Last spring the writer published a few measurements of some common
western plants in the Asa Gray Bulletin (Vol. 8: 19-20). A few other
measurements are given below, all from Kansas except four which are
from Ohio. It would be well for all collectors to keep records of
the size of the plants which they meet, including measurements of
the height and also dimensions of the leaves, flowers, fruits and
underground parts. In this way the manual of the future may be brought
to represent more accurately the living plant as it grows in nature
rather than the dried, shrunken and dwarf specimens of the herbarium.
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|Gray |Britton|Measured
| | | Feet
-----------------------------------------+-----+-------+--------
Agropyrum repens (L.) Beauv. | | 4 | 4¾
Asparagus officinalis L. | | 7 | 8¾
Polygonum orientale L. (Ohio) | | 8 | 9
Allionia nyctaginea Michx. |3 | 3 | 5
(Oxybaphus nyctagineus Sw.) | | |
Silene antirrhina L. |2½ | 2½ | 3
Argemone alba Lestib. | | | 5
Lepidium virginicum L. | | | 2½
Baptisia leucantha T. & G. | | 4 | 5½
Amorpha canescens Nutt. |3 | 3 | 4¾
Kuhnistera candida (Willd.) Kuntze | | 2 | 3¼
(Petalostemon candidus Michx.) | | |
Acuan illinoensis (Michx.) Kuntze |4 | 3 | 8
(Desmanthus brachylobus Benth.) | | |
Meriolix serrulata (Nutt.) Walp. |1¼ | 1½ | 2½
(Oenothera serrulata Nutt.) | | |
Gaura biennis L. |8 | 5 | 10½
Apocynum cannabinum L. |3 | | 8
Marrubium vulgare L. | | 3 | 3½
Datura tatula L. (Ohio) | | 5 | 7
Verbascum thapsus L. (Ohio) | | 7 | 8
Cicuta maculata L. |6 | 6 | 7⅓
Symphoricarpos symphoricarpos (L.) MacM. | | 5 | 8
(S. vulgaris Michx.) | | |
Dipsacus fullonum L. (Ohio) | | 6 | 7½
Legouzia perfoliata (L.) Britt. |1⅔ | 2 | 3
(Specularia perfoliata A. D. C.) | | |
Ratibida columnaris (Sims) D. Don |2 | 2½ | 2⅚
(Leptachys columnaris T. & G.) | | |
Achillea millefolium L. | | 2 | 2½
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