THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 81 



Abnormalities in Calopogon. — July 4th, 1912, I found 

 Calopogon piilchellus blooming in great abundance in an open 

 mossy bog along the Wabash railroad on the outskirts of 

 Hammond, Indiana. Two of the specimens examined showed 

 interesting abnormalities. An extremely vigorous specimen, 

 48 cm. tall, but with no more flowers than ordinary (10), had 

 two leaves instead of the usual one leaf. The two leaves were 

 of unequal size, however, one being only about one-half the 

 size of the other. Another less vigorous specimen, 36 cm. 

 tall, had two leaves of more nearly equal size, and two racemes, 

 one with two flowers and three buds, the other, not yet in 

 bloom, with four buds. In both racemes there were floral 

 bracts entirely destitute of flowers or buds. Abnormalities 

 like these seem to be of rare occurrence, for out of at least 

 one hundred specimens examined, these were the only two 

 found. — Edwin D. Hull, Chicago. 



African Peanuts. — We are so accustomed to assume 

 that that fruit which is always so much in evidence on circus 

 day is the peanut and the only peanut in the world that it is 

 likely to be a matter of some surprise to learn that there are 

 other species of plants which push their seed pods under 

 ground to ripen. As a matter of fact, there are at least three 

 species of plants with this curious habit. Best known, of 

 course, is our common peanut, ground nut, pinder or goober 

 (Arachnis hypogaca) and so closely associated is it with our 

 part of the world that the writer of these lines has seen it in 

 foreign lands labelled "American Steam Peanut." The second 

 peanut is known as {Voandzcia suhterranea) . It is cultivat- 

 ed for food in Togoland, which is not a Japanese possession 

 as might seem from the name but a small country bordering 

 on the gulf of Guinea. From the same general region has re- 

 cently been described a third species under the name of {Ker- 

 stingiella geocarpa) and these seem to be all the peanuts 

 known at present. All are members of the Leguminosae or 



