1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



121 



columns of which paper more items of this 

 character are copied without credit, — "• stolen," 

 we believe is the New York Tribune's expres- 

 sion, — than from any other paper that we wot 

 of. We suppose, however, that unlike the 

 Tribune, the Independent does not feel so over- 

 bad about it, as it has to show that the hu- 

 man race needs regeneration, and must be glad 

 of some awful examples now and then to illus- 

 trate its teachings. — Ed. G. M.] 



Fertilization of Yucca. — The Garden 

 says : " I fancy insect agency is talked of in a 

 very unscientific way by too enthusiastic follow- 

 ers of Mr. Darwin. I remember reading Pro- 

 fessor Riley's dogma that the Yucca could only 

 possibly be fertilized by a certain American 

 insect, and being amused at it because I had 

 several times seen it fruiting well in the south 

 of Europe, and also in France. Probably we 

 should see it oftener if we had a better climate. 

 I now note that Mr. Ellacombe, writing to a 

 contemporary, says : There can be no doubt 

 that the Yucca can be fertilized by other means 

 than by the agency of the Yucca moth (Pronuba 

 yuccasella). I have more than once had well- 

 formed fruit on Y. recurvifolia, but the seeds 

 did not come to maturity. Dr. Engelmann in 

 his '• Kotes on the Genus Yucca," says : ' In 

 the botanical garden of Yenice I gathered the 

 pulpy pods from a large Yucca aloifolia, about 

 fifteen feet high.' This was the only Yucca 

 fruit seen by me in Europe, though I have since 

 learned that in other instances also, though 

 only exceptionally, fruit and good seed have 

 been produced there, principally by the same 

 species, and very rarely by others. I remember 

 the late Mr. Barillet telling me he had raised a 

 great many varieties of Yucca gloridsa from 

 seed saved in France. However, this mistake 

 on the part of so good a man as Riley, is good 

 sense compared with what we read on this side 

 as to the influence of insects on the color and 

 odors of plants. The statement by Mr. Wal- 

 lace, for example, that showy flowers are scent- 

 less because from their color they are sufl5- 

 ciently attractive to insects may pass for science 

 with some innocent people, but it seems foolish 

 to those who know even only a few garden 

 plants." 



There is no doubt in our mind but that too 

 much is made of the color, odor, and other 

 properties of flowers in relation to insect habits, 

 and perhaps Prof. Riley may in his enthusiasm, 



have made the mistake which all useful enthu- 

 siasts are liable to make, of not being quite 

 logical when putting " this and that together," 

 on a review of his facts. But there is nothing 

 more certain than that Prof. Riley is right in 

 regarding the Yucca, seldom if ever fertilized 

 except by outside aid ; and if the Yucca seeds in 

 Europe, it would be well to see whether there 

 is not some nocturnal insect engaged in the 

 work, if indeed the Pronuba itself, may not 

 have been imported there. It must be re- 

 membered that the insect, though amidst ac- 

 tive entomologists for a hundred years in im- 

 mense abundance, was not known till Prof. 

 Riley found it a few years ago. 



Darlingtonia Californica.— The Editor 

 of " The Native Flowers and Ferns of the 

 United States," would be much obliged if any 

 one who may have the chance to get a plant 

 of this in flower, will send word to this office, in 

 order that a drawing partially made (from an 

 over-blown specimen) may be completed. It 

 could be finished from other people's drawings, 

 but for this work sketches are made solely from 

 nature. 



Destruction of Insect Eggs, etc., by 

 Frost. — Reveu V Horticulture Beige, says that 

 horticulturists expected to derive some compen- 

 sation for the wonderfully severe winter of 

 1879-80, in the destruction of insect eggs and 

 larvse, and are thunder struck now when M. 

 Lichtenstein tells them that after an examina- 

 tion he finds they have all been able to resist 

 the " very lowest temperature." 



If our European contemporaries had profited 

 by their American exchanges, they might have 

 learnt this lesson without waiting for their own 

 experience to teach them. Certainly the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly has often made a note of 

 the fact. 



PiNUS Balfouriana. — We learn from the 

 California Horticulturist that Mr. Lemmon has 

 re-discovered the spot on Mount Shasta from 

 whence Jefirey obtained the original specimens 

 from which Murray described this species. 



The American Philosophical Society. — 

 This venerable institution, founded by Benjamin 

 Franklin, celebrated its 100th anniversary on 

 the 15th of March. 



Foliation. — "Zero" says: "Pardon my 

 doubts, but I find nothing in my text books that 

 confirms your answer to "Inquirer," in regard 



