The Portland daily press., 1865-09-26


ceilings of the Boston Natural History Soci
ETY. for February and for May of that year, Gar
gued plausibly, from negative evidence, against
the idea that any native Heath has eyer been
found in Newfoundland, or on the American
CONTINENT In an article published in Sill
mans Journal for July, 1854, Prof. Gray says
that. "the earliest published announcement
thai we have been able to. find of Gla1nG nal.
oaris as an American plant, is that by Sir,
VIM. Hooker, in the Index to his F7ora Bo-
reaH-AmericanG u. p. 2S0,) issued in 1S40
Here it is stated that: This should have beer
inserted. at p. 80, as an inhabitant of New.
foundland, on the authority of De la Pylaie.
Accordingly, in the 7th volume of lie Can.
dolle's ProdroDsas, to the European habitat L
added, Ethan in Islandia ct IN Terra Nova
Americas Borealis.' But it does not appear
that Mr.. Bentham had ever seen an American
specimen. He also overlooked the fact Ito
which Mr.. Seemann has lately called atten.
tion) that Gisecke, in Brewster's Encyclope.
dia, records it as native of Greenland. Nc
mention of it is made by DR.. Lang, in his emu
meration Of the known plants of Greenland
appended to Kinks Geographical and Statisti-
cal account of Greenland, published in 1857
from which we may infer that the plant is per
haps as rare and local in Greenland as in New
Efoundland or even in Massachusetts, ' and we
may add -or even in Mainel lqss
Mr.. Sprague had not been able to find any
evidence to support these statements, and had
ascertained that no specimen was extant in
Pylaie's herbarium, and naturally enough was
led to doubt the existence of the Heath as a
native plant. at is with much interest,
therefore" Professor Gray remarks, "that we
read the announcement by Dr. Hewett G. Wat
son, lin the Natural History ReuieaU for April
1884 that Specimens of CalIuna vulgarss
from Newfoundland have recently. come into
my hands, under circumstances which seem
to warrant its reception as true native of
that island,ga1 Il
aaAt the late sale Of the Linnean Society's
collection in London, in November, 1868,
bought parcel of specimens, which was en-
dorsed outside, "a collection, of dried plants
from Newfoundland, collected by - McCor-
mack, Esq, and presented to Mr.. David Dom
The specimens were old, and greatly damaged
by insects. Apparently theyhad been left in the
rough, as originally received from the collector;
being in mingled layers between d scanty sup
ply of paper, and almost all of them unla-
belled. Among these specimens were two
flowerless branches Of the true Cdllund vul-
garis, about six inches long, quite identical
with the common heath of our British moors.
Fortunately label did accompany these two
specimens, which runs thus Head of St.
Mary's Bay Trepassey Bay, also very abuu-
dant- e. of Newfoundland considerable
tracts of it, The name 'Erica vuIyaris'
has been added on the label in a different
handwriting. All the other species in the
parcel, Cor nearly alll have been recorded
from Newfoundland, so that there appeared no
cluse for doubt respecting the CaIlana itself.
And, moreover, the collector had seemingly
some idea that an especial interest would at
tach to the Cdltuna, since in this instance he
gave its special locality and also added two other
localities on the label" Prof Gray adds that
without doubt these are the very specimens
referred to by Mr.. Don, then Curator of the
Linnean Society. And now that the sta
tons where they were collected are made
known, we may expect that the plant will soon
be rediscovered, and its indigenous character
ascertained.0 .aai gsaFor s-@-
eve notice that an earlier announcement
of DIR. Watson's discovery is contained in DIR.
Seemann's Journal of Botany for February
last, where the record of Gisecke's discovery.
of Cdllasad in Greenland is referred to. In
view of this, and of its common occurrence in
Ireland, Iceland and the Azores, DIR. Seemann
opines that 3its extension to Newfoundland
and the American. continent is therefore not
SO much paradox as fact, at which we
might have arrived by induction" But DR..
Gray observes that the induction was all the
other way until the plant was actually discov-
cred in American soil.' sA2o1te
In the March number of Silliman's Jour
nalfor 1865, is the statement under the head
of Scientific Intelligence, that Mr. Murray,
late of the Geological Survey of Canada, and
now engaged in survey of Newfoundland,
has brought to Montreal specimens of this
plant, which were collected by Judge Robin
SON, on the east coast of Newfoundland, near
Ferryland (lat Al deg, long. 50 deg. so n.y.,
and which are stated to be from a small patch
of the plantnot more that three yards square
And in the letter to DR.. Wood in regard to
the Portland specimen, Prof Gray says that,
''recently Prof Lawson has sent me bit of it
gathered near Halifax I" PIX
This is brief summary of what is known
in regard Ito the Callsoaa as an American
plant, and the recent discovery Of it near
Portland, Me, by Mr. Pickard, and its confr-
nation at a subsequent date by DR.. Wood, are
matters of no little Importance to those in
terested in botanical pursuits or in the pro-
gress of scientific discovery.
Now that the fact may be regarded as pretty
well established that America has a heath,
and may have had it in abundance at some
period of its past history, it is hoped that
botanists and others interested in this study
viii look for it, as for plant they may reason
ably expect to find, even in localities which,
like that near Portland, may have been al
ready, more or less thoroughly explored. 1t
may be that the long settled conviction that
a plant of so much inherent beauty and his
torical interest did not exist in this country
may have assisted somewhat in preventing as
early a discovery of it as might have been
made with more hopeful ideas as to the posi-
bilities in the case.
ain A BRAVE CoroRED Bov.