154 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



thority may consult Drs. Gray, Lindley, Darling 

 ton and others, all of whom agree with Webster. 

 We do occasionally hear a person pronounce the 

 word pawpaw, as we sometimes hear the second 

 month called Febuary, but in both cases our 

 inference is that he who uses such pronuncia 

 tion is ignorant of the true spelling." 



[It should be remembered that the corres- 

 pondent referred to is quite as much an " au- 

 thority" as any now mentioned. Webster is 

 not always right. — Ed. G. M.] 



Yellow Fruited Choke Cherry. — "F. W, 

 W.," Eau Claire, Wis., writes: " I have a tree of 

 the Choko Cherry with fruit of a bright yellow 

 color; otherwise the tree is the same as the 

 common variety. I have never seen this before 

 and would like to inquire if it is new. The tree 

 has fruited with me for the past three years, and 

 when in fruit is very showy." 



[From analogy with other allied fruits, a 

 yellow-berried Choke Cherry might have been 

 expected; but so far as we know one has not 

 been noted before.— Ed. G. M.] 



RosAL Monstrosity.—" Mrs. M. P.," Lynn, 

 Mass., sends a very interesting specimen and 

 says: "I enclose a bud from a Douglas rose 

 growing in my greenhouse. Can you explain 

 why it should grow in such a singular manner? 

 Please answer in the Monthly. The April 

 number is full of good things." 



[All the parts of a flower are merely leaves 

 changed to the various floral organs. The rose 

 proves this better than many others, for rose 

 leaves often turn partially to petals, or the petals 

 go back to leaves. In the present case the calyx 

 segments have become perfect leaves, not like 

 the ordinary rose leaves, but lobed like the 

 striped bark maple leaf. We never saw a case 

 just like this. -Ed. G. M.] 



Is Kalmia Poisonous?— a chemical friend at 

 Washington promises to analyze Kalmia leaves, 

 and report what he finds. He will certainly not 

 find prussic acid as some conjecture, merely 

 because by some chance the Kalmia was called 

 a laurel, when it has no relation whatever with 

 that laurel which has this poison in it. Some 

 Ericacefe, Arbutus for instance, have given 

 slight indications of possessing some narcotic 

 properties, but in so small a degree as to be of 

 little moment. 



Health and Ailanthus.— "T. F. B ," Alle- 

 gheny, Pa., writes: "On reading the follow- 



ing item I deemed it so very unjust that I 

 clipped it for your judgment : 



I " In other cities the attention of the boards of 

 I health have been called to the fact that where the 

 ailanthus trees grew, in a great many instances 

 ' persons have been poisoned, and they have been 

 ; declared unhealthy and their removal ordered 

 I from the public streets and parks. The trees 

 '■ are cultivated in the cities because they give 

 j much shade and will thrive when other trees 

 will die. Pittsburg and Allegheny have many 

 \ of these trees. In the Allegheny parks a num- 

 ber of the walks are bordered wilh the ailanthus 

 trees, and in the East End and other parts of 

 this city, they are found in abundance." 



"The ailanthus is in frequent demand, on 

 account of its quick growth, and although 

 common here yet I never heard so serious 

 a charge made against it. However, on refer- 

 ring to the U. S. Dispensatory, thirteenth 

 edition, Ailanthus glandulosa is found de- 

 scribed under the ' Non officinal Medicines,' and 

 it is stated that ' Prof. Heltet, of the marine 

 medical school at Toulon, France, experiaiented 

 on dogs with the powdered bark — powdered 

 leaves and various preparations of the bark. As 

 a general result they were found to possess 

 cathartic and anthelmintic properties. The oil 

 of the bark is so powerful that persons exposed 

 to the vapors, in preparing the extract, are lia- 

 ble to be seized with vertigo, cold sweats and 

 vomiting. A fact worthy of remark is that 

 neither the bark nor its preparation, taken in- 

 ternally, produce vomiting in man, while this 

 effect is determined by the inhalation of its 

 vapors when boiled.' 



" From the foregoing there seems to be ground 

 for the serious charge. Is it not probable that 

 the odorous principle (volatile oil) of the flow- 

 ers is analogous to the oil of the bark? If so, it 

 would explain what to me at first seemed an un- 

 founded assertion. The pistillate variety of A. 

 glandulosum being exempt from this nauseous 

 odor, why not plant it, as recommended in a 

 former number of the Monthly." 



[It will be a bad day for Pittsburg and Alle- 

 gheny should a crusade arise against the ailan- 

 thus. Thousands of trees have *' pisen in 'em," 

 as some of the ignoramuses say of the ailanthus, 

 and a great deal more than ever the ailanthus 

 has. There is infinitely more poison in an 

 oleander, yet we have seen big bushes in scores 

 of Pittsburg yards without any one complaining 

 of ever being hurt. 



In early times the ailanthus was believed to 

 be a Rhus, and to this day it is known aa the 



