44 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



material enables the grain to perform its functions of fertiliza- 

 tion, once it has escaped from the anther and alig-hte'd on the 

 pistil of some plant of the same species. Then it is that the 

 grain sends out a little tube which grows down the pistil till 

 the ovary is reached and the contents of the grain mingles 

 with one of the ovules in the ovary, thus bringing about fer- 

 tilization which in time will cause the ovule to become a ripe 

 seed. In some plants, as in crocus this is accomplished in a 

 few hours ; in some plants a few weeks elapse ; in the orchids, 

 several months pass; while in the firs and their allies two 

 years pass before development is complete. The work goes 

 on, we cannot see it, but we can see the stamens as they sway 

 versatile in the tiger lily, stand rect, column like, pearly pink 

 or creamy white in the mallow or in countless other positions 

 in all kinds of flowering plants and we can see the grains be- 

 neath the miscrosicope and there revel in their many beauties. 

 Perhaps of all the floral structures these wee bodies are some 

 of the most marvelous. Certain it is that for the important 

 issues of life for which they were created they are most deli- 

 cately, most chastely made. — K. E. Sty an in Selborne Maga- 

 zine. 



THE SPRING FLOWERING WITCH HAZEL. 



I WAS pleased to see in The American Botanist a refer- 

 ence to the American Spring-flowering Hamamelis and 

 am very glad to be able to supply you with a few more particu- 

 lars. 



As you know, the only other Hamamelis native of this 

 continent is H. Virginiana which flowers in the fall and the 

 discovery of a spring-flowering species is of much interest to 

 botanists and those who cultivate flowering shrubs. This new 

 species was discovered by Mr. B. F. Bush, Missouri, a gentle- 

 man who has been instrumental in introducing many good 

 shrubs. Plants were first sent by him to the Arnold Arbore- 



