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HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



BOTANY. 



Deformity of Fruit of the Sloe. — When 

 staying at Killarney last June I saw a bush of 

 Prunus communis, the sloe, covered with legume-like 

 green excrescences, like the pods of a pea or bean ; 

 the bush had no fruit (drupes). Balfour in his " Class- 

 book of Botany " gives a similar instance, as ob- 

 served near the banks of the Dee near Aberdeen by 

 Sir Wyville Thomson. Would any of your readers 

 kindly inform me by what insect is this peculiar 

 abnormity of the fruit produced ? — C. Donoi<an,jun., 

 B.A., F.E.S. 



The London Catalogue. — Recently I have 

 been informed by a botanical friend that the authority 

 of the London Catalogue of Phanerogams, etc., is 

 being impeached, and that its nomenclature is not to 

 be relied upon. This to me is a very serious pro- 

 position. For nearly two years I have been preparing 

 a herbarium for the Bedfordshire Natural History 

 Society, and collating records for the publication of the 

 county flora. Some years ago the Botanical Com- 

 mittee, of which I am secretary, passed a resolution 

 to adopt the nomenclature of the London Catalogue, 

 and as, independently of that, I was always assured 

 that the authority of the London Catalogue was 

 unquestionably good for such purposes, I have based 

 all my work upon it. In addition to accepting the 

 names of the London Catalogue, the census has been 

 referred to in compiling the plant-list, and provision 

 has been made in the printed specimen label for the 

 London Catalogue numbers. If some other system is 

 to be adopted, most of my labour will go for nought. 

 Still I am willing to listen to reason, and perhaps it 

 would be to the interest of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip if a discussion on the subject were started in 

 these columns. As I am naturally somewhat pre- 

 disposed in favour of the London Catalogue, I will 

 open the case in its behalf. For many years botanists 

 have been acquiescing in the nomenclature of the 

 London Catalogue. Many local floras have been 

 based upon it, and the numbers have been adopted 

 for the purpose of exchange. If that system is not to 

 be accepted, what is ? And who shall determine 

 that whatever supersedes the London Catalogue shall 

 be final ? We must adhere to something, and the 

 London Catalogue seems good enough for all 

 practical purposes. My friend (the above-mentioned) 

 had distinguished Ran. eu-heterophyllus, of Hooker's 

 Flora, and could not connect it with any species or 

 variety in the London Catalogue, although I sug- 

 gested it might be No. 15. However that may be — 

 even supposing that to be an example of a plant not 

 clearly distinguished in the London Catalogue — I 

 should not consider a case was made out against that 

 publication ; because, while there is such indefinite- 

 ness about the water crowfoots, and opinions are so 

 various, the London Catalogue is as likely to be right 



as anybody else, and if it is wrong it can be revised. 

 Again I ask, What system are we to adopt ? The 

 latest edition of Hooker's "Student's British Flora" 

 shows the most extraordinary vagaries in the nomen- 

 clature, and I am quite persuaded that these varia- 

 tions must seriously detract from the value of the 

 work. Really, when I look at the book, I can hardly 

 believe it is the "British Flora " that it purports to 

 describe ! Whenever it was possible it would seem 

 that some obsolete name has been raked up ; much 

 has been done to aggravate the difficulties of the 

 student in whose interest the work is supposed to be 

 published, and it is not easy to determine whether it 

 differs less widely from its previous editions than it 

 does from every other list extant. I certainly would 

 never consent to throw over the London Catalogue in 

 favour of such a system ; not because there may not 

 be a good defence for the names adopted, such as 

 priority or suitability, but because in such matters we 

 must adhere to custom. If not, who or what shall 

 be the dictator ? If the further question should arise 

 as to who should say what is the custom, I would 

 suggest that the editor take a poll of his botanical 

 readers. Let the latter send to the editor the name 

 of the system they adopt ; the majority will then 

 decide what is the prevailing custom. — John Hamson. 



Abnormal Woundwort. — I wish to record a 

 variation which I discovered in a specimen of Stachys 

 sylvatica, Linn. All the flowers are sessile except 

 those of one whorl, which are supported on two 

 pedicels, one in the axil of each bract. One pedicel 

 supports six flowers, the other three. The central 

 flower of the three is most remarkably abnormal, the 

 corolla being six-lobed — lobes equal, undivided, ex- 

 cept that the lower or anterior lobe is slightly notched 

 at the extremity ; the stamens number $ix, and are 

 alternate to the lobes of the corolla, smaller than 

 usual, . though the flower is of the usual size. The 

 corolla is coloured as usual, the anterior part being 

 variegated with white. The calyx has the usual 

 number of teeth, and the ovary, style and stigma are 

 normal. The bract in whose axil this abnormal 

 blossom occurs is very large, measuring five inches 

 in length, exclusive of the petiole. — A. W. Harrison,. 

 Thornton Heath. 



Seasonal Variation of Plants. — Are there 

 many of our native plants that have two separate 

 seasons for flowering ? About a month ago, I found 

 Erigeron acris with florets changing into down. It 

 must have flowered early in May. There were six 

 stems, three of which bore single terminal flowers, 

 the other three showing no signs of flowering. All 

 were of equal height — about four inches — except one, 

 not quite two inches, including its flower. Trans- 

 ferring the whole to a flower-pot, I have since ob- 

 served it with considerable interest. The downy 

 seeds of the three flowers are now (July 6th) only 

 waiting for a breath of wind to take them away. 



