THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
67 
to any observer. They grew in such profusion that we 
gathered great bunches and then no one could have 
detected their absence. It was truly a sight to delight the 
heart of a flower-lover and one never-to-be-forgotten. 
At the close of the summer we found we had exceeded 
the list of orchids found by von Schweinitz and best of all 
we actually found the Schweinitzia odorata, named for 
von Schweinitz. This is a member of the Monotropa 
genus. There was just one dried specimen of it left in 
town and as no plant had been found within the memory 
of anyone now living we felt that our summer had been 
successful indeed. 
Salem, N. C. 
BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. 
MONG the plants most often sent to the writer for 
^ identification is the purple loose-strife {Lythium 
SaUcaria). Here, in Rhode Island, the plant, though 
scattered over the state, is no where abundant. I have 
seen it in Little Compton, Apponaugand South Kingston. 
In the rich Hackensack Meadows and throughout Orange 
and Putman Counties, in New York, it grows super- 
abundantly. Often blooming, as in the Hackensack 
Meadows, with Hibiscus moscheutos, it forms a gorgeous 
carpet. 
It has had the rare good fortune to attract the atten- 
tion of very noted students. Those who have at all con- 
sidered cross-pollination, one of the most interesting lines 
of modern research, will recall what use Darwin, Muller, 
Kerner and others make of it. 
This is owing to its showy flowers which are tri- 
morphic; that is, they show three different lengths of 
stamens and styles in the neighboring flowers. The more 
diverse the reaction among these, the more potent and 
vigorous is the resultant offspring. 
The plant usually has twelve stamens or twice the 
number of the petals, six of them longer than the others , 
VARIOUS LOOSE-STRIFES. 
