Dr. A. Braun on the Vegetable Individual. '-'oaT 



difficulty of communication between the upper and lower (extre- 

 mities is probably the cause of the decrease of vigorous growth 

 after the plant has arrived at a certain age. But in most cases 

 external casualties are superinduced, which accelerate the termi- 

 nation of the tree's life. It is injured by wind and weather, the 

 decay of the injured part spreads through the whole organism, 

 various fungi fix themselves upon the tree, and are especially 

 fatal when they attack the roots. Oftentimes the tree breaks 

 down under the weight of the productions of its own vital 

 powers, the luxuriance of its fruit. These statements are corro- 

 borated by the cases of trees of unusual age, now so well known 

 through DeCandoUe's investigations. One of the examples ad- 

 duced by him shows in particular, that those trees whose branches 

 have been prevented from breaking down by props or supports 

 attain to a great age. I refer to the celebrated Linden in Neu- 

 stadt on the Kocher, which, as early as 1229, was the cause (^ 

 the town being called " Neustadt an der grossen Linde '^ (Neii- 

 stadt of the great Linden), whose wide-spreading branches were 

 supported already in 1408 by sixty-seven stone pillars, and this 

 number was afterwards increased up to more than one hundred*. 

 The hoary tree still flourishes, having survived its many scientific 

 admirers, among whom was my predecessor, to whom botany is 

 so greatly indebted, who visited and described it a few years ago 

 (in 1849t)- Natural supports are more efficacious in preserving 

 trees than even artificial ones; since they not only prop the 

 branches, but conduct nourishment to them by a shorter road, 

 as is actually found to be the case in Rhizophora Mangle, in 

 various species of figs [Banyan, &c.] , and other tropical trees, 

 whose branches high in air send down strong roots into the 

 earth. A similar example nearer home, though indeed on a 

 much smaller scale, is found hi the Juiiiperus Sabina, Its 

 branches, which spring from a low stem, curve down to the 

 earth, strike numerous roots, and raise themselves again, so that 

 the comparatively feeble stem may carry a creeping crown of 

 considerable extent, like a thick wood continually spreading, and 

 which may continue to flourish in its parts, even when the coifi- 

 munication between the original supporter and nourisher of the 

 whole colony and the succeeding new growths, which are con- 

 stantly receding from it, has finally ceased. A remarkable spe- 

 cimen of this tree stands in the Royal Botanical Garden at 

 Schoneberg, which, if not as old as the garden itsell^ which was 

 laid out in 1679 under the great Elector, Frederic William, cer- 



^ * DeCandoUe, Physiol. Veg. ii. p. 988.' rfo a.J^iimyi^^^niwoi 



■f Link, Erinnerungen an die grosse Linde bei Neustadt am Kocher 

 ( Flora, 1850, no. 8). 



Ann. ^ Mag. N, Hist, Ser. 2. Fo/. xvi. 23 



