Nov. 1, 1S6S.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSS IP. 



24 9 



sprit," as applied to them, is that they axe, field-sprit, 

 that is, sprouted even whilst growing in the field. 



There is another very peculiar abnormal develop- 

 ment often seen in the potato plant, which is also 

 known in Cheshire as " ackersprit." The buds in the 

 axils of the leaves, especially if the haulm be spread- 

 ing on the ground, swell out and form small green 

 or purple tubers, instead of extending into a branch. 

 These small tubers exactly resemble underground 



Fig. 227. 



potatoes, except as regards colour, and in the fact 

 that they often send out bunches of leaves from the 

 eyes. The accompanying drawing represents this 

 strange development. It is interesting, because it 

 shows exactly how potatoes are formed, and wha^ 

 they are physiologically, — namely, enlarged buds of 

 underground shoot s. 



There are some plants which are' extremely in- 

 teresting, as their usual habit is to be " ackersprit," 

 and to produce these axillary buds, not as an 

 abnormal development, but as one of the ordinary 

 means of propagation. The rare Cardamine bulbifera 

 is an instance, and in gardens the tall and showy 

 Lilium bulbiferum. In both these plants great 



numbers of bulbilli are formed in the axils of the 

 leaves, which drop off when sufficiently ripe, and 

 take root in the soil, bearing a strange analogy to 

 seeds, but formed without the aid of impregnation. 

 Viviparous plants, though not called " ackersprit," 

 present, physiologically, very much the same 

 phenomena. The Black Maiden's-hair Eern, As- 

 plenium Adianium-nigrum, is very apt, when grown 

 under a glass, to produce young plants upon the 

 edges of the leaves : these drop off and take root 

 like the little bulbs of Cardamine. The commorii 

 Lady's-smock, Cardamine pratensis, has a very 

 strange propensity. Its terminal leaflets frequently 

 fall off and take root, throwing out a radicle and 

 plumule from their base just as a seed does. 

 In mountainous districts a vary pretty grass, Festuca 

 vimpara, is found growing in the spray of almost 

 every waterfall, and dipping its spikes of green 

 leaves into every mountain stream. Each floret of 

 this grass, instead of producing seed, shoots out 

 into a bunch of leaves, forming a spike of young 

 plants, which fall off eventually and take root. The 

 same fact is often observed in some of our com- 

 mon lowland grasses, especially during a rainy 

 autumn. Ci/nosurus cristatics is very prone to 

 become viviparous, and occasionally Dactylis 

 glomerata. 



The same phenomenon of ackerspritting, though 

 in a different form, has extended itself to a great 

 number of our garden plants, and some very inter- 

 esting facts have been observed. Almost all plants, 

 both perennial and annual, bloomed and ripened 

 their seed a month at least before their usual time ; 

 so that at the beginning of August gardens that 

 had not been continuously watered looked very 

 deplorable indeed, and were little better than an 

 untidy wilderness of dry sticks. But the rain caused 

 some very remarkable changes. The dry stems 

 seemed to receive new life, and, sprouting at the 

 joints, became quite green again. Some plants often 

 do so in a slight degree, such as Sweet William, 

 Evening Primrose, and others ; but this year both 

 have sprouted so freely, producing bunches and 

 spikes of flowers at every joint, that when the seeds 

 are cut off from the top the plants are as bright and 

 gay as if it were summer-time. Erysimum Peroff- 

 skianum has done the same, and is now again in full 

 flower. Crimson Max which had ripened its seed 

 has sprouted out from the base of the plant in so 

 remarkable a manner that the beds are completely 

 renewed. A large bed of Borage, grown for the 

 sake of the bees, was quite out of flower and was 

 apparently dying away ; but in a fortnight after the 

 rain came, the plants were quite green again. We 

 took the trouble to cut away all the dead tops, and 

 now the bed is in full flower a second time, to the 

 manifest delight of the bees. The most curious 

 examples of this kind that I have seen are the 

 Snapdragons. These plants always shoot out below 



