56 THE AMERICAN BOTANlST. 



to observe variant forms and especiall3- of the compara- 

 tively stable Orchidacete." The leaves have been described 

 as exactly orbiculate,fourto eight inches wide while a leaf 

 of this form which I measured was four inches wide by six 

 inches long or one-third longer than wide. — Leston A. 

 Wheeler, Jamaica, Vermont. [Our correspondent is quite 

 right in his suggestion that this form should be given a. 

 name. It might be w^ell to call it variety longifolia as a 

 companion variety to ohlongHolia. S\'stematic botanists 

 are by no means agreed upon the rank of "varieties." The 

 tendency is to make three groups : species, sub-species and 

 forms. Such "varieties" as have some constant character 

 would now be called a sub-species and be given a tri- 

 nomial. Those in which the variation is seasonal or 

 geographical are likely to be called forms. The orchids 

 menti(,neJ above would probablv be classed as forms. — 

 Ed.] 



Perennial Four O'clocks.— A writer \n Park's Floral 

 Alagazine says that he has clumps of the common four 

 o'clocks (Mirabilis) that are nearly thirt\' 3'ears old. 

 Most people who grow this old-fashioned but handsome 

 flower are not aware that this plant is perennial, but all 

 who have attempted to dig up a plant know that the 

 massive roots produced must be intended for the storage 

 of food. In climates where the roots do not freeze, new 

 shoots are thrown up year after year. Probably if the 

 plants in the Northern States were dug up before frost and 

 treated like dahlias, they would grow again the following 

 season. 



Camphor. — According to the Gardener's Chronicle 

 camphor may be obtained from several plants belonging 

 to widely separated families, especially from Bluniea baU 

 samiiera, one of the composites, and Dryobalanops arc- 

 matica of the Dipterocarpa;, The commercial camphor, 

 however, is produced from a member of the laurel family 

 Cinnamomum camphora — a species closely related to the 

 cinnamon tree, The camphor tree is found wild in Japan, 

 Formosa and Central China. In Japan the manufacture 



