Rogers McVaugh

The genus Jatropha in America: principal intrageneric groups.

The euphorbiaceous genus Jatropha comprises perhaps 125 species, most of which are Anmericaln or African; probably 40-50 species are African and about 75 American; a few are natives of Arabia or the southern Indialni region. The closest affinities of the genus appear to be with Manihot anld Cnidoscolus; it has likewise considerable apparent affinity with Aleuriteg and with Ilevea, but these latter genera are usually referred to another tribe on the basis of technical characters of calyx aestivation. Several species of Jatropha, originally American, have become widely dispersed in the tropics because of their cnltivation for ornament, for shade trees or for medicilnal pnrposes, and at least a few species of the genus are familiar to many botanists and collectors, so that the namiie Jatropha is a familiar olle in botanical literature. At least one species, J. Curcas, has attained lmluch notoriety as a common poisonous plant of the tropics, and more lately has beell thought of as a possible source of a drying oil similar to tung oil. Botanically the gYenus has received its share of attention, with the usual concomitalnt duplication of names for species and other subgen-eric groups, and misapplication of names; as in any generic group of similar size, lnew entities have been discovered from time to time since the publication of the last treatment of the genus as a whole, and a modern synopsis of all the Americaln species would be of value to working systematists. As a step preliminary to this, the present paper attempts to set forth what appear to be the prinlcipal lines of divergence within the genus; at the present time it is impracticable to prepare a detailed synopsis of all species, chiefly because so many are poorly known. For example, to consider the situation in North America alone, at the time of publication of Standleys Trees and Shrubs of Mexico (1923) its author included 19 distinct and well-marked species of Jatropha (exclnding Cnidoscolus) ; 6 of these were scarcely or not at all knowln except from the type, and not more than 8 were represented in herbaria by enough material to give a fair idea of the species. Since 1923 about 8 species have been added to the known flora of Mexico, 7 of which are klnown from the type only or from very scanty material.

Calyptocarpus vialis and C. wendlandii (Compositae)

RecentlyCalyptocarpus has been considered monotypic, butC. vialis of eastern Mexico proves to be distinct fromC. wendlandii of Central America. A key to these and to the often-misidentifiedSynedrella nodiflora is provided, and all three species are illustrated.

Novelties in Satureia sect. Gardoquia (Labiatae)

A new key is provided to the North American species of sect.Gardoquia; two varieties are recognized in the widespread Mexican speciesS. macrostema; andS. jaliscana, a species associated with barranca-forests in Jalisco, Mexico, is described as new.

Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta, Conservation of Generic Names, X

As in previous reports, the votes for and against each proposal are shown in parenthesis immediately after the names involved; the affirmative votes precede the negative. Eight affirmative votes were required for a recommendation by the Committee to accept a proposal. Only ten members voted on the proposals listed below (except no. 172, Flemingia), but the results as reported are conclusive except in the cases of Cylista, Galearia, and Chamaedaphne.

Establishment of Vegetation on Sand‐Flats along the Hudson River, New York‐‐II. The Period 1945‐1955

The area discussed below was described in this journal in 1947, at which time there was presented a first decennial report, on the vegetational changes which had taken place during the period 19351945. The present notes constitute a second decennial report, that for the period 1945-1955. The sand-flats, comprising approximately 200 acres,1 north of Nutten Hook, Columbia County, New York, were formed by dredging operations between 1929 and 1937. They are bounded on the west by the Hudson River, and on the east by the New York Central Railroad. On the south they are separated by a tidal channel from the rocky headland of Little Nutten Hook, and northward they extend nearly to the village of Stuyvesant, interrupted at intervals by areas of tidal marsh and by tidal channels (Figs. 1 and 2). The largest continuous area of madeland and the one to which all the notes in these pages pertain, is the southernmost one. It is about 1000 m. long from south to north, extending from the channel at Little Nutten Hook to a similar channel a little north of milepost 123 on the railroad; it is roughly oblong, about 250 m. wide at the widest point, which is about two-thirds the distance from south to north. The railroad here lies at the foot of steep argillaceous bluffs (Fig. 3), and there is no access to the sand-flats except by foot-trails or by small boats. There has been essentially no disturbance by man since the deposition of the sand, and the vegetational changes which are recorded have presumably been little influenced by human agencies. Now that observations covering a period of 20 years are in hand, it seems possible to predict with some assurance at least a part of future successional series. The sandy areas which were newly established by dredging operations were at first monotonously flat. The surface sloped off gradually on all sides as if by puddling and settling which resulted from

Joseph Basil Girard, an early botanical collector in Arizona

Girard, a career army surgeon, known as a botanical collector chiefly through a few citations by Rothrock (1879), proves to have collected a considerable series in Arizona, probably in 1874. The probable source of the specimens is discussed. The collection is now deposited at MICH.