342 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[November, 



line to flourish and prove fully satisfactory with- 

 out some attention and labor, and why not devote 

 the same amount of tiine in removing suckers 

 from around an almond that would be necessary 

 to cultivate any other plant or shrub. 



" One more question, and I will stop. Does not 

 the fruit of Prunus fasciculata of Utah belong to 

 this section of the genus Prunus ? It would prob- 

 ably not prove hardy this far north, but I have 

 often wondered if it would not add new life and 

 vigor to the peach — perhaps by hybridizing. Cer- 

 tainly as a stock to bud upon in our Southern 

 States, I imagine that many of our short-lived trees 

 of foreign origin could be materially benefited by 

 infusing into them some of our native blood, i. e., 

 vitality. 



"The Ga7-dcners Chronicle for September, ist, 

 1883, ji st received, on page 266 says, 'Prunus triloba 

 was first described by Dr. Lindley, in the Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle for 1857.' I have no idea where I 

 could obtain access to it. Is it in any of the pub- 

 lic libraries of Philadelphia ? " 



[A full set of the Gardeners Chronicle is in the 

 library of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia — as are almost all works needed for 

 botanical references. 



So far as we can judge by the leaves of two 

 double forms, and without any fruit, we should 

 say the double white and double pink dwarf 

 almond are both forms of Amygdalus nana. We 

 have never seen authentic specimens of Amygda- 

 lus Sibirica of Loddiges. Prunus fasciculata, of 

 California and Utah, is a dwarfish plant, very 

 nearly allied to the true almond. 



About Philadelphia the dwarf almond is so 

 much attacked by a disease similar in its sudden 

 results to the fire blight in the pear, that it is not 

 as popular as it used to be. — Ed. G. M.] 



A Wild Rose. — "N," Louisville, Ky., writes: 

 "We mailed you, two days ago, sample of a 

 flower, etc., of a rose we found growing wild here 

 — that is, one plant. Would like to know name of 

 same." 



[This appears to be the Cherokee rose, which, 

 after all, is probably but a form of the Macartney 

 rose — a native of China; and, though "wild," 

 probably not indigenous to America. — Ed. G. M.] 



Twining of Vines. — "Constant Reader," 

 Shoemakertown, Pa., asks: "Would you be kind 

 enough to give the reason why the Lima bean and 

 the hop vine climb the pole in opposite directions? 

 No doubt it would be interesting to many readers 

 of the Monthly. If you would be kind enough to 



answer in the October number, you would great- 

 oblige." 



[Some botanists conceive that the primal form 

 of plant life is membranous, and that it coils to 

 make stem. We might then assume a moss to be 

 formed from some such a plant as a marchantia 

 or liverwort, and eventually a more woody stem 

 be developed. This suppositious coiling may be 

 represented by the funnel-form papers coiled up 

 by grocers or confectioners. The plant, ot course, 

 continues through life to take the direction marked 

 out for it at the first coil, in whichever direction 

 that may be. It may be supposed that there are 

 structural peculiarities in the seed which make it 

 easier for the first coil to go in one direction, 

 rather than in the other. — Ed. G. M.] 



Colors of Flowers. — "The enclosed is clipped 

 from an English paper, Public Opinion, of June 2, 

 1883, and " D. W." thinks it may be used in your 

 G.\rdeners' Monthly: 



1 'Mr. Grant Allen, in his recently published 

 work under this title, briefly sums up his views on 

 the genesis of flower colors as follows : ' Most of 

 the very simplest flowers are yellow. Many of the 

 simple flowers in each family (except the highest) 



' are apt to be yellow. The more advanced mem- 

 bers of very simple families are usually white or 

 pink. The simple members of slightly advanced 

 families are usually white or pink. The most ad- 

 vanced members of all families are usually red, 

 purple, or blue. Almost all the members of the 

 most advanced families are purple or blue. The 



i more advanced members of the most advanced 

 families are almost always blue, unless spotted or 

 variegated.' In opposition to the view first enunci- 

 ated by Goethe, and that now held by almost all 

 botanists and vegetable physiologists, Mr. Grant' 



'■ Allen maintains that the stamens of a flower are 

 not modified petals, but on the contrary, that these 

 last are (as a later formation), modified stamens — 

 a view that will probabl) receive but few adher- 

 ents.' " 



[We are glad to give the above as a piece of in- 

 formation. It is, however, but right to say that we 

 have read and followed closely Mr. Allen's papers 

 in Nature, and do not regard his ideas as having 

 any fair scientific foundation. We look on them 

 as nothing more than shrewd guesses. — Ed. G. M.] 



Ptekis tremula in Connecticut. — It may be 

 remembered that a Cambridge correspondent last 

 year took exception to the statement of another 

 that this fern was wild in Connecticut. The latter 

 has made another examination this year and now 

 writes from Torrington : "Since I last wrote to you 

 I have been to see Mr. Slocomb, gardener to C. L. 

 Mitchell, New Haven, Conn., a man possessing a 



