240 
leeks it was necessary to plant the wild bulbs at a sufficient 
depth (15-20 centimetres) at the end of the summer, for Allium 
triquetrum forms compact and extensive clumps. 
The bulbs when isolated and planted deeply in good soil make a 
large plant during the winter, the buried portion of which is white, 
very delicate and most appetising. These plants when their green 
leaves have been removed make a very pleasant vegetable, without 
any trace of the smell of garlic or leek, and suitable with all 
sauces, 
ho 
to isolate the bulbs and to plant them deeply in order to obtain 
this great enlargement of the edible portion. 
I do not hesitate to recommend Allium triquetrum so treated 
as a very interesting vegetable for gardens bordering on the 
Mediterranean. 
Of the figures accompanying the note one represents a cultivated 
plant which has undergone neither selection nor mutation and another 
a spontaneously grown plant from the same soil, selected from 
among the best specimens. 
The Root and Haustorium of Buttonia natalensis——For many years 
Kew has been anxious to ascertain what might be the host plant of 
Buttonia natalensis, Macken, (Scrophulariaceae), which is said to be 
the handsomest climbing plant in Natal. Thanks to Dr. J. Medley 
ood, Director of the Natal Herbarium, we have now received 
material of the roots of both host and parasite, preserved in formalin, 
which has allowed of an examination of the mode of attachment of 
the haustoria to be undertaken. 
Buttonia is a rare plant confined to the coast district, and it is to 
Mr. W. J. Haygarth, who found some plants near Durban, that we 
are indebted for the material and for information as to the host plant. 
The host plant appears to be almost certainly Fuphorbia 
grandidens and the material sent by Dr. Medley Wood included 
several roots of the parasite with their haustoria attached to the 
roots of the Huphorbia. 
Some observations on this material are described in the following 
note, 
A colouring matter is present in the root, and is interesting on 
account of its mode of occurrence. It is yellow, orange, or brown 
according to the degree of accumulation, and it appears to belong to 
the xanthic series of pigments. It dissolves in aleohol, but not in 
water, and in concentrated sulphuric acid it turns a dark blue colour. 
The pigment occurs as a granular mass filling the cavities of a few cells 
belonging to the phloem, and is also found in the form of granules in 
some of the cells of the primary cortex. The peculiarity of its 
occurrence, however, is that it is chiefly located in special thickenings 
of the cell-walls of numerous cells in the primary cortex, and here it 
has the appearance of a yellow or brown stain, no granular character 
being observabl 
