154 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1887. 



May 3. 

 Mr. Thos. Meehan, Vice-President, in the cliair. 

 Twenty-three persons present. 



On Aphyllon as a root Parasite. Mr. Thomas Meehan remarked 

 that the life histories of many of our root parasites were still obscure,-in 

 many cases we hardly knew whether they were annual or perennial ; 

 how long it took for them to perfect themselves, and in some cases it 

 was even doubted whether they were parasites in the true sense of 

 the word, or merely obtained a start by feeding on partially decom- 

 posed vegetable matter. In one of the earlier editions oi Flora Ces- 

 trica, Dr. Wm. Darlington observes that he has often dug Aphyl- 

 lon uniflorum without finding it attached to anything, and, though 

 he omits this remark in later editions, he observes that it is "Per- 

 ennialf " The speaker remarked that he had dug this species very 

 carefully when in bloom, and washed the earth gently away, finding 

 them truly parasitic on the coarser fibres of Asters and Goldenrods. 

 They very readily separate from their connection unless cax'efully 

 handled, which may account for the failure to note their true para- 

 sitic nature. 



A specimen sent by Mr. Morris, a florist of Des Moines Iowa, of 

 an allied species A.faseiculatum Torr. and G., {PhellpcBa fasciculata of 

 someauthors), givestheopportunity for acquiring certain knowledge in 

 relation to these points. Mr. Morris raised numerous plants of the 

 common bedding geranium {Pelargonmm zonale). The cuttings 

 were made in October and November last. They were potted in 

 earth taken from a piece of newly cleared woodland in the vicin- 

 ity. The plants appeared in many of the geranium pots in his green- 

 house, and were in full flower in April. As the plants were only 

 in this soil for about three months, the seeds must have sprouted, 

 flowered, and were on the decline in that time. They are therefore 

 annual, and a very short-lived annual at that. 



In regard to the parasitism, the attachment in several that Mr. 

 Meehan had examined, was to the coarser roots. In the plant ex- 

 hibited, it was to the main stem of the cuttings beneath the ground, 

 and not to the roots, which in this specimen were merely weak fibres. 



The geranium, an African plant, and of a very different character 

 fi-om these which the Aphyllon lias been in the habit of feeding on, 

 proving so acceptable to it in this instance, shows that it is either 

 not partial in its parasitic tastes, or that it has ready powers of 

 adaptation when something suited to its peculiar habits comes along. 



May 10. 

 The President, Dr. Joseph Leidy, in the chair. 

 Twenty persons present. 



