December 29, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



5i5 



the main object of my journey being to collect swamp 

 specimens and to make special search for Leitneria Flori- 

 dana, and an Ash-tree which I had found several years ago 

 in the swamps of south-eastern Missouri, and described as 

 Fraxinus America profunda.* Later studies and observa- 

 tions have shown that this tree is abundantly distinct from 

 the White Ash and from all other species of the genus, and I 

 now propose to give to it full specific rank as Fraxinus pro- 

 funda, under which name it will appear throughout these 

 notes. Believing that these two plants would be found at 

 many stations between Missouri and Florida, I watched 

 for them carefully throughout the trip, with what success 

 the reader will learn later. 



Leaving Melville, I went to Bayou Goula, Louisiana, but 

 as the bayou was as dry as the streets of St. Louis I did not 

 stay there long, but went on to White Lake, where there is 

 a large Cypress swamp, which I examined thoroughly, 

 failing, however, to find any Leitneria or Fraxinus pro- 

 funda, although the Green Ash was present in goodly 



I gathered specimens of a fine Clematis in fruit, which 

 appears to be undescribed. 



Leaving the Chattahoochee River, I went down the Apala- 

 chicola, looking with reverence on Tumion taxifolium and 

 Taxus Floridana. Arriving at Apalachicola, I visited, in 

 company with Dr. Chapman, the St. Mark's branch of the 

 Apalachicola, where Dr. F. Roth found early last spring 

 Fraxinus profunda, and when Dr. Chapman showed me 

 what he had called the Red Ash I was pleased to recog- 

 nize the species I was looking for. The fruit had already 

 fallen, but I took a few leaf specimens that I might 

 record the locality. The trees here were small, being only 

 from twenty to thirty feet in height, with trunks swollen at 

 the base, as I had found them in Missouri. Here I saw magnifi- 

 cent Cabbage Palms at least fifty feet in height, their tall 

 wide-leaning trunks standing out in bold relief against a 

 background of Swamp Hickories, Pecans and other decid- 

 uous-leaved trees. Near the margin of the river dwarf 

 Palmettos flourished with great clumps of Rhyncospora 



Fig. 66. — Sequoia Wellington!.-!. — See page 514. 

 1. A young cone, gathered in July. 2. A fruiting branch of the same year, gathered in October, 3. A mature open cone of the previous year, gathered in October. 



numbers. Here I first saw the French Mulberry (Calli- 

 carpa Americana), with its attractive bright reddish purple 

 fruits ; and here also I made the acquaintance of the beau- 

 tiful Aspidium patens, which covers with tall graceful 

 fronds the higher parts of this swamp. 



Leaving White Castle, I went on to Orleans without see- 

 ing any suitable place to stop on my return, and then pro- 

 ceeded to Mobile, Alabama, passing several days at Spring 

 Hill, in southern Alabama, collecting with Dr. Mohr, who 

 introduced me to a number of the most interesting southern 

 plants. On the borders of swamps in this region I was 

 surprised to find the Crape Myrtle, the Pride of India, 

 Albizzia Julibrissin and Zizyphus Jujuba thoroughly natural- 

 ized. Leaving this most delightful collecting-ground, I 

 passed on to Florida to seek for the two trees on the 

 Chattahoochee River, stopping on my way to examine sev- 

 eral swamps along the route without finding anything of 

 importance until I reached the Chattahoochee River, where 



* Attn. Rep. Missouri Bot. Gard., v., 147 (1894). 



corniculata and its variety patula. Associated with the 

 beautiful Mallow, Kosteletzkya Virginica, and the fine legu- 

 minous plant, Vigna luteola, a few specimens of Leitneria 

 were also observed ; they were, however, quite small with 

 narrow leaves. At Apalachicola I examined the marshes 

 north of the town, finding there another clump of Leitneria, 

 the plants being larger than those which I had seen on the 

 St. Mark's River, and a broad-leaved Willow which ap- 

 pears to be undescribed. I was much elated on finding 

 here some handsome leguminous plants with fine large 

 scarlet flowers, which proved on examination to be Dau- 

 bentonia Iongifolia, which has become introduced into waste 

 places and is spreading along roadsides. Returning from 

 Apalachicola I went to the Chattahoochee River and Spring 

 Hill, Alabama, and then homeward by the way of New- 

 Orleans and Alexandria without seeing any further signs 

 of Leitneria or Fraxinus profunda near these places. 



Going on to Mer Rouge, I found the White Ash common 

 in that locality, this being the first place in which I had 

 noticed it. There was no sign, however, of the Green Ash, 





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