__ whether, in the growth of the new shoot that has been described, 
38 
couple of hours’ exposure to the direct warm rays of the sun opened : 
the flower in all its golden beauty. Another plant, bearing four — 
flower-buds, was brought to Albany and placed upon a shelf just 
behind and above the kitchen stove. The distance of the plant : 
from the stove-pipe was about one foot, so that it had the benefit — 
of a pretty high temperature. Under the influence of the heat from ‘ 
the stove, the flowers expanded one after another, the last one un-— 
folding the eleventh day after the plant had been taken from its 
native habitat. The specimen was composed of three flattened or 
leaf-like joints of about the usual size, one basal, the other two, 
terminal. These showed no signs of suffering from the want of 
nourishment until about the middle of July, one month after the 
had been gathered. At this time the basal joint began to wither, 
and soon after a new shoot put forth from one of the terminal 
joints. The drying process advanced slowly from the base upwar 
until the latter part of August, when it was completed so far as the 
original joints were concerned. In the mean time the new joint 
had attained a length of one foot. Its growth still continues, it 
being now (Sept. 15th) fourteen inches long. It is, however, eX 
cessively attenuated, being only half an inch wide at its broadest 
part. %It is abundantly supplied with weak, soft, recurved spines 
about three-eighths of an inch long, and is paler in color than the 
original plant. It will be interesting to know how long it will con- 
tinue to grow, but probably its duration will now be short, since it 
begins to show signs of withering toward the base. 
To us who are distant from the ordinary localities of this plant 
and seldom have an opportunity of observing it, this behavior 8 
interesting. It indicates the need of a high temperature to promote 
the growth of the plant and ‘to cause the flowers to expand, and 
also shows a tenacity of life not surpassed even in the famous 
“Live-for-ever,” Sedum Telephium, L. It suggests the inquity 
the nourishment was drawn mainly from the original joints or from 
the air. The plant was in contact with no*soil and was not once 
moistened with water. The growth has continued after the com- 
_ plete drying up of the original joints, which would indicate the ait 
and the moisture in it as the sources of supply ; but the slight 
withering of the base of the new shoot suggests the idea of a kin 
of “robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul ” process, as if the juices of the 
: gr joints had in the first place been transferred to the new sh 
or its support, and now, this supply having failed, as if the jul 
of the base of the new shoot were passed along for the support 
the apex. phe 
It is also evident that, by placing plants with well develo 
flower-buds in a cool shaded place, their blossoming may be delay 
for a considerable period, and the flowers may then be « 
expand, by the application of heat, at such a time as they mai 
wanted either for ornament or for exhibition. Gos 
Albany, Sept. 18th. _ | Cuas. H. 
M. Prillieux, quoted in Dondoin Sci. Rev. p. 237, 1870, shows 
when wilted flowers revive in a moist atmosphere, it is at the 
