1901.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. Oil 



succulent, but very fibrous, with many fibres radiating from the 

 common stalk and running to the semicircular summit of the 

 edible mass. The flavor was (juite good, although the specimens 

 tried lacked the juiciness of the finer Ripley pines, and reminded 

 one of the taste of the inferior grades of Cowboy pineapples 

 raised in Jamaica and consumed by the negroes of that island. 



The ripened individual flowers of the fasciated pineapples were 

 apparently normal, consisting of the succulent inferior ovary, succu- 

 lent sepals and fleshy base of the subtending bract. The succulent, 

 diamond-shaped floral masses were flattened laterally, or became 

 mere vestigial structures, wherever they had been pressed together 

 by the union of the pineapples of which the monstrosity was com- 

 posed. 



One is tempted to theorize with these unique specimens taken 

 into consideration, for fasciation appears in plants subjected to 

 conditions of nourishment above the normal, occasionally as a result 

 of disease or injury. Did these factors influence the production of 

 fasciated pineapples in Jamaica ? Who can say! 



