THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 117 



acters of the two parents were perfectly blended and which re- 

 produced itself exactly with no tendency to produce forms re- 

 sembling the species started with. Some of these "new" spe- 

 cies cited are the Logan berry ; the wonder berr)^, a cross be- 

 tw^een Solanum guinense and S. vUlosum; a cross betw^een 

 Ruhus occidentalis and R. sfrigosus, another between Rubiis 

 idaeus and R. villosus, and many others. This, if true, forms 

 an overlooked factor in species making. 



Storage of ^^'ATER by Seeds. — The ver}- first require- 

 ment of seeds, when they begin to grow, and an absolute ne- 

 cessity to the young seedling, is water, and yet nature has sel- 

 dom contrived any method whereby the seed may store up 

 water for the sprouting embryo. In a few cases, however, 

 this end has been accomplished. The mucilaginous seed coats 

 of flax and quince are able to absorb considerable moisture 

 from a shower and retain it for the use of the seedling. In a 

 similar way the spongy covering of the garden nasturtium ab- 

 sorbs water and the central spongy layer in the walnut and 

 hickory nut which carries water to the interior, after the man- 

 ner of a lamp wick, is well known. At one end of the castor 

 bean there is a spongy outgrowth of the testa and this has been 

 shown to be of use in absorbing water which passes directly 

 into the seed at this point. 



Trees for Street Planting. — One can always detect a 

 new and "green" community by the presence of an abundance 

 of weeping mulberries, cottonwoods and box elders. These 

 species have their place but that place is not in this State today. 

 They are temporary structures and should be avoided unless 

 absolutely necessary for the protection of more stable and 

 slower growing material or in desert country where nothing 

 else will grow. Do you want to know what is good and why? 

 The American elm is the best tree in the world for street or 

 lawn. It is tall and wide spreading, hardy and grows fairly 



