40 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



It is cultivated to some extent in Europe and in Northern 

 Africa. The localities where it will flourish are numerous, 

 and it is not easily killed when once it has been started. 



The tree has pinnate leaves, with two pairs of ovate leaf- 

 lets, and an odd one. The blossoms are borne in racemes. 

 The fruit is ovoid, and about the size of an olive. The nut 

 splits into two halves when ripe. The kernel is of a bright 

 green color and very oleaginous, of a delicate flavor, and with 

 qualities much resembling the sweet almond, though the ex- 

 cellent flavor is more pronounced. The nut is much esteemed 

 wherever grown, but during the days of slow transportation, it 

 was impossible to export them very extensively, owing to their 

 liability to become rancid. 



The nuts have frequently been called green almonds, but 

 wholly without reason. They are not almonds, nor are they 

 related to the almond in any way. The oil expressed from 

 them is used for culinary and other purposes. — American Nut 

 Journal. 



Flowers Modified by Insects. — We seldom realize 

 how much that is attractive to us in floral structures, is not 

 primarily due to the flowers themselves, but to insects. Wind- 

 pollinated flowers, as everyone is aware, are not showy and 

 the large number of stamens necessary to produce pollen 

 enough to ensure seed, indicate how wasteful in the matter of 

 pollen this method is. The flowers that have bid for insect 

 visits by the production of color and nectar, have found it 

 quite possible to get along with fewer stamens. But to do 

 this it was necessary to unite calyx and corolla into tubes in 

 order to oblige the insect to enter the flower in the proper 

 position to be dusted with pollen. Thus in response to insect 

 visits the flowers with curiously shaped and brilliantly col- 

 ored corollas have arisen. 



