56 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



rather disagreeable odor at close quarters, but diluted with 

 ether and exposed to the air reminds one of the usual fra- 

 grance of the fern. — Fern Bulletin. 



Perennial Dodder. — It is generally assumed that all 

 the species of dodder (Cuscuta) are annual plants and the 

 New Gray's Manual makes this assertion, but experiments re- 

 cently carried on by F. C. Stewart and G. T. French show that 

 the clover dodder ( Cuscuta epithymum) at least is able to live 

 over the winter as far north as central New York, and thus 

 is a perennial species. In the opinion of these gentlemen, the 

 plant chiefly survives the winter in this way instead of by 

 seeds. The clover dodder is a European species that infests 

 clover and alfalfa fields. The perennial parts of the plant con- 

 sist of bundles of thread-like stems from a quarter to half an 

 inch long, coiled about the stems and branches of the alfalfa, 

 close to the soil. That these threads are alive and capable of 

 growth was shown by placing the infested alfalfa plants in a 

 green-house when the dodder at once resumed growth. Other 

 hosts upon which the dodder was found are flea-bane (En^e'row 

 annuus) yellow trefoil {Medicago luplina) and dandelion. 



A Rare Volume. — At a recent auction sale in Philadel- 

 phia, according to the Philadelphia Record, a copy of William 

 Darlington's "Florula Cestrica," published in 1862 was sold 

 for $17.00. This does not indicate that botany is looking up, 

 however, for the advance in price is to be attributed solely to 

 the age of the book. Yet there are a good many appreciative 

 plant students in this country who would be glad to exchange 

 seventeen dollars for such a volume. The friend who sent us 

 the clipping about the sale of the book added in a note the fol- 

 following : 



"I have never seen the Florula, which was the forerunner 

 of Flora Cestrica. The latter is, I think, one of the most in- 

 teresting botanical works ever written, and its thoroughness 



