THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 37 



all in this locality) show ver^' pink blossoms. Has that 

 point been noticed in other localities? — E. W., Morris- 

 town, N.J, 



Color of Closed Gentian. — Probably there is no 

 plant in the American flora with flowers of a deeper, dark- 

 er more glowing blue than those of the closed gentian 

 {Gentiana Andrewsii). We see only the outside of the 

 corolla, for it never opens, but the color is so rich that it 

 is ver3' conspicuous among the green leaves. 



Buds from Underground Parts. — A subscriber in 

 Riverton, N. J. asks how plants like the pleuris\' root (.4s- 

 clepjas tuherosa) are able to send up new shoots from any 

 small portion that hapj^ens to be left in the soil. The ex- 

 planation is, that plants under stress of circumstances are 

 often able to produce buds on any part. Thus the roots 

 of the Asclepias being still in full vigor, maj^ send up new^ 

 stems when the original ones are removed. There are sev- 

 eral plants that regularly produce buds on their leaves, as 

 the walking fern and the Bryophyllum, while most trees 

 and shrubs ma^- send out new shoots from latent buds 

 under the bark. There are also underground portions of 

 plants that must be considered in the nature of stems, such 

 as the artichoke, potato and ground-nut {Apios)y and 

 these, of course, ma^' send branches up into the air. Cases 

 are not wanting, also, in which roots upon coming to the 

 surface take on all the functions of stems. An instance of 

 this will 1)e found on page 115 Vol. Ill, of this magazine. 



Crossing Orchid Genera. — The orchids are usualh' 

 regarded as a \try ancient family of plants and one rather 

 on the decline at present. The different species are ver^' 

 distinct and do not intergrade in endless variations as 

 certain other plants do. This fact has been cited as further 

 evidence of the antiquitj^ of the orchids on the supposition 

 that all intergrading forms have had time to die out. 

 Under these circumstances it is remarkable that species of 

 different genera msix be crossed with ease. According to 

 th^ Journal of Horticulture various species of Epidendrum 



