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HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



noli-me-tangere, Epilobium augiistifolmm, and Poly- 

 gonattim 7nuUiJloriini. Comparing this with the 

 Surrey list, Aconitum alone seems to be wanting in 

 the latter county, and although found apparently 

 wild, it is conceivable that the Wiltshire examples 

 originated from some accidental introduction. — 

 T. D. A. Cocker ell. 



Abnormal Growth of Plantago maritima. — 

 I do not think the growth the Rev. Arnold names is 

 very common ; I have seen a somewhat similar one 

 at Hythe, in Kent, and less so in specimens gathered 

 on the north coast of Norfolk. The late Mr. H. C. 

 Watson had an analogous instance in Scilla nutans, 

 with bracts two inches long, in his garden at 

 Thames Ditton ; but in this case the flowers were 

 merely larger, but unaltered in arrangement. — Arthur 

 Bennett. 



Abnormal Growth of Bracts.— I have not 

 seen the abnormal growth referred to by Mr. F. H. 

 Arnold, but the involucral bracts surrounding the 

 capitulum of a large specimen of the sunflower, grown 

 here last summer, were nearly all developed into 

 leaves, some of which were seven or eight inches 

 ^o°g> giving the flower the appearance of resting on a 

 cushion of leaves, all radiating from a common centre. 

 — Ernest O. Meyers, Hoioislow. 



Monstrosity in Plantain. — The monstrosity 

 of spikes of plantago, alluded to by Rev. F. H. 

 Arnold, was observed a long time ago on PI. lanceo- 

 lata and PI. major. A paper about it by Germain 

 de St. Pierre may be found in " Bulletin de la Societe 

 Botanique de France," 1857, p. 625. I do not think 

 that the same case was ever observed on PI. maritima. 

 — C. C, Dotdlens, Somme. 



Double Blossoming. — Trees and plants of various 

 species blossoming twice in the same year are not 

 unfrequent, and that phenomenon was studied and 

 accounted for by W. de Schcenefeld and G. Maugin in 

 "Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de France," 1859, 

 pp. 37, 465. — C. C, DoiiUens, Somtne. 



Colorado Fungi. — I am having fairly good 

 success with the fungi in Custer County this year, 

 adding several species to my list. Mr. J. B. Ellis has 

 been good enough to identify a number of species 

 from this locality recently, and among them he finds 

 Elaphomyces variegatus, Vitt. — a curious, yellowish 

 tuber I found while digging an irrigation ditch ; 

 Polyporus arcticiis, Fr. ; Dermatca pruinosa, E. and E., 

 so named in ms., a probably new species ; Odontia 

 Umbriata, Pers., on wood ashes; Puccinia bigelovia, 

 on Bigelovia, another apparently new species, named 

 by Ellis and Ever heart in ms.; ^cidiiim euphorbia:, 

 Gmel., and Uromyces scutellatus, Schrank, growing 

 together on Euphorbia montana, Engelm. — which is 

 suggestive of their relationship ; yEcidium compo- 

 sitaruni. Mart. ; and Oiditimmonilidides, Lk., on grass. 

 Dr. W. G. Farlow has also named some Custer 



County specimens for me ; ^Ecidium vionaicumf 

 Peck.; on Arabis, Hypocrea richardsoni. Berk, and 

 Mont., on dead poplars {Populus tremuldides), Bovista 

 circtimscissa. Berk, and Curt., and Polyporus biformis^ 

 Kltz. And from Wellsville, in Fremont Co., " Corti- 

 ciuni " setosum. Berk, and Curt, (ms.), which, 

 however, is not a true corticium, the generic position 

 being at present doubtful. — T. D. A. Cockerell, Wesi 

 Cliff, Colorado. 



A Pale Variety of Ophion. — On October i7thy 

 1887, I took at Saguache, Saguache co., Colorado, a 

 very remarkable-looking pale-yellow ichneumon of 

 the genus Ophion, which I sent to Mr. W. H. Ash- 

 mead, who says it is a pale variety of the common 

 O. bilineatus of Say. I v/ill call it O. bilineatus var. 

 pallida, and at the same time ask, do the British 

 species of this genuo vary in a similar manner? I 

 have captured or seen hundreds of them, and never 

 saw any noteworthy variation in colour. — T. D. A, 

 Cockerell, West Cliff, Colorado. 



Ophrys apifera again. — Glad to be able to- 

 inform your readers that I have found this interesting 

 plant again, and that it has not wholly deserted us. 

 On Sunday, Feb. 24th, eight plants were growing 

 where it was before its strange disappearance. Did 

 it disappear? When first I saw the plant in this 

 district in 1884, I dug up a specimen for my 

 herbarium and detached the young tuber, which I 

 planted in a pot, using for soil a piece of turf taken 

 from the same spot. This tuber began to show leavea 

 early in the autumn, and these leaves continued 

 deciduous throughout the winter and early spring. 

 When throwing up a spike, the root leaves began to 

 decay. I had before noticed the decayed appearance 

 of the leaves of the specimen I had dried, and have 

 since noticed that generally when apifera is in bloom 

 its leaves are more or less decayed. Now, 1st, do all 

 tubers bloom the first year ? The one I reared did, 

 though a small one, but it was a puny spike of two 

 insignificant flowers. At the time, I thought that 

 this was owing to its being grown in a pot, knowing 

 that this family is, as a rule, rather averse to cultiva- 

 tion. 2nd, If not, why may not the leaves have, 

 owing to the overgrowth of surrounding plants, 

 wholly decayed by June or July, the time apifera 

 should be in bloom and the lime when botanists 

 naturally look for it. In this case, the tuber would 

 still be there, but no outward appearance would' 

 betray its presence. It would be a good plan to- 

 ■search spots frequented by this fast-becoming rarity, 

 in the early spring-time, and see whether these 

 observations are correct. I say spring-time, because 

 then the herbage is short and the glaucous green 

 leaves would show -plzAnly.— John Taylor, Fairford, 

 Gloucestershire. 



Botany and Punctuation. — Will you allow me 

 space to correct a few errors in the printing of my 



