Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club/Volume 2/01

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BULLETIN
OF THE
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB.


Vol. 2. ] New-York, January 1871. [ No. 1.


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1.The Bulletin.—The present number commences the second year of our publication.  The interest shown in it augurs well for the future.  Thanks to its friends, (some warm ones outside of the club,) it will not fall very far short of paying expenses.  When there is a permanent fund of from three to five thousand dollars established for it, as we count there will be some day, it will be ensured a permanency, and the size may be doubled at half the cost to subscribers.  Meanwhile, it will be continued at the present rates.  The subscription for 1871 is now due.

2.Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for June, 1870.Dr. Gray's Botanical Contributions contain much to interest those who study the flora of the region embraced in his Manual.

The first paper is a Reconstruction of the Order Diapensiaceae; in which he groups together, Pyxidanthera, Michx.; Diapemna, L.; Shortia, Torr. & Gray; and Galax, L.

The second is a Revision of the North American Polemoniaceæ.   The name Phlox ovata, L., is resumed instead of P. Carolina, L.;  and var. nitida, Benth., (P. nítida, Pursh) is transferred to P. glaberrima, L.  P. procumbent, of the Manual, becomes P. amoena, Sims.  P. Stellaria, Gray, is a new species found only by the late Dr. Short, May 1st, 1829, on the cliffs of Kentucky River.

The third paper is a collection of Miscellanea.   Dr. Gray concludes that the American forms heretofore ranked by him under Lycopus Europœus, L., are distinct;  hence the var. becomes the species L. sessilifolius, Gray;  the var. integrifolins, L. rubfllus, Mœnch;  the var., L. sinuatus, Ell. L. Europæus, L., has been gathered near Norfolk, Va., and Philadelphia.

Viola renifolia, Gray, a new species, found by Mr. Paine in Oneida Co., and by others in other northern localities, grows in company with V. blanda, which it closely resembles as to the flower, but the leaves are more like those of V. palustrus; yet they are more strictly uniform, and are conspicuously beset with pale, soft and tender, lax hairs.

Desmodium Illinoiense, Gray, between D. rigidum, and D. canescens;   and Polygonum Hartwrightii, Gray, sedgy bogs, New York, from Herkimer to Yates Co., and Michigan, liable to be mistaken for P. amphibium, or P. Careyi;  are new species.

We presume that students of the Manual will soon be supplied with the requisite particulars about these interesting changes and discoveries.

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3.Triosteum angustifolium, L. — Mr. I. Coles, of Glen Cove, has brought us specimens of this species from that vicinity.  We understand that some years ago Mr. Coles sent a specimen to the State Cabinet, where its identity was recognized by Dr. Beck.  Bucks Co., Pa., has heretofore been supposed to be the northern limit of the species.  Dr. Torrey has not included it in his list of plants to be looked for, appended to the State Flora.  This discovery, and that of Helianthus angustifolius in the same district, (one of Dr. Torrey's petenda,) with those of Eclipta procumbens and Polymnia Uvedalia at Weehawken, and Nabalus racemosus in Westchester Co., and same others, give a fresh interest to our local Flora, and should arouse our collectors to renewed activity.

4.Cornus Stricta, Lam. — The specimen with this label in the Herbarium of the Central Park, vid. § 83, Vol. I., turns out to be C. alternifolia, L.

5.Winter Blossoms. — On the 19th of Dec. the following plants were in bloom on Moore Farm, Newtown, L. I. : Malva rotundifolia, L., Linaria vulgaris, Mill., and the common Dandelion, Taraxacum Dens-leonis, Desf.  The Linaria held out until the 26th.

   O. H. Perry.  

Dandelions were seen by Mr. Pollard in bloom on Christmas day, in Central Park, and by another friend in another locality, Jan. 18th.

Mr. Perry also gathered at Newtown, on the 8th of January, the beginning of the cold snap, the blossoms of the Cabbage, Shepherd's purse, and Chick-weed.   Brassica campestris, L., Capsella Bursapastoris, Mœnch., Stellaria media, Smith.  It will be noticed that all these late bloomers are foreigners.  The ovules in the last three cases were apparently fertilized.  Mr. Ruger writes us that roses were blooming in St. Paul's Church yard, December 14th.

