THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 43 



carpellate parent and supplying- pollen from all three varieties, 

 blue, white, yellow, starchy, and sweet kernels could be formed. 

 That triple fusion and xenia bear the relation to one another of 

 cause and effect, but that not all triple fusions are followed by 

 xenia could also be demonstrated by pollinating blue flint with 

 pollen from white sweet. 



THE LICORICE PLANT 



By H. E. Zimmerman. 



"\^"ANY people who are now grown up remember that not 

 •** ■*■ so many years ago licorice root was a favorite com- 

 modity among the boys and girls of the public school. Be- 

 cause of its sweet and agreeable taste it was a common sight 

 to see pupils with a piece of this root in their mouths, chewing 

 one end of it. In those days country stores sold a good deal 

 of licorice in this form to persons who enjoyed chewing it. 

 Black licorice, in stick form, gradually supplanted the root 

 form. 



Botanically the licorice plant belongs to the legume or 

 bean family of plants. It has long, pliant, creeping roots,, 

 and reaches a height of about three feet, and bears a small 

 purple flower, which fills the air for miles with a sweet, heavy 

 smell. It derives its name from two Greek words which mean 

 "sweet root." The juice is used in medicine as an emollient 

 and demulcent, and also for disguising the taste of nauseous 

 drugs. It is also used to flavor snuff and tobacco. The plant 

 grows in the East, especially in the territory of the Tigris and 

 Euphrates Rivers. The fiist year's growth resembles a loosely 

 twisted string of tow and may run to 20 feet in length. The 

 second year it assumes a woody substance when dry, and the 

 third year it becomes valuable. The time for digging the root- 



