Field and Forest A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL SCIENCES. CHARLES R. DODGE, Editor. BULLETIN OF THE POTOMAC-SIDE NATURALISTS' CLUB. VOLUME III. WASHINGTON: A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL SCIENCES. VOL. III.-JULY, 1877.-No. 1. A Botanical Trip in Virginia. On the eleventh of May 1877, a party of three, consisting of Mr. L. F. Ward, and Prof. J. W. Chickering, Jr., of Washington, D. C., and Rev. Thos. Morong of Boston, Mass., well provided with portfolios and paper, left Washington for a short botanical exploration of the Dismal Swamp and parts adjacent. This paper will attempt to give some notes of the trip, botanical, topographical and general. Five o'clock the next morning found us safely landed at Fortress Monroe, with a southerly wind and a cloudy sky, which though admirable for hunting are not propitious for botanizing. During the forenoon, despite an occasional shower, we extended our researches for a couple of miles along the shore. Within the Fortress, and upon the ramparts, we found besides the noble Live Oaks Quercus virens, (its northern limits) Allium striatum, Medicago maculata, Senebiera didyma, Gnaphalium purpureum. Stretching away to the north is a line of sand dunes, perhaps twenty feet high, and sloping away in the landward side into level sandy barrens, covered with groves of Pinus Taeda. The sand hills are interspersed withe thickets of Quercus virens, and cinerea (dwarf forms,) Myrica cerifera 6°-10°, Zanthoxylum Carolinanum, Smilax tamnoides, Vitis vulpina, a curious shrubby form with hardly any appearance of a vine, and Lonicera sempervirens. Scattered through the woods were seen Cypripedium acaule, Pyrus angustifolia, Vinca major, Yucca filamentosa, Opuntia vulgaris, Helianthemum Canadense, Carex pedunculata, arua, praecax, while in the sand, Medicago maculata, Festuca myurus, Hordeum pratense, were found, a speciemen of Ilex opaca measured 5° 10' in circumference. The afternoon was devoted to Hampton, and on the road thither one little pool furnished Ranunculus sceleratus, pusillus, hederaceus, the last thoroughly naturalized, while along the roadside and over the fields Ranunculus pauciflorous was very abundant. Cratogus coccinea, was found in thickets, Senecio tomentosa was very common and very showy in the fields; along the roadside, Fedia olitoria; in swampy localities the beautiful flowers of Amaryllis atamasco were very conspicuous, and in the woods Prunus chicasa, and Euphorbia were detected. At Hampton we found a congenial companion, in the person of Mr. Geo. Dixon formerly Principal of an Agricultural School at Ayton, England. He has paid considerable attention to conchology, and entomology, has published a catalogue of five hundred plants. collected in the vicinity of Hampton. Monday morning we started for Portsmouth and thence via Seabrook and Roanoke R. R., for Suffolk, the train starting only an hour and a half after the advertised time. Soon we began to see patches of of cane-brake, Arundinaria tecta, and every now and then to run across, acres of swamp alternat ing with arable land. Seventeen miles brought us to Suffolk at the head of navigation on the Nansemond River, a neat well-built, thriving looking little village, with abundance of shade trees, and the trunks of the Elms covered white fronds of Polypodium incanum. After much effort to overcome the inertia of Suffolk life, by the kind assistance of a "servant of the public," in the guise of a village official, we laid in our stores, and started in a one-horse cart for the "Jericho Canal" three miles distant, finding Vicia hirsuta, on the way. 66 Here we encountered the prince of boatmen in the shape of Uncle Eli Chalk, (while his name is Winslow,) the same who successfully piloted Port Crayon, over the same route some years ago, In a large cypress dugout" we three with all our traps bestow ourselves comfortably, and uncle Eli starts along the towpath propelling our craft by means of a pole made fast at right-angles to the boat. We soon found ourselves amid a Flora full of interest, "Gum" and "Cedar" swamps alternated and with each was connected a different vegetation. Noble trunks of cypress, Taxodium distichum here and there shoot up to a height of 70 or 80 feet, Cupressus thyoides, known at the north. as White Cedar, but here as Juniper furnishes an abundant supply of railroad ties, which are brought out along the canal in "skiffs" sixty long and five wide propelled by "darkeys" with long poles. Among other trees met with were Ulmas alata, Salix nigra, Aralia spinosa, twenty feet high, Ilex Cassine, furnishing the "Yupon Tea," Nyssa uniflora, and multiflora. Proserpinacra palustis, was found in shallow water and Saururus cernuus in great abundance, with other aquatic plants, as yet immature, Woodwardia angustifolia was abundant in the woods. All these trees and the thickets were completely overrun with Smilax laurifolia, its last years berries still green. Gelsemium sempervirens, a little past. its prime, but beautiful in its coloring, aud delicious in perfume, Bignonia capreolata, with its great masses of almost crimson flowers, Smilax walteri, it light red berries having outlasted the winter, S. glanca, Rhus Toxi-codendron, Vitis cordifolia, Ampelopsis quinquefolia. Less abundant and conspicuous were Berchemia volubilis, and Decumaeia barbara. Among shrubs were found Itea virginiea, Symplocos tinetoria, Ilex glabra, varying from two feet to fifteen, Andromeda nitida, Leucothoe racemosa Clethra alnifolia, Andromeda ligustrina and Leucothoe axil laris. Two nights were spent in the swamps, sleeping close by the waters edge, but with no evil influences of malaria, and no trouble from insects. Crossing the Lake in our "dugout," we go down the "feeder," and come out upon the main "Dismal Swamp Canal," where we dismiss our boatman, and take steamer for Norfolk. Several interesting phenomena attracted our attention. The Jericho Canal, where we embarked is about 15 feet above the Nansemond River, and runs nearly South ten miles to Lake Drommond. For the first five miles we had a strong current against us, then came a mile or two of slack water, with no current, and then the current was with us running very strongly into the Lake. The water is of the color of dark brandy, with a pleasant resinous flavor, becoming quite bitter in the form about the locks. It is very saponaceus, will readily remove grease without the aid of soap, and frequently fills the lock full of white foam it is claimed to |