ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



345 



inner bark of an orange color, and valuable in 

 tanning and dyeing. The wood is extensively 

 employed for timber and fuel, but is inferior to 

 the White Oak. 



Quercus coccinea, variety vuh/aris (Pig. 212) 

 is probably the commonest form of the species, 

 especially in the Western States. The leaves 

 are cut more than half-way to the midrib, 

 bright grccu and shining both sides, and with 

 long slender petioles. The fruit is somewhat 

 larger than in the preceding, but in the figure 

 is represented rather disproportionately large. 



[Fig. •21.!.] 



Black Oak (Querms coccinea , var. microcarpa.) 



This is a very common form, especially in 

 Northern Illinois. The leaves are unusually 

 large and finely lobed, the a(;orn8 small and 

 pointed, and the cup very shallow. 



Quercus coccinea, var. tinctoria (Fig. 211). 

 This is the form which has usually been called 

 Querciis tinctoria, Bart. The figure is from a 



Pennsylvania specimen, and is reduced in size 

 about one half. The leaves are less deeply lobed 

 than any of the others, with shorter petioles, 

 and generally with some rusty down along the 

 veins on the under side. The acorns arc about 

 half an inch long. Tliis variety is not, accord- 

 ing to our observation, common in the Western 

 States. 



The other principal forms we have not space 

 to illustrate; they are — 



4th. The variety depre.tsn, with leaves like 

 those of the variety mio-ocarpa, but with much 

 larger and shorter acorns, the scales of the cup 

 loose at the border. It approaches Quercus 

 palustris, DuRoi. 



5th. Variety coronala, with obconic cup, the 

 border forming a crown of loose scales. 



(ith. Variety iw,<ermerfi«, intermediate between 

 the varieties depressa and microcarpu. 



NOTES ON PLANTS COLLECTED NEAR CRICAfiO. 



The sumnipr months allbvd a rich harvest of 

 interesting species to the collector in Northern 

 Illinois; for the region near the south shore of 

 Lake Michigan seems to combine, in a reniark- 

 !il)lc degree, the distinctive plants of the prairie 

 with many that appear to belong more properly 

 (o the Slates further north and east. 



As the season progresses beyond the chances 

 of frost, the richer-hued plants hasten into bloom 

 in troops, until June and July are gay with 

 flowers. Con.spicuons among these is the bril- 

 liant Scarlet Painted Cup, Avhich Bryant has 

 celebrated in exquisite verse, and a bright yellow 

 variety of the same species {Castelleia coccinea). 



Space will allow me to give only a partial list 

 of our summer plants. The Perennial Lupin 

 {Lupinus 2^erennis) finds a favorite hnbital liei-c, 

 and sometimes makes the space of an acre beau- 

 tiful with its sky-blue flowers. The Golden 

 Alkanet (Litfiosjjermum canescens) delights in 

 the same locality, and a little later the showier 

 Litltospermums conw into bloom, bnlli A. hirtum 

 and L. lont/ijlorum, but (Ik^ latter not connnon. 

 The Primrose family is represented by the Shoot- 

 ing Star {Dodecatheon Mcadid). Its pretty 

 pink-pur))le flowers, witli coqueltishly reflexed 

 petals, are (juite unique in aspee^t, and suggest 

 the lavorite Cyclamen of tlic greenhouses. It 

 varies to pure whiti!. 



An old Swedish botanist who had visited 

 Chiciigo, and was taken to one of our best wild 

 garden spots in June, exhibited all the enthusi- 

 asm of a child at the pleasant sight, and could 



