1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



245 



such plants as I was unable to preserve by dry 

 ing. I am all the more sorry as he gave proofs o^ 

 considerable ability, although he took a long 

 time over the few drawings which he really fin- 

 ished. 



From here the road becomes almost impassa- 

 ble for travellers on horseback. It is nothing 

 but a path, and never seems to have been laid 

 out or repaired properly, and even becomes dan- 

 gerous in some parts. Gradually ascending the 

 mountains at Samani the vegetation becomes 

 alpine, and coniferous trees which I had to my 

 great surprise seen very little of up to this time 

 formed the forest to a great extent. Abies Yezo- 

 ensis with a pine which I believe to be Larix 

 Kaempferi, but which for want of cones I could 

 not well determine. The undergrowth was 

 formed of a large leaved Rhododendron, and 

 Zanthoxylon; the fruit of the latter is used by 

 Japanese as a medicine. The seeds have a pecu- 

 liar flavor. 



In the moss underneath the fir trees a small 

 Orchid, a Goodyera is found growing; also the 

 handsome creeping blue Campanurasea (Genti- 

 anete) is to be met here in the clearings. 



Monotropa uniflora, a species of Ericaceae is 

 found growing here among stones near rapid 

 flowing streams under the shade of trees. It is 

 parasitical on the roots of trees, has a scaly stem 

 about 8 inches high, bearing only one flower of a 

 whitish pink color. It resembles much a Mono- 

 tropa which grows 'in North America, and is 

 called there commonly '" Indian pipe." It is 

 very curious that the Japanese also have a simi- 

 lar name for it, viz.: "Gankubiso," meaning 

 herb like the bowl of a pipe. 



(To contiawe in next number.) 



PEAR OR APPLE: WHICH? 



BY R. J. BLACK, BREMEN, OHIO. 



The strangest thing in my pomological experi- 

 ence of twenty-five years has come under my 

 observation recently. 



Some years ago, for want of a more convenient 

 stock, a Sops of Wine apple tree was grafted with 

 several new varieties : Snepps, Celestia, Muster, 

 d:c. All are in bearing now, as the May frost 

 which swept off the pears and thinned out the 

 cherries, injured the apples but little — many va- 

 rieties not at all. 



Examining this tree lately, I was attracted by 

 the fine appearance of the fruit on the lower 

 branch, which had not been grafted. Pulling off 



some of the less perfect apples, as it was very 

 full, and coming to a shoot hanging down with 

 two fruits on the point of it, to my surprise one 

 of them — the larger of the two — proved to be 

 a finely shaped pear! It is distinct pyriform, 

 dull red, and green like the unripe Sops of Wine 

 apples ; and of fair size — large indeed for the 

 time of the year, July 1st. 



One rod south of it is a Kirtland pear tree, 

 which, though large enough, has never borne ; 

 and not having observed it closely last spring, I 

 am unable to say whether it bloomed or not. 

 But the hybrid (if such it be) has no resemblance 

 to Kirtland, which is a roundish, yellowish rus- 

 set pear, with the stem " inserted in a small cav- 

 ity ; " while the former has its stem inclined and 

 joined to the neck by an enlargment and with- 

 out depression, after the manner of Louise Bonne 

 de Jersey and some others. 



One of the interesting questions connected 

 with the subject time may determine : whether 

 the seed will be perfect or not. 



[There is a similar case illustrated in plas- 

 ter in the Government Department of the 

 Centennial Exhibition, and to which our atten- 

 tion was kindly called by Mr. Seaman, of the 

 Agricultural Department. In these cases it 

 would be worth while trying by the microscope 

 whether there was any other approach to the 

 pear than the mere aberration of form indicated. 

 The pear cell is very different from that of the 

 apple in general character. — Ed. G. M,] 



PALMS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



BY SERENO W.4.TS0N, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



In your note upon my last " contribution " in 

 June Gardener's Monthly, I see that you have 

 misunderstood me in regard to the South Cali- 

 fornia palms. 



Brahea is a genus of Central Mexico, of a sin- 

 gle species so far as I know, B. didcis, Martiua. 

 The palm of South Califomia, before much wa« 

 known about it, was referred by Cooper, and in the 

 Botany of the Mexican Boundary, doubtfully to 

 the same species. When seed was sent to Europe 

 a few years ago,and it began to be cultivated,Wend- 

 land named it Brahea filamentosa, and it was so 

 known by the few who had it, but it was never 

 published or described, and the reference to 

 Brahea was probably merely a guess on the part 

 of Wendland. 



When the Guadelupe specimens came (flowers, 

 fruit and foliage), I studied them up aa well a« 



