which he calls the "earth-branch"). 

 In the first group, new plants arise from buds on this matted 

 crown; the plants, therefore, all remain in a close cluster. In 

 the other group, the new plants are scattered at some distance 

 from the old plants. The Storeatae are again subdivided into 

 those in which the roots become very fleshy and usually more 

 or less spindle-shaped toward the end of the season. The 

 contents of these roots are used up by the following year's 

 growth. The other division consists of those with fine fibrous 

 roots. Further subdivisions of these are based upon the fact 

 that the leaves are three-nerved in some, and pinnate-nerved 

 in others. Still further subdivisions are based upon the hairiness. 

 The group Sparsae is divided into sections in which the under- 

 ground stems are terminated by tubers (H. tuberosus being an 

 example), and those not so enlarged. The latter are again 

 divided into those with petiolate leaves and those with practically 

 sessile leaf-blades. Further subdivisions are based upon the 

 presence or absence of wings upon the petioles, and on the nerva- 

 tion of the leaf -blades. 



The author finds that by subdividing the plants in this way, 

 he can distinguish a large number of species which have appar- 

 ently never been described. It is to be hoped that botanists 

 elsewhere, where the perennial sunflowers are abundant, will 

 try out Mr. Alexander's key as to its workability in other local- 

 ities. 



East Lansing, Michigan ErNST A. BeSSEY 



NEWS ITEMS 



A hurricane accompanied by rain and snow on the night of 

 November ii, at Lafayette, Ind., did much injury to the botani- 

 cal department of the Purdue Experiment Station. The windows 

 of the offices and laboratories were blown in, but the herbarium 

 room escaped unharmed. About half of the glass in the con- 

 servatories was broken, and as the storm was followed by severe 

 cold, practically all the plants perished. The collection included 

 many species gathered from all parts of the country for culture 

 hosts in the study of rusts. * 



