464 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig. 2470. The Bisexual Strawberry Blossoms. 



SEXUAL DISTINCTIONS IN PLANTS 



The parts of the flower essential to fruit- 

 fulness are the stamens and pistils, and 

 while most of our fruit trees are hemaphro- 

 dite, that is, having the stamens and pistils 

 present ,in the same flower, yet there are 

 many exceptions to this rule, in other kinds 

 of trees and plants. In the oak, hickory, 

 chestnut, corn, pumpkin, ragweed, or be- 

 gonia, two kinds of flowers may be found 



upon the same plant, the one having pistils 

 only, the other stamens only. Such plants 

 are said to he^ Monoecious. 



In maples, pines, and willows, it will be 

 found that the essential organs are more 

 widely separated, for the stamen and pistH 

 are not only on separate flowers, but on 

 separate trees. Such trees a said to be 

 Diwcious. 



Many varieties of strawberries show a 

 peculiarity in this respect which calls for a 

 word of explanation. The strawberry as a 

 rule, is hemaphrodite, or bi-sexual, that is, 

 having stamens and pistils present in the 

 same blossom ; but there are many varieties, 

 such as, the Crescent, Haverland, and War- 

 field, in which the stamens are very rudi- 

 mentary, or entirely lacking. Such varieties 

 are called pistillate. To make them fruitful, 

 they must of course be grown alongside of 

 bi-sexual or perfect flowering varieties, 

 whose stamens furnish the pollen for fertiliza- 

 tion. To speak of the latter, however, as 

 staminate varieties, as is often done is in- 

 correct, for a staminate flower is one in 

 which there are stamens and no pistil, 

 which never occurs in any of the straw- 

 berries. 



THE EIVEES PEACH 



Sir, — I always find something of interest 

 in the Canadian Horticulturist. I agree 

 with what is said in the October issue in 

 regard to Alexander, Hale and Triumph 

 peaches, but I cannot quite agree with 

 what is said about Rivers Early peach. 

 Specimens of Rivers peach grown near our 

 place this past season were as large as 

 Elberta, were almost white, with red cheek, 

 and did not cling severely to the stone. 

 These peaches were delicious, being exceed- 

 ingly juicy, and I said to myself, if the 

 Rivers everywhere is as good as this, it is 

 a marvellous peach. The grower of these 



Rivers peaches said that it was hardy in 

 bud, bearing regularly every year, and he 

 sold the fruit in the Rochester market at re- 

 markably high prices, since it had no com- 

 petitor. I have been told that this variety 

 was too tender for long shipment, but this 

 is no serious objection to many people who 

 grow for nearby market. I am anxious to 

 get information in regard to the Rivers 

 peach, and how it succeeds in various parts 

 of this country. Chas. A. Green. 



Note by Editor — Unless overloaded, the Rivers 

 Pe;ich is all that is claimed for it by Mr. Green. 

 Our chief objection to it is its tender Hesb, making 

 it a poor shipper, and itis little desired for canning. 



