1 



Til i: GARDENERS 



CHRONICLE 



[Feb. 04 



I 



l*MNfl 



•■ to »«i-,— ^8— »IP = ° g-Tjjlgj- Sr^^S 



^ _ 1 21° *» was exp«neno§a on tne linn 



^amuy «8, which pruftd w destructive to 



mtatftett. Of liM •**■ <> f *• coM of the form ** 



Mod ou pUnU thtrt » probably no good record, 



» that amy thingl whicli then sur- 

 KmI irr 1 The frost which set in 



unacquainted 

 censes 



L is certsi 

 i fed were k 



L the 27th 



scarcely at aterruption till the itti ol reoruary, 

 1814. A fair was held on the Thames between 

 London and Blackfriars bridges, and the whole space 

 was covered with p* le ; bat on the llth of 

 r tu the river had been again navigable, for on 

 that day Howard states, " The busy oar is now 

 ied with 4 wonted alacrity, and the sons of com- 



I 



with 



energy 



The present tevere frost §et in when the ground 



kabty dry for the period of the season. 

 1 i§f were probably never known to be so low 



in winter. In some cases where wells have afforded 

 a supply f« many years, the pipes have had to he 

 I sth^ned to rearh the water. In an open well at 

 Ghiftwiek Ibe water is now f; feet fortf than it was 

 1801 The average annual amount of rain near 

 f n<ion u ~ ♦ inches ; bat last year the depth of rain 

 ircely anion ed lo 19 inrJiee. In Febnuurj 

 Itch, tad Api . 1854, he total depth of rain was 

 ly li inch, instead of the average >>f G inches. In 



Bi ember iWe was little inort? than half an inch. 



1 is circumstance, together « hi higher tempera- 

 re ti iaa1 iu ^ ■ mb»T during he day, con- 

 tribute! greatly t render the summer growth of 

 trees a I thrnb* riper an i firmer than would have 

 otherwise I n the case and hence there is a pro- 

 effect 



bability that the j nt frost will have ! 



than under opposite circumstance*. The dryness of 



• e ground rauat likewise be favourable for vege- 



LUi n 



The temperature of the fortnight preceding this 



I of severe front was considerably ^her than 



msnal. This \n freqm tly the case b» >re unusually 



coll period-*, hut rarely unaccompanie th so little 

 rain as in the present instance ; for scarcely any fell 



Quercus 



con geners. 



Sea) 



Mala Sodomea (the Bitter Apples of the Twj 



nPhiu romarlfahlp frail pal la/4 «!«,* it » r^i 



widely 



Mai 



* 



** 



d the total a 

 during the last 



1. Chestxut-fruitkd Oak-gall, var. 



2. This oriental Gall so greatly resembles some 

 of the Sea-urchins (Echini), which inhabit our 



rocky coasts, that we would distinguish it by the 

 present year j name f Echiniformis, It is, however, not im- 

 probable that it may be only a modification of one 

 we have already published from the same country, 



is ->ru iratTANDfNO tlie penis and hardships which 

 our brave countrymen have e lured in the Crimea, 

 the arts and sciences lave not been neglected, as the 

 nnruerons admirable sketches from the pencils of our 

 military men dailv testify ; and we are indebted to 

 the leal and kindness of an officer (Capt. Okokoe 

 Elliot, R.M.) for some very remaikable productions. 



ITe have already published several essays upon 

 jm us Qak-galls, some of which are not uncommon 

 in this country, whilst others have been transmitted 

 from the south of Europe. 



We may here remind our readers of a very 

 singular f ture regarding the vegetable excre- 

 scences, namely, that they are pi iuced by four 

 distinct rders of insects— the Piptera, Omoptera, 

 liepidop i, and Ilymeinptera. These last produce 

 the galls of commerce ajs well as other kinds, which 

 var} most singularly in form, notwithstanding the 

 perfect flies (Cynipides) are often very similar. 



It is now well known that the female Cynips 

 when it punctures the plant to deposit its egg intro- 

 duces with it some virulent or poisonous fluid which 

 acts upon the sap, and by deranging the circulation 

 causes the bud, leaf, or stem to produce spongy or 

 woody excrescences. These are often modifications 

 of the leaf-bud or flower-bud, or enlargements of the 

 nervures or tissues of the developed leaves ; and 

 thus one sees the flowers of the Oak transformed 

 into globules like bunches of Currants, the buds 

 into shoots resembling Hops, and the cups of the 

 acorns assuming the most grotesque forms. The 

 leaves are ornamented with a variety of galls, some 

 as round and large as marbles, others not bigger 

 than Peas, whilst the undersides are frequently 

 spangled with rosy caps and turbans. The Oak 



Apptw, out acquaintances from childhood, are 



spongy ; there are woolly, taeselled, and prickly 

 H»»e* of a like naturo, the creations of similar 

 •penes of gall-fl- <, and now and then we find on 



the bark clusters of objects like little multivalve 

 shells called Barnacles. 





