THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 143 



will wood charcoal — often several times as much. In fact, if a 

 quantity of charcoal from nut-shells is exposed to gas in a 

 closed vessel, it will absorb the gas so completely as to make a 

 moie perfect vacuum that can be made with the best vacuum 

 pump. 



Vitis Palmata. — The red or cat grape (Vitis palmata) 

 has leaves with three lobes and its stems and tendrils are a 

 beautiful red. The sour curling tendrils twine around the 

 nearby trees and shrubs pulling the vine up and fairly smother- 

 ing the host beneath. Each new branch grows a surprising 

 length every spring. Wild grape flowers are short lived. The 

 corolla is a little green cap which is pushed up and off the plant 

 at the moment of flowering. Often the base spreads when leav- 

 ing and five or six petals are revealed. Sometimes five and 

 sometimes six stamens with spreading, white, threadlike fila- 

 ments are inside. The pistil is a mere dot of yellow in the cen- 

 ter of the tiny floret at the tip of a delicate pedicel. As many as 

 sixteen of these florets may be crowded into one cluster on the 

 rich red stem ; a dozen of these miniature clusters make up one 

 bunch of grape blossoms — a fuzzy, greenish, fragrant bunch. 

 One often smells before seeing them. The perfume is evanes- 

 cent : one moment you perceive it and the next moment it is 

 gone ; it is much more agreeable when you are a short distance 

 from it. — Nell McMurray, Clearfield, Pa. 



Seeds Wanted.— We are informed by the Naperville 

 Nurseries, Naperville, 111., that they are in the market, prac- 

 tically every year, for seeds of a considerable number of hardy 

 plants among which are sassafras, black haw, black locust, but- 

 ton wood, scarlet oak, shingle oak, service berry (Aiiiclanehicr) , 

 buffalo berry, silver berry, euonymus or wahoo, fragrant 

 sumach, prairie rose, dewberry, black raspberry, alder, red bud, 

 coffee tree, and white fringe. Probably only northern grown 

 seeds would be desirable, but if any collector is interested, he 

 might communicate with the company. It might be added in 