6.  I have to report the following additional localities :
Silene inflata, Smith;  102nd St. between 3rd and 4th Avenue.
Geranium pusillum, L.;  court yard in front of No. 229 E. 10th St., in flower as late as Dec. 4th.
Lathyrus maritimus, Bigelow;  Sea-bright, N. J.

   M. Ruger.  

7.  In June last I found by the roadside, in a district burned over five years ago, a Tragopogon, resembling the illustration of T. undulatus, in Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants, stated to be a native of the Crimea.

   D. Wilson, Glens Falls.  

8.Aster longifolius, Lam. — You will find reported in Paine's Catalogue, p. 40, as found by me in Westchester Co., some years since.  I subsequently found it in other localities near Tarrytown.  The same remark applies to Eupatorium teucrifolium, Willd.  See Paine's Cat. p. 38.  See also same for authority for inserting E. hyssopifolium, L., in a place up the River, though the actual locality was in the steep ascent of the river side of Hook (or Bull?) Mountain, above Nyack.  E. teucrifolium grows there also.  Tussilago Farfara, L. I have occasionally seen in Connecticut, near the Westchester Co. boundary;  and have a very strong impression that I have met with it at Portchester, and New Rochelle, and perhaps at Eastchester.  I have certainly seen it at Riverhead, L. I.

   I. H. Hall.  

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SOLIDAGO,L. —
S. squarrosa, Muhl.; Palisades, common, Austin.
S. bicolor, L.; every where common :
Var. concolor; from Jamaica, sparingly, east to Riverhead, L. I., also Plainfield, N. J., Hall.
S. latifolia, L.; Closter, common, Austin; New Durham swamp, W. H. L.; probably not uncommon elsewhere, though not reported.
S. cæsia, L.; every where common; N. Y
S. puberula, Nutt.; In sandy fields, New Jersey, near Amboy, (Nuttall.) Torr. Cat.; Chatham, N. J., Rockaway, L. I., W. H. L.; Hempstead, Bumstead; Tarrytown, Hall; said to have been found on N. Y. Island, if so, a specimen should be in the Local Herbarium.
S. speciosa, Nutt.; Harlem River, near Sixth Av.; Chatham, N. J., W. H. L.
S. rígida, L.; On rocky hills, N. J., Torr. Cat.; Palisades, rare, Austin; Harlem River with S. speciosa; Yonkers, J. H. Pooley, Jr.; Central Park, R. & P.
S. sempervirens, L.; common near salt water; N. Y
S. neglecta,
Torr. & Gray;
not uncommon ; N. Y., O. W. M. ; Rockaway, Astoria, L. I. ; Staten Island ; Hackensack swamps, South River, N. J. ; varies greatly, but well characterized ; the upper leaves are sometimes remarkably broad and entire, and in well developed and mature plants the panicle is not narrow, but quite broad, and somewhat corymbose; the stem is either dark red, or straw colored.
S. patula, Muhl.; not uncommon ; Astoria, Bumstead; Carlstadt, Chatham, New Durham, N. J.; Yonkers, &c, Westchester Co., W. H. L., Hall; N. Y., O.W. M.
S. arguía, Ait.; common :
Var. juncea;   Long Island, Staten Island, perhaps as common as the typical form.
S. Muhlenbergii,
Torr. & Gray;
Hart's Corners, Westchester Co., Bumstead; Chatham and New Providence, N. J., W. H. L.
S. linoides, Solander; Closter, N. J., Austin.
S. altissima, L.; very common; N. Y.
S. Ulmifolia, Muhl.; Closter, Austin; Chatham, N. J., W. H. L.; N. Y., O. W. M.
S. Odora, Ait.; common; N. Y.
S. nemoralis, Ait.; very common; N. Y.
S. Canadensis, L.; common; N. Y. :
Var. procera; Hackensack swamps, Allen.
S. serotina, Ait.; common; N. Y., O. W. M.
S. gigantea, Ait.; common; N. Y.
S. lanceolata, L.; very common; N. Y.
S. tenuifolia, Pursh; Jamaica, and eastward, L. I.; New Durham swamp, Austin.
CHRYSOPSIS,Nutt. —
C. falcata, Ell.; Suffolk Co., L. L, and Pine-barrens, N. J., not reported, but probably to be found, within our limits.
C. Mariana, Nutt.; New York Island, Staff Flora; Staten Island, W. H. L; Long Island.