187T.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



25 



stem, which is about an inch in length, becomes 

 the seed pod or berry. This generally attains a 

 length of about two inches and, when full grown, 

 is three-quarters of an inch in diameter, at the 

 largest place. It is pyriform in shape, the small 

 end being at the base. These, when ripe, are of 

 a dark purple color, and are filled with small 

 bony seeds. The contents of one pod of which, I 

 enclose to your address. 



One of the most remarkable things that I have 

 observed in connection with this plant is its 

 change of habit on the approach of cold weather. 

 During the summer the joints of the stems gene- 

 rally occupy a vertical position, but on the ap- 

 pearance of cold weather, all of them that are 

 not hindered by some obstruction, assume a hor- 

 izontal position, each apparently striving to get 

 as near to the earth as possible. Another pecu- 

 liar change that takes place in the stems is in 

 their form. During the warm season they are 

 emooth and free from wrinkles on the surflice ; 

 but when the cold season begins, they shrink up 

 from one-fourth to one-half their normal size, 

 becoming very wrinkly or ridgy. This contrac- 

 tion takes place almost, if not entirely, in the 

 length of the joint, often reducing it to less than 

 the width. 



This change is probably the result of the larger 

 portion of the sap withdrawing from the plant. 

 These changes are probably a provision of na- 

 ture to enable the plant the more readily, to 

 endure the rigors of winter — a kind of vegetable 

 hybernation. Possibly Mr. Darwin might see in 

 this the prophecy, if not the remote origin, of the 

 hybernating animal. But be that as it may, it 

 is worthy of the attention of the curious. 



ISEW PLANTS. 



LiLiUM HuMBOLDTiANUM. — This splendid spe- 

 cies is a native of Humboldt County, California. 

 It is quite hardy and produces large golden 

 yellow flowers, which are s^Dottcd with puri:)le. — 

 William Bull. See cut, page 26. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Pritchardia filifera. — Just as we go to press, 

 a botanical friend calls our attention to the fact 

 that the Californian Palm, which Mr. Watson 

 referred to in our pages as Pritchardia filamen- 



tosa, has rigid teeth, and not filaments on the 

 petiole, and that probably the one we have fig- 

 ured is another and distinct species. 



Under the circumstances it is proper to say 

 that the copy given to our engraver consisted of 

 a frond furnished by one of our prominent flor- 

 ists, and a sketch made from the catalogue of 

 J. Linden, of Ghent. The frond was not seen by us, 

 being mailed direct to the office, and the engrav- 

 ing shows that in the outlines Linden was fol- 

 lowed. It may therefore still bear the name of 

 Pritchardia filifera of Linden, leaving it more 

 than probable that Pritchardia filamentosa of 

 California, is another thing. It is too late, as we 

 go to press, to find out which kind is the one in 

 the hands of our cultivators. 



Since writing the above we have from Mr. 

 John Rock a stereoscope of one growing in Santa 

 Clara street, San Jose, which is fifteen feet high. 

 This has no filaments on the peteoles, and those 

 few on the blades, are simple extensions of the 

 divisions. The leaf stalks are thickly stvidded 

 with spring teeth. Linden's plant is either not 

 accurately drawn, or it is another thing, and may 

 bear the name of P. filifera, while the true Cali- 

 fornian will be P. filamentosa. 



Variations in Conifers. — How our American 

 coniferse vary is now well known. It appears 

 that the Norway Spruce varies in the same way, 

 and no doubt other species of the order do the 

 same. The Gardener's Chronicle says : — "At a late 

 meeting of the Berlin Botanical Society, Mr. 

 Braun exhibited and described a series of cones 

 of wild forms or states of the Spruce found in 

 Germany. Just below the upper tree limit on 

 the Brocken a dwarf variety, 8^ to 10 feet high, 

 grows and bears cones IJ to 2 inches long, not 

 unlike those of Picea nigra. The longest, on the 

 other hand, in this collection are from 7^ to 8 

 inches. There is also an equal diversity in the 

 length of the leaves, but this exists in no definite 

 relation to the length of the cones. The seeds 

 vary from about .40 to .58, in the smallest cones, 

 to about .75 of an inch in the largest cones." 



Wearing out of Varieties. — That a tree is but 

 an individual, that the grafts and cuttings are 

 but extending the individual, and that an indi- 

 vidual must be short-lived, is one of the so-called 

 scientific "theories " which are often built, and 

 then facts looked up to sustain them. For this 

 particular theory facts do not come out very fast. 

 The Golden Pippin apple, the Ribstone Pippin 



