^ NOTE AND COMMENT " 



(J o 



Wanted. — Short notes of interest to the general bot- 

 anist are always in demand for this department. Our readers 

 are invited to make this the place of publication for their 

 botanical items. It should be noted that the magazine is is- 

 sued as soon as possible after the fifteenth of each month. 



Arrowhead Potatoes. — Many species of arrowhead 

 (Sagittaria) form tubers underground in autumn, which carry 

 the plant through the winter or serve to propagate it during 

 the following year. Tubers of this kind have been observed 

 in Sagittaria latifolia, S. graminea, S. heterophylla, S. longi- 

 loha, S. papulosa, and various European species, and may 

 possibly occur in all our species. Some of these tubers are 

 edible, especially those of 5". latifolia. On the Northwest Coast 

 the tubers were formerly much in demand by the Indians and 

 the Chinese are also said to eat them. These tubers are pro- 

 duced at some distance below the surface of the mud in which 

 the plants grow, and when they germinate, a long rhizome is 

 formed, which develops a corm at its tip from which the new 

 leaves and flower-stalks arise. 



Location of Nectaries. — Not all nectaries are located 

 in flowers. The nectaries on the rachis of the leaves of the 

 partridge-pea (Cassia chaniaecrista) and bracken {Pteris 

 aqiiilina) are fairly well known. The almond and peach have 

 nectaries at the base of the petiole, while certain species of 

 touch-me-not (Impatiens) , have nectaries on the stipules. In 

 flowers, a single set of organs does not have a monopoly of the 

 nectaries. In the basswood (Tilia) the sepals produce nectar, 

 in buttercups and their allies the petals perform this office and 

 often these organs are little more than nectaries as in aconite. 



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