NOTES AND NEWS. pj 



On the afternoon of January 226. Dr. N. L. Britton found fully- 

 developed flowering spathes of the Skunk Cabbage {Spathyema fcctida) 

 in the marsh of the New York Botanical Garden. Considering the lati- 

 tude this is remarkably early blooming for even this earliest of spring 

 flowers. Some are inclined to attribute the circumstance entirely to 

 the mild winter, but the majority believe that thisisonly an indication 

 of what may be expected when the Botanical Garden is fully estab- 

 lished.— W^zV/f^r^a'A^. Clute, Nczv York Botanical Garden. 



Mr. James Gunson described before a recent meeting of the bo- 

 tanical club of the Michigan Agricultural College the manner in which 

 Phlox pafiiciila'a distributes its seeds. The calyx when ripe becomes 

 dry and paper-like, and spreads out in the form of a saucer. The 

 thick-walled pistil opens from the top into three pieces with a snap, 

 spreading open so far against the calyx, that it is torn from the brittle 

 attachment, scattering the seeds as well as the worthless fragments of 

 the pistil in every direction. 



One of the western Morning Glories [Ipovicea leptophj'lla) is well 

 known on account of the productioa of an enormous fleshy tap root, 

 which sometimes weighs as much as 100 pounds. According to Mr. 

 George L. Clothier, who writes in the January number of the 

 Botanical Gazette., this species appears to be frequently propagated 

 by the development of new plants from slender roots: "The propa- 

 gating roots originate from various parts, more abundantly from the 

 lower part of the vertical fleshy root, pass out horizontally for a short 

 distance, then rise to near the surface of the ground several feet away 

 from the mother plant, where adventitious buds are produced. 



* * * Each young plant, while still connected with its 

 parent, sends down a fusiform, fleshy root, which penetrates the soil 

 to a depth of three or four feet." 



The Agricultural Experiment Station of Cornell University has 

 issued a series of leaflets beginning in December, 1896, as a guide to 

 teachers in directing the observation of children to natural objects. 

 The first one is by Professor Bailey, on " How the Squash Plant Gets 

 Out of the Seed." It is intended for indoor work in winter and the 

 children are expected to grow the plants for themselves, and are en- 

 couraged to gratify that inborn love for pulling them up to see how 

 they are getting on and replant them again to give them another 

 chance. This leaflet is illustrated by fourteen cuts and carries the 

 observations to the point where the true leaves are already partly de- 

 veloped. The various points to be noted and recorded are carefully 

 described, and the definition at the end is this: "Natural Science 

 consists in two things : Seeing what you look at and drawing proper 

 conclusions from what you see." — E. G. B. 



