68 
(not rare); BrodicEa capifata^ Benth. (three specimens). Phacelia 
rarely pure white. 
\difh 
Mimulus 
M, 
Wendl 
j> 
San Diego, Cal. Charles R. Orcutt. 
Absorption in partially severed Branches.— In th'e recent ex- 
periments reported by Francis Darwin {Nattire^ Vol. xxx., p. 9) 
upon the absorption of water by plants, he alludes with surprise to 
the fact that **cuts to the depth of half or more than half the diameter 
of the ^branch produce practically no diminution in the rate of 
absorption/' 
Remarkable instances of a similar, if rrot identical, phenomenon 
often come to the notice of the arboriculturist, and the following 
illustration of the ability of a greatly reduced cellular area to supply 
moisture, etc., occurred in our garden last year. A large apple-tree, 
with a spread of branches almost circular, twenty feet in diameter, 
with four main limbs, twenty-five secondary limbs, and a numerous 
growth of twigs and final ramifications on the outskirts and summit 
of the tree, had suffered from being too deeply covered Avith earth 
around the trunk, and the epidermal layers sickened and died, con- 
tracting the available area by which sap passed to and fro in the 
general circulation of the tree to a strip of bark less than two inches 
in width. The trunk at this point was three feet in circumference, 
and above the zone of dead tissue, which was removed, the bark 
retained its healthy and normal condition. 
The tree put out leaves in great abundance, and blossomed luxu- 
riantly. The disproportion between the area supplied with nutri- 
ment from the roots, and the size of the bark connective, seems very 
remarkable, and may be considered analogous to the conditions in 
Dr. Darwin's experiment, where the rate of transmission of moisture 
was unchanged in a half-severed twig. As the season advanced and 
became drier and hotter, the tree became sickly. It was deprived of 
the use of a large portion of its roots and could not, with the limited 
resources furnished it, feed itself with sufficient moisture; but the 
capacity of a very restricted line of cells to sustain, at least tempo- 
rarily and under favorab'le conditions, a perfect union between the 
body of the tree and its roots was demonstrated. 
L. P. Gratacap. 
m 
Botanical Notes, 
Palms.— '&ome interesting details respecting these princes of the 
vegetable kingdom, as Linnaeus called them, are to be found m ^ir 
Joseph Hooker's last report on the progress and condition of tne 
Royal gardens at Kew. The extent to which they have recently been 
brought into cultivation is noteworthy. , 
Miller in his Gardener's Dictionary, edition of 173^*"^^^." 
seven species; but only two were generally known m conservatories, 
the dwarf fan-palm of the south of Europe, and the date. Alton 
