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HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS J P. 



of Hessian fly, as the crop of wheat grown in 1868 

 was one of the best grown in this century. I may say 

 there is no doubt as to the Hessian fly being found 

 by me, as pupte sent by me to Mr. Gray, M.P., 

 were said to be undoubtedly Hessian fly pup?e by 

 him. The question is, Is the Hessian fly a new 

 importation, or has it been very often overlooked by 

 farmers and so-called farmer's friends ; in short, is the 

 Hessian fly as great an impostor as the Colorado 

 beetle was ? — y. C, Ridgmont, Beds. 



BOTANY. 



British Plants in America. — Travelling from 

 New York to Denver, Colorado, I have kept a good 

 look-out for all sorts of mollusca, insects, and plants 

 on the way, and have been much struck by the 

 extreme abundance in some places of our familiar 

 Briiish plants. For instance : Chrysanthemum leucau- 

 themum grows profusely along part of the railway- 

 track near New York ; Malva rotundifolia is one of 

 the commonest weeds at Niagara Falls ; Brassica 

 Sinapis, Anthemis Coin la and Chenopodium album are 

 abundant at Chariton, Iowa, and Setaria viridis was 

 found at McCook, Nebraska. The familiar sun- 

 flower (Helianthus animus) is quite a feature of the 

 scenery in parts of Nebraska and Colorado. One of 

 the most curious native plants found is Solatium 

 rostratum, Dunal, occurring from Oxford, Nebraska, 

 to near Pinneo, Colorado ; it is a yellow-flowered, 

 handsome plant, with innumerable sharp prickles. — 

 T. D. A. Cocker ell, Denver, Colo., U.S.A. 



Note on Hildenbrandtia.— Your notice of 

 this is of great interest, as H. rivularis (Lieben.) 

 Agdh., is certainly a rarity. Your correspondent, 

 however, is in error when he speaks of it as a new 

 British record — as it is previously mentioned as 

 English by Kiitzing, "Spec. Alg." p. 695, 1849, 

 under his marine species H. rosea, of which he makes 

 it var. fi.Jluviatilis. Again, as IP. Jluviatilis, Breb., it 

 is mentioned by H. I. Carter, "Journ. Bot.," Aug. 

 1864, pp. 225-228 tab. 20. Carter, in his capital 

 little memoir, gives an English locality. As the only 

 fresh-water species in the genus, it seems to have 

 been overlooked by Dr. Cooke in his " Freshwater 

 Algre." The Alga was originally described by 

 Liebmann as Erythroclathrus rivularis. — W. Barwell 

 Turner. 



Crocuses blooming underground. — The seed 

 vessel of the crocus is always underground until 

 it developes, when it gradually rises more or less 

 until sometimes two inches above ground. It is 

 quite usual for crocuses to seed. It is not probable, 

 to say the least, that J. \V. D.'s crocuses bloomed 

 underground in the sense of a perfect blossom. Were 

 there no blossoms on the groups he mentions ? Some 



plants will seed although the blossoms be not perfected. 

 I have particularly observed this with wood-sorrel in 

 pots, which without a single fully developed blossom, 

 has seeded freely, the young plants coming up in all 

 the neighbouring pots. I have noticed the same thing 

 with the wood violet. Doubtless, the blossom in both 

 cases has been there so far as reproductive organs 

 were concerned, but the petals were so suppressed, 

 that no blossom — as a blossom — was noticeable. I am 

 not aware if the crocus plays similar pranks. — Horn. 



Cohnia Roseo-Persicina. — It may be interesting 

 to many who study the fresh-water alga;, to know 

 that the ponds along the sides of Whipscross Road, 

 Walthamstow, contain an abundance of Cohnia 

 Roseo-Persicina. Every bottle dipped into the water, 

 brings up a large quantity of this. They are of a rose 

 colour, and form a very pretty contrast with the other 

 green algre obtained. The cells are of a roundish or 

 oval shape, but as they grow older, they form ir- 

 regular masses with a number of vesicles sprouting 

 from them. The ponds in which they are found are 

 covered with Lemna. Some of the larger ones reach 

 a diameter about 5 ' g of an inch. The smallest and 

 younger ones float about in the water, whilst the older 

 and torn ones quickly sink to the bottom. These 

 prolific ponds also contain a good number of volvox. 

 — Arthur C. Wire. 



Varieties of the Common Poppy.— On a dry 

 and chalky piece of waste land, just out of Ramsgate 

 at the side of the Margate road, which at the end of 

 June was glowing with the vermilion of the common 

 poppy, Papaver rhoeas, I gathered some curious 

 varieties not noticed in the botanical book I have in 

 use. They were as follows : Firstly, a white variety, 

 whose flower resembled that of a well-known sport 

 of the opium poppy grown in gardens, being white 

 with a purple spot at the base of the petals ; secondly, 

 a pale pink variety ; and thirdly, a very marked 

 purple variety, the veining of the petals being of that 

 colour, and the stem tinted with it ; the whole plant 

 correspondingly coarse, stout, and rank. I trans- 

 planted the parent roots to a piece of garden mould, 

 but they seem to have, much to my chagrin, withered 

 and dried up ; the desiccated flowers which I have 

 mounted, have quite the look of distinct species, 

 having retained their colours. Were the sports of our 

 wild flowers and our garden flowers run wild, made 

 a subject of study by florists, on this plan of trans- 

 plantation, doubtless many new facts concerning 

 species manufacture would become a matter of 

 observation. — A. H. Sivinton. 



Floral Malformation. — I send herewith a 

 photograph of a singular malformation in the flower of 

 a foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). As you will see, the 

 spike of flowers is surmounted by a large cup-shaped 

 flower. When fresh, it was very beautiful, and 

 seemed to be made up of three ordinary flowers, 



