364: 



ing, and ultimately decomposes without having contributed any- 

 thing to the vital growth or protection of the seed. Of course 

 ' this view is speculative, and close microscopic observations upon 

 the ovule, both before' and after fertilization, are essential to a 

 decisive interpretation of the structure I have described. It may 

 even appear that the elastic coat and the intermediate layer are 

 both developed after fertilization and are, therefore, of the nature 

 of a double aril, tenacious without and pulpy within, A consid- 

 erable resemblance certainly exists between the external coat and 

 the loose membranaceous aril in Castalia, Salisb., more especially 

 as both originate at a point below the summit of the funiculus. 

 An aril, however (see Gray's definition, I.e., p. 308), is an acces- 

 sory seed-covering, *' more or less incomplete," whereas in S^mlax 

 the external coat is complete in every respect. At any rate, 

 whether testa or aril, the whole subject Is novel and interesting, 

 and is strongly commended to physiological botanists and micro- 

 scopists, who may have access to the fruit of Smilax in its earli- 



est stapes. 



E. E. Sterns. 



P. S. — Since writing the foregoing I have examined fresh 

 ripe berries of S. Waltert, Pursh, and sub-species 5. Wrightity 

 A. DC. (== 5*. taimioides^ of Chapman's Flora, in part.) In the 

 former the exterior coat is thin and easily broken, and its elas- 

 ticity is not especially marked. In 5. Wrightii, however, the 

 " stretch-berry'* of the southwest, this coat is extraordinarily 

 elastic, and can be readily extended without breaking to five or 

 six times its original length ! A still more recent examination, 

 this time of very young berries of 5. pnmila, Walt., barely one- 

 fourth the size of the ripe fruit, shows the outer coat as complete 

 in form at this stage as at maturity, and already strikingly 

 elastic. Although this is a strong confirmation of the testa 

 theory, microscopic study of the ovule is still essential to settle 



the question absolutely. 



E. E. S. 



Another Station for Rhododendron Vasey 



Rhododendron Vaseyi, Gray. Proc, Am. Ac, xv., 4S: 



Bot. Gaz., viil., 282.— A third locahty has atjast turned up for 

 this shrub, which is so conspicuous and singular that one wonders 

 at its so long evading notice. The pecuhar flower-buds were 



