40*0 FloriciiUural and Botanical Notices, 



mul mostly pcrpciulicularly, into the eartli ; and at various distances, witln'ii 

 1 ft. of the surface, a tuber is formed on many of tiieni, of the size of u 

 small potato or less, not terminally, or principally so, as in the potato 

 plant, l)iit l>y the enlargement of the fibres at some distance from either 

 extremity. It is a simple mass of alburnum, resembling in ajipearance the 

 kernel of a cocoa nut, but softer, and of a taste rather bitter ; w hich fla- 

 vour is not reduced either by boiling or drying. It is |)rol)able that a 

 regidar supply of moisture, in accordance with the requirements of the 

 plant, would altogether prevent their formation. We know that some 

 species of grass which are strictly fibrous-rooted, |)articularly the i-'hleum 

 pratense L. [and, perhaps, the yivi,na elatior L., //ordeum'bulbosum L.y 

 Jlopecurus bulbosus L., /-'halaris bulbosa Cav., and i-'halaris nodosa Bieb.], 

 produce tubers in situations where they are exposed to the occasional want 

 of fluids necessary for their luxuriant or healthy increase. When suffering 

 under such privations, it may be easily conceived that the stems and roots 

 ot a plant become less flexible ; and its vessels, being constringed by 

 drought, would be incai)able, when subsequently supplied with a ilue por- 

 tion of fluids, of ready and I'rcc dilatation. In this state, the fluitls col- 

 lected by the extremities of the roots may be prevented, by the rigidity of 

 those parts near the surface of the earth", from freely ascending. At "this 

 point, an accumulation of the juices occurs; and, somewhat analogous to 

 a tumour in an artery arising from dilatation, a tuber is produced. These 

 tubers, gradually increasing, subsequently become reservoirs, to meet 

 any deficiency of supply that may casually occur. Thus we see Infinite 

 Wisdom make the very existence of a want the means of its remedy." 

 " A projier distinction must be observed between such tubers as are 

 mere reservoirs of un|)repared fluids, and those which are dej)ositorics of 

 elaborated juices from the plant, in which the vitality of a future individual 

 of its species exists." The above views merit the consideration of the 

 young gardener ; and, should i-'hlomis tuberosa L. not be one of the plants 

 cultivated in the garden in which he is employed, I may mention O'robns 

 tuberosus L., iyithyrus tuberosus L., pasonies, and georginas, as plants 

 possessing tubers, all, I believe, but certainly those of the georginas, desti- 

 tute of buds or eyes; and yfpios tuberosa ]\[ivn., the common potato, 

 Helianthus tuberosus, and Wedelia aiirea, exemplifying tubers beset 

 with buds. It may be well to examine if Mr. Maund's theory will at all 

 conduce to account for the granulations, or minute tubers, which are inva- 

 riably strung on the fibres of every leguminous plant : the laburnum, the 



connnon false acacia, and the white clover, are familiar instances. /. D. 



CXXV. Cordlkccsc. 

 563. CO'XirHA. 



grandi fl6ra Z.i»r//. large-Bwd •□or... au W S.Amcr. ? 18C7. C l.p Hot. reg. 14p. 



A very fine species, with large white broadly fimnel-shaned corollas, 

 which now, it is feared, is not in this country. It flowered ni 18-^8, in a 

 stove in Lee's Hammersmith Nursery. That it l)elongs to the genus 

 C6r<l/V< is not positively known, for no specimens have been preserved, and 

 conse(|uently the semblances of the drawing have been the only guides to 

 referring it to any genus. {Boi. Reg., figured in May, described in June.) 



MoNorOTYLEDONOUS PlANTS. 



CCXXXVIII. Amaryllidcx. 



9^^. "AVA-X .Sal. (A'nrcfssiis /,.) 



Albicans //ni(>. uhitish tf A or 1 aj) W Spain ... O s.l Sw.fl.gar.C 8.145 



Ik'autiful and rare, but possessed by Mr. l'1Hicoml)e of Vicarage I3itton, 

 near Hath, and Mr. Haworth of (^helsca. Mr. .Sweet has seen it also " in 

 other collections about London, introduced from Holland this year, under 

 the name of iVarclssus moschatus ;" but the N. nioschJitus of the Linnxan 



