BOTANICAL GAZETTE. iSi 



Iwo had fallen, but close exainiQatiou showed that two were all the corolla ever had. 

 Three of the uoniial four were united into «/ie and the lines of coalescence were dis- 

 tinctly visible. The fourth petal occupied its natural position. It is quite common to 

 find this i)lant with three leaves; indeed, it is more identiful than the two-leaved form. 



A very large torm of Oiw//,-* sfricfn, Ij. lirows at Chiiin Mill Fall, near Hanover 

 The plants are about a fool and a half hijih and ccri/ leafy and branching. The 

 leaflets are fully an inch broad and eacli one is nuu'gined with dark purple. Tlie cor. 

 olla, instead of being "small" is an inch broad and the l)ase of the limb is penciled 

 witii purple lines! The whole [)]ant is clothed with long, soft hairs, villous-pubes- 

 cent. 



Jetterson County has been mentioned before as growing some large weeds in the 

 Composite line and we come with another confirmation of its ability in this direction. 

 While taking a walk last winter I noticed a Venumia {V. fnxciruhiti, Mx.) that seemed 

 to be very full of heads. Curiosity getting the better of me, I resolved to count them. 

 At the end of three (piarters of an hour, I had liroken off the last one, the whole num- 

 ber of h ei I (Js be i ng 821)0 ! 



Taking an average of 20 flowers to the head (as they would easily reach tliat num- 

 ber) we would have G5800 flowers produced by a single plant. Suppose that only one- 

 half of the akenes came to perfection and one-tenth of these were carried to suitaJde 

 conditions for growtli, what an immense power of proi)agation did this one specimen 

 possess. The plant was only 8 feet high, and 5-^:{ inches in circumference at the ground. 



As far as I know, Trimble Co., Kentucky, has furnished the champion Ai/kuii'u 

 {A. iriphi/UKiii, Tnir.). I give some of the measurements. — 



Heiglit :'0 iucdies; i.eaflets, 10 inches long by yi^ broad; Spadix, 2% inches long: 

 Spathe, 4 inches long; Diameter at base of the stalk flinches: Corm T^^g inches in cir- 

 cumference. Can any one tell us of a larger one V 



C. K. Barnes, Mudison, Ind. 



CROss-FEKTii.izATroN OF Ahistoi.ochia. — Mr. H. (t. Hubbard, now traveling in 

 Jamaica, has communicated to a western newspaper some interesting notes on the 

 natural history of the island. His observations on Aristolochid are fully confirmatory 

 of the studies of others in the case of Aristohirhin cle)iiatitiH. "I have had an oppfrtu- 

 nity of examining the flowers of Ariftfolnr/u'd i/nnnJifli/rii, llie 'Dutchman's pipe,' called 

 here the 'John Crow,' or 'carrion flower,' from the putrid stench which it exhales. This 

 flower is one of the largest known. The tube or bowl, about a foot long as it hangs 

 from the vines, makes a very good imitation of the Dutchman's china iiijM', l)ut the 

 moulli of the bowl turns forward and expands eight or ten inches in diameter, and from 

 the lower edge of this dangles a slender tail, about a foot long. The whole flower is 

 spotteil green and ])urple, like a diseased liver. JNotwithstanding its vile odor and 

 uncanny look, it is the most interesting of flowers. The tube is divided into three 

 chambers by constrictions and valves furnished with backward-pointing bristles, the 

 whole forming a trebly guarded fly-tra)). The outer chamber alone gives out 

 the carrion odor, attracted by whi<di, insects enter, and finding themselves deceived try 

 to escape, but the long r(\Mirve(l bristles, which line the walls, entangle them when they 

 turn back, ])ut favor their progress through the second trap and into the second cham- 

 ber beyond. Finally they find their way through the third and last traj), into the third 

 ciiaml)er. And here you will find small flies and beetles by dnzens, it you open ijie 

 bloomuig flowers. Now what is the object of this evident contrivance? The flower is 

 not insectivorous. The entrapjied insects are always I'ound alive and in good condition, 

 uo dead ones in any of the chambers. In fad, the last one, which they must eventually 

 reach, and which also contains the floral organs, seems to have been especially con- 

 trived for their com I'l Hi and convenience. It is spacious, unenciunbered with biistles, 



