234 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vox,. XXVIII, 1921 
flower clusters, are found quite in the open here in Iowa. The 
species is essentially xerophytic, though somewhat less prominently 
so than the variety of the following species. 
The flowers are usually at their best during the last week of 
June and the first week of July, but occasional specimens may 
be found in flower in the southern half of the state as early as 
the first week in June, and in the northern part as late as the 
'Second week of August. 
This species is distributed throughout the state, and no doubt 
originally occurred in every county of the state. It is (and was) 
more common, however, in the eastern half of the state, and here 
now more frequently occurs in open woods. In the western 
part of the state it is largely displaced by the variety of the fol- 
lowing species, particularly on drier knolls, etc. 
New Jersey Tea is worthy of cultivation, and should be grown 
in rather light soil, in well-drained and preferably open places, 
though it will stand some shade. It may be propagated from 
seeds or cuttings. The great extent of the roots, especially if 
growing in open places, makes it difficult to transplant larger 
plants. 
2. Ceanothus ovatus Desf. PI. VIII, fig. 1, j, k. 
This species and its variety may be distinguished from the pre- 
ceding species by the following characters : the stems are usually 
single, not clustered ; the leaves are smaller, narrower, never cord- 
ate at base, and thicker; the flower clusters are usually shorter 
and on shorter stalks ; and the seeds are usually dark brown, dis- 
tinctly marked with shallow, irregular pits, and their length does 
not exceed 2 mm. The seeds of C. americanus are more than 
2 mm. long, light brown in color, and usually shiny and without 
pits. Only a few seeds of the latter have been observed with pits, 
and these appeared in most of them on only a part of the surface. 
These seeds were obtained from the most vigorous plants of the 
species which the writer has seen in Iowa, and were collected 
in upland woods, rather open, near McGregor. These seeds were 
3 mm. in length. Immature seeds of both species are likely to 
be grayish, or grayish-brown. 
The typical form of C. ovatus is quite rare in Iowa. It has 
been reported from several counties of the state, but in the ma- 
jority of cases the plants belong to the following form, which has 
been recognized as a variety. The writer’s own observations in 
all parts of the state convince him that the type is not common 
