Eeb. 1, 1S6S.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



Agave in Bloom.— A Mexican agave {Agave 

 dasylirioides) is now in bloom at the Botanic 

 Gardens, Regent's Park. It is growing in a tub 

 which it more than half conceals with its long, 

 pendulous, strap-like, spineless foliage, from amoDg 

 which issues the flower-spike, 10 feet 4 inches in 

 length, something in the form of a gigantic whip, 

 the thong of which measures some IS inches in 

 circumference, and is densely packed with green 

 flowers, from which the stamens conspicuously 

 protrude. — Gardener's Chronicle. 



The Gunpowder Plant. — I wonder if there is 

 any truth in the story related in books on New 

 Zealand of the origin of the abundance of the com- 

 mon dock there ? It is said that an artful " Jack 

 ashore," coveting the fowls and pigs of a certain 

 chief, sold him a sack of dock seed which he had 

 imported as a speculation on the credulity of the 

 New Zealanders. It was purchased under the 

 belief that when sown it would produce an abun- 

 dant crop of the best Dartford gunpowder. The 

 rage of the chief when he found out the cheat knew 

 no bounds. Another edition of the story, with 

 perhaps more probability of truth, was that the 

 dock seed was introduced as that of tobacco, the 

 favourite weed of the Maori ; others say that the 

 dock was introduced with clover. The New 

 Zealanders were very anxious to procure European 

 seeds ; a young chief worked his passage to England 

 for this purpose, as is related by Hamilton Smith. — 

 C. O. G. Napier. 



Eerns op Buckinghamshire. — An interesting 

 paper on the Eerns of Buckinghamshire was read by 

 Mr. Ullyett at the meeting of the High Wycombe 

 Natural History Society, on the 10th December, 

 and is published in the Quarterly Magazine for 

 January, with a localized list by Mr. James Britten. 



Nasturtium Siipolium. — In No. 37 of Science- 

 Gossip, the question is raised as to Nasturtium 

 siifolium, Bchb., being a true variety of N. officinalis, 

 Linn. There is certainly a marked difference when 

 compared with luxuriant specimens of the latter. 

 The lower part of the stem is more creeping, fibrous, 

 and fistulose, extending more than a foot from its 

 extremity upwards, before it emerges from the soil, 

 when it becomes erect, and reaches a height of 

 about three feet. The leaflets are more numerous, 

 distant, and pointed, resembling rather those oiSium 

 latifolmm. It appears to be a permanent variety, 

 and in this neighbourhood grows in shallow stagnant 

 as well as running water. I take this opportunity 

 of mentioning the frequent occurrence of (Enanthe 

 pimpinelloides, Linn., in Dorsetshire ; it is a very 

 common Umbellifcr, and is not confined to any 

 peculiarity of soil or district, except, perhaps, the 

 uncultivated portions of ourtertiaries. The climate 

 of the county appears exactly suited for it, as it 



grows equally luxuriantly on the arid heights of 

 Portland, as in the lowlands of the Vale of Black- 

 more ; the rarest form of this genus, is doubtless 

 (Enanthe silaifolia, Brst., which grows only in the 

 dampest meadows. (Enanthe lachenalii, Gmel, is 

 more frequently met with, but as it is a salt marsh 

 plant, its habitat is restricted to the neighbourhood 

 of our numerous estuaries. — /. C. Mansel, Longthorn, 

 Blandford. 



Ivy Again. — About ten or twelve years ago, the 

 late Professor Henslow was making a collection of 

 British birds' nests, and in order to secure one 

 which a wren had built between two parallel stems 

 of ivy, covering very luxuriantly an old hawthorne, 

 he had the stems sawn completely asunder, and 

 pieces about eight or teu inches in length, with the 

 nest between them, carefully removed. On writing 

 to the present incumbent of Hitcham, Suffolk (Rev. 

 A. R. Grant), he informs me that the ivy has con- 

 tinued as vigorous as ever, notwithstanding 

 having no communication with the ground. The 

 stems, if I remember right, were about li inches 

 thick. A question one feels inclined to ask is, 

 whether ivy-roots absorb moisture from the air like 

 epiphlytical orchids.— George Henslow. 



Pink Primroses. — Your correspondent, R. 

 Holland, seems to think that they are vagaries, and 

 not varieties. In Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire, 

 they are in many parts the rule, and the yellow the ex- 

 ception. I have seen hundreds of plants continguous 

 to each other, and therefore draw the conclusion that 

 the pink primrose is a distinct variety of the yellow, 

 they being in masses instead of few and far between. 

 — D., Tredegarville. 



Yellow Violets. — Among the varieties of yellow 

 violets, Viola bijlora,'Linn., is perhaps the most at- 

 tractive, but as your correspondent, Mr. E. J. Law 

 (in the January number), does not give the specific 

 name of the one he found near Courmayeur and 

 elsewhere in the Alpine range, it is uncertain 

 whether or not he refers to this. Viola biflora is 

 not a rare plant in what may be botauically termed 

 the sub-Alpine region of the Pyrenees; it grows at 

 the foot of the Port de Vevargar, Esquierry, Me- 

 dassales, Cirque de Gavarnie, and Port de Picardi, 

 places well known to the Pyrenean tourist.—/. C. 

 Mansel, Longthorn, Blandford. 



Variation in the Parsley Plant.— In Sep- 

 tember last, a small root of Parsley (Petroselinum 

 sativum) was gathered in my garden here. I enclose 

 a sprig, from which it will be seen that the end of 

 each small stalk instead of producing the usual 

 leaves, is prolonged into a leaflet, somewhat resem- 

 bling a blade of grass. Is not this very unusual 

 with parsley ? The whole plant was about eleven 

 inches in height.— B. E., Galway. 



