1915] CURRENT LITERATURE 15 
The plant life of Hartsville, South Carolina.—A delightful account of the 
flora of his old home town has been given us by CoKER.% After a brief con- 
sideration of the climate, topography, and geology, the various plant formations 
are considered in turn as follows: sand hills, upland forests, flatwoods, savannas, 
bays and swamps, lakes and ponds. - In the sand hills Pinus palustris still 
dominates; elsewhere its place has been taken largely by Pinus Taeda. The 
resistance of the former to fire is strikingly brought out. Quercus Catesbaei 
is one of the chief forms in the undergrowth. In the upland forests Quercus 
falcata and Q. velutina are dominant, although Pinus palustris once held an 
equal place with them. The flatwoods are poorly drained and also are domi- 
nated by pines and oaks. The savannas are essentially confined to undrained 
depressions in the flatwoods. The term bay, a folk-name of the coastal plain, 
is applied to shallow swamps and is contrasted with the deep swamps. More 
than half of the work is made up of an annotated list of the Hartsville plants, 
the trees being annotated more fully than the rest. The chatty, personal 
touch of this treatise recalls the charming volumes of the older naturalists, 
who followed in the train of Girsert Wuite.—H. C. Cow es. 
Evolutionary observations from New Zealand.—During the many years 
which Cockayne has devoted to ecological studies in New Zealand, he has, of 
course, observed many phenomena interesting from the point of view of evolu- 
tion. These observations are now gathered together into compact form.37 
It is freely admitted that only through careful experiment can exact results 
be reached, though it is asserted that much valuable experimental material 
can best be disclosed by ecological study. CocKAYNE cites probable examples 
of elementary species, variation, and mutation. Epharmony is considered 
in detail, since it is felt that here is where ecology presents its most important 
contribution; convergent epharmony, as illustrated by divaricate shrubs, 
ep plants, etc., in different families, is especially in evidence in New 
, except in grazed or burned areas. The 
virgin timber is wholly free from these introduced elements.—H. C. CowLes. 
Root characters, ground water, and plant distribution ——CANNON* has 
done much to orient our minds properly with relation to the characters and 
Significance of roots. His discovery of the superficial root systems of cacti 
eee 
cf * Coxer, W. C., The plant life of Hartsville, S.C. pp. 129. pls. 15. Published 
y the Pee Dee Historical Association. Columbia, S.C. 1912 
37 Cocka , L., Observations concerning evolution, ected from ecological 
Studies in New Z Zealand. ‘Trans. N.Z. Institu ute 44:1-50. pls. 8. figs. 3. 1912. 
* Cannon, W. A., Some relations between root characters, she water, and 
Species distribution. Setenica N.S. 37:420-423. 1913. 
