78 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



rounded in outline with smaller and less narrowly divided 

 leaflets. This second set of leaves remains on the plant 

 throughout the winter in sheltered situations and give place 

 to the other leaves in spring. 



Imported Insect Pests. — Everyone who owns a garden 

 is fully awake to the harmfulness of our insect pests. It is 

 frequently an impossibility to raise certain crops that are the 

 favorite food of such insects. Many of these pests came to us 

 from foreign parts in poorly inspected nursery stock; in fact 

 most of our worst pests are of Old World origin. Among the 

 number may be named the hessian fly, asparagus beetle, hop- 

 louse, cabbage womi, house fly, wheat louse, oyster shell bark 

 louse, pea weevil, gypsy moth, brown tail moth and croton bug. 

 Among introductions from other parts of the world are San 

 Jose scale, Argentine ant, cotton boll weevil and alfalfa leaf 

 weevil. These cause more than a billion dollars damage to cul- 

 tivated crops annually and seem to be increasing in numbers in 

 spite of the means taken to combat them. 



Changes in Ivy Leaves. — I have never happened to see 

 recorded the fact of such a marked change in shape of the leaf 

 as occurs with ivy whenever it flowers. The change is from 

 the ordinary type to a broadly ovate outline without indenta- 

 tions, resembling in form, though not in color or texture, those 

 of some species of Popithts. Whenever leaves of that shape 

 are found on the English ivy, flowers are usually to be found.- 

 This season, a similar change in the form of the leaf was noted 

 on some parsley plants which have been persistently striving 

 to flower, and run to seed, and it seems likely that closer obser- 

 vation may show the same thing with many other plants. — 

 Ehvyn Waller, Morristozvn, N. J. [Lord Avebury, in his 

 "British Flowering Plants" alludes to this change in form and 

 mentions Fiats repens as another species of similar habits. In 

 suggesting a reason for such changes, he says: "It is important 

 to the leaves to secure as much light and air as possible, and 



