3°4 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Variety of Beech Foliage. — It appears that 

 the variety of Fagus sylvatica, about which a note 

 appeared in Science-Gossip for October, 1895, * s 

 the var. heterophylla, which seems especially fond 

 of reverting to the normal form. Sachs seems to 

 record a similar case from the Botanical Gardens 

 at Munich (" Text Book of Botany," Eng. Trans, by 

 S. H. Vines, ed. 2, 1882, p. 921). — Arthur E. 

 Boycott, The Grange, Hereford; January, 1896. 



New Form of Pond Weed. — In the "Journal 

 of Botany," Mr. Alfred Fryer describes a new 

 variety which he has named involnta of Potamogeton 

 nitens. He finds it growing abundantly in Black- 

 bush Drain and adjacent ditches near Whittlesea, 

 in Cambridgeshire. It is to be distinguished from 

 all other forms of P. nitens yet described by its 

 freely produced coriaceous floating leaves resem- 

 bling those of P. zizii, and may be easily passed for 

 the latter species. 



Botanical Exchange Club. — The Report for 

 1894 of the Botanical Exchange Club of the British 

 Isles, has recently arrived. The number of plants 

 sent in during 1894 was slightly less than the 

 average of recent years. The report, as usual, 

 contains many notes which will repay looking over. 

 One, on the specimens of Rubi, circulated among 

 the members, states that there is a marked advance 

 in the knowledge of these species. The examples 

 were above the average in condition, and no error 

 was detected in naming the species and varieties. 



The She Oak. — I was sorry to see in the news- 

 papers, some weeks ago, the announcement of the 

 death of your old and valued contributor, Mr. 

 Thomas E. Amyot, of Diss, Norfolk. With 

 reference to his lively communication on the " she 

 oak," in the November number of Science-Gossip 

 (ante page 234), the relationship of Casuarina to 

 Quercus is not so distant as Mr. Amyot would seem 

 to imply, both trees belonging to the sub-class of 

 Exogens, named by Dr. Lindley " Diclinous," and 

 both having their flowers in catkins. The Casuarina, 

 however, appears to be more nearly allied to the 

 Betulacese than to the Cupuliferas — M. J . Teesdale, 

 St. Margaret' s.Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich ; Jan., 1896. 



Unusual Flowering Plants. — The unusually 

 mild weather prevalent here during the past two 

 or three months has tempted many plants to open 

 their petals long before the average date of 

 flowering. During a walk in this neighbourhood 

 on January 19th, the following plants were 

 observed either in bloom or just about to flower : 

 Ranunculus acris, Stellaria media, Cerastium triviale, 

 Ulex europaeus, Matricaria inodora, Senecio vulgaris, 

 Taraxacum officinale, Primula acaulis, Veronica 

 tournefortii, Lamium purpureum, L. album, Stachys 

 arvensis, Euphorbia helioscopia and Corylus avellana. 

 The mild winter has also been a peculiarly favour- 

 able one for mosses, and I also noticed, on Sunday, 

 the mosses, Fissidens bryoides, Pottia intermedia, 

 Dicranella heteromalla, Atrichum undulatum and 

 Hypnum cupressiforme in fruiting condition. — A. B. 

 Jackson, Mapledene, Euborne Road, Newbury, Berks. 



Flora of Derbyshire. — A new " Flora of Derby- 

 shire," to contain the Phanerogams, Cryptogams, 

 Musci, Hepatics and Fungi, is being prepared for 

 publication by the Rev. W. R. Linton, of Shirley 

 Vicarage, Derby. The compiler is anxious to 

 receive notes, especially of first records of plants 

 found in that county. 



Exotic Trees at Dulwich. — We have numerous 

 exotic trees on the College Estate at Dulwich, 

 amongst which I may mention an unusually fine 

 example oijuglans nigra, about eighty or ninety feet 

 high, the circular spread of its branches covering 

 an area of about seventy-two yards. We have also 

 a Catalpa syringcefolia, which spreads over fifty-nine 

 yards, two or three specimens of Cercis siliquastrum, 

 several of Omus europasa, of Pavia lutea and of 

 Quercus suber. We have also Taxodium distichum 

 (Cupressus disticha), several specimens, Liliodendron 

 iulipifera, Salisburia adiantifolia, several, and Celtis 

 occidentalis. But our rarest trees are three of the 

 species Zelkova crenata (Planer a richardi), order 

 Celtidese, family Urticacse. The Celtidese are, like 

 most of the trees above specified, of North 

 American origin, but they also inhabit Western 

 Asia, and Zelkova crenata is only found in the latter 

 part of the world, being specially abundant in the 

 Caucasus district, between the Black Sea and the 

 Caspian. It was introduced into England in 1760. 

 The stem has most resemblance to that of a horn- 

 beam, and the leaves to those of the oak, and it is 

 called here the hornbeam-oak, although, as will be 

 seen above, it is nearer allied to the elm than to 

 either, and has, therefore, even less right to its 

 popular name than the " she oak " described (ante 

 page 234) by Mr. Amyot. — M. J. Teesdale, St. 

 Margaret's, Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich; Jan., 1896. 



Pyrus Japonica Fruiting.— The shrub generally 

 known as Pyrus japonica is very commonly grown, 

 being frequently trained against a wall on account 

 of the ornamental character of its flowers, which 

 closely resemble those of the apple, but are deeper 

 in colour. The plant is more correctly classed with 

 the quinces than with the apples, and indeed is now 

 often called Cydonia japonica. The distinction from 

 the apple genus of the natural order Rosaceae being 

 in the fact that, like the quince (Cydonia), it has 

 many seeds in each cell of the ovary, instead of two 

 only. I have never seen the fruit of P. japonica come 

 to maturity in the open air ; and a friend who has 

 grown the plants for years tells me that he had not 

 either till last year, when he had many ripen. He 

 was good enough to give me one a few days ago ; 

 it was of course ripe last autumn and, having been 

 kept on a shelf as a curiosity, is now considerably 

 shrivelled. It is nearly one and a half inches from 

 base to apex, and about three and a half inches in 

 circumference. It has a tough, very much 

 wrinkled skin, and the fleshy part is about one- 

 eighth of an inch thick only, but is very much 

 shrunk. There are five loculi with cartilaginous 

 walls just as in an apple, with many seeds, 

 however, in each, instead of two. They are quite 

 like those of the apple. A cone-shaped object 

 appears through the outer skin at the top ; 

 apparently the upper part of the ovary, from which 

 the flesh has retreated in drying, but there are no 

 remains of the calyx. It has a very pleasant scent, 

 as of dried rose-petals. I should like to know if 

 the fruit is frequently perfected in the open air in 

 this country, or whether the event may be 

 attributed to the exceptionally fine summer with 

 which we were favoured in 1895. — J Burton, 9, 

 Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead. 



