isn.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



8t 



scribes fifty-three new species — a very large num- 

 ber for one year. Most of these are due to the 

 indefatigable labors of Dr. C. C. Parry. Many 

 of these will as usual be of little horticultural 

 interest; but we think from the descriptions, 

 there will be many more useful or ornamental 

 plants than common with new discoveries. 



Canbya CANDIDA. — Under this name Prof. Asa 

 Gray describes a new plant from Southeast Cali- 

 fornia, in the proceedings of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences. It was discov- 

 ered by Dr. Parry, and is dedicated to Mr. W. 

 M. Canby of Wilmington, Del. The plant is of 

 the poppy family, but very minute, and will not 

 perhaps be of much value to florists, but as com- 

 memorating one of the most worthy of American 

 botanists, the adoption of the name by Dr. Gray 

 will be received with pleasure by Mr. Canby's 

 rpany friends. 



Graft Hybrids. — A newspaper paragraph says 

 that Dr. Hooibreuk has succeeded in producing 

 new varieties by " crossing the sap," which we 

 suppose is a form of expressing graft hybrids. 



The Drop or Bag Worm. — We have but one 

 very bad pest of this family in the Eastern States, 

 but they appear to have others in California. 

 Dr. Edwards, in a communication to the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences recently, says : 



" The species at present described as natives 

 of the United States are very few, not more than 

 five, belonging to perhaps as many genera, 

 being distinctly known to entomologists. The 

 most common of these is a species called Thyri- 

 dopteryx ephemeriformis, which, according to 

 Dr. Harris, is occasionally abundant in Phila- 

 delphia and its vicinity, and there popularly 

 known in its larval state as the drop-worm, or 

 basket-worm. It is at times very destructive to 

 the arbor-vita}, larch and hemlock trees. In 

 California, though none as yet have been de- 

 scribed, three species are known to me, two of 

 which belong to the typical genus. Psyche ; the 

 third, and by far the most interesting, which 

 has just been discovered by our President, Prof. 

 Davidson, representing the genus Qi^ceticus. It 

 is, however, a matter of regret that the cater- 

 pillar cases of these three species are alone 

 known, tlie perfect insects as yet evading our 

 discovery." 



GiLiA Parry.,e. — Mr. Lemmon, the enthusias- 

 tic California botanical discoverer thus tells the 

 Rural Press how Mrs. Parry received the honor 

 of having this beautiful new plant named after 

 Tier : 



"Besides making a large collection of the 

 Icnown flora of the South, Dr. Parry and I picked 



up, it appears, several plants new to science ; the 

 Doctor a dozen and I half as many. Among 

 the latter a beautiful little Gilia from the Mo- 

 have river, with large pink and white blossoms, 

 very desirable for cultivation. Upon its discov- 

 ery I studied it and found it different from any 

 species yet published, so sent the specimens to 

 Dr. Gray, with the request that he would name 

 it Gilia Parry se, to honor the noble wife of Dr. 

 Parry, whose many years of botanical service 

 entitle her to recognition. 



A month or so after. Dr. Palmer, an indefati- 

 gable collector of that region, also picked up 

 the plant and forwarded with his collection. 

 When Dr. Gray came to examine the accumu- 

 lations of the season, he described the new- 

 plant and named it Gilia Palmeri. As soon as 

 I learned the fact I stoutly protested, arguing at 

 length my priority of discovery, also my deter- 

 mination, citing Dr. Parry for witness, where- 

 upon Dr. Gray has just revoked his former ac- 

 tion and now the beautiful little gem is named 

 for all time Gilia Parryse, ' dedicated to Mrs. 

 Dr. Parry,' Dr. Gray adds, ' whose services to 

 botany well merit this recognition." 



Music and Plants. — Some fancyist has written 

 about the benefits of music on the health of 

 plants. Of course it is but a seasonable joke; 

 but many of " the papers " are passing it around 

 as the best of sense. 



The use of Honeyed Secretions. — An es- 

 teemed correspondent says: — "Your botanical 

 friend has still an inquiry or two to make on 

 honeyed secretions This appears, you now tell 

 us, because Dr. H., of Vienna, 'shows that flow- 

 ers which could not be fertilized by their own 

 pollen, or foreign pollen, were successfully 

 impregnated when nectar was apphed to the 

 stigma before the application of the pollen.' 



"First, will you give a reference so that one 

 may see what Dr. H. was driving at, and what 

 he made out? As he appears to have been 

 working on some stigma that Avould not act on 

 the pollen, either of its own or any other flower, 

 we suspect that he was trying pollen on imma- 

 ture stigmas, and then finding that if he put on 

 nectar the pollen tubes would start. So they 

 might ; for it is well known that they will pro- 

 trude a little way (and that is all) in any sugary 

 solution, of a certain density, without any stig- 

 ma in the case. What your proposition needs 

 is to bring forward at least one case in which 

 the secretion of the nectary of a flower gets ap- 

 plied to a stigma. Can you refer to such a 

 case ? " 



[We are sorry not to have at hand the details 

 of Dr. H.'s experiments. All we know is given 



