Teratoiog ical Notes. 167 



in the terminal branches. I have seen it in E. spartea only once, 

 and the specimen of E. gracilis (exhibited) is the only case of 

 fasciation of this sub-desert species known to me or to the many 

 travellers in the Mallee region, Avhom I consulted. The specimen 

 was sent by Mr. Poole, Staff Surveyor, as a novelty from North - 

 West Victoria. The shrub is affected from within a few inches of 

 the ground upAvards, until, towards the summit, multiple forking 

 takes place, and this is accompanied by curling, an almost regular 

 concomitant of fasciation. Small branches arising from any part 

 of this fasciated axis are normal in character. 



A fasciated branch of Casuarina stricta was exhibited^ at a meet- 

 ing of the Field Naturalists' Club by the Assistant Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. 



The great length to which fasciation may affect an axis is seen 

 in the specimen of Tecoma (exhibited), which is flattened through 

 four feet of its length. 



Branch. 



Cohesion of Branches. — Cohesion of contemporary or other 

 branches of one plant occurs in Eucalyptus rostrata, the crooked 

 branching of which affords more opportunities than are obtained in 

 any other species. The tree figured (Plate XL) is growing in 

 the Kiewa Valley, near Tanganbalanga. There is fusion 

 of branches in several places, the primary cause being 

 the premature forking of the stem at 4 feet from the 

 ground. This early bifurcation of the axis allowed insuffi- 

 cient room for subsequent branching of the great divisions, which 

 are 2 feet thick; so the secondary branches came into contact, and, 

 by mutual pressure, have fused. At one place the smaller branch 

 became so overgrown by the bark of the larger as to produce 

 the appearance of penetration. Another example of branch fusion 

 was described by a member of the National Herbarium staff, and 

 figured in the "Victorian Naturalist."' 



Torsion of Branches. — This is a rare occurrence where unculti- 

 vated plants are concerned. Plate XI., fig. 2, shows two of the 

 many affected twigs of one tree — Casuarina strict i — near Melbourne. 

 In general appearance the tree was as healthy as its neighbours, 

 none of which was similarly torsive, but it and others succumbed 

 to the ravages of borers. Both vegetative and reproductive twigs 

 were affected, the spiral being short in proportion to the total 



1 Pitcher, Vict. Nat., xxix., Jan., 1913. 



2 Audas, Vict. Nat., xxvii. (1011) p. 207. 



