1506 



RESEDA 



that of the old forms. It reminds one, when the flowers 

 are fresh, more of the fragrance of ripe nectarines or 

 apricots than of violets. It is only after the spikes have 

 been picked and begin to wilt that one recognizes the 

 sweet violet-like scent. The modern improved varieties 

 are likely to have very little scent when forced or fed 

 high, and in cases of excessive forcing they become 

 nearly or quite scentless. But if we let them wilt slightly, 

 or on sunny days after the moisture has dried up, the 

 powerful odor becomes very apparent. 

 ^ The old forms seem to have the power of 



volatilizing the ethereal oils freely un- 

 der normal conditions, while -the more 

 highly bred only attain this power, to 

 its fullest extent, when the root pres- 

 I is reduced. 

 Gardeners frequently assert that Mign- 

 onette if grown -in given 

 kinds of soil will be less 



frap 



;tha 



2088. Reseda alba. 



SoilE 



loam, 1 mortar. 



\ 



\ U. .Lfe' ^*^' "Handbook of Plants,' 



\j l&\'w> ..^"'r^ states that "Mignonette 



^ ^'^f^^'&M^^ should always be grown 



^ ^W'^^SpTTO^ '^ ^'Sht. sandy soils, if 



"^ '"^ possible; as when grown 



in a rich loam it loses its 

 fragrance." To test this 

 matter, a number of plants 

 of the same variety (Im- 

 proved Victoria) were 

 grown in soils varying in 

 proportion of sand and 

 clay and amount of ma- 

 nure as follows: Soil 1. 

 3 parts sand, }4 loam, K 

 dung, M mortar; Soil 2. 2 

 sand, 1 loam, K dung; Soil 

 3. 1 sand; 2 loam, 1 leaf- 

 mold; Soil 4. 1 sand, 2 

 loam. 1 mortar, 1 dung; 

 dung; Soil 6. Clay loam with 

 some dissolved bone, NaNOa and charcoal; Soil 7. 

 Loam, clay and KaSOj (NHi)o SO4, P2O5 and char- 

 coal. The plants varied considerably in the rapidity and 

 amount of their growth. The difference in fragrance 

 was difficult to estimate on account of the difference in 

 the state of maturity of the various spikes. By making 

 independent estimates on different days as long as all 

 the plants were in bloom and trying to strike an aver- 

 age, the conclusion was reached that the plants grown in 

 the lighter s"iN hri.l m otrnnwr mid morp pronounced 



fragran.-i- tliup '' .■.■,...., ,.. ti... I - v ,-!-,v soils. 



The aiiiomit <.!:■■,.,. . :, I , ',, ' m ■ i .hits on 

 the heaxy .■[:.\ -.-i , ■.!;.! •■<• ■ ■,■' 1. 1; I. iliali that 

 given utf \i\ I'f.w r- ii'iii til.' lujlii^i- -MiU. In plants 

 grown in a heavy chiy loam riclily manured, the fra- 

 grance was hardly perceptible and very faint even on 

 wilting. The influence of the different proportions of 

 manure and soil used was not measurable, as the differ- 

 ence, if any, in the strength of the odor given off by 

 the different spikes was too slight to measure. 



Heavy manuring seems to have a deleterious effect on 

 the fragrance of Misnonette. Two plots of the same 



number of l.l:tn!. ■:r..v.\l,L' in ■.^ -"li.l ]•< ^^ were l:ilv.Il. 

 One wa<. .11:1. nn-. ' .. " •' I ■,■!:: • ,,•, : •',. ..:i,..r 



beca 



1.0 must fragrant. After 

 1 weeks, the difference 

 ately the plot which had 

 fragrant than the un- 

 . plot were 



teen niannriMl \...-: 



manured plot. The pi: 

 first to bloom. 



It has been asserted that Mignonette is most fragrant 

 when grown at a low temperature, it being a plant 

 which loves a cool atmosphere. In order to test the 

 effect of temperature on the fragrance of Mignonette, 

 plants of the same varieties were grown in houses 

 whose mean temperature was 50° F., 65° F. and 75° F. 

 The plants had the same soil. Those in the house 



RESTKEPIA 



whose temperature was 50° were grown in flats and 

 benches, while those in the other two houses were 

 grown in 5-inch pots. All were sown November 10. 

