BOOKS AND 



the common grasses of the Eastern States. The vege- 

 tation is as different from that of the Eastern States as 

 is that of the northern portion of the Sahara." Even 

 the scientific accounts of the flora of this desert region 

 are few, and popular ones are unknown. Something 

 must be done for the country if it arises to agricultural 

 importance, and " it is the opinion of many that this can 

 be done by bringing under cultivation some of the native 

 species " of grasses. Hence the mission of Dr. Vasey's 

 report. 



This bulletin is the first part of the first volume of a 

 proposed grass book, the title of which is to be "Illus- 

 trations of North American Grasses," although, strange- 

 ly enough, it is to deal only with the species of this 

 southwestern region and of the Pacific Slope. The 

 work will comprise two volumes. 



The fifty plates in this work are lithographs, and are 

 the best figures of American grasses that have yet been 

 made. 



Annual Report of the State Botanist of the 

 State of New York for 1889. By Charles H. Peck. 

 Pp. S4- 4 plales. Professor Peck records the growth of 

 the state herbarium during the year, and makes many 

 notes upon plants, chiefly fungi. Many new species of 

 fungi are described, and a new genus, Underwoodia ^ is 

 named for Professor L. M. Underwood, of 

 New York Syracuse University. A new oat disease is 

 Botany. described, and the fungus producing it is 

 christened Fusicladhun destruens. Among 

 flowering plants, a new variety of an umbelliferous plant 

 is described : Shun ciculufoliiun, var. hrevifolium , char- 

 acterized by lanceolate or linear-lanceolate leaflets which 

 are an inch or less in length. 



Some interesting experiments upon potato rot were 

 made in Professor Peck's garden. It was found that 

 Bordeaux mixture is a preventive and remedy for the 

 disease when on the leaves. " If the foliage of the po- 

 tato plant is kept whitened with the Bordeaux mixture, 

 it can be kept free from the fungus.'' 

 Potato Rot Deep planting was found to prevent the 

 Experiments, rot of the tuber, by preventing the spores 

 from the leaves from penetrating into 

 the soil. A trench was dug 12 inches deep, and the po_ 

 tatoes planted in the bottom of it and gradually covered 

 until the trench was full. Very compact soil saved the 

 tubers, also. Diseased tubers were also found, when 

 planted, to give diseased plants. 



Classification and Generic Synopsis of the Wild 

 Grapes of North America. By T. V. Mtmsoji. Pp. 14. 

 Bulletin No. j, Division of P'oinology, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. Mr. Munson has long been a close stu- 

 dent of grapes, both in their economic and botanical 

 features. He has traveled over a great part of the 

 Union to see them growing in their natural conditions, 

 and for many years he has grown numbers of the wild 

 species and varieties. He has also had access to the best 

 herbaria and literature. It is therefore gratifying that 

 he has given us his conclusions upon specific limitations. 



BULLETINS. 763 



It is impossible for anyone except a critical student of 

 this difficult genus to estimate the particular 

 values of the species as defined in this bulle- American 

 tin. But all can understand that a logical Grapes, 

 and comprehensive view of all our species 

 marks an epoch in the knowledge of native grapes. 



Mr. Munson describes 25 native species and two Euro- 

 pean ( I'ltis vinifera and V. Bourqiiiniann). These falj 

 into eight series or divisions. Six species are first de- 

 scribed by Mr. Munson : J'itis Doaniana , J'. Girdiana, 

 V. Bourquiniana , I'. Sirnpsoni, f. Virginiajia , I'. Blanmn. 

 V. Munsoniajia is a rotundifolia-like species from Florida, 

 proposed by Mr. Simpson. 



Bulb Culture. By Peter Henderson i2« Co. Pp. 24. 

 Illustrated. This is a useful pamphlet to 

 all lovers of fleshy rooted plants. It is Bulb Book, 

 compiled much in the catalogue style, be- 

 ing arranged alphabetically. It discusses tuberous-root- 

 ed plants as well as true bulbs. 



Plants Collected in i88g at Socorko and Clarion 

 Islands, Pacific Ocean. By George I'asey and /. N. 

 Rose. Reprint from the Proceedings of tiie U. S. Notional 

 Museum. In i88g the United States Fish Commission 

 steamer. Albatross, visited various islands near our 

 Pacific coast, and at Socorro and Clarion, in the Revil- 

 lagigedo group, a collection of plants was made. These 

 little islands are 260 miles south of Cape St. Lucas. 

 Lower California, or about on the latitude of 

 the city of Mexico, and are about 300 miles Island 

 west of the Mexican mainland. Island life is Botany, 

 always interesting, particularly in reference 

 to distribution and variation. Only 26 species were col- 

 lected upon these islands, yet three of them are new, one 

 having been previously collected, however, in the south- 

 ern part of Lower California. The flora is Mexican in 

 its type. We wish that the authors had made some 

 more extended remarks concerning the relationships of 

 this flora. 



Notes on the Leaves of Liriodendron. By Thcodor 

 Holm. Pp. 22. Plates IX. Reprint from the Proceedings 

 of the U. S. National Museum. Dr. Holm was attracted 

 to the variation of leaves in the common tulip-tree by a 

 study of the leaves of small seedlings. Continuing his 

 observations, he found that the species is remarkabl)- 

 variable in foliar characters, and that 

 the descriptions in our botanies are The Tulip-tree, 

 not only entirely inadequate, but are 

 often erroneous. These observations led to a critical 

 examination of the fossil species of liriodendron. The 

 geological history of them is interesting, inasmuch as 

 but one species now exists, and this is confined to east- 

 ern America and China. In cretaceous time the species 

 are supposed to have been numerous. These fossil spe- 

 cies have been founded entirely upon imprints of leaves. 

 Dr. Holm shows that the variations between many of 

 these old-time forms is not greater than those which now 

 exist even upon branches of the same tree. Some four- 

 teen fossil species have been described, but the author 

 thinks that the number must be considerably reduced. 



