116 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Stalk has a joint at the base which becomes very brittle as the 

 fruit matures. The walls of the stalk are rather hard and 

 rigid and the growth of the pith so compresses the cells in the 

 interior that considerable tension is developed. At the slight- 

 est touch, therefore, the seeds are projected for some distance. 

 The plant also has a second means of distributing its seeds for 

 the slender bakd fruit is barbd and readily catches into the 

 coat of any animal that brushes past it. 



ViRESCENCE IN OxALis. — The studcut on the watch for 

 the curious in nature may occasionally find flowers in which 

 some or all the parts have taken on the color, if not the char- 

 acter, of leaves. When the color and not the form is affected, 

 is called virescence, but when the form also is affected the phe- 

 nomenon is called frondescence. Several instances of frondes- 

 cence have been recorded and illustrated in this magazine and 

 the green rose and green carnation are familiar phrases of the 

 same thing. The latest contribution to our knowledge of the 

 subject is made by Henri Hus, who found at St. Louis a green 

 flowered race of Oxalis stricta which he calls viridiyora. In 

 this the petals have taken on a deep green color, but are little 

 altered otherwise except for being a trifle smaller and thicker. 

 The plant sets seeds abundantly and th peculiarity of the 

 flowers is transmitted to the seedlings. 



Haws and Hedges. — It is pleasant, occasionally, to 

 speculate upon the derivation and meaning of the words con- 

 nected with plants. Take the case of the word haw, which at 

 present stands as the name of the thorn-tree's fruit (Cra- 

 taegus). This is only a secondary definition, apparently, for 

 the original haw meant an enclosed garden or yard and we 

 may assume that these thorny trees, growing on the borders of 

 the haw or garden would soon be called hawthorn if, indeed, 

 they were not given this name because their well armed stems 



