1891.] Briefer Articles. 345 



epinastic, although exceedingly small. There is also a for- 

 mation, of course, of chlorophyll, and these differences suffice 

 to distinguish between the etiolated and hyd related plant. 

 The interesting point is the permanent epinasty induced by 

 atmospheric hydrolation; it is quite as marked in the small 

 hydrolated leaves of Solanum tuberosum as in the large nor- 

 mal leaves of the same plant. Along this line further re- 

 searches would supplement Wiesner's work and probably con- 

 firm and extend the investigations of Falladin. At any rate 

 the Solanum tuberosum is recommended as a highly sensitive 

 hydrolitic plant, and its further examination suggested to 

 botanical workers as of much probable interest. 







A monograph of plant-torsions. 1 



It is quite impossible to do justice to this voluminous and 

 painstaking record of physiological research in a brief review. 

 Mention will be made, therefore, of but one among the very 

 numerous points of interest. In his researches upon the tor- 

 sions in plant-organs, De Vries has had occasion to study 

 particularly the Dipsacus sylvestris, a plant prone to exhibit 

 these anomalous twistings of stems and leaves. He has ac- 

 cordingly cultivated the plant for many years in the botani- 

 cal garden at Amsterdam. In six years, by careful selection, 

 this distinguished investigator has established a variety of the 

 teasel which is so constantly characterized by torsions in the 

 stem and leaves that he proposes for it the name of Dipsacus 

 sylvestris torsus. That these monstrous plants can be so 

 rapidly produced by a systematic process of seed-selection is 

 indeed worthy of note. For figures and descriptions the 

 reader is referred to the article itself, which is one of the two 

 or three most notable botanical works of the past year. 



University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 



BRIEFER ARTICLES. 



Atriplex corru^ata, n. sp.- Dioecious, shrubby at base, much 

 branched, about a foot high, hoary throughout with a dense scurry 

 pubescence, very leafy: leaves linear-oblanceolate or -oblong^obtuse 



~^Hugo de Vries: Mo^g7aphie der Zwangsdrehiingen. Pringsheim's Jahr- 

 biicher fur wiss. Botanik.xxiii, pp. 13-206. 



