238 MR. J. HOGG ON POLIFEROUS CONES 
XXI—On Proliferous Cones of the Common Larch. By Joun 
Hoaa, M.A., F.R.S., &c.* 
I beg to exhibit several specimens of the cones of the Common 
Larch (Larix Europea), which present a remarkable mode of 
growth. ‘The first time that I observed this abnormal growth 
was in a plantation of young larches, in the autumn of 1858, 
when I found only two small specimens, in which the stem, or 
stalk, of the cone had grown through the cone itself to one and 
a half, or two inches in length. 
The specimens which I now exhibit were gathered by 
myself in another young plantation from many different 
trees last October; some of the stems, which have length- 
ened into strong shoots, from the apices of the cones, have grown 
to eight or even ten and a half inches in length, or rather, 
I might say, that the stems had grown through the cones to 
those extraordinary lengths; and as they appeared perfectly 
healthy and well covered with buds and leaves, they would 
doubtless continue to enlarge into branches, and the cones them- 
selves drop off or decay. This proliferous condition I was at 
first inclined to attribute to disease; but from the healthy 
appearance of the branches, I am now satisfied that it originated 
in an exuberance of growth, which in all likelihood was increased, 
if not caused, by the rainy summer of last year. 
Further, I exhibit several apparently similar forms in the 
young shoots of some young trees of the Norway Spruce Fir 
(Abies excelsa), which I obtained last October in the same plan- 
tation. On examination, however, the cone-like protuberances 
will be seen to be quite different, as in fact, they are not cones, 
but the cysts, or cells of insects. A description of them, with 
a wood-cut, will be found in Selby’s “‘ History of British Forest 
Trees,” p. 465, where he calls them the “nidi of an aphis.” 
In a letter to Sir William Hooker, I said—‘“TI intend to cut 
one of the Larch cones longitudinally, so as to trace the con- 
nexion of the stalk through the interior of it.” In his answer, 
* This paper was read also to t e Section D, (Zoology and Botany) of the British Asso- 
ciation, at Newcastle. 
