MR. O. KING ON A SPORT IN PARITIUM TRTCUSPB. 101 



V 



Note on a Sport in Paritium tricuspe, GL Don. By G-. Kino, M.B., 

 F.L.S., Superintendent of the Botanical G-arden, Calcutta. 



[Read December 16, 1875.] 



On taking charge of the Botanical G-arden at Saharunpore in 

 December 1868, my attention was attracted by a singular abnor- 

 mality in a tree of Paritium tricuspe. I could find no notice of 

 the planting of the tree, nor, indeed, any mention of it, in the re- 

 cords of the garden ; but its age was estimated at about twenty- 

 five years. Prior to the occurrence of the accident to be subse- 

 quently mentioned, it presented the following appearance. The 

 main trunk (about 16 inches in diameter) ran up to a height of 

 about 10 feet, and there divided into two nearly equal branches. 

 One of these, which I shall call the main branch, continuing in the 

 upright direction, ended in a spreading head, the highest tops of 

 which reached about 20 feet above the ground. The other, which 

 may be called the lateral branch, after a long downward curve, 

 entered the soil, and, reappearing about 2 feet from its point of 

 entrance, gave rise to a large leafy bush about 12 feet high and 

 several yards in circumference. Whether this lateral drooping 

 branch had first entered the ground spontaneously, or whether it 

 had been made to do so by accident or by layering, I could not 

 find out ; neither could I discover how long time had elapsed 

 since the occurrence. I think it unlikely that a layer had ever 

 been made for the purpose of propagation, as the plant grows 

 from cuttings almost as freely as a willow. Every leaf borne by 

 the main branch was of the normal tricuspidate shape from which 

 the species is named. The lateral drooping branch during its 

 course from the main trunk to the ground gave out neither twigs 

 nor leaves ; but immediately after emerging from the soil it gave 

 origin to a multitude of strong healthy branches, which formed, as 

 has been said, a separate bush, apparently quite distinct from the 

 parent tree. On this bush every leaf was of a cordato-reniform 

 acuminate shape ; and after many long and careful searches I 

 could not find a single leaf approaching the tricuspidate form of 

 the leaves of the parent. The tree and the bush looked, in fact, 

 separate and distinct plants, so different was their foliage ; and by 

 all casual observers they were regarded as such. ■ 



Some little time after my arrival at Saharunpore, flower-buds 

 appeared on both parent and sport ; and I looked with much in- 



