March 24, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



119 



Bibliographical Notes on American Trees. — I. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



, Sir, — That elaborate contribution to dendrological bibliog- 

 raphy which Mr. George B. Sudworth has lately offered, in 

 Bulletin 14 of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 cannot fail to be received as a standard manual of the nomen- 

 clature of our trees. It is, therefore, important that errors be 

 pointed out as promptly as may be that other writers may 

 avoid repeating them ; and from an examination of a few of 

 the earlier pages of the volume I infer that these errors may 

 prove somewhat numerous. Mr. Sudworth seems to have 

 neglected a considerable number of books which might profit- 

 ably have been consulted by one who is to give a list of our 

 trees, with nomenclature and citations correct, under the rules 

 adopted in this work. For example, Larix, as a genus distinct 

 from the Linnaean Pinus, is attributed to Adanson (1763), 

 whereas two important dendrological authors restored the 

 genus within the first decade after 1753, namely, Miller in 

 1759, an d Duhamel in 1755. Abies is still farther from being 

 attributable to Jussieu and the year 1789. It was maintained 

 by Hill as early as 1756, and even a year earlier than that by 

 Duhamel, so that to this last-named author belong both Larix 

 and Abies as post-Linnaean genera. And here let me observe 

 that Dr. Britton's Illustrated Flora is in need of the same cor- 

 rections here indicated. 



That Picea rubra can hardly be maintained for our Red 

 Spruce has lately been suggested by Mr. Jack (Garden and 

 Forest, vol. x., 62-64) ; but the reasons for the retirement of 

 this name, under the rules by which Mr. Sudworth and others 

 guide themselves, are more numerous than Mr. Jack has 

 shown. I suppose that a too implicit trusting to the Index 

 Kewensis has hindered our authors from discovering that the 

 Abies rubra of Poiret was at the time of its publication a mere 

 homonym. Even on an earlier page of Poiret this name occurs 

 as a pre-Linnaean synonym of A. excelsa, Poir. But that 

 which, under the rules alluded to, completely invalidates the 

 specific name rubra for any American tree of this group is the 

 fact that, only three years after 1753, Hill published the com- 

 mon European Spruce as Abies rubra, so that Picea rubra 

 fails of applicability to any tree of our country, for the reason 

 that it really belongs, under said rules, to that which is now 

 generally known as P. excelsa. 



Catholic University, D. C. 



Edward L. Greene. 



Recent Publications. 



A Manual and Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and 

 Ferns. By J. C. Willis, M. A., Director of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens at Ceylon. Cambridge, England. 1897. 



This work consists of two parts, the principal one being 

 vol. ii., which is an arrangement in the alphabetical order 

 of their Latin names of all the classes, cohorts and natural 

 orders of plants, besides several thousand genera, including 

 all the British genera, the greater part of the common 

 European and American genera and the principal southern 

 and tropical genera. This volume comprises 428 com- 

 pactly printed duodecimo pages. Vol. i. is shorter, consist- 

 ing of little more than 200 pages, and at the outset it was 

 intended, the author says, as a sort of supplement or index 

 to the dictionary. But it was found necessary to broaden 

 this scheme, so that it appears now as a fairly complete 

 treatise on the morphology, classification, natural history 

 and geographical distribution of plants. Mr. Willis justi- 

 fies the preparation of this part of the book in its present 

 form by the fact that there was really no good text-book 

 on the natural history of plants or their geographical dis- 

 tribution available in English, the morphology in such 

 books as exist being out of date and not based upon 

 evolution. The principles of classification and of evolution 

 are not explained in elementary English text-books "on the 

 ground that they are too abstruse, and in advanced books 

 it is taken for granted that students are already familiar 

 with them. But, notwithstanding the form of this little 

 treatise, the original design of it is preserved, so that it 

 well serves the purpose of cross reference to the classified 

 list in Part ii., while as a text-book it may also be expanded 

 to almost any degree by referring for details to Part ii. 

