66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



ber of experiments he has been unable to induce the phints 

 to fruit at all. The sterility of the plant was hinted at as lon,t,^ 

 ago as Sprengel's time, but it was then thought that this con- 

 dition was due to the absence of the pollinating insect. This, 

 however, appears not to be the case for numerous flowers 

 were hand-pollinated, some with their own pollen and sonic- 

 witli pollen from other flowers without effect. Linnaeus re- 

 garded this species and the lemon lily {H. flava) as two forms 

 of a composite species but crosses between the two pro(hicc(l 

 no progeny. It may be possible that in this plant we have 

 another illustration of the fact that ])lants which spread l)y 

 xegetative means often are slow to fruit. If any of our 

 readers have seen this species with seeds, we hope to hear from 

 them. 



.Adai'Tatio.x to Exvioknmext. — One of the premises 

 ujjon which the theor\- of evolution rests, is that new forms 

 originate through the adjustment of species to their environ- 

 ment. It may be pointed out, however, that just because a 

 ne'>v form originates in a given region is no reason for assum- 

 ing that it is better adjusted to that region than to any other. 

 Our experience with weeds is an abundant daily refutation of 

 the idea. A plant is primarih- a weed when it tlirives in a 

 1 icalitx- better than the nati\-es tlo. ll then in\ades cultivated 

 grv)unds and vies with the rightful plants for possession. We 

 know, however, of many species that in their native haunts 

 are not particularly obnoxious but when taken abroad have 

 grown with astonishing luxuriance. This clearly show that 

 tile new region better meets their needs than the one in which 

 they originated. Plants, therefore, may often be better 

 adapted to live in a remote region than in the one in which 

 tliey are found native. 



W'lTrii Il.\-/Ku GoKs W'kst. — One of the shrubs selectecJ 



