Queries and Answers. 217 



Art. VI. Queries and Anstvers. 



The Mistletoe (Yiscum album L.) : Facts in its Economy, and, maiiily, in Re- 

 lation to the Question {expressed in Vol. XL p, 318.), whether, in any Two 

 Plants developed from One Seed, both are of the same Sex. — I send you speci- 

 mens of a few plants of the common mistletoe (riscum album i.), raised from 

 seeds which I have, at different times, sown on the bark of some apple trees 

 in the Oxford Botanic Garden, 



No. 1. This is from a plant which, I believe, is about 18 or 20 years old : it 

 is a large plant, and ramifies very much from the base : it is now in full flower, 

 and the flowers on all the branches (whether they originally proceeded from 

 1 or 2 embryos, it is now impossible to ascertain) are male. 



No. 2. This is from a plant of about the same age as No. I., and, like that, 

 it is very much branched from the base. The flowers on this plant ai*e all 

 female. 



No. 3, This, also, is from a large and oldish plant, and which, like Nos. 1. 

 and 2., produces from its very base a number of branches, sll of which bear 

 female flowers only. 



No. 4. This specimen is from a younger plant than the three preceding ones: 

 the stem is simple at the base, but afterwards much branched. All the flowers 

 are female. 



No. 5. The specimens of this number are from a young plant which has two 

 distinct stems from the very base; and I think it is not improbable that the 

 seed from which they were produced had a double embryo; a circumstance of 

 common occurrence in the seeds of this plant. All the flowers on each of the 

 two stems wee female. 



No. 6. The specimens of this number are from a very young plant, which 

 has two distinct stems from the very base: these, like those of No. 5., were pro- 

 bably produced from a seed with a double embryo. The flowers produced from 

 both stems are, like those of No. 5., female. 



No. 7. The specimens of this number are from a younger plant than that 

 from which the specimens No. 6. were taken : it has three distinct stems, all 

 of which appear to have been produced from one seed ; consequently, the seed 

 must have had a triple embryo. From the appearance of the buds, I should 

 expect that the flowers, when developed, will prove to be all of the same sex. 



No. 8. The four specimens of this number are from four distinct stems, 

 which, to all appearance, must have been the produce of one individual seed : 

 the plant is a very young one ; and I believe this is the first season of its 

 flowering. All the flowers on the four stems me female. 



No. 9. A young plant, with two distinct stems, from a berry sown on the 

 bark of an apple tree, in the Oxford Garden, about three years ago. 



The seeds from which the above specimens were produced were all sown at 

 a sufficient distance to prevent their coming in contact with each other. The 

 specimen No. 2. was growing on a crab tree, in a shady situation ; which is 

 probably the cause of its being of a greener colour than the other, and, also, 

 of the leaves being longer and narrower, and the plant of a more slender growth. 

 All the other specimens were exposed to the sun nearly the whole of the day. 

 — William Baxter. Botanic Garden, Oxford, March 6. 1836. 



The Two Plants of Mistletoe, ?ioticed in Vol. XI. p. 318., as deemed to 

 have been produced from One Seed, are of distinct Sexes. — The two plants 

 arose from the [hawthorn tree's] bark, very near each other : both have 

 grown remarkably quickly. They are of distinct sexes. In June, 1835, the 

 female plant showed symptoms of decay, and is since dead. I have just gone 

 sorrowing to the tree, to take another view of the lifeless stump; when, to my 

 surprise and gratification, I perceived, about 1 in. from the dead stump, on the 

 side farthest from the male plant, three young branches that had just peered 

 out ; so that I hope I may still have the gratification of showing my friends 

 the two sexes of the mistletoe, in two plants from one seed. — Henry Turner^ 

 Botanic Garden, Bury St, Edmund's, Suffolk, August, 1835. 



