i8o 
Poly  gala  Alba. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1      April,  1892. 
localities ;  it  appeared  to  me  that  his  inquiries  could  scarcely  have 
been  directed  to  the  home  of  the  plant  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  ; 
and  upon  inquiry  as  to  the  correctness  of  this  supposition  he  kindly 
replied  as  follows  :  "  The  statement  you  quote  makes  the  fact  of 
my  not  getting  the  specimens  seem  more  strongly  negative  than 
the  real  facts  would  warrant.  I  gave  my  herbarium  away  several 
years  ago  as  that  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  is  convenient, 
and  I  am  not,  therefore,  in  frequent  interchange  with  botanists  ;  and 
in  regard  to  this  particular  case — not  knowing  that  it  was  a  matter 
of  so  much  importance  I  did  not  make  the  great  effort  that  the 
remarks  would  seem  to  indicate.  I  had  a  note  from  Prof.  Cope 
simply  asking  if  I  could  get  specimens  of  the  plant.  I  sent  to  two 
of  my  best  friends  in  Alabama  and  Tennessee  and  they  reported 
that  it  was  extremely  rare,  and  that  they  could  not  get  it ;  but  I  did 
not  write  to  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi.  If  I  had 
been  asked  to  make  the  extra  exertion  to  procure  specimens, I  would 
have  spent  much  more  time  than  I  thought  necessary  when  the 
application  was  made  to  me," 
That  Mr.  C.  G.  Lloyd,  in  exchanging  with  others,  has  never  been 
offered  P.  alba,  is  not  an  argument  in  favor  of  either  the  rarity  or 
the  frequency  of  the  plant ;  nor  is  the  fact  that  Prof.  Lloyd's  cor- 
respondence resulted  in  obtaining  specimens  from  six  localities  in 
Mexico,  Texas,  Kansas,  North  Dakota  and  from  California,  the 
latter  stated  to  have  been  procured  from  the  U.  S.  Agricultural 
Department.  Among  the  Polypetalae  of  the  "Flora  of  California," 
by  W.  H.  Brewer  and  Sereno  Watson,  the  species  is  not  mentioned. 
On  this  and  some  other  points  it  was  to  be  presumed  that  reliable 
information  could  be  had  from  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture; 
and  in  reply  to  my  inquiries,  Dr.  Geo.  Vasey,  the  accomplished 
botanist  of  the  Department,  furnished  the  following : 
(1)  The  National  Herbarium  contains  many  specimens  of  Poly  gala 
alba. 
(2)  The  root  seldom  attains  5  mm.  in  diameter,  but  often  grows 
30  cm.  long.    In  young  plants  the  root  is  much  slenderer. 
(3)  The  plant  is  known  to  occur  in  Louisiana,  Texas,  New 
Mexico,  Arizona,  Arkansas,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Dakota.  The 
California  locality  is  probably  a  mistake. 
(4)  It  is  abundant  in  many  places  in  the  Great  Plains  from  New 
Mexico  northward  to  Dakota. 
