2/O GENERAL REVIEW. 



seed. Mr Standish exhibited a specimen in 1867, and M. 

 Narcisse Gaujard of Ghent obtained a similar example. The 

 hermaphrodite plant had been obtained from the ordinary 

 female Aucuba, and developed a large panicle of hermaphrodite 

 flowers, but we are not told if fruit was produced. In refer- 

 ence to the permanence of hermaphrodite Aucubas, Mr Stan- 

 dish's experience with Skimmia oblata which was formerly her- 

 maphrodite and self-fertilising, but latterly requiring artificial 

 fertilisation rather militates against the hope of it. The last- 

 named plant also produces unisexual i.e., male and female 

 plants from seeds. 



THE OAK AND HAZEL FAMILY (Corylacea.} 



A group of trees and shrubs rather diverse in habit and 

 appearance and bearing mostly monoecious flowers, the female 

 flowers being comparatively few in number, and often solitary, 

 while the male flowers are arranged on pendent spikes tech- 

 nically called catkins. They are for the most part natives of 

 temperate countries, while those which are found in equatorial 

 regions grow at a considerable altitude. They are common in 

 Europe, Asia, and North America, and are represented in our 

 gardens and woods by the following ornamental, fruit-bear- 

 ing, or timber-producing trees : Carpimis (Hornbeam), Corylus 

 (Hazel-nuts and Filberts), Fagus (Beech), Castanea (Sweet- 

 Chestnut), Quercus (Oaks), and one or two others less well 

 known. Nearly all the cultivated species of this group exhibit 

 a marked tendency to vary when raised from seed ; and this is 

 especially noticeable in the seed-beds of Oaks, Beech, Sweet- 

 Chestnut, and Filberts or Cob-nuts : hence the many forms of 

 these now in cultivation. I believe I am right in saying that 

 no direct attempts at hybridism have been made in this country ; 

 but one form of Oak ( Q. nobilis] is said to be the result of 

 artificial hybridisation. Monoecious and dioecious plants 

 nearly always repay the attention of the hybridist, and the 

 species of this order deserve especial notice on that account, 

 as well as for their noble proportions and permanent character. 

 In some cases the seedlings of Oaks, Chestnuts, and Beech 

 appear constant on their first appearance ; but eventually 

 latent characters are developed in the form of sports, and these 

 may be perpetuated either by grafting on the typical species 

 as a stock, or by cuttings, the first-named process being pre- 

 ferable. Some of the varieties of Corylus and Beech come 

 tolerably true from seed, and this is especially the case in the 



