Hilgard, Eug. W. 

 1867, June 16 th 

 Oxford, Miss. 



TRANSLATION 



Oxford, June 16th 1867. 



Dear Docfcbr, 



Of course, P. glabra was among the plants which you and Theodor previously 

 determined; what you held for P. mitis and put the specimens together so that I 

 myself am now unable to distinguish between them — proof enough how closely related 

 these species are. But growth and habitat are quite different. Older trees, looked 

 at from a distance, could be held for Abies Canada ; knotty branches and round shapes 

 and usually of a height of 12 feet and rare and only to be found far apart; often 

 it is easy to climb these trees. The bark is similar to the older Acer sjacch. , often 

 to Querc . coccinea ; ..."bottom shute pine" is only applied to the wood which as the 

 people say is "all sap ff , i. e. like P. strobus , but not as hardy as the latter. It is 

 only used for rails and even then don't last very long. Habitat exclusively in the 

 bottoms and in sandy soil. — the distribution in Mississippi is about the same as 

 tne Ulicum floridanum . The most Northern part where I found this tree is north of 

 Madison Co., Miss. From there on it slips over "my central prairie region" (Miss. 

 Sept. p. 330) ... The localities where it is to be found in great numbers are given 

 on p. 366 of the Miss. Report. In the second bottom of the Pascagoula I never saw the 

 flowers and don't want to spend any time on that at the moment, but intend to try to see 

 them next spring. I have not been able to find either Isoetes or Marsilea in Miss., 

 but 1 have been only in May and June at the coast where they would be expected to be... 

 It is easy to explain the fact that the southern flora grows back to the Mississippi 

 River, just as W08O miles from the river the Illinois flora is to be found. Then it 

 is being replaced by the so-called "southern flora" as soon as one reaches the 

 tributaries to the gulf and the .... bigby and the Pearl River itself. For instance, 



Verbena bracteosa is here a common weed, unknown at the bigby; here Cassia 



nic titans , Chamaecrista , marylandica ; obstusif&Ma & occidentalis don't grow at all 

 until they are found in great numbers if one reaches the Pearl River or the .... bigby, 

 also Verbena Autbletia which is only found in Gardens. There are also many species 

 of Compositae and Labiatae, also Sassafras, Tilia and Plantanus which are back of the 



Pearl River and the bigby. The most peculiar thing, however, is the distribution 



of Magn . macrophylla which follows from Vicksburg along the course of the Pearl River. 



Thanks for your good wishes for the baby. You" probably won't fail to lake yours 

 and yourself across the Ocean in time for the Paris exhibition? If one could only go! 



Greetings to Dora, your faithful cousin, 

 Eug. W. Hilgard. 



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