1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



215 



begins to open. The facts now adduced show that 

 the moths exist weeks before the flowers bloom 



and thus we do find in nature that it is among 

 that class which has the most of this individual 



with which they have been so intimately con- persistence that the indifference to self-fertilized 

 nected, feeding of course on other flowers, and seeds, popularly known as " arrangements for 



would perhaps make use of other fruits as deposi- 

 taries for their eggs if yucca should not exist. 

 At any rate, the facts weaken any belief we may 

 have that the yucca and all yucca moth through 

 the long ages have become mutually adapted to 

 each other through a fancied mutual benefit. 



But the fact remains that the yucca is so 

 arranged that it must have external aid before it 

 can use pollen ; and it is believed that this 

 arrangement is for the express purpose of facili- 

 tating the introduction of strange pollen ; and 

 further that this arrangement must be useful, or 

 it would not exist. And then it is assumed that 

 this useful purpose can only be understood by 

 believing that cross-fertilized seed is of the most 

 benefit to the race. Let us examine this reason- 

 ing in the light of facts .• — 



In 1871, I found Yucca angustifolia seeding 

 abundantly in Colorado ; but when the interest- 

 ing matters in its history were brought out b}' 

 Pi'ofessor Riley I could not remember whether 

 the seed vessels were infested by the larvae of the 

 yucca moth, and was glad to revisit Colorado in 

 '73 to examine the plants, but I did not find one 

 seed vessel in several weeks' search for them. 

 I have since engaged friends to get me some, but 

 none have found them. In order to test the matter 

 thoroughly I engaged with a professional seed 

 collector in Southern Utah to buy of him a pound 

 of seed of each of the several species, and 

 recently I have heard from him — the third suc- 

 cessive year — that no plant within his observation 

 has produced a single seed. How can we 

 believe that this elaborate arrangement for pro- 

 ducing seeds by cross-fertilization through insect 

 agency is for the purpose of producing a better 

 class of seeds, when we see in many cases plants 

 utterly fail, even for successive years, to seed 

 at all? 



i cross-fertilization," is found, and moreover that 

 the most difficulty in germinating is met with 

 even when the seed is freely formed. 



The yucca, by its large fleshy root stocks and 

 ability to withstand extremes of drought and 

 heat and cold, is able to maintain an existence 

 indefinitely without producing any seed. For 

 the sake of inducing variation, which is best 

 accomplished through seeds, it may be com- 

 pelled by inexorable law once in a while to pro- 

 duce them ; but a law which is to result in the 

 evolution of new forms will hardly be adduced 

 in favor of any theory which has for its founda- 

 tion the idea of benefit to an existing race. 



[It was our intention to give this to our 

 readers earUer, so as to lead them to observe 

 yuccas this season ; but have given place to the 

 favors of correspondents. — Ed. G. M.] 



NOTES FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. 



BY A LADY COERESPOKDENT. 



I should like to call the attention of your 

 readers to a valuable plant growing profusely in 

 these regions, known in the botanical parlance 

 as Liatris odoratissima, but to u.s at the South 

 as Vanilla Grass. The young leaves are delight- 

 fully fragrant. The flower is a single stem, 

 bearing many double daisy-like flowers of a 

 deep lilac or purple. 



Two 3'ears ago I was told that the leaves 

 strewn among woolen goods would effectually 

 preserve them from moths and other noxious 

 insects. In the past two springs I have packed 

 away blankets and carpets, etc , with the leaves 

 (and nothing else) with such perfect success that 

 I cannot but feel that the discovery should not 

 be confined to our Southern land, for nothing 



would be more easy than the collecting of great 

 We know that it is not to the interest of the ' quantities of the leaves and sending them to the 



individual to produce any seeds. Seed is a pro- 

 vision of nature looking to tlie good of the 

 future, and to which the present good of the 

 individual is often sacrificed. The mignonette, 

 the petunia, the gaillardia, and many other 

 plants under garden culture live for years when 

 prevented from perfecting seeds. We may fairly 



carpet warehouses and furriers of the Northern 

 States. 



In the beautiful Azalea gardens — now become 

 so famous — on the Ashley River, South Carolina, 

 belonging to our esteemed and good friend, the 

 Rev. Mr. Drayton, there grow on the edge by a 

 little lake, some Magnolia trees, the habit of 



believe that a plant which acquires the power of which resembles the common Weeping Willow, 

 easy individual increase and persistence would ' Long pendant branches droop gracefully down- 

 show less disposition to sacrifice itself on seed; wards, the lowest almost sweeping the water. 



