Torrey Botanical Society

Arceuthobium Shedding Its SeedAuthor(s): L. A. M.Source: Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 3, No. 12 (Dec., 1872), pp. 55-56Published by: Torrey Botanical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2476482 .

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55

rain, or whether to help the fly free itself froml its iiicumbrance, or for both objects, is m-latter for conjecture.

This position of the stig,matic surface adds another to the many points of analog,y between Apocylnarew and Asclepiadacee. There is, likewise, a wonlderful resemblance in their mocle of fertilization, at least, in the typical geniera. If in anv period of their hiistory these quadruplex pollen grains of Apocynuni; sliould be massed togethier, and these upward poinlting glands shoul1d reach anld become agglu- tinated to the pollen masses, Apocynum would have to be classed with Aselepiads-with that section whiclh lhas the glands below the pollen masses. It may be, as in the case of Orchiids, that these simnilar contrivances have arisen independently; or it may be that Apo- cynumii belonlgs to an ancestral stock from wlich the more perfectly specialized Asclepiad has branlched off. It is even possible that the formner is a degreilerate descendanlit of the latter. Much depends uipon the history of the peculiar glan-cds of the stigma. I do lnot kniow that their origin has ever beeni accounted for in Asclepias. Brown in a master ly mainnier traced tlhem fr om their first appearance as a furrow in the style, and perhaps nothing more can be done. In the more xaried forms of Apocynaceec, however, which seem t) be the link betwveeni ordinary flowers and .that very distinct tribe, it may be possible to trace them still furthelr. One conisiderationi per- seints itself forcibly in studying the structure of this flower, that is the ma:ultiplied series of olgans, n-ine circles in all: 1, the five lobes of the cealyx; 2, alternate wvith these the five lobes of the corolla; 3, alternate with these the five pink stripes formiing a slight crown above; 4, again alternating, the five triangular processes at the base of the lobes of the corolla; 5, alternating witlh these, or, taking no account of these, witlh the divisions of tlle corolla the five stamens; 6, of course alternating, the five lnectaries; 7, the diiaphrag,m ; 8, t he glands; 9, the bilobed style. The glands seem to be opposite the anthers, as are the lobes of the diaplhr agim ialso. Whlat morphological value the most of these circles may possess, A. de Candolle lhas dis- cuLssed (Ann. Sci. Nat., 3d Series, Bot., Vol. 1). He conisiders the diaphlragnm an extensioni of the filaments, but makes nio mentioln of the glands. But these and othet questions it is not my present purpose to pursue.

Two points, new perhaps, I think I have established-the position of the true stigma, and the mode of fertilization. W. H. L.

96. ARUTHOBuILm sheddiog its seed. - I visited the swanmp in Warrensbirg, the first week in October, I found the female plants of Arceuthobium nearly all gonle; every effort that I made to cut twigs fromi the matted clumnps, where the coloniies of these strange parasites grow, brought them down in showers. Fearinig that I shouild fail to get plants with full seed vessels, I picked a single planit with vessels very inuch swollen. While holding it gently be- tween my thumb and finiger, to observe it more closely, I felt the tiniest recoil of the capsule, and the seed struck me a smart blow in the face. I gathered another, aind another, and each pretty little

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v6

bomb went off with a force that must have carried it several feet away.

The seed flies out of the base of the capsule, instead of the top, but its position on the plant makes that the top, as when ripe, the vessels hang vitli the true summit turned downiward.

I found ttie seeds and empty seed vessels lodged all about on the branches. The plants which have ripened seed, fall off niearly to- gether, those which have not blossomed, or have failed to be fertilized, probably remaini for another year. Wlhen the seeds are beinig sownl, there must be qtuite a brisk bombardmnent going on for several dtays. Isolatecl colonies of Arceuthobiunii in forests inay have been planted by seed aclhering to tlle feet of birds. L. A. m.

9;. Suffolk County Plaits.-I have founcl the followving plants about, here this suminer, Sarracenia purpurea, L., at River I-lead, Arabisper- foliata, Lam., ancl Camelina sativa, Crantz., a silngle plant of eaclh. BReseda Luteola, L., roadside, Mlt. Sinai, L. I. with Jlentha aqytatica L., Var. crispa, Benth. Hatdsonia ericoides, L, grows plentifully at Baiting ilollow ; Droserafthiformis, Ra.if, common, Hypericatn Can- adenise L. Var. major, Gray, at Long Pond, Wadinig R-tiver, and Ed- ward's Pond. Aliddle Island.-Saginia procumbens, L., very commnona, Polygala cr uciata, L., and P. Ntttallii, Torr. & Gray, are both com- mon,-Desmnodian laevigatutm, DC., at AManlor Station, L. 1. R. R.- Phaseoluts helvoitwe, L. common, Galactia mollis, Mchx., I found one clump of at Long Pond.-Prunuts Americana, AMarsha'll, I have onily met once.-Aster- specabiliis, Ait., and A. concolor, L., botlh comlimon. Gnaphaaiium i) prpureun, L., commoin.-Pyr ola chlior antha, Swartz, very common in the pine woods.- Utricularia minor, L., aid U. inter- media, Hayne, both growing i, a pool together. I tnotice that these flower in Mlay and the early part of June, while U. pmuru- rea, Watt., U. resutpinata, Greene, U. inflata, Watt., U. gibba, L., U. vulgaris, L., U. cornuta, Mclix., and U. striata, Le Conte, do not flower unitil August. I find them all here. Polygourn Cae yi, Olnley, at LoDg Pond and P. ramosissinnum, Alchx., borders of salt meadows.-Sayittaria calyciva, Engelm., Var. spongiosa, wlich I reported last year, proves to be S. gramivea, Mchlx.-Arethutsa butl- bosa, L., comnmon' at River Head anid Manor.-Gyperiis erylhrorr- hizos, Muhl., grows plentifully at Edxward's Pond, Middle Island. 8cirlps sutbterininalis, Torr., grows at Deep Pond, Wading River.- Rhyneospora nitens, Gray, grows plentifully at Long Pond, wlith the typical form of R. rnacrostachya, Torr., the one I reported last year was the diff use iariety.-Juncus pelocorpus, E. Meyer, grows very plentifully liere.--Sporobolus serotinus, Gray, is very commnon at River Head.-Botrychium simplex, Hitch. sparingly at River Head.

Wading River, Dec. 5th, 1872. ELIHU S. MILLER.

Term&s-One dollar foJ one copy; five dollars for sevent; and half a dollar for every additional copy, per annunm.

Local Ilerbarium, 3, E. 331 St.-Editor, 224, B. 10th St. The Club meets reqular-ly the last Tuesday of the month in the ierbarium, Columbia College, at 7% P.M.

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