 Besides the mere names, this alphabetical list, by a 

 system of abbreviation and condensation, contains a 

 vast amount of information. The families of plants 



are treated with much more fullness than in ordinary 

 systematic botanies, while the genera are discussed 

 more briefly, except in cases where they have char- 

 acters of special interest which distinguish them from the 

 rest of the family. The book would be better if it contained 

 more illustrations, but floral diagrams of the larger families 

 will be found and other figures which illustrate difficult 

 groups within the families. Genera which have economic 

 uses are very fully catalogued, although the products and 

 methods of obtaining them are not generally given. The 

 general arrangement is that of Engler, although sufficient 

 reference is made to the classification of Bentham and 

 Hooker to enable any one to use that system. The nomen- 

 clature is chiefly that of the Index Kewensis, and the more 

 common and important synonyms of the different genera 

 are given. Altogether, the little book will be very useful 

 to students to whom works of general reference are not 

 available. Even when they are, their bulk as well as their 

 antiquity makes it troublesome to use them. Of course, 

 such detailed information as may be required by specialists 

 is not to be looked for here, but the beginner will find what 

 he needs upon most subjects which do not require the use 

 of a microscope. 



Mr. Willis's book is one of the useful Cambridge Natural 

 Science Manuals, and it belongs to the Biological Series 

 which has been prepared under the general editorial super- 

 vision of Arthur E. Shipley, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of 

 Christ's College. 



Notes. 



The colors of the fruiterer's stock have not a little to do with 

 its attractiveness, and at this time the deep rich orange of the 

 Navel fruit from California, the paler color of Messina 

 lemons and large, smooth-skinned grape-fruits, and the bril- 

 liant red of tiny Lady apples and of large Baldwins make bright 

 spots in displays which include the more neutral-colored 

 mushrooms, pineapples, Winter Nelis and P. Barry pears, 

 Catawba grapes, and what is probably the last importation of 

 English hot-house grapes, each bunch cut with a piece of the 

 stem. Some of the rough-skinned King of Siam oranges, 

 from California, are now offered, and this novel fruit costs 

 $2.00 a dozen. Other delicacies seen in the windows of fancy- 

 fruit stores are beautiful smooth hot-house tomatoes, perfectly 

 grown cucumbers, blocks of maple-sugar and half-pound pats 

 of "fresh " or unsalted butter done up in white oiled paper, 

 and costing thirty-five cents each. 



Mr. George L. Russell recently read an essay before the 

 Board of Trade at Orlando, Florida, on the " Possibilities of 

 Pineapple Culture," which he considers among the most prom- 

 ising of the industries of that state. There is always a demand 

 for the finest fruit. A twelve-inch home-grown sucker will 

 come into bearing in a little more than a year and the struc- 

 ture for properly shading an acre of land need not cost more 

 than $450. Varieties like the Smooth Cayenne, Golden Queen 

 and others of prime quality attain a size of from six to twelve 

 pounds each, and ought to command at retail in northern mar- 

 kets at least a dollar. One great trouble has heretofore been that 

 the tender fruits are injured in transportation, but a kind of 

 crate has been devised which will hold a dozen fruits of the 

 first size, packed in excelsior so as to prevent their bruising, 

 and they will keep in this way at least a fortnight, which will 

 afford ample time for transportation, even to foreign mar- 

 kets. 



An article on seed-sowing in Vick's Magazine recommends 

 the scattering of fine hay or the clippings of the lawn, just 

 thick enough to lightly cover the soil, over a bed where 

 seed has recently been sown. The advantage of this is that 

 it breaks the sun's rays and, like any other mulch, prevents the 

 rapid drying out of the soil, especially when the wind blows. 

 But it is particularly useful in preventing the surface of the 

 soil from becoming beaten and pasted down by watering or 

 rain. May soils bake after they have been watered, but when 

 the water is sprinkled on so as to filter through the mulch it 

 does not wash the seeds bare nor beat down the surface, and, 

 of course, the shading, too, prevents it from hardening into a 

 brick-like consistency. No general rule can be given as to the 

 depthof sowing seed, and in light sandy soils the covering can 

 be thicker than in those of heavy clay. A seed that has a 

 covering four times as thick as its own diameter is not buried 



