i885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



309 



vorous plants, to our mind conclusively overturned 

 the conclusions of Boussingault, Lawes, Gilbert, 

 Pugh and others, that plants do not obtain any 

 nitrogen from the atmosphere, but solely from the 

 earth through their roots. Air plants contain an 

 abundance of nitrogen, but aside from this sug- 

 gestion, Mr. Darwin's work indicates that the uses 

 of glandular hairs, and perhaps plant hairs of any 

 kind, are connected with the absorption of nitro- 

 gen. The view that plants do derive much nitro- 

 gen from the atmosphere receives now additional 

 force from an excellent paper published in the 

 Country Gentleman of Aug. 27, from the pen of 

 Prof. Atwater, of the Wesleyan University, Conn. 

 Of the nitrogen in plants on an acre, his results 

 give over one-third as derived from the atmos- 

 phere. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Finding Rare Plants.—" IVIrs. J. S. R. T.," 

 Spartanburg, S. C, writes : " I have an absorb- 

 ing desire to catch the attention of all to the many 

 attractions of our fair sunny South-land. Flori- 

 culture being my specialty, I am best fitted — if 

 fitted for anything — to speak of her thousands of 

 beauteous flowers, leaving to others the more dif- 

 ficult task of lauding her other claims to consider- 

 ation. Latterly I have made one of my pleasures 

 a commencement of the collecting and study of 

 native plants, and am often overjoyed when I find 

 to me an utterly unknown species or variety. 

 Early in spring I was told that in our near vicinity 

 there was to be found in abundance a wild tiger 

 lily, from which date I have eagerly gone in search 

 of it with happy results of not only finding state- 

 ment verified, but, what I think of far more impor- 

 tance, I think it a new unnamed variety, for this 

 reason : I sent specimen of flowers without the 

 bulb to Dr. Asa Gray, Harvard L'niversity ; he 

 wrote me, " That it was L. superbum ; that the 

 bulb ought to have a rhizome attached, which I 

 had probably left in the earth," which I am sure 

 I did not. 1 had expected to find it attached and 

 examined to see if the digger had not left it in the 

 earth. No sign of any rhizome or of a break on 

 the bulb; which proves to my satisfaction that if 

 the rhizome is an essential to L. superbum that 

 my find is not that variety. In Chapman's " Flora 

 of Southern States" before me, he mentions six 

 varieties, viz. : L. Philadelphicum, Canadense, 

 Carolmum, Catesbaei, Superbum and Grayi, all to 

 be found in South Carolina and adjoining States. 



I was astonished and pleased to note a peculiarity 

 in a specimen of above variety before me which 

 I have never seen in other varieties nor remember 

 to have read of. The plant grows from 10 to 20 

 inches high with leaves with wavy outlines, sub- 

 acute, arranged in sectional whorls 3 inches long, 

 by I inch wide ; six in a place, with this pecu- 

 liarity that three are narrower than the other 

 three, and arranged on stalk like petals of lilies 

 are on pericarp, i. e., three smaller inside leaves 

 than the three outer rows ; looks exactly like a 

 green lily. Bulbs size of hickory nuts. Many 

 scales easily dislodged. Flower petals 6j^ inches 

 wide by full 3 inches long, much recurved like 

 Turk's cap, section centre of lily cup pure pearl, 

 while deepening from creara canary to deep 

 glowing orange scarlet, with large purplish spots 

 in heart extending as far only to where the orange 

 scarlet tints begin. Now, Mr. Editor, please tell 

 me my find's name. Is it an old and well-known 

 variety, or a new discovery ? 



[The description does not certainly fit any lily 

 with which we are acquainted that is indigenous 

 to that region ; at the same time it must be said 

 that the country has been so thoroughly worked 

 over by botanists that the chance of finding things 

 wholly new is very small. It is far more likely 

 that the botanist fails to recognize the old friend 

 in the description, than that the plant is wholly 

 new. Perfect specimens of bulbs, leaves and 

 flowers are necessary to identify a lily. — Ed. 

 G. M.] 



Mistletoe on the Oak. — " Student " inquires 

 " whether the Mistletoe is found on the Oak in this 

 country, as it is never found on the Oak in the Old 

 World ?" 



[The fact is the Mistletoe has been found on the 

 Oak in a few rare cases in England of late years, 

 and there is evidence that it was one of the most 

 common occurrences in Druidical times — 2000 or 

 more years ago. The great probability is that 

 the Mistletoe has no objection to any tree, and its 

 occurrence on particular trees in particular places 

 or particular centuries depends on climatal causes. 

 In Texas our Mistletoe is found chiefly on the 

 Mesquit ; in Virginia and North Carolina on the 

 Elm ; in Delaware and Maryland on the Persim- 

 mon ; in Canada on the Poplar. 



It probably requires peculiar climatic conditions 

 at the germinating season, and these conditions 

 can be made more effective on certain trees than 

 on others. Some trees will better aid these cli- 

 matic conditions than others, and if climate 



