10 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



turn their leaves edgewise to the sun and thus avoid transpira- 

 tion. - : . ; 



A region in which water seldom falls would seem to be 

 sufficiently trying to plants, but it is not the limit of inhos- 

 pitable conditions. In some deserts there is the additional 

 handicap of strong salts in the soil. This is doubly a desert 

 and yet Nature has fashioned a few forms that can exist 

 even here. They are mostly plants of the houseleek and 

 pigweed families with thick cylindrical leaves and a cell-sap 

 of such high osmotic pressure that they can absorb moisture 

 in spite of the salt. 



Between the true xerophytes and the plants of moister 

 regions, there are all degrees of gradation. Many plants 

 possess only a few xerophytic characteristics, their manner 

 and place of life not requiring a greater specialization. In 

 tracing such structures in even our common plants and cor- 

 relating them with their environment, the student of botany 

 can find both profit and entertainment. 



THE PLANTAIN LILY 



By Mrs. Georgia Torrey Drennan. 



TN many parts of our country the Funkia is known as the day 

 ^ lily. In reality, it is a very different flower from its near 

 relative the HemcrocaJlis, or true day lily. Funkia was the 

 name given this genus in honor of Funk, the German botanist. 

 Despite the fact that Funk wtW deserved to have a plant named 

 iov him, the generic name never became popular, and the plants 

 continued to be know^n by the pleasing and descriptive name be- 

 longing more, properly to the genus Hcincrocallis. Anticipating 

 the confusion that was likely to follow its general use, Robin- 

 son, editor of 'The Garden" in England, ofifered a prize for a 

 suitable common name to displace the botanical name. 



