lOJ THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



till as any of the features mentioned are the ant gardens 

 c: nstructed by several varieties of South American ants, of 

 which photogra[)hs are shown in a recent number of Ecology. 

 In buikhng the gardens, the ants select a suitable branch of 

 a tree upon which they heap a considerable quantity of earth 

 and humus. I'pon these roundish structures certain plants 

 begin to grow. Whether these are planted by the ants is not 

 certain, but nearly .always the same kind of plants are pres- 

 ent .and in any event their roots penetrating the mass hold it 

 together while their aerial parts protect it from the torrential 

 rains and thus form a home for the ants. Fourteen species 

 of plants belonging to no less than six widely separated plant 

 f.amilies have been collected from such ant gardens. Among 

 them are cacti, peppers, and figs. The plants are so common- 

 ly associated with ant habitations that six separate species 

 have uiynnccopJiiluui or forniicaruui for specific names. 



The Curious Dodders. — Twenty-six species of the 

 genus Cuscuta are found in the United States and thirty-three 

 in Mexico. All .are parasitic, twining al)out other plants from 

 which they take their food by means of sucking organs 

 termed haustoria. All the species are commonly known as 

 dodders. In a monograph of the genus by G. H. Yunker re- 

 cently issued, there is much interesting information about 

 them. Some are so slender that the stems measure only a 

 tenth of a millimeter in diameter. Most of the species attack 

 herbs, but a numljer prey upon woody plants. The flowers 

 range from a millimeter to seven millimeters in length and 

 in some species they are produced within the stem and burst 

 forth at the time of blooming. 



Gigantic Blackberries. — Probably the largest Ijlack- 

 berries in the world have recently been discovered in Colum- 

 bia. The best specimens measure two and a half inches long 



