THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
43 
novelties, but strange freaks and curiosities. — Elisabeth A. 
Laurence, Los Angeles, Cal. 
The Mullein in Oregon. — I have found the mullein 
( Verbascum thapsus) for 250 miles up the Columbia River 
from Portland. It seemed to have been established in the early 
settlement of the country, perhaps by the Fur Traders at the 
old post of Wallula, Wash., where David Douglas lived in 
1825-26.-^4. 5^. Foster, Portland Oregon. 
New Books on Botany. — We all like a new book on 
plants and though -we may buy every one advertised that ap- 
peals to us, we still crave another. I have just become the 
happy possessor of two new ones, by the simple method of 
getting bound the first eight volumes of the American Bot- 
anist. Four volumes make a book of nice size. To look 
through them and browse here and there is almost the same as 
having something quite new, for where so many things are 
worth remembering, who could have kept them all? Try it. 
— M. F. Bradshazv. 
The American Hop-trees. — In many localities the hop- 
tree (Ptelea trifoliata) is a familiar object. It is especially 
noticeable in autumn when the clusters of yellow winged fruits, 
like exaggerated elm-seeds are ripe. These fruits contain a bit- 
ter principle and have been used in brewing, hence the common 
name. Besides the hop-tree of the Eastern United States, 
four or five others are reported as common to our South- 
west. These latter species, with the addition of a few from 
Mexico, have given Dr. E. L. Greene the excuse for publishing 
a paper in ''Contributions from the United States National 
Herbarium" in which about a dozen species are expanded into 
no less than fifty-nine. We have often contended that by ac- 
cepting insignificant characters as of specific value, a great 
number of species could be made out of any plant group, such 
