Vo/. /. 



DBCEMBER, 1875. 



J[^o, 2. 



Salix CIU9PA.— S. Bauylonica.— Oil the grounds of Hon. E. Scudder, Trenton. 

 X. J., arc two old willow.'^, ,S'. c'nV« .'uul ,S'. Bahijlonlm. Tlie lieiglit of tlie curly 

 willow is about forty feet, and that of the weeper about fifty-five. Between the 

 nearest branelies of tiie two is a distance of about twenty-five feet. The topmost 

 lirancii of tlie curly willow, on the side of the tree next to the weeper, is a bough 

 densely covered Avith leaves. It is about six feet thick and ten feet long. The 

 rurious fact is tiiat while the whole tree has the i)erfect habit of S. crispa^ this en- 

 tire bougii has the jierfect hal>it of .S. Uabylonica. Tlie long pendent branchlets or 

 twigs, and the leaves in every respect are those of the weeping willow. And this 

 is true not only of the form and habit of the leaves, but with positive exactness also 

 as to color. The true crixj,u leaves are dark and shiny above, and almost a clialky 

 white underneath. The pscudo linhijlonica leaves are pale yellowish green above 

 and still paler, perliaps pea green, underneath. 1 compared them with the leaves 

 <if tlie neighboring JJnhi/loiu'ra, and, excepting perhai)S that the leaves of the freak 

 were a little smaller, a fact of no consequence, there was no ditterence whatever. 

 To the sj»eetati)r this gn-at lu-anch seems to be a graft, which is not so. It is an in- 

 teresting evidence of the identity of species in the curly and the Aveeping willow. 

 Supposing .V. Iliiin/(/,Hi<-<i (o be the ancestor, we have here the long doi-mant inherl- 

 U'd force asserting itself, and proclaiming the parentage of ,V. rri)>pit. That is. the 

 curly willow is l»iit a variety of tlie weeping willow.— Du. Samukl Lockwood, 

 Freeh «hl. X. .7. 



Doiiu.K Ki.owKUs.— The llorist by his art is able in many cases to bring about 

 retrograde metamoiphosis, Iiy which the petals are multiplied at the expense of 

 the stamens, and produces thus his so-called double fiowers. Nature sometimes 

 does the same thing, l>ut rareiv, and all such instances are worthy of note. A few 

 that have fallen under my observation are here put on record. From the woods in 

 the neighborhood of T-ancaster, iVnnsylvania, I obtained a stalk of Thullctnon an- 

 '' muni) ides, 'Mx., now growing in my garden, \\ hose flowers have nearly all the 

 stamens converted luio ])etals. They are very delicate and beautiful, and look like 

 miniature w hite roses, faintly linge<l with pink. From the late Mr. Diff'enbaugh 

 I hav(; specimens of Ji'ii>ni)icitl(t.s jvyirwA', L., eollected near Camden, N. J., wliii-h 

 -^liow an additional w horl of pvtals. making 10 in all. Snxifnifjii Vinjiniensin, Mx. 

 lias .ils<» been f<tund <tn the l)<'laware below Kaston with supernumerary petals. 

 But the crowning example is furnished by SaijUOd-ia. cariaOiiin. F^ngelm. Some 

 years ago, when itotanizing on an island in the Susquehanna, lielow Ilarrisburg, I 

 c.ime upon a large |)atcli of this plant standing n\) strong and luxuriant from a bed 

 of rich, bhick mud. Amongst the abundant fiower-stalks, I gathered 8 or 10 on 

 w hich all the i)istils in the pistillate llowers and all the stamens in the staininate 

 llowers were replaeetl by petals, so that both the staminate and pistillate tlowers 

 presented the ap[tearaiHe of tiny snow balls. The next season 1 visited the spot 

 with the intention of seeuring more specimens, but failed to find one,— PJSOK. 

 Tiius. C roHTKij, Enstun, Pa. 



All communications addressed to John M. Coulter, Hanover, Ind. 

 Terms:— Subaeiiption $1.00 a year. Sinf/le Numbers 10 cents. 



