66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



The Pistachio Nut. — The pistachio nut, an account of 

 which was given in the last number is derived from Pistachio 

 Vera, one of the Anacardiaccac. — ]V. JV. B. 



Pubescence of Plants. — I was interested in a note ap- 

 pearing in the February number of this magazine on the pro- 

 tective covering of plants. Here in the vicinity of Los Angeles 

 there are comparatively few plants entirely free from pubes- 

 cence, the percentage of ''protected" plants among the five 

 largest families being about as follows: Compositae, 77%; 

 Cruciferae,73% ; Leguminosae, 70%; Scrophulariaceae, 69%; 

 and Umbelliferae, 23%. The very marked difference between 

 the Compositae and Umbelliferae can evidently be explained 

 by the fact that 6-i% of the latter grow in damp places while 

 all but 29% of the Compositae ordinarily grow in dry soil. 

 Many of them also bloom during the dry season and in this 

 case the pubescence is usually very dense and often the plant 

 is glandular viscid. — JV. Scott Lczvis, Garvansa, California. 



Peloria. — In the March number of this magazine J. B. 

 Turner of Hamilton, Ontario, tells of a curious form of toad- 

 flax he discovered while out with a botanical class. It was that 

 peculiar teratological condition of Linaria vulgaris, known 

 to botanists as "peloria," and, I think first noticed and named 

 by Linnaeus in this particular plant. At that time and for 

 long after, it was regarded as a mere curiosity; now it is view- 

 ed as a key to interpret the ancestral form of Linaria. In the 

 old times before us we now believe that Linaria was a regular 

 and symmetric flower, with 5 spurs. 5 divisions of the calyx 

 and 5 good stemens. Perfect peloria — a reversion to the old 

 type — exhibits all these requirements. But we found as Mr. 

 Turner did ; two or three spurs only. The irregularity of our 

 modern plant, which as in most similar gamopetalous corrolas 

 is accompanied by a suppression of one or more stamens, was 

 no doubt the result of insect visitation. Observation has shown 



