THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 123 



A 1'"ki;.\k l^u^ t iiKoNUM . — While WKikini; with a hoi- 

 an\' chis> in ihc ticUh 1 tnuml ri siiii;lc IIkwxt ^I tlic vlIIkw 

 adder's tongue ( lirytlirniiiitiii .Itiicricaniiiu ) . that has its 

 parts in f<)ur> instead of tiirees. There are not only four 

 sepals, four petals and ei,L;ht >lanien> hut both the o\ary and 

 <ti^nia ha\e four lohes. The >i/.e. eolor and i^eneral appear- 

 ance i>f the Hower are normal. 1 ha\ e ne\ er >een this phen- 

 nonieiion reported f<ir tliis flower thous^h of cour>e it happens 

 often in the case of tiie trillinnis. Mav I also add a note to 

 the tliscus>ion of tiie popular name tor this spccie>.' I ])re- 

 fer the name adder's toni,uie to do*;- tooth \-iolet. \ ery re- 

 centl)" an ac(|uaintance of mine asked me why the first name 

 is u>ed. When 1 mentioned the spotted leaxes, he pointed 

 out a hetter reason and i>ne that 1 have ne\er heard given be- 

 fore. After the flower is fertilized and most of the parts 

 ha\"e fallen awa\-. there remains the swollen ovary with the 

 forked yellow stigma and st\le. Since the flower alwa\s 

 nod> from the stalk, these remaining parts certainh- hear a 

 striking resemblance to a snake's head wtith out-thrust tongue. 

 This would seem to be an excellent basis for the common 

 name, adder's tongue. I would be interested to learn if 

 there has been any mention of it in |)re\ious writings for I 

 can tind it nowhere. — Charles J. Lyon, /hirtiiiout/i College, 

 f liiiiorer. A. //. [The tendency toward four parts is mark- 

 ed in se\eral members of the lily family or their near allies. 

 The genus Pans belonging to the Trillium group is alwa\"s 

 four parted and certain tulips are prone to j)roduce four- 

 parted flowers. The writer once bred \\\) a race of four- 

 l)arted Darwin tulips all of which possessed this character. 

 -Most people assume that the name dog-tooth violet refers to 

 the narrow segments of the perianth, but another and pos- 

 sibly more significant derixation is made from the sha])e 

 of the bulbs of the European species (B. deiis-eaiiis ) . The 



