FROM THE SOCIETY'S GAKDEN. 



167 



of its blooming so very early without any other protection than 

 that of an ordinary green-house, and having at the same time 

 the odour of the violet. 



February 8, 1848. 



12. CuscuTA? CALiFORNicA. Choisy, Moiiogr. Cusc, p. 183; 

 n. C. Prodr. ix. 457. 

 Raised from seeds received from Mr. Hartweg, and said to 

 be collected in fields near Sonoma in Califomiia. 



This little parasite clings by its delicate thready stems to any 

 branch or leaf within its reach. 

 Its minute flowers are at first in 

 close heads, but as it grows 

 older they separate, and eventu- 

 ally form short loose racemes ; 

 their colour is white, and their 

 smell very agreeable. Al- 

 though Professor Choisy re- 

 gards it as a true Dodder, it 

 probably ought to constitute a 

 new genus ; for it has but one 

 style, the peculiar scales with- 

 in the corolla of the genuine 

 Cuscutas are deficient, and the 

 upper part of the flower-stalk is 

 fleshy and transparent. In the 

 accompanying cut, 1 represents 

 a flower magnified ; 2, a corolla 

 laid open ; 3, a pistil ; and 4, a 

 cross section of the ovary. 



The seeds should be sown 

 along with those of some soft- 

 stemmed annual in pots ; and 

 when strong enough, and before 



it destroys the annual plant which it first grew upon, some soft- 

 wooded shrub, such as Lotus Jacobspa, or Pelargonium, should 

 be brought within its reach ; it will soon adhere, and grow freely 

 upon it. 



It is a free-blooming little parasite, more curious than orna- 

 mental. Oct. 10, 1847. 



