May 20, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



239 



two or three times, until the soil in the neighborhood of 

 the tree is thoroughly soaked. Five or six barrels of water 

 would not be too much for a tree fifteen or twenty feet 

 high. After the water has all soaked away the basin should 

 be filled by drawing the soil back, and then the surface of 

 the ground should be thoroughly mulched with a coating 

 of leaves, hay or grass five or six inches thick, and extend- 

 ing out from the trunk several feet. This mulch had best 

 be left about the tree all summer to check evaporation from 

 the ground. A band of straw tied round the trunk will pro- 

 tect it from the sun, and is often beneficial to newly trans- 

 planted trees. — Ed.] 



On the Names of Some North American Trees. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — With respect to the Florida and West Indian " Marl- 

 berry," which Nuttall described as Ardisia Pickeringia (" Sylva," 

 hi., 69, t. 102) in 1854, it appears upon late investigation that a 

 change becomes necessary both in its generic and specific 

 name. 



The genus Ardisia, in which this plant has been maintained 

 during the last twenty-five years, was established by Swartz 

 (" Prodromus Flora India? Occidentalis," L, 467, t. 10) in 1797, 

 but this, it seems, must give way to Thunberg's older genus, 

 Bladhia, established in 1781. 



The first description of the Marlberry was published by 

 Nuttall, in the Am. Joum. Sc. (v., 290), under the name of 

 Cyrilla paniculata, in 1822 ; he next published it as Pickeringia 

 paniculata in 1834 (Joum. Phila. Acad. Sc, vii., Pt. 1, 95), and 

 finally described and figured it ("Sylva," hi., 69, t. 102) as 

 Ardisia Pickeringia in 1854. 



The oldest specific name applied to this plant is therefore 

 paniculata, published in 1822; but in calling Professor Sar- 

 gent's attention to the desirability of resuming this name, he 

 suggested to me the existence of an Ardisia paniculata pub- 

 lished by Roxburgh (" Hortus Bengalensis," 16) in 1814, which 

 would, of course, preclude the employment of paniculata for 

 our species. A suspicion, however, that Roxburgh's name was 

 not founded on a description, led to further investigation and 

 the discovery that no description was published in the " Hortus 

 Bengalensis," therefore making paniculata untenable for 

 Roxburgh's plant, and open to use for our Marlberry, as Rox- 

 burgh did not properly establish A. paniculata until 1824 

 (" Flora Indica," ii., 270). 



Referring our species to its oldest genus under the oldest 

 specific term, the plant becomes Bladhia paniculata (Nutt.) (= 

 Cyrilla paniculata, Nutt., 1. c, 1822 ; Pickeringia paniculata, 

 Nutt., 1. c, 1834; Ardisia Pickeringia, Nutt., 1. c, 1854). 



Respecting the author of Ardisia Pickeringia, there appears 

 to have been a difference of opinion, some citing Torrey & 

 Gray, and others Nuttall. I believe, however, that Professor 

 Sargent ("Census Cat. For. Trees," 100) was correct in ascribing 

 it to Nuttall (1. c.) 



The only author before this who quotes Nuttall for this com- 

 bination is Cooper (Smithsonian Rep., 1858, 264) though he 

 gives "A. Pickeringii, Nutt.," while Nuttall wrote " A. Pick- 

 eringia" '; Cooper may not, however, have intended to change 

 Nuttall's name. 



But DeCandolle ("Prodr.," viii., 124), Chapman ("Fl. So. 

 States," 277), Vasey ("Cat. For. Trees," 19), Gray ("Syn. FL," 

 ii., I.65), Hemsley ("Biol. Am. Cent.," ii., 294), all cite Tor- 

 of Sprengel ("Syst. Veg.," ii., 268), who restored Linnaeus' 

 rey & Gray for A. Pickeringia, which is doubtless incorrect, as 

 the "Flora N. A." contains, as I take it, no such announcement. 



The only reference made to this species in the above work 

 is in a note (i., 256), " Pickeringia, Nutt. (Cyrilla paniculata, 

 Nutt.) ... is a species of Ardisia ; probably A. coriacea, 

 Swartz. . . ." Certainly A. Pickeringia could not be properly 

 ascribed to Torrey & Gray on this evidence, and should, there- 

 fore, not be so maintained in the synonymy of this plant as a 

 name originating with the above authors. 



Persea Carolinensis, Nees. — The synonymy of the Red Bay, 

 a tree which occurs from Virginia to Florida and westward 

 through the Gulf states to Texas, presents some interesting 

 features, aside from the fact that Catesby's specific name, 

 Carolinensis, so long maintained, is hardly the one which the 

 plant should now bear. 