 Those in house of 75° germinated two days ahead of 

 those in house of 65° and three days ahead of house of 

 50°. In relative amounts of growth the plants stood as 

 follows (May 15) : Hot house, first; cold house, second; 

 third. But in fragrance they stood as fol- 



1 



Medii 



raise the 

 medium 

 the cool 

 the medi 

 the spike-d. 



first; hot, 

 rature became high enough to 

 f the cool house to that of the 

 lioing off), when the plants in 

 ) cijual if not surpass those of 

 ■;igrance. At certain stages of 

 the fragrance seemed stronger 

 n the hot house than iu the medium house, but did not 

 last nearly as long as in the medium house. The cool 

 house surpassed both in lasting power of the fragrance, 

 due to the spike lasting longer and not volatilizing its 

 ethereal oils so fast. The fact that the plants grown iu 

 the cool house were less fragrant at first than those 

 grown in the warmer houses brought up the question 

 whether this dift'ercnio in frai;iance was permanent or 

 temporary and de|H n.lmt on llu- temperature in which 

 the plant was blooming at ilio lime. Plants were taken 

 from the cool houso lo the i, mpL-rate (65°) house and 

 left there for somu liinci, with the result that after a 

 time no difference iu the fragrance between the cool 

 house plants and those grown in the medium house 

 could be detected, although there was a difference at 

 first. Plants taken from the temperate house into the 

 cool house, on the other h;iijil, ;i|i|Kinnily did not lose 

 their fragrance until the old ^jiikr^ liml been replaced 

 by new ones. From these two i-.^uli^ it would appear 

 that the influence of tenijM-rittnrt' is not permanent 

 either as far as the flowers th;it came immediately under 

 the temper:iture influence is concerned or those flowers 

 that are not yet developed. But the temporary influence 

 of temperature is of longer duration in the case of 

 flowers t.aken from a warm house into a cool house 

 than from a cool house into a w:m-iii Iimuso. The differ- 

 ence in odor betwirn |ii;uiis ^rown in :i warm and a 

 cool house is proli;iMv ilm- to ilo- more- ira<lv volatiliza- 

 tion of the etheri-;il oils in :i warm tompira'ture. This 

 volatilization, when once set up, is probably less easily 

 checked or ticcelenited above a normal rate, whatever 

 that rate may be; hence the tardiness of the plants to 

 react with the cooler temperature. 



R. L. JUNGHANNS. 



KEST HARKOW. Ononis rotiimJifolin. 



EESTHfiPIA (Joseph Emanuel Restrep, a student of 

 natural history in the tropics). OrcJiidacece. A genus 

 of very interesting little plants, allied to Masdiivallia 

 and not unlike that genus in habit and appearance. 

 The stems are tufted on creeping rhizomes, each bear- 

 ing a single leaf and clothed below with scales. The 

 flower-stems appear from the axil of the leaves. They 

 are perennial, producing flowers for several years in 

 succession. Dorsal sepal free, ending in a filiform, 

 clavate tail; lateral sepals united into a broad blade, 

 bifid only at the apex; petals like the dorsal sepal, but 

 smaller; labellum oblong or ovate, often with 2 small 

 teeth near the base. About 12 species, few of which are 

 cultivated for their curious flowers. They are easily 

 LI mh 11 ai a ii iii|iii:iture suited for cool Odontoglossums 



I . ! I hrive well planted in a mixture of peat 



' , , iM liaskets, which are usually suspended 



mar Hm ,1;, ,, Tliey have no definite resting period, 

 hut do not riM|uire as'large a quantity of water in win- 

 ter as during their most active growth. Pot moder- 

 ately firm, and rest in a cool house. 



antennifera, HBK. Stems slender, clustered, 4-6 in. 

 high, clothed with limbrieated scales, and bearing one 

 (rarely more) OY;ite cordate petioled leaf : peduncle 

 from the axil of the leaf, slender, 1-fld.: dorsal sepal 

 IK in. long, lanceolate, tapering into a slender clavate 

 tail, yellow, with jmrplo lines :r.id :i. imrple tip; lateral 

 sepals united into an ohl.nm' hla^h' L'-|ol.,.d at the tip, 

 yellow, m:lrl^e.l with r.cl-iiuriile .lots; petals small, an- 

 tenna-like, purph- :it the tij<. Nov.-l'eh. Colombia, 

 Venezuehu li.M. li\lbS. 1.11.10:001. A. F. 6:031. 



