262 



Mr. ^y. X. C. Belgrave.— Mr. ^V. N. C. Belorave, li.A., 

 of St. John's College, Cambridge, lias beeu appointed by the 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the reconmiendatiou of 

 Kew, Assistant Mycologist in the Department of Agriculture, 

 Federated Malay States. 



Nymphaea stellata in the open.— For several montlis during 



the summer some plauts of Nymphaea stellata Avitli blue flowers 

 have made a vtry pleasing display in the Water-lily Pond, 

 situated near the Southern Piuetum/ There is grown here a good 

 selection of the ordinary sj>ecies and hybrid varieties, which give 

 a charming variety ot colours — ^white, pink, yellow and crimson* 

 From them the blue one is distinct in three notable respects : in 

 colour, in the flowers standing 1 to 2 feet out of the water, and in 

 their remaining fully open through the afternoon. The last is a 

 rather important qualification in a public garden chiefly 

 frequented during the afternoons. 



Nymphaea stellata is not, of course, genuinelv hardy, and the 

 plants grown in this pond are not put out until early J une, the 

 tubers being housed during the winter and started into growth 

 under warmth in spring. But where conveniences for this winter 

 and spring protection exist, the blue water-lily is evidently well 

 worth experimenting with as a summer aquatic in the open air. 

 At Kew they have for several years "past kept up a continuous 

 show in this Pend for three or four months; and in full season 

 from eight to over a dozen flowers may often be counted open at 

 one time on a plant. This pond is slightly warmed by an inflow 

 of condensed steam, etc., from a pumping engine, but this can 



have little effect on the water at the opposite end, 30 or 40 yards 

 away, where a plant of the blue water-lily is blossoming 

 excellently. 



It should he uiiderstood that the N. stellata of European Water- 

 lily collections is not the 2ilaiit known to Indian botanists as N. 



Abnormal Condition of the Wood of Thuya plicata.— In the 



spring of 1913 a log of wood from the base of a recently-felled tree 

 of Thuya flicata was presented to the Forestry Museum at Kew "by 

 Mr. Eegmald N. Eogers, of Carwinion, Falmouth. On arrival it 

 was seen that growth had beea rapid, but there was nothing to 

 indicate any abnormality, and it was not until after the log had 

 been cut into three longitudinal sections, some three months later, 

 that any peeubarity was noticeable. After leaving the saw, the 

 wood was placed m an open shed to season, and a few weeks later 

 curious longitudinal depressions had formed in the surface of each 

 piece, whilst numerous tiny cracks were to be seen in the trans- 

 verse sections. By January, 1914, considerable shrinkage had 

 taken i)lace, and the surface of each longitudinal piece presented 

 a ridged appearance the channels in some cases being nearly a 



?r.' r r ^^J^.^^^P- , ^^ the same time the cra!ks in the 

 transverse faces had broadened at the base, so forming roughly 

 triangular fissures. At this +i7-,in +t. s j-uixiiiii^ j. ^ j 



trn« ff.^^.„^ fT,of n t ^^ "^^' surfaces were planed, and it 



was lounu that the fissures #ivte>Tiri^;j -p -tit i- j. 



u.sviitb extended tor a considerable distance 



