Dbc. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



283 



BOTANY. 



Chuistmas Leaves. 



O'er the lover 

 I'll shake the berried Mistletoe, that he 

 May long remember Christmas ; to the son 

 Of boasting war I'll give the Holly-leaf 

 And its reel berries ; such he'll hud its meed, 

 A little show of pomp, and many thorns. 

 I'll give the poet Ivy ; for, like it. 

 Around the ruined pile he ever clings. 

 Adorns the loneliest spot with fancy's charms, 

 And props the tott'ring column in his rhymes. 

 I'll give the scholar Fir, for he must be 

 Like it for ever green, erect, and firm, 

 And with his needles of philosophy. 

 Contemn the snows of life. Here's darkling Yew, 

 The mourner must have that, who seeks the shade. 

 And hides his melancholy head in caves, 

 Or by the sandy beach, utt'ring aloud 

 His dull soliloquies, unseen, unknown. 



Christmas — a Masque. 



Mistletoe on the Oak. — At last, on June 7th, 

 1837, 1 was fortunate enough to behold a young oak, 

 about seventy or eighty years old, with four fine 

 bushes of Mistletoe growing upon it, in Eai'l Somers' 

 Park at Eastnor, near Ledbury, on the side of an old 

 Bi'itish road, at the western base of the ilalvern 

 Hills, called the "Ridgway;" but on the strictest 

 inquiry and examination, among natural oak woods 

 there of more than three hundred acres in extent, 

 this was the only Oak with Mistletoe upon it, and is 

 the only one I have ever seen. — Edwin Lees, Botanical 

 Looker-out. 



Mistletoe on the Oak. — There are now growing 

 on an Oak-tree by the side of the drive leading to 

 Eastnor Castle, the seat of Earl Somers, situated 

 between this town and Ledbury, no fewer than five 

 large bunches of Mistletoe, apparently in the greatest 

 luxuriance. I discovered them a few days ago, on 

 the right-hand side, about a quarter of a mile from 

 the Deer Park gates, going down from the Malvern 

 and Ledbury road. If those who may still be 

 unbelievers in this matter will pay me a visit, I will 

 direct them to the spot where it is growing. — G-. 

 Butcher, Great Malvern. 



Mistletoe on Mountain Ash. — The Mountain 

 Ash is not mentioned amongst the trees upon which 

 it springs up spontaneously. But there is a Moun- 

 tain Ash tree in a garden at Odiham, in Hampshire, 

 on which it grows with the greatest luxuriance, 

 without the health of the tree appearing to be im- 

 paired by it. Having only been acquainted with the 

 place for a few years, I am unable to say whether 

 the parasite grew spontaneously in the first instance. 

 That which, however, appears the most curious 



feature of the case is, that the whole of the Mountaiu 

 Ash seems to be so impregnated with Mistletoe, that 

 wherever a bough is cut off, a swelling begins to form, 

 upon which delicate sprays of Mistletoe immediately 

 make their appearance. — Once a Week. 



Teees on which Mistletoe geows.— Dr. Harley 

 communicated to the Linnfean Society, in his paper 

 on the " Parasitism of the Mistletoe," the following 

 trees upon which it grows spontaneously, or may be 

 grafted: — Maple, Walnut, Plum, Ealse Acacia, 

 Cherry Laurel, Portugal Laurel, Hawthorn, Apple 

 and Crab, Almond, Lime, Olive, Ash, Poplar, ¥/illow, 

 Pear, Elm, Fir, Larch, Oak, and Beech. 



Alpine Plantain in Shetland. — ki the last 

 meeting of the Society of Amateur Botanists, Mr. 

 Ralph Tate exhibited Plantago alpina, a species now 

 recorded for the first time as British, discovered by 

 him during his recent visit to the Shetland Islands. 

 This alpino-boreal species is allied io P. maritima, and 

 is a native of the Tyrclese and Savoy Alps ; and is 

 a maritime plant in Iceland and Earoe, Mr. Tate 

 found it in great abundance on the sea-banks of 

 Lerwick Harbour. V/e would direct attention to 

 Mr. Tate's paper on the "Elora Zetlandica," in the 

 December number of the Journal of Botany. 



Natural Curiosities.— In a garden in Dorset- 

 shire two or three rows of broad beans, having 

 borne the usual crop, were about to be dcsti'oyed, 

 when it was discovered that fresh plants were spring- 

 ing up from the old roots. A row was therefore left 

 to see if they would come to perfection, wliich they 

 did, and bore a fair crop. In a garden in Gloucester- 

 shire, there are four apple-trees which are now 

 bearing a second crop, the blossoms having formed 

 in July. The first crop is picked ; the second is now 

 on the trees, the apples not having yet attained 

 quite their full size, and it remains to be proved if 

 they will ripen.— .S". /. W. 



Influence of Palms. — It must not be imagined 

 that the spell which Palms exercise upon mankind is 

 a matter of recent growth, due to the refinement oi 

 taste which modern civilization has wrought amongst 

 us. On the contrary, it began to operate in antiquity. 

 It is the true origin of that species of tree-worship 

 which once had such a hold upon all nations of the 

 Eastern hemisphere, which still exists in full force in 

 parts of Asia, Africa, and Polynesia, and which sur- 

 vives even here in the decoration of our houses at 

 Christmas time with Mistletoe and Holly, or wassail- 

 ing our Apple-trees on Twelfth-night eve. If tree- 

 vv'orship had passed away without leaving any other 

 traces, we should have little reason to be thankful for 

 it ; but we are indebted to it for two of the most 

 noble styles of architecture which the human mind 

 ever conceived— the Grecian and the Gothic— 

 Gardener''s Chronicle. - 



