1 882.] Botany. 587 



dite as to be generally avoided even in botanical classes, is found 

 in Dr. Rothrock's " Captive Plants," which appeared in Our Conti- 

 nent, of April 5. The substance of Schwendener's theory as to 

 the nature of lichens is clearly set forth in a manner which leaves 

 nothing to be desired. It is interesting to note that the article is 

 written from the standpoint of Schwendener's view, that is, that 

 a lichen is primarily an ascomycetous fungus parasitic upon 

 certain algas, the latter being the green bodies known as gonidia. 

 Seven excellent figures accompany the article. 



Abnormal Spathes of Symplocarpus.— The past spring I have 

 been on the lookout for abnormal growths in Symplocarpus fccti- 

 dus Salisb., and herewith transmit the result, trusting that it may 

 lead to further investigation. 



I found on examining several hundred specimens, five containing 

 one spathe within another. They were, to all outward appearance, 

 in a normal condition, but contained an inner spathe having a short 

 peduncle (see Figs. 1 and 2). In a cluster of three spathes, one 



single perfect inner spathe with v \ 



a spadix, while the other con- 

 tained a double inner spathe /""^ 

 with one spadix. The double 

 spathe faced toward the rear of 

 1 ■'/■-. the outer spathe. In the sin- 

 gle spathes I found specimens 

 facing to the front, to the rear, -"V 



x '*,£ and to one side. /x 3 



^ ^ I also found three spathes Vj 



Fig. i.— Double spathe, containing abortive spadices. Fig. 2.— Ver- 



SDathe^H t0 r h ° W mner In 011e CaSe the S P ath ° W ' lS 



P . eands P ad,x - three inches in height and eon- ^ n ^^ 



tamed a minute spadix one-eighth of an inch high spathe with spa- 

 upon a short peduncle. This small spadix was yel- &*■ 

 lowish white in color, hollow, and of a spongy consistence. It 

 contained minute undeveloped flowers (see Fig. 3). 



Now comes the question as to what causes the mal- 

 ' >rmation in one case and the abortion in the other. 

 Thome says: "As poverty of soil leads to abortion, 

 so an unusual increase in the development of the axial 

 or foliar organs is the result of too powerful nutri- 

 tion." This, however, is not a satisfactory explanation. 

 There could not have been enough difference in the 

 Fig. 3 . _ plant food near the roots of these plants (often 

 Y e, ' li "l sec- crowded together) to produce these differences. 

 Nearly all the specimens were found growing upon 

 I *i . ' ' ', T rich loam or muck which had never been under culti- 

 dix - ' vation.— Chas. S. Phi mb, Amherst, Mass. 



