648 General Notes. | October, 
sized orange; the bitter rind is smooth and of a dirty pale yel- 
low. The seeds were slow in germinating, not appearing above 
ground for about eight weeks. When scarcely two inches high 
a blossom appeared at the top of one of the little seedlings. The 
flower, of fair size, was perfect in every respect, even to having 
the rich odor similar to that of the orange blossom, and was fully 
expanded on April 16, 1878, or when the little tree was only 
about two months old. I watched anxiously for the forming of 
the fruit, but this seems to have been too much to expect, for the 
flower fell away without exhibiting any evidence of having been 
fertilized. This progressive individual was, in other respects, not 
different from its fellow seedlings, nor did it seem to be injured 
by its premature efforts to produce its kind. 
I have already sent the Naruracist (see Vol. x1, p.. 489, 
August, 1877) some notes ona similar precocity in the orange 
(C. aurantium), and now add an instance of this curious feature 
in another species of the same genus.—Heury Gillman, Detroit, 
Michigan. 
Bees GATHERING HONEY FROM THE CaTALpA.—At a recent 
meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences I called 
attention to the fact that there existed large patches of nectarifer- 
ous glands on the under side of the leaves, in the axils of the 
veins, of Catalpa bignonoides. Up to the present time the proof 
that the glands in question were nectariferous, rested only on the 
evidence of the taste of the secreted fluid and the presence of ants 
of both red and black species, apparently feasting upon the nec- 
tar. Since then I have found the common honey-bee gathering 
the nectar from the foliar glands with as much industry as from 
the flowers, the latter of which at the time the observation was 
made having fallen, so that there was positive evidence that the 
glands alone attracted the bees. Furthermore, the bees were seen 
to introduce their tongues into the axils of the leaves where the 
secretion was present in a visible quantity on the gland, and lap it 
up as when getting the nectar from flowers. The bees engaged 
at this work carried no pollen at the time, and were apparently 
devoted to getting the honey only. 
These observations place the question of the saccharine nature 
of the secretion beyond any doubt, and make it probable that the 
a is valuable as a honey plant, and deserves a place in 
lawns, parks and pleasure grounds, on account not only of its 
beauty, but also from its economic value to the bee culturist.— 
Fohn A, Ryder. 
Tue FERTILIZATION OF THE WistartA.—In front of my study 
windows grows.a beautiful American Wistaria; the great purple 
racemes hanging in the open window fill the room with their 
delicate perfume. During the day the blossoms are usually vis- 
ited by two or three brilliant little humming-birds, and by many 