The first description and figure of this species appears to 

 have been published by Catesby in his " Natural History of 

 Carolina and the Bahama Islands" (i., 63, t. 63), in 1731. But 

 Linnaeus, in subsequently studying this plant, seems to have 



ignored Catesby's name, for he designated it in his "Species 

 Plantarum " (ed. i., 370, 1753) as Laurus Borbonia, citing 

 Catesby's name as a synonym, a fact which is of more signifi- 

 cance in determining that Linnaeus and Catesby described the 

 same plant, than can be drawn from the former's description 

 (1. a), as this diagnosis gives only in part the characters of the 

 species. The locality given by Linnaeus, " Virginia and Caro- 

 lina," though circumstantial, is additional and legitimate evi- 

 dence in support of the authenticity of the Linnaean name. 



Writers succeeding Linnaeus have, nevertheless, chosen to 

 follow and maintain Catesby's name down to the present time, 

 the only exception to the general agreement being in the case 

 name in 1825, referring the plant to its present genus as Persea 

 Borbonia. And in the light of present evidence, therefore, it 

 seems advisable that Sprengel should be followed, as there can 

 be no doubt but that the Linna-san name is sufficiently authen- 

 ticated, and should, therefore, be maintained, in which case 

 Persea Carolinensis, Nees, becomes Persea Borbonia (Linn.), 

 Spreng. 



It should be added, although unknown to me until now, 

 that Professor Sargent had already taken up Persea Borbonia 

 for the Red Bay/as he informs me, having changed last year 

 the name in the Jesup collection of American Woods. 



It is further of interest to note that the name Laurus Caro- 

 linensis, founded on Catesby's publication (1. c.) in 1731, and 

 commonly placed in the synonymy of this plant, cannot be 

 longer maintained in this position, as it antedates the Linnaean 

 starting-point for specific names. The reference is, however, 

 of historical interest, and may therefore be properly preserved, 

 though in another connection. Laitrus Carolinensis, of post- 

 Linnaean synonymy, must take its date from the second edition 

 of Catesby's work, published in 1754. 



Forestry Division, George B. SudlVOrth. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Recent Publications. 



A second edition of the Catalogue of the Flowering Plants 

 and Cryptogams, and a list of the vertebrate animals found 

 within about thirty miles of Hanover, New Hampshire, includ- 

 ing a few cultivated species, has been issued by Henry G. 

 Jesup, professor of natural history in Dartmouth College^ the 

 first edition having appeared in 1882. The region is an inter- 

 esting one, embracing the mountain peaks Moosilauke and 

 Kearsarge in New Hampshire, and Killington in Vermont. It 

 includes several large sheets of water, and is divided by the 

 Connecticut River. It is, therefore, a fairly representative 

 region of northern New England, and, with the exception of 

 the alpine plants found on the high mountains and the literal 

 plants of the sea-coast, contains a large representation of the 

 New England Ilora. 



"Thirty miles south of Hanover," Mr. Jesup tells us, in his 

 introduction, " in the towns of Chariestown, New Hampshire, 

 and Springfield, Vermont, some trees and shrubs, so common 

 a little further south in both of these states, have already 

 reached their northern limit and begin to disappear,' from the 

 native woods. The Chestnut and the Shagbark Hickory are 

 no longer abundant. The season is too short for any con- 

 siderable quantity of fruit to reach perfection, and seedlings 

 are rare. Trees of these two kinds when planted in sheltered 

 localities may attain considerable age and size. A single 

 Chestnut of exceptional size may be seen in Norwich, Ver- 

 mont, five feet eight inches in diameter, and more than fifty 

 years old, but it was planted where it now stands, and the 

 chestnuts are of little value. An occasional Shagbark Hickory 

 of moderate size may also be met with, though the Pignut 

 Hickory is not infrequent in the woods, and the Bitternut 

 Hickory ascends the Connecticut as far north as Wells River. 

 The Black Birch and the Gray Birch, as weli as the Pitch Pine, 

 are rare north of Hanover and not common in its vicinity, 

 while the Sycamore or Buttonwood is nowhere seen in a wild 

 state. To the above may be added, as decidedly rare, the 

 Sassafras, the Spice Bush, the Flowering Dogwood, the Red 

 Cedar and the common Juniper, together with many other 

 trees and shrubs that fifty miles south of Hanover may be 

 common. 



" On the other hand, as the traveler advances thirty miles 

 northward from Hanover, another class of arborescent vege- 

 tation appears that either is not found at all southward, or at 

 least is not abundant. Here the White Cedar becomes plenti- 

 ful and very valuable, the Tamarack, or American Larch, fills 

 the swamps, and the White Spruce occasionally appears, 

 while the Black Spruce covers the lower mountain-tops, the 

 Paper Birch adorns the hillsides, the Green Alder is found by 



