42 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



of rusty, but after the escape of the imago therefrom it becomes 

 a lighter brown. The abdominal region much congested and 

 much flattened on the underside. At the anterior portion where 

 the convexity ceased there are a few short stiff hairs; the anal 

 portion is covered by a close-set pile. Size: length, i imm, width, 

 6 mm. 



Ocean Park. 



Notes 



From analysis and experiments conducted by the Dept. of Agriculture 

 on the value of the many Insecticides and Fungicides sold to the public the 

 following conclusions have been arrived at : "Slug Shot," "Bug Death" 

 and "Black Death," are of little or no value. "P. D. Q," "Instant Louse 

 Killer" and Lambert's "Death to Lice," as lice killers are frauds. "Grape 

 Dust" and "Veltha" contain 35 percent, of sand or other useless ingredients. 



Mr. A. A. Heller, author of the "Catalogue of Plants of North America," 

 made a flying visit to Los Angeles on his way to Santa Rosa. He expects 

 to locate in the latter place for a year or so. 



Railroad improvements in East Los Angeles are likely to exterminate 

 our rarest sunflower, Helianthus Oliveyd. Some members of the botanical 

 section are distributing roots in the hope of perpetuating this plant. To 

 any one interested in the preservation of the species, we will forward roots, 

 on the receipt of the small sum necessary to pay the cost of transmission. 



The New York Botanical Gardens are this season offering prizes of $50, 

 $30 and $20, for the best essays on the preservation of our native plants. 

 This amount spent annually in the actual preservation of our rare plants 

 would seems to us the best solution of the question. 



Some species of flesh fungi seem to require a much greater time to re- 

 spond to the stimulus of moisture than others, a fact that has probably much 

 to do with the seasons for the different species. It will be interesting to 

 observe whether the unusually late but abundant rains, will produce a plen- 

 tiful crop in the usual succession, but a month or more later than ordinary. 



Book Reviews 



A REVISION OF THE GENUS C.^LOCHORTUS BY CARI. PURDY. 



We have been anticipating with considerable interest the above revision 

 which has now appeared as No. 4, Vol. 2, Proc. Cal. Acad, of Sciences. In 

 this revision due credit is justly given to Watson, whose accurate descrip- 

 tions in the Botany of California have been found to agree closely with those 

 of all subsequent investigators. Mr. Purdy's method of classifying the 

 species is more likely to appeal to the florist than to the technical botanist. 

 The many intergradations or varieties he prefers to consider as "strains," 

 and he has grouped the variable species accordingly. 



In group VII for example (the type of which is splendens) C. Catalinae 

 is included. Neither in shape of flower {splendens is obconic while Cata- 



