170 THE FLORIST AND 



characters on which' genera and species are founded. JKgilops is undoubt- 

 edly allied to the genus Triticum; but it stands still nearer to Hordeum in 

 the natural arrangement ; yet I have never heard of its taking on the form 

 of Barley, though I have read of barley itself being converted into Lolium 

 or Kay Grass, and am quite familar with the old story of Wheat changing 

 into Bromus or Cheat. Let us then endeavor to obtain the means of set- 

 tling this curious question about the conversion of JEgilops, and see whether 

 or not it belongs to the same category as the traditional transformation of 

 Triticum to Bromus, Linum to Oamelina, and other relics of ancient 

 credulity. 



While on this subject I may remark, that M. Fabre's statement, if con- 

 firmed, will have an interesting bearing on the famous "Strawberry ques- 

 tion" which has raised such a commotion in the camp of American 

 gardeners. It appears that the result of M. Fabre's experiment with 

 JEgilops was, " that the plant acquired longer ears, whose rachis was not 

 brittle as before, when ripe, and in which, step by step, fewer blossoms were 

 abortive ; the glumes meanwhile, were less broad and flatter, &c." He does 

 not say, which is to be regretted, whether the glumes remained collateral, 

 in front, or became sub-opposite ; but several of the changes which he does 

 mention, are just such as culture, soil, &c, are known to produce, without 

 subverting the generic character. The gradual conversion of sterile 

 florets into fertile ones, or, as he expresses it, the result of his experi- 

 ment, "in which, step by step feiver blosso7ns ivere abortive" presents a 

 striking analogy, and seems remarkably a jwopos to Mr. Meehan's idea 

 respecting the influence of culture, &c, rendering fewer strawberry stamens 

 abortive. If a judicious culture of twelve years can render the sterile florets 

 of JEgilops fertile, it will suggest a highly interesting problem in reference 

 to other plants. It may, for instance, become a curious exercise for young 

 gardeners, in the Horticultural arithmetic of the future, to cipher out the 

 Strawberry question; as thus — if twelve years of culture will change abortive 

 florets of JEgilops into fertile ones, how long will it take to convert abortive 

 stamens of Fragraria into perfect ones ? It will moreover, be a very plea- 

 sant circumstance, if M. Fabre's experiments shall excite us all to a closer 

 and more careful investigation of facts, and thus lead to a better under- 

 standing of the laws and phenomena of the vegetable economy. In that 

 event, we may hope that as the students of Nature advance, step by step in 

 the pathway of knowledge, their disputes like the abortive florets of the 

 JEgilops, will become fewer and fewer, and the researches of all parties 

 result in entire harmony and satisfaction. 



