1 68 BOTANICAL NOTES. 



was the common Locust {Robinia psciidacacia •) and 

 one the Walnut {Jjiglans nigra). This proportion is 

 not far from correct for tlie whole forest I should 

 judge. 



As to the second question: "Does the Mistletoe in- 

 jure the trees upon which it grows." The general 

 impression, among those who have observed the 

 growth of the parasite, is that it does not injure forest 

 trees in the least. I think however this is an errone- 

 ous vicAv. Forest trees have a vast amount of vitality, 

 nor are we able to judge of the latent strength of a 

 tree. For three reasons trees do seem to withstand the 

 attacks of the Mistletoe, and even grow luxuriantly 

 when every branch has one of tSiese parasites cling- 

 ing to it. But I have had the good fortune to ob- 

 serve a few trees almost completely covered by this 

 plant. In every such case the leaves of the tree were 

 few in number and very small as compared with 

 those of other trees. The topmost branches were 

 either dead or nearly so, while the whole tree seemed 

 to have lost its strength. I have also noticed some 

 dead trees covered with Mistletoe but can not say 

 positively that this was the sole cause of its death. 

 In the trees now completely covered by the Mistletoe 

 it appears as if the leaves of the plant were taking 

 the place, at least partially, of the leaves of the trees, 

 thus indicating that the sap is being thus exposed to 

 the carbonic acid of the atmosphere. There are ma- 

 ny points connected with the growth of this parasite 

 which are unknown as yet. 



Variation in Trillium .ses.sile. — The Trillium 

 is one of the most variable of flowers, and owing to 

 the large size of the plants, the nature of the varia- 

 tion can easily be detected. In many cases the cause 

 of the variation can also be detected. During the 

 past summer the Trilliiini sessile was very abundant 

 and also very variable. I estimate that not less than 



