1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



245 



to have this or that mystery cleared up ; or to 

 know if this or that phenomenon ie connected 

 with the history of the famous plant. One of 

 the closest questioners is W. M. Canby, of 

 Wilmington, Del. The facts elicited formed the 

 theme of a most exhaustive essay, that was read 

 before the American Academy of Sciences and 

 reprinted in most of the languages of Europe. 



" WHY ARE THE LEAVES TWISTED ONE-HALF 

 AVAY ROUND?" 



"Was Canby's last demand. It will be the es- 

 pecial object of this essay to answer this ques- 

 tion. 



To discuss this subject thoroughly and with 

 the expectation of arriving at the truth, we 

 must begin where the zoologist does with his 

 puzzles — with embryology, the infant state. 

 The seed of the Darlingtonia is a brownish, 

 hairy, Indian-club shaped object, about three 

 lines long. It would be a bur, but for the 

 flaccid, hollow, barbless hairs. Thrown out in 

 hundreds by the large, bursting pericarps, they 

 fall upon the running water or mossy carpeting 

 of the bog. A seed here and there is caught by 

 its hair in favorable conditions and sends down 

 a tiny radicle in search of a foundation, whereon 

 to erect a unique charnel-house of many tall, 

 feeding funnels. The precursor of the prospec- 

 tive phalanx of rapacious, cylindrical stomachs, 

 is a very mnocent looking little affair. 



(To be Coutinued.) 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Lightning-proof Beech Trees. — We are 

 told that " English authorities claim that Fig 

 Trees and Cedars are rarely struck by lightning ; 

 the Beech, Larch, Fir and Chestnut are obnoxi- 

 ous to it ; but the trees which attract it most are 

 the Oak, Yew and Lombardy Poplar; hence it 

 follows that the last named are the trees most 

 proper to be placed near a building, since they 

 will act as so many lightning conductors to it. 

 Again, the electric fluid attacks in preference 

 such trees as are verging to decay by reason of 

 age or disease." 



Xo one has yet responded to our inquiry for a 

 Beech stricken, but we will say, in regard to the 

 above paragraph, that a Walnut is not so very 

 far removed from a Chestnut, and on the grounds 

 of Miss Fox, near Germantown, they are so 

 often " struck " as to create the impression that 

 they are favorably disposed to receive the elec- 



tric fluid. As to the " Fir," if by this the Eng- 

 lish authorities mean, as perhaps they do, the Nor- 

 way Spruce, the writer of this was within twenty 

 feet of the trunk of one once that had its bark 

 peeled off by a stroke. We should not put much 

 faith in the shelter of any tree during a thunder 

 storm. 



PiNUS PONDEROSA. — The Gardener''s Chronicle 

 has been giving some sketches of scraggy Pinus 

 ponderosa, as seen in the Rocky Mountains, 

 which we can forgive for the sake of the pictur- 

 esque rocks of Monument Park,whichaccompany 

 the pictures ; but, surely, our good contemporary 

 is mistaken in its statement that it varies much 

 in the Rocky Mountains, and that the string of 

 synonyms has anything to do with such varia- 

 tions. We appreciate that kindness of heart 

 which thus lets down nurserymen's blunders so 

 easily. There is a great difference between the 

 Pinus ponderosa of the Rocky Mountains and 

 the form or forms on the Pacific coast ; but the 

 Pinus ponderosa of the Rocky Mountains is re- 

 markably consistent with itself. But this is 

 what the Chronicle, says : 



" For the accompanying views (figs. 138, 139), 

 representing this tree in its native country, we 

 are indebted tothecourtesy of Sir Joseph Hooker, 

 the President of the Royal Society. Sir Joseph 

 met with the species here represented in various 

 parts of the Rocky Mountains, and noted its 

 great variability according to soil and other con- 

 ditions. The photographs from which our 

 figures were executed were taken in Monument 

 Park, Colorado, under the auspicies of the 

 United States Geological Survey, and represent, 

 not only the stunted and contorted tree, but also 

 the curious stratification of the rock : in fig. 139 

 pillars have been formed capped with a layer 

 of rock of harder texture. The whole forms an 

 admirable example of the erosive power of 

 water, in wearing away the softer layers, and 

 leaving comparatively untouched the harder 

 strata of rock. To the artist, geologist, or physi- 

 cal geographer these views are particularly in- 

 teresting, while the landscape gardener may 

 derive a few hints as to the formation of rock- 

 work. The lover of coniferous trees may per- 

 haps receive a shock at seeing what his favorites 

 become at an advanced age, and truly many 

 conifers are scraggy-looking objects enough 

 when seen in Pineta or in parks, where their 

 gaunt denuded limbs are not in harmony with 

 the surroundings; but let them be seen in 

 association with bold rocky scenery, as in our 



