An introductory paragraph to this series may be short as will be the
notes that follow. Suffice therefore to say that from time to time the
field jottings and short notes of observations on the plants of our
State flora will be presented. Not only those made myself but others
which may be kindly communicated to me for this purpose by botanists,
amateurs, students and other observers will find a place in the series.
An especial invitation is extended to pupils in our High Schools and to
teachers throughout the State to contribute suitable material which in
many cases may be of great interest and importance. Sub-heads will be
used thus making it possible to scan the notes easily.
PUCCINIA SMILACIS.--This Black Rust which has the various
species of Green Briar for its host, was noticed in extraordinary
quantity the past season in Scioto, Adams and Brown Counties. It
was abundant only on Smilax glauca--called in that region the Saw
Brier--but not uncommonly occurred on S. hispida and S. rotundifolia.
It was also remarkable in this respect namely that the teleutospores
(the black or winter spores) were excessively abundant: the uredospores
(red or summer spores) could be found only when search was made. The
observation here recorded pertains to the first half of the month
of November. I have occasionally noticed uredospores in quantity on
Smilax leaves in the various parts of Ohio but never before found the
winter-spores common. It should perhaps be added parenthetically that
_Dicœoma_ having the priority over Puccinia is really the generic
name that should be used, but the commoner designation may here be
tolerated.
QUERCUS ACUMINATA.--The Chestnut or Yellow Oak (name in Gray’s Manual
Quercus Muhlenbergii) is described as “a tall tree with thin _flaky_
bark” (Gray), or “a tree with gray _flaky_ bark” (Britton); and in fact
many of the White Oaks are said to have “_flaky_” bark. The Quercus
acuminata is very abundant in central Ohio and is of common occurrence
in many parts of the State. It is rare that the “flakiness” of the bark
or a tendency to separate in plates, is pronounced or conspicuous in
our Chestnut Oak trees. The single good example I have found is here
shown in Fig. 1 reproduced from a photograph of a specimen growing in
Hayden’s ravine near Columbus. Both trees shown are the same species
but the smaller one has merely furrowed, not flaky, bark, and it is
a fair representative of the trunks of this Oak as they occur in our
vicinity. The usual form of bark is perhaps more clearly shown in
Fig. 2, which is from a photograph of a large tree standing near the
Horticultural Hall of the Ohio State University. This specimen has
leaves remarkably narrow for Q. acuminata but the trunk is similar in
appearance to the trees which have broad leaves.
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]
[Illustration: _Fig. 2._]
HELIANTHUS MAXIMILIANI.--Maximilian’s Sunflower whose habitat
and range are given in Britton and Brown’s Illustrated Flora as “on
dry prairies, Minnesota, and Manitoba to the Northwest Territory,
Nebraska and Texas” may be said to be out of place in Ohio. Yet Mr. R.
F. Griggs found it (a single plant) in the season of 1900 (cf. O.
S. U. NATURALIST, 1:16) at Sandusky, Erie County. In a package of
interesting plants sent to the State Herbarium recently by Mr. Otto
Hacker, fine herbarium specimens of this conspicuous species were
furnished. Mr. Hacker says that he observed it near Painesville (Lake
County) six or seven years ago by railway tracks, where it is still
flourishing.
LOTUS CORNICULATUS.--This European Lotus, with such common
names as Bird’s foot, Trefoil, Ground Honeysuckle, Bloom-fell,
Crowtoes, Cat’s-clover, and Sheepfoot, was collected at Painesville
by Mr. Otto Hacker in nursery grounds. This is the second time this
waif has been recorded for Ohio, the first case being reported by Mr.
Ricksecker, of Oberlin.