MIDLAND NATURALIST. 75 
whole of about the height of the ordinary style. The plate-like 
style is about one-half an inch square and ridged i aa ars all its 
edges being perfectly entire. 
he ovary is of the same diameter as that of the normal flower, 
but is about three-quarters of an inch long, and contains about 30 
cells in two rows horizontally on the torus. The ovules are to all 
appearances quite ordinary in general aspect. 
uring the spring of the same year another case of fasciation 
was found on the same hill in a specimen of Claytonia virginica, L. 
Three or four flowers seemed to have grown together into one, and 
only one such flower was found in the cluster. 
III. ABNORMAL SPECIMENS OF DANDELION. 
The following communication was received from Mr. E. W 
Bowditch, of Boston, in reference to the article in the April num- 
ber of the Midland Naturalist. With the permission of the writer 
the letter is here reproduced in full, as it may be of interest to our 
readers : 
EDITOR MIDLAND NATURALIST, 
Notre Dame, Indiana. 
DEAR SIR: 
My attention has been called to pages 24, 25 and 26 of the April number 
of the Midland Naturalist where is shown an abnormal specimen of the com- 
mon dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) with a statement, etc., of its 
occurrence over a limited area of a highly fertilized lawn. 
If Prof Kirsch could travel from Utica to Binghamton, N. Y., by rail, at 
the season when the dandelion is in blossom, he would probably see a sight he 
never would forget. 
amilton, N. Y., where the writer has noticed the abnormal growth 
more in detail thanelsewhere,it may be stated that acres upon acres of ground 
show the same peculiarity—not always to the same extent as shown in the 
illustration in the Midland Naturalist but there would be no trouble in collect- 
ex literally bushels of the plant showing abnormal growth on the epus of 
Colgate University alone. No specimens were found heving more than t 
heads united. 
From the fact that in places between Hamilton and Utica the railroad 
banks (fill) will be seen almost a solid blaze of yellow—when the blossoms are 
in their prime, and from the fact that most of the University grounds have 
never been treated to a thorough manuring, or kept as lawns, it may be 
questioned whether the growth is due to extraordinary fertilization, or to 
' natural causes—Hamilton is comparatively high in altitude, the brooks are 
all strongly impregnated with lime and through the meadows where the 
dandelions show the best, the soil which is quite stony, is several feet deep. 
