248 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The Perthshire Society of Natural Science has 

 arranged to issue "The Flora of Perthshire," 

 which the late Dr. F. Buchanan White, F.L.S., 

 had nearly completed before his death. Professor 

 Trail, F.R.S., will edit the work. The book is 

 to be six shillings, by subscription. 



Silene Nutans in Sussex. — During a walk in 

 August, from Brighton and Lewes, along the South 

 Downs, I found a fine patch of this local campion. 

 It was spread thickly over quite an acre of the 

 Downs on a sunny bank with south-eastern aspect, 

 but at least a mile and a half from the sea. The 

 flowers were still well in bloom, and some seed- 

 pods bore evidence of being eaten by the larvae of 

 a moth of the genus Dianthecia. — John T. Carrington. 



Variety of Hawthorn Berries. — On a haw- 

 thorn tree (Cratagus oxyacantha) in our garden at 

 Clapham, which this year is covered with red 

 berries, I found a small bunch of a clear yellow- 

 colour. I believe that not far from us there is a 

 tree which habitually bears yellow berries, but is 

 it not unusual for berries of the two colours to 

 occur on the same tree. — K. Bowman, 18, Victoria 

 Road, Clapham Common, S.W.; November, 1895. 



Hieracium aurantiacum, L., ix Kext. — It may 

 be of interest to mention that I found three speci- 

 mens of this plant growing apparently wild in Kent 

 this year, one in a copse near Eynesford, and two 

 specimens in another copse near Otford; these two 

 last were growing amongst some small plants of Ver- 

 bascum ly chniiis, A tropa belladonna (these two plants are 

 rather plentiful about here), and some other hawk- 

 weeds. Both these plants have since seeded, so 

 that it is possible that H. aurantiacum will become 

 naturalized about Otford. — Harry E. Guiset, 27, 

 Marlborough Road, London, N. 



Abxormal Plants. — I send you a chrysanthe- 

 mum with six flowers all crowded together, without 

 any foot- stalks at the top of one stem. The effect 

 at a short distance is to appear like one large 

 flower. — A. Henwood Tegue, Penzance, October zgth, 

 1895- 



Abxormal Plaxts. — Enclosed is a curiously 

 proliferous specimen of ox-eye daisy. It has a 

 bunch of seven white petals growing out of the 

 centre of the yellow composite portion of the flower 

 in a most unusual manner. — Vernon B. Croivther- 

 Beynon, The Grange, Edith Weston, Stamford. 



Abxormal Plaxts. — Herewith I send specimens 

 of different flowers gathered from the same plant 

 of Helianthus plenus, which is growing in our garden 

 here. The one half double and half single I think 

 tends to prove its origin. Many plants with us 

 this year have produced monstrous flowers, among 

 them Canterbury-bell, Harpalium rigidum, Geum 

 rivale, Reedbeokia newmania, and dahlia. I also send 

 a leaf and bloom spike of a very curious plantain 

 (Plantago major) I found some years ago growing by 

 a country road. I brought it home and planted it 

 in a pot in a cold greenhouse, where it has been 

 kept ever since. I have obtained seedlings from it 

 and three have bloomed, two like the parent plant, 



and one produced a normal spike like Plantago 

 major. I have several times noticed leaves on the 

 bloom spike of plantain, but never before such a 

 perfect rosette. There is not one normal flower 

 spike on the plant I have.— Joshua J. Ashley, Mill 

 House, 25, Cornwall Road, Brixton Hill, S.W.; 

 Sept. nth, 1895. 



Variety of Beech Foliage. — At Scarthing 

 Moor, a short distance from this town, there is a 

 similar beech to that described by Mr. Pearce on 

 page 137. This is a tall, finely-grown, narrow- 

 leafed beech ; three of the lower branches, which 

 are long and thin, and all on one side of the 

 tree, bear leaves of two different kinds, those of 

 the narrow-leafed variety, and an approach to 

 ordinary beech foliage. One branch bears the 

 long, narrow, deeply serrated leaves, with long 

 petioles, on the first half of its length, those at the 

 end nearly resemble the leaves of the ordinary 

 beech, but are not rounded at the base ; the change 

 takes place abruptly, without any leaves of inter- 

 mediate form. Two other branches bifurcate at 

 about one-third their length, one division on each 

 bearing the narrow leaves, the other leaves nearly 

 like those at the end of the branch already de- 

 scribed, but rather narrower and more serrated at 

 the edges. I enclose specimens of the three kinds 

 of foliage taken from this tree. I have known the 

 tree and its peculiarity for nearly thirty years, 

 although I did not minutely examine it until I w^ent 

 to gather specimens after having read Mr. Pearce's 

 note. — W. A. Gain, Tuxford, Newark; August, 1895. 



Botaxical Monstrosities. — Being very much 

 interested in reading the Editor's remarks on 

 ascidia found on cabbage and other leaves (ante 

 page 119), and not having seen any literature on 

 the subject other than that they are briefly 

 mentioned and figured in our late Editor's work on 

 " The Sagacity and Morality of Plants," it may be 

 of interest to say that some four specimens have 

 come under my notice in this parish, from two 

 different gardens at a considerable distance apart ; 

 two of which had perfectly formed pitchers, and 

 the remaining two had the same form, but the 

 junction of their edges had not grown together. 

 A second form also occurred on one of the same 

 plants, where the mid-rib had separated from the 

 leaf and instead of forming a cup had grown very 

 like in profile to a young coniferous tree. The 

 following abnormal specimens have also appeared : 

 Primula vulgaris, with seven segments to corolla, 

 seven stamens, and the stigma, style and ovary had 

 a double appearance ; Ranunculus bulbosus, having 

 eight petals, one of which was half-sepal and 

 reflexed with calyx ; Chieranthus chieri, with 

 fasciated stem two inches wide ; Linaria vulgaris, 

 stem one inch wide, garden rose having leaves 

 growing from shoot in centre of flower ; Viola 

 cinina, white flowered. An old friend and clever 

 botanist, since deceased, used to have a plant of 

 this variety in his garden, of which he was proud, 

 saying : " It was the only specimen ever seen" — 

 hence this record. Geum rivale (garden)— flower- 

 like monstrosity, being a whorl of leaves, com- 

 posed of many fimbriated structures very like the 

 foliage leaves' in form, but coloured the same as 

 petals ; from this flower-like rosette of petal- 

 coloured leaves arose a peduncle of about half an 

 inch in length, bearing a perfect flower even to its 

 bract. The petaloid leaves of the lower structure 

 were narrowed at the place of their insertion in the 

 form of petoiles. — Edwin E. Turner, Coggeshall, 

 Essex ; September, 1895. 



