107 



* * * 



In the case of the Narcissus-cu^^ the answer to the ques- 

 tion, what is it? has been soughl; in various directions, as by com- 

 paring the cup with similar copformations in other genera, such as 

 Pancraiim?!,, or by observing the changes it sometimes exhibits when 

 inclines to be 'sportive/ In vino Veritas \ so when a plant deviates 

 from orthodoxy it very often lets out secrets not discernible at other 

 times. Another mode has been by examining the mode of growth 

 from the vtry earliest to the adult condition. Prof, Babington has 

 kindly sent us a flower of Narcissus poetictts in which, to outward ap- 

 pearance, either one or two stamens have assumed the guise of the 

 cup, or a portion of the cup has taken on itself the appearance of a 

 stamen. Some years ago * * * the writer * * * ventured 

 the opinion that the cup of the Narcissus consisted of a series of 

 modified stamens. * * * There were grounds for this belief 

 there still are. Prof. Babington's flower might at first sight be cited 

 in evidence along with others already recorded ; but a more careful 

 examination of the flower in question shows that, in this particular 

 instance, it is not the corona reverting to a stamina! appearance, but 

 a dislocated and distinct stamen which is partially grown in union 

 with the corona, and so looks as if it were a portion of the corona 

 itself. The conclusions at which we arrived years ago were assailed 

 by no less a person than Mr. Worthington G. Smith. On looking 

 again at his arguments, after a lapse of years, it seems to us now that* 

 while in matters of detail Mr. Smith was quite wrong, in matters of 

 general principle he was quite right, in his interpretation of the mode 

 of formation of the cup of the Narcissus. The ill-advised use of the 

 word 'stipule/ and the false analogies thereupon based, concealed 

 the underlying truth that the organ in question was and is an out- 

 growth from the flower- tube, and not necessarily either perianth- seg- 

 ment or stamen. In those days we relied upon owq or two modes 

 or styles of questioning when others were available, which would have 

 shown, as they have done since, that the real interpretation of the 

 corona of the Narcissus is that it is an outgrowth from the perianth- 

 tube — an adaptat/on probably to facilitate cross-fertilization by insect 

 agency. The cases formerly relied on to prove the staminal nature 

 of the corona are capable of other interpretation, which it would be 



tedious to give here." 



Local Floras. — Mr. Joseph Jackson, Jr., is contributing to the 

 Worcester Daily Spy a series of lists of the plants of Worcester Co., 

 Mass., each list including the names of 50 species, and the plants 

 being recorded in the order of their flowering. It is the intention of 

 the Worcester Natural History Society, we believe, to publish a com- 

 plete flora of the county after sufficient material has been collected. 



Mr. William C- Prime, in one of his recent "Lonesome Lake 

 Papers " in the New York Journal of Commerce^ has given a list of 

 ?>i^ plants (not including trees) found in flower in Franconia Valley 

 (N. H.), and on the sides of the mountains, between May 20th and 

 June 2oth. Mr. Prime remarks: '' Oi course the list is not com- 

 plete, but it will not be easy to add to it, for our researches were sys- 

 tematic and constant." 



Dr. Charles Atwood, of Moravia, N. Y„ notifies us by circular 



