34 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST, 



PiPPiNvS. — In the beginning of its history the word pip- 

 pin ineant simply an apple raised from the pip or seed. 



Expensive Potatoes. — British cultivators are suifer- 

 ing from a mild form of mania in regard to potatoes that 

 reminds one of the tulip mania that once spread through 

 Holland. According to the horticultural papers certain 

 fine strains of potatoes are now selling in England at the 

 rate of $500 to $800 a pound ! Of course such tubers are 

 too expensive for the table. Their owners would as soon 

 think of eating them as the Dutch would have thought of 

 eating their tulips at the acute stage of the tulip craze. 

 They are reputed to be almost immune from disease and. 

 very prolific, hence the great price. 



Gemm^ in the Liverworts. — Many liverworts, in 

 addition to the usual method of reproduction by spores, 

 develop large numbers of tiny plantlets, called gemmae, 

 that fall off and become new plants. Specimens of these 

 can usually be found in any greenhouse. In Marchantia 

 the gemmee are borne in little cups on the upper surface ot 

 the plant, while in Lunularia they are in crescent-shaped 

 receptacles. When blown from the plant b}^ the wind or 

 w^ashed away by rains, it makes no difference to the young 

 plantlets upon which surface they alight. The surface 

 next to the soil begins to send out rhizoids and thus the 

 plant gradually acquires its dorsi-ventral thallus. 



The Sterile Flower in Wild Carrot. — I have often 

 wondered that in the popular descriptions of wild carrot, 

 {Daucus carota) no mention is made of the dark purple 

 sterile flower found in every perfect head of blossoms- 

 Rarely this is lacking, and sometimes it is subdivided into 

 three or four less perfectly formed florets. But usually it 

 may be seen of regular form and as large as or larger than 

 the surrounding perfect florets. I have looked in vain 

 among authorities for the use of this unique variation. Is 

 it not to lure insects to the plant and thus aid in cross- 

 pollination ? Certainly a casual glance would not be like- 

 ly to detect that the abnormal almost black floret was 

 not an insect feasting on sweets. — Bessie L. Putnam. 