2. Echini form Gall. 



and it is questionable whether they may not be 

 formed by the same species of fly of which we 

 know nothing at present. 



3. This is another remarkable variety of Galls from 

 Capt. Elliot, and being exceedingly like the clusters 

 of Barnacles (Balanus) attached to oyster shells and 

 rocks below high-water mark, we would call it 

 Balaniformis. Similar groups of Galls have been 



MM'JtL SO 



this 

 We shall 



Hitherto it has no t been possible to 

 these van om of structure in the gai 

 the place to discuss so diffi, a subject. 



iSLrfS ? ^ he P a,lic '>l"ly rich in these 



extraordinary prod actions of tk-trees 

 Mn...f.h.Ch«t„- '(,„ t ! 1,"*' "« 



1 



8. P.ALAI 



Gall. 



ions 



f^V? ^" ?la T d - ? y , & lad y and also b X Vr. Bad- 

 ham but the individuals composing the bundles are 



much smaller than those from the East 



all found on the bark. 



certain dwarf Oaks will grow. 



These galls are as large as small Figs, and soua. 

 what the same shape, with tubercles scattered ov* 

 the shining surface, which is^ of a greenish coW 

 when young, and spongy inside, but becomes of 

 rich purple colour when matured, at which time fll 

 interior is reduced to a snuff-coloured light snL 

 tance, which crumbles into dust when crushed art 

 is bitter to the taste. 



" The Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye 

 But turn to ashes on the lips," 



attracted the notice of Strabo, Josephcs ajj 

 Tacitus, and are apparently alluded to in the Bod 

 of Wisdom : " the plants bearing fruit that ney* 

 come to ripeness." By more recent writers, tfc 

 origin of these galls has been attributed to vario* 

 causes, all of them erroneous, until it was suggests 

 by Mr. Conder that they were possibly the workrf 

 some insect, and this was verified by specimens col 

 lected on mountains east of the Dead Sea by tie 

 Hon. Robert Curzon, and also by others sent hone 

 by Walter Elliott, Esq., from the Troad. 



The attachment of these galls is very peculiar 

 they seem to embrace the twig at its extremity' 

 and not to arise out of it, being more like the net 

 of an insect than a gall in this particular ; and larp 

 as the galls are, they seem to be destined for tin 

 habitation of one maggot only, for they contain but 

 one cell in the centre, from which the perfect 

 Cynips is hatched, and escapes through a gallery or 

 tube, and perforates the outer skin when it becoma 

 a fly, so that the old galls have a hole on one side 

 the size of a shot. 



4. Bitter Apple. 



The fly from the Bitter Apple is known anj 

 figured,* and is similar to that produced from t» 

 galls of commerce, Cynips Quercus-infectoria. A* 

 ichneumon fly has also been hatched from the gal% 

 which is described as being a parasite of the CyBiJ* 



Mr. Curzon informed Mr. Lambert, that " the tree 

 that produces them (the galls) grows in abundaB* 

 on the mountains in the neighbourhood of the D^J 

 Sea, and is about the size of our Apple trees. 

 They were produced upon the Quercus infectoni, 

 but the specimens, one of which is represented 

 the cut, are possibly from a different species* 

 Oak. J. a 



Ne 



Plants. 



flora 



pure 



, jpi des Sen* 



»a Siebold. ^ 



oured L. p*J 



It differs ftfj 



hi Having aowny stems, but little swollen at tiie JV^ 

 and no bracts at the base of the calyx. For a r£ 

 with white flowers it is very handsome. In the so^ 

 it will be a hardy border perennial ; but m ** 

 must be treated like a Scarlet Pelargonium. * 



114. A phut * vt*t> . ».««^. t «. i/^*.„7 <;«. Van ffow** 



They 



are 



— — — — — _ _ ot. - 



It must be observed that the flies which are the 

 authors of these excrescences have not yet been 



^ 



des Serves, t. 981. . 



115;_Aphelandra Porteana. Id.,t- y 8 "^ $ 



according^ the published' figures. The g* eftt 



Id., *• 



*. w AJiagiiiucciii; Biove pianis, equal in ma^ 



the old Aphelandra cristata, but much more n» 



♦ Trans. Ent. Soc, vol. IL, pi 3, fig. ^ U ie. 

 t Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xvii., p. 445, with coloured y 







* 